eBook - Silverpop

Rethinking ‘Best Practices’
for Email
Does email still follow best
Q: practices, or should I just
do what works for my company?
Some marketers think the concept of
A: best practices – the absolute best way
to do something – is obsolete, while others
argue we need a new name.
My take? I look at “best practices” as categories:
those that apply to almost everyone, those that
depend on the maturity of your email program
or use of email and those that you should avoid
at all cost.
1. FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES
These are practices that the vast majority consider
foundational to industry vitality and the
success of individual email marketing programs.
While there are sometimes edge cases, they are
the exception and not the rule:
• Permission: In email marketing, permission
is the foundation of a successful
program, the first step in separating
marketing messages from spam. While
the common industry refrain “relevance
trumps permission” is absolutely correct,
it’s difficult to achieve high inbox delivery
rates and ROI without permission.
• Transparent opt-in process: Subscribers
must understand that they are being subscribed
and to what.
• Easy to unsubscribe/honoring unsubscribes:
In most countries, making it easy to opt out
of emails is the law.
• Removing/suppressing abuse complaints
and hard bounces immediately and never
sending emails to those recipients again:
If you don’t employ these practices, your
subsequent emails may not be delivered.
• Not using deceptive techniques: Against the
law in many countries, deception can also
cause damage to your brand.
• Email authentication: Authenticating your
emails with DKIM and SenderID is becoming
critical to increasing the likelihood that ISPs
will deliver your emails.
2. RECOMMENDED PRACTICES
These practices are highly recommended for increasing
customer engagement and conversions:
• Clear, recognized “From” names: Unrecognizable
or confusing “From” names will get
lost in the inbox.
• Welcome emails: Delivering an immediate
welcome email after a new opt-in can
increase engagement and conversions earlier
than no welcome email or series.
• Segmentation and personalization: Targeting
subscribers based on their demographics,
interests and behaviors is not a “must,” but
this approach generates many times the ROI
of non-targeted emails.
SILVERPOP.COM | PAGE 106