The Dark Side Of Email Deliverability
In this guest post, Kevin Senne, head of global deliverability for Oracle, says there’s a lot of confusion and a lot of false promises around email deliverability. But, he argues, it shouldn’t be the ‘dark art’ it’s often promoted…
One of the most interesting aspects the evolution of email marketing concerns the practice of deliverability and how it has changed over time.
The changes in metrics and the extent to which ISPs have led the charge to improve their own customers’ experiences are of critical importance to modern marketers.
There is a darker part of our discipline, and that is the way certain people and companies have tried to portray deliverability as a secret art that you couldn’t dare hope to understand on your own.
The better approach is to think of deliverability as a practice dictated by facts and metrics. Even though the ISPs don’t always disclose to us (or anyone else) the exact metrics that are needed to trigger filters or divert messages to the spam folder, that’s ok, because we’ve taken advantage of the billions of emails sent through our system monthly to know those limits.
We do our best to use these experiences to put together a picture of what each ISP expects these days and what senders need to do to establish and maintain great deliverability. This approach allows us to have conversations with our customers and prospects that come from a place of truth and allow us to all have the proper expectations about what is and is not possible.
Frustration
That’s why it is especially frustrating when others in the industry, who should know better, decide to take a different road. You still hear about people promising 100 per cent deliverability, promoting statistics that are easily debunked, and promising secret backdoors to the inbox. The worst part of this is that it sets senders up with unrealistic expectations. There’s a little bit of “training” involved in showing our customers the correct ways to interpret deliverability metrics.
We encountered one of these situations last week when we were contacted by one of our customers. This sender does a great job with deliverability. Looking at hundreds of their actual users through our Oracle Marketing Cloud Deliverability Plus Panel Tool, they have consistently inboxed at about 92 per cent. They have a very low bounce rate (less than one per cent), a unique open rate of about 20 per cent, and a spam complaint rate of less than .01 per cent. These are successful metrics by any stretch of the deliverability imagination. This client was contacted by a prominent deliverability company and this was their pitch:
- They claimed that our email deliverability to our subscribers was only 20 per cent;
- In some campaigns there were over 80 per cent of subscribers that never knew the message sent to them ever existed, as it went straight to the spam folder;
- They claimed to have the tools and platform to completely clean everything up, resulting in an inbox placement of 100 per cent with every campaign.
Where do we even start? Let’s start with the numbers. Historically, these “deliverability companies” are at a huge disadvantage to ESPs because they don’t have a view of the actual delivery numbers. They can only view a small snapshot of the data. In this case, we see that their snapshot couldn’t be more wrong. Is that just bad data or is this a deliberate attempt to just throw something out there? I tend to think it is the latter, hoping to take advantage of a perceived lack of deliverability knowledge. It still seems as if the way to sell deliverability tools is to make a sender panic when they learn of supposed massive bad news. The reality for actual legitimate marketers is that deliverability should be pretty good unless they’ve made major (generally list acquisition related) mistakes. The potential gain for most marketers comes from small improvements and identifying new trends.
In general, you should be wary of small sample sizes such as seed lists. You should especially disregard a seed list as a measure of overall deliverability. There is a place for seed lists, but it is on a much smaller scale sent for a specific purpose. The value that’s left in seed lists almost always comes from the smaller domains. Using a traditional seedlist at a sophisticated ISP such as Gmail just doesn’t give you any relevant information.
If you are using one of the certification programs out there, they most likely are not giving you a deliverability lift. The only senders that consistently benefit from these are the more challenging verticals such as publishers. These senders are starting from a deliverability disadvantage, generally because of their acquisition practices. If you are in a traditional vertical, certification is almost certainly giving you nothing but a psychological boost. There’s much more to come on this topic in future blogs.
I wouldn’t doubt that many of you have experienced this for yourselves. You get a call or an email that goes against everything that you know about your program. Is it possible all of your messages are going to the spam folder? You’ve been promised 100 per cent deliverability, if you just pay the certification toll. How do you investigate these claims? What is the right way to look at deliverability in 2016?
Download the Email Deliverability Guide for Modern Marketers and sign up to see Kevin Senne (that’s me) and Pradeep Mangalapalli. We will be speaking on this topic at Modern Marketing Experience in Las Vegas. We are hosting a session entitled Deliverability: Industry Benchmarks and Competitive Insights. We will be talking about all of these challenges and showing you how to access real data, and how you can use this to increase ROI as well as deliverability.
This article originally appeared on B&T’s sister business site www.which-50.com
Please login with linkedin to comment
Advertising Standards Bureau Big Merino EDMs einsights Pinterest SandpitLatest News
Kantar: AVOD Subscribers Double In 12 Months
Study finds Aussies happy to watch ads on their streaming services. Or, are they just putting the kettle on more often?
Val Morgan Digital Exceeds All Campaign Uplift Benchmarks Via A 12-Month Brand Metrics Study
Val Morgan announces it has exceeded all its campaign benchmarks. Still can't get under an hour for the City To Surf.
Australian Retirement Trust launches monster of a campaign, by M&C Saatchi and Bohemia
Get offered a seat on the bus today? Knees creak like an old pirate's galleon? This retirement ad may be of interest.
Print Audits To Discontinue As Audited Media Association Of Australia Pivots To Support Influencer Marketing
Is it just B&T or are audits in the media industry suddenly becoming murkier than Roxy's husband's tax returns?
News Corp Australia Launches 2024 National Education Advocacy Initiative With Expanded Program
News Corp set to shine a light on the nation's schools in new series, giving illegal bikie gangs a well-earned rest.
Decoding The Consumer Maze: Urban List Report Reveals How Modern Shoppers Spiral From Discovery To Purchase
Latest report unravels a shopper's journey from the joy of discovery through to a nasty letter from a debt collector.
Cosmo Returns To Australia!
Ever get the feeling we've weirdly warped back to 1988 at the moment? Confirm it with the relaunch of Cosmo in print.
People & Culture Consultancy Human Kind Collective Launches To Plug HR Gap For Media Agencies
Does the very mention of HR have you struggling to remember last year's Christmas party? Get the sweats with this news.
‘We Want To Be A Growth Partner, Not Just A Media Buyer Or Someone That Makes Ads’ – Bohemia Boss On Agency’s Ambition
B&T's chatting with Bohemia boss Paul ‘Hutch’ Hutchison. Although we do think 'the dagger' a far superior nickname.
Initiative’s Geoff Clarke: ‘Youth Hits Targets With Enthusiasm, Experience Hits The Targets You Can’t See’
Initiative’s CCO Geoff Clarke on the value of experience in agencies. Not to mention quoting lines from Pulp Fiction.
The Iconic Teams Up With 5 Aussie Athletes For Latest Campaign
Fashion label brings in the athletes for new campaign, many of whom appear to have prepped with re-runs of Zoolander.
Seven West Media Secures New Director Of News & Current Affairs
After a tumultuous few weeks, Seven unveils director of news & current affairs. And B&T never uses tumultuous lightly.
Seven Network Expands NSW Sales Team With Two New Group Business Directors
Seven ramps up its NSW sales team. Both of whom are well versed in pronouncing Manu Feildel's croque-monsieur.
New PR Subscription Changing The Game For Aussie Start Ups
Need better PR? You can now buy it via a monthly subscription. Price does not include a fascinator or Moet piccolos.
Paul Kent At Centre Of Fresh Scandal After Alleged Street Brawl
Do you long for the fights, gouges & testicle grabs of footy's glory years? So too, it appears, does Paul Kent.
DiDi Taps Disney’s Tim Farmer For Head Of Brand Marketing Role
Disney's Tim Farmer shifts over to rideshare company DiDi. Taking with him his Donald Duck coffee mug & mouse ears.
As Sure As Night Becomes Day, The End Of Third-Party Cookies Has Been Delayed
The question remains: what will we see first? The end of cookies, alien invasion or Jesus's second coming?
Fast 10: Scoundrel’s Tim Bullock Explains What Shane Warne & Salt-N-Pepa Have In Common
It's a Fast 10 with Scoundrel's Tim Bullock. Make it sound even faster by sucking on helium while reading it.
Outbrain Snatches Chris Oxley From Foxtel Media
Foxtel's Chris Oxley shifts over to Outbrain, but not before having his press photo taken in the wilds of the Daintree.
oOh!media & POLY Partner With Greening Australia For OOH Awareness Campaign
Like to quell the road rage with super cute pics of fluffy marsupials? This outdoor's just the ticket.
Are Media Cares For The Carers In Its Latest Social Change Campaign
Are Media calls on the government to add super payments to carers' payments. Remains silent on AUKUS, however.
In A Fragmented World, Engagement Is King
Today, B&T TV's talking fragmentation & engagement. But not in a down-on-one-knee sense of the word.
Kyle Sandilands On Advertising: “We Want Return Business. It’s No Good Just Taking Someone’s Money”
Kyle & Jackie O finally arrive on Melbourne radio. As yet, no sign of the monotonous and bitter AFL-NRL debate.
Sydney Comedy Festival: Taking The City & Social Media By Storm
Sydney Comedy Festival 2024 is live and ready to rumble, showing the best of international and homegrown talent at a host of venues around town. As usual, it’s hot on the heels of its big sister, the giant that is the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, picking up some acts as they continue on their own […]
Global Marketers Descend For AANA’s RESET For Growth
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has announced the final epic lineup of local and global marketing powerhouses for RESET for Growth 2024. Lead image: Josh Faulks, chief executive officer, AANA Back in 2000, a woman with no business experience opened her first juice bar in Adelaide. The idea was brilliantly simple: make healthy […]
Is Meta’s New AI Chatbot Too Left-Wing?
Meta's chatbot accused of being left-wing after being caught wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt & listening to Billy Bragg.
TV Ratings (23/04/2024): Why Did No One Tell Angela That Farmer Wants A Wife Is Set On A Farm?
As wonderful as this headline is, let's face it, we all know an 'Angela', don't we?
PubMatic Unveils New AI Partnership To Turn Social Posts Into Ads For Any Digital Channel
Here's some nifty tech for turning social posts into ads. Assuming said posts aren't one-star character assassinations.
Intuit Mailchimp Makes A Splash With Its First Australian Brand Campaign
Ever laugh along at a gag you didn't get so as not to appear dumb? Get ready for more feigning with this new work.
GumGum’s Rob Hall: Advertisers Can No Longer “Rely On Binary Descriptions” Of Consumers
If anyone's got their finger on adtech's pulse, it's Rob Hall. He also avoids using the good paper in the office printer
Mastercard Nabs Florencia Aimo From Marriott International
Marriott International's Florencia Aimo jumps from the hotel business to the exploitative credit card one.
Bastion Agency Appoints Cheuk Chiang As New ANZ CEO
Cheuk Chiang takes the reins over at Bastion Agency. But not the rains down in Africa.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Major Sponsorship Wins After A Disappointing Week In Sport
B&T continuing our deep dive into local sport sponsorships & that's despite not a single offer of a free ticket as yet.
Macca’s Marketing Director, Samantha McLeod On Big Mac Chant: “What Was Once Old Is Now Cool Again”
Macca's using the power of nostalgia in latest Big Mac campaign. Well, only for those who've ever eaten one sober.
World Premiere Of Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line To Open Sydney Film Festival 2024
Oil's biopic to open Sydney Film Festival. Here's hoping Molly Meldrum will take his pants down at the premiere.
Entries Are Now Open For The 2024 Brandies, IntelligenceBank’s Annual Brand Marketing Awards
The Brandies are, of course, a prestigious marketing gong and not the mystery tipple favoured by nannas everywhere.