Shocking Inbox Statistics

According to Yahoo:

• 8 emails are rejected for every 1 email delivered. 

  
 According to Gmail:

• 81% of Gmail users have Priority Inbox enabled
• Average users inbox =
• 91% hits the inbox
• 17% gets filtered as "priority"
• 9% goes "missing" / deleted at the ESP level

  

•  Gmail now includes DKIM and advanced sender info in all headers- placing your sender reputation front and center.

Users of the Hotmail:

• When your message is included in a "sweep" delete by a subscriber- it does not damage your reputation as a sender.

Mobile Subscribers:

• 89% of the US population has a cell phone
• 41% have a smart phone
• 33% = android phone
• 25% = iphone
• 66% check their smartphone for email daily
• 55% have made a purchase with their mobile phone
• 15-25% of all read email is viewed on a mobile device
• desktop viewing is same
• webmail viewing is down

According to Mailbox Monitor by Return Path:
The average inbox receives:

• 86% to the inbox
• 7.5% to the bulk folder
• 5.9% missing

What's the future of an email inbox look like? 

Ask yahoo....they have already started a revolution with their new inbox features incorporating: 

• Social
• Viral
• SMS
• IM
• Skype
• 3rd Party apps

More on this next time....

6 Stages to Getting the Click

Do you repeat yourself in your personal email copy? Probably not, so why would you repeat yourself in your marketing copy? What does it take to get someone to engage and click on your offer?

The truth is:
Recipients look at your message and make decisions to engage in a very linear way...follow their decision path and ensure you aren't giving away valuable real estate...

The 6 Stages of Getting the Click

Stage 1 = The From line
Recipients look at your from name and email 1st/before any other metric and make a decision to read on/delete based on this initial info.

Stage 2 = The Subject line
Recipients look at your subject line and depending on what they can see (< 45 char = baseline; < 16 char for mobile) and how relevant the topic is- make a decision to read more/delete. DO not repeat your name here- you are wasting valuable real estate. Instead- front load your subject line with the attractive part...make sure they see it.

Stage 3 = The Preview Pane
After glancing at your from and subject line, recipients next look at your message in their preview window. (sometimes the same as stage 4/above the fold) and make the decision to read on or delete. It's important to understand how your email renders with images turned off- because industry standards say 50% will not see those images and only 11% will scroll down out of this preview area. Don' repeat your name or subject line info in the snippet text or H1 area...make it a continuation of your message.

Stage 4 = Above the Fold
Some recipients will see the whole above the fold area as their preview window, like Outlook for example. But there are ESP's who only show the top left of a message as the standard preview, like AOL, and for those recipients they will need to expand your message to see this above the fold area. Always design as though the preview area was the 300x300 section in the top left of your message- its the only for sure method for designing for a preview area.

Stage 5 = The Complete Email
As this linear decision wraps up, some recipients will be satisfied enough with a text call to action and might have clicked already, but for those that really want the whole picture they will open the email to view the whole message. This still doesn't guarantee that they will have their images turned on, but if you have been sending responsibly through the same email for a while, you have a much better chance of being delivered with images on.

Stage 6 = Your CTA / Clickable Link
Finally- the last step is a recipient being so interested in what you are driving them to do that they click on your CTA. What's a reputable click through rate? Depends on your product/offer/list, etc but a good guess for a high dollar purchased good/service is 2-5% with the excellent range in the 5-10%.

Email Design Tips for Small Business Marketers

---

Brought to you by The Exact Target Blog Posted: 02 Aug 2011 07:30 AM PDT You've got your subscriber list and communication strategy, but before you start creating your emails consider these tips for designing a more effective campaign: 1.       Create Brand Synergy. Utilize your current brand elements to create a cohesive online brand experience. 2.      Watch your Image and Text ratio. Images may look aesthetically pleasing, but too many divert attention from your message and may cause your email to be too large for and blocked from some email clients. Images should balance and complement your text content. 3.      Use Tables. For consistent display and better control of your email layout, use tables when writing your HTML and when formatting your content within ExactTarget's Content Editor. Check out these resources on Coding HTML for email vs. web. 4.      Edit Images. Use photo editing programs to edit images to proper size and save the edited images in your portfolio. For best rendering results use JPEG or GIF file types. 5.      Use Plain Text and Web-Safe Fonts. Text from websites or word processors include formatting that cause rendering issues when pasted into your email. Copy your text into a Plain Text Editor such as Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Mac) and format your text using web-safe fonts. 6.      Have a Clear Message. Use a Call-to-Action to encourage a response from your subscribers. 7.      Optimize Your Content. Adding background colors to images and including styled "alt" tags will allow your subscribers to experience your content when images are blocked.  8.      Design for the Subscriber Experience. Organize your content according to the six stages of the email experience. 9.      Be CAN-SPAM Compliant. Become familiar with commercial email regulations and what your email needs to include. 10.  Test. Errors can reduce your message's effectiveness and your brand's credibility. Here's a testing checklist. BONUS TIP: Get Social. Integrate social media into your email design. For more interactive marketing tips and advice, read our past blogs or follow @ETDesign on Twitter! Amanda Parks Associate Designer, Small Business ExactTarget Campaign Solutions Team

Deliverability- Making it into the inbox

 
"Of the 8 billion emails Hotmail receives each month, 5.5 billion are blocked at the gateway and another 1 billion are marked as junk." -Strongmail 12/2010


 Staggering to think that 75% of the email you send to Hotmail users is potentially never being seen. Deliverability is a tough game to play. Marketers are chasing a moving target as ESP's constantly update their algorithms to keep up with the increasing amount of Spam.

How do I make sure my legit bulk email gets delivered?
You must practice good list hygiene by managing bounces, opt outs, and spam reports on an ongoing basis. Your hygiene efforts should include measures to allow you to look at the members who are inactive after more than a year. Clean, maintain, and always strive to send timely, relevant email- that's how to ensure your future deliverability. 

According to marketers, list dormancy and junk placements are only getting worse! 

Did you know on average, 20% of all the email you send winds up undelivered? That's mostly because 4% of it goes into the junk folder and 16% is "missing" or rejected/blocked by the ISP's.

The future of email deliverability is = SENDER REPUTATION.
  
What's that? It's your reputation as an email sending vendor that is effected by:

• What you send
• How often you send
• How many you send to
• Whether or not subscribers are opening, clicks, deleting, reporting as spam to your messages
• What you use as your sending domain
• Your sending IP address

There are 4 items you can control that effect your deliverability:

1. List Hygiene
2. Spam Complaints
3. Relevant Content
4. Sender Historical Performance 

Think like your subscribers and make sure your emails are:
 Targeted / Relevant / Anticipated