An E-Zine Deliverability Checklist
Having trouble getting your e-zines delivered?
In our last issue, we presented some hints from Return Path on metrics. This time we give you the company’s advice on how to avoid being blocked by the ISPs.
Here’s a checklist of potential problems and solutions:
1. Consumers complaining to their ISPs that you’re spamming them
*Make your unsubscribe process easier or more obvious than hitting “this is spam.”
*Maintain good relations with ISPs so you can prove you’re a permission-based marketer.
*Reconsider any third-party promotional offers you may be sending.
*Make sure your e-mail delivery service does not send spam from the same IP address from which it sends yours.
*Use validated opt-in at sign-up.
2. E-mail that looks and reads like spam
*Eliminate “spam words” such as “free” or “special offer”—especially in the subject line.
*Avoid garish colors or graphics.
*Lower the ratio of graphics to text.
*Check to see that your HTML code is structured correctly.
3. Creeping e-mail volumes or frequency
*Monitor your mailing frequency to each list
*Review and adhere to your original mailing frequency agreement with your subscribers.
4. Steadily increase rate of undeliverable e-mails
*Use a validated opt-in at sign-up.
*Keep your list clean and current by using e-mail List Hygiene and e-mail Change of Address services.
Matt Blumberg and Michael Mayor are the driving forces behind Return Path, an e-mail performance company. Collaborating with them on this project are their colleagues, e-mail strategists Stephanie A. Miller and Tami Monahan Forman. This article was excerpted from their new book, “Sign Me Up! A Marketer’s Guide to Creating E-mail Newsletters That Build Relationships and Boost Sales (iUniverse Inc., 2005) © 2005 Return Path, Inc. All rights reserved.
