Businesses have lofty revenue goals to reach and leaning on their email marketing by sending a lot of mail is usually a part of the strategy. This causes recipients to receive more in their inboxes than they receive during other parts of the year, and can exacerbate list churn – and not all list churn is equal.

Your recipients may decide to unsubscribe from your emails over time. It may be because they subscribed to an email five years ago that might not be what they’re interested in now. They may have just signed up to get a welcome reward, they might have found a better offer elsewhere, or they may just be overwhelmed with too many emails. 

Use preference centers

We’re always saying that email marketing is all about recipient consent, and having power over the emails they receive is critical to this. You can leverage your preference center so that recipients can choose: 

• Which mainstreams do they receive – newsletters, sales, transactional only, etc.
• What types or themes of content they’re interested in?
• How frequently do they want to receive emails? (maybe they want a weekly digest or a pause over the holidays) 

Maybe a specific holiday is tough for them – this year or every year – and they’d rather not hear about it. You can use your preference center as a way to show empathy and respect for your contacts and allow them to opt-out.

If someone is no longer interested in your emails, it’s best to offer them a way to opt-out option. This allows recipients to easily remove themselves from your contact list with no negative impact at all. 

Unsubscribing from an email list is a free method of maintaining data hygiene and it helps with list attrition without damaging your reputation. In short, it’s a win-win situation for both parties.

Unsubscribes are great

During the holiday season, it’s normal to see an increase in unsubscribes if you have a healthy holiday email marketing strategy.

As we said before, you won’t be able to keep everyone on your marketing list engaged, especially during the festive period. 

If someone wants to leave they usually have two options: hitting the unsubscribe button or hitting the “this is junk” button – aka complaint. 

If a recipient marks your campaign as junk it will cause mailbox providers to associate risk with the emails you are sending. Complaints are considered a strong sign of emails being unwanted, and they are a heavily negatively weighted metric when it comes to mailbox providers determining your sender reputation. Receiving a lot of complaints is likely to hinder your email marketing success; mail in the junk folder doesn’t help you reach holiday revenue goals.

Simplify your unsubscribe process

It’s important to have an easy opt-out process. Complicated unsubscribe processes are more likely to be abandoned by recipients in favor of hitting the simple “this is spam” button. This is especially acute during the busy festive season when recipients are receiving more mail and have less time (and patience) for managing their inbox. 

Key steps for optimizing your unsubscribe process

You can have a best in class opt-out process by focusing on two steps your recipients will need to navigate: finding where they can remove themselves from your list in the email content, and what the process is after following that path. 

1. Email content

Make it easy to find

• That “this is spam” button is right near the top, so your unsubscribe link needs to be easily identifiable in your email. Don’t hide it in the footer and make it stand out.

Provide instructions 

• “Please contact our support”, “send an email to dpo@example.com” or send us a letter will get you the “junk treatment”. Using a landing page is the best approach.

Clearly show where to click

• If you have a combined unsubscribe and preference center, make sure you still specifically include the word “unsubscribe” in the copy linked in your emails.

Make the process fast

• Two clicks should be all it takes for a user to unsubscribe. The first click is on the unsubscribe link in the email, and the second click should be on a button on the custom page that unsubscribes them from all emails.

2. Unsubscribe landing page

Allow easy recipient opt-out

• On your unsubscribe landing page, the ability to opt-out from all should be clearly visible (ideally at the top of the page) if you’re implementing a combined unsubscribe page and preference center.

Simplify the process 

• Unsubscribe should not require a login. If you require users to log in to manage preferences, you should have a second link in your emails that allows unsubscribe without logging in. Don’t send a double opt-out mail or add unnecessary hurdles.

Reduce email address input errors 

• The email address being unsubscribed should be automatically populated. Asking users to type their email address can lead to typos or the wrong contact being unsubscribed.

Prioritize mobile friendliness 

• With lots of us checking our email on smart phones, always make sure your unsubscribe process is mobile friendly. The greatest landing page won’t do you any good when it’s not really useable with a mobile device

Promptly remove contacts who have unsubscribed 

• We know it’s the holidays and you have a lot of great offers but you should remove a person from your list immediately upon getting the request. You lose the recipient’s trust if you continue sending to them for another two weeks – and they have multiple options to hit that “this is spam” button during this time. 

Summary

Mailbox providers agree with us that unsubscribes are great and that recipients frequently hit “this is junk” when they can’t easily find the unsubscribe link. This is why mailbox providers and senders worked together to implement List-unsubscribe in the technical email headers. 

This allows some mailbox providers and participating mail clients to add an unsubscribe button in their user interface for senders they trust. For users of these inbox services, this button is right at the top and easily visible – but this has not been universally implemented, so marketers still need to pay attention to their unsubscribe process.

The unsubscribe journey could be the last interaction this person has with your brand for some time; it must be a positive experience. Make it quick and easy for recipients to opt-out. Don’t make them jump through hoops and honor the request immediately. 

If they are getting fatigued, or there’s some other temporary reason they are choosing to not receive more emails their reason for leaving could easily be turned into a permanent one. If a recipient is happy with the process, maybe next time they come across your brand in a different channel or need your goods or services they will think of you fondly and be back in touch.

What’s playing out across the Atlantic in the USA is more of a slow wave than a sudden tsunami, but US businesses are still at risk of being swept away if they leave it last minute to scramble the flood defenses. 

One of the benefits of Dotdigital is we’ve been here before – we’re set up for these legislative changes as a trusted platform that knows how to navigate the waters this type of challenge brings. As you’re reading about what’s to come, remember we’ll keep you updated – we’ve got your back. We’re not your lawyers though – so remember to check with them for any legal advice. 

State legislation: the story so far

California blazed a trail in the USA when the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) went into effect on January 1 2020, granting Californian residents 6 rights that will feel pretty familiar to those of us fluent in GDPR: the right to know what data a company holds on them, the right to request deletion of that data, the right to opt out of sale of that data, making the sale of personal data for consumers under 16 years of age illegal without prior authorization, the right to not be discriminated against for exercising any rights and the right to privately initiate action if their personal data is breached. 

Jan 1 2023 was a busy day. The CPRA (California Privacy Rights Act) amendments to the CCPA came into force, granting a further two rights: the right to amend inaccurate data and the right to say what companies can do with and how much they’re allowed to share sensitive data about Californians. The Virginian VCDPA (Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act) also went into effect for Virginian businesses that meet qualifying criteria.

Just this July, Colorado and my own adopted home state of Connecticut joined the GDPaRty with the CPA (Colorado Privacy Act) and CTDPA (Connecticut Data Privacy Act) respectively coming into effect at the beginning of the month. Colorado has gone further than other states so far by adding the right of portability: to be able to download and move your personal data to another platform.

US EU Adequacy Decision

On July 10 2023, the US EU Adequacy Decision was passed. This means that personal data can flow between the EU and US businesses that comply with a detailed set of privacy obligations – the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. 

This provides safeguarding for personal data about EU citizens from US government intelligence (outside of what is necessary and proportionate for national security). It also preserves rights established by GDPR, such as the right to be able to identify the data controller and how and why data is being collected and processed, and the right to access, correct, and have personal data deleted. Finally, it establishes access to free resolution mechanisms and arbitration if data is handled wrongly.

Where this is going

Utah’s UCPA (Utah Consumer Privacy Act) bill has been signed and is likely to become effective for qualifying businesses at the end of 2023. There are at least 5 more states which are due to have privacy laws come into effect by 2026. And while lobbyists, lawyers, and the FTC are skeptical about federal legislation passing, the writing is on the wall: state by state, more privacy laws are coming.

Targeted advertising is being, well, targeted by existing and upcoming legislation as consumers become increasingly aware of how they’re being tracked and the value of their personal data. Law makers are looking to crack down on the sale and sharing of personal data, including the transfer of data to third parties for monetary or other valuable consideration. The concept of a Universal Opt Out Mechanism (UOOM) – whereby if someone opts out on one device or browser, they’re opted out on all devices and browsers – is well within the realm of possibility.

There’s also increased talk of addressing “dark patterns” within privacy legislation or in separate legislation. A dark pattern is any technique that tries to manipulate people into doing something they would not otherwise have done. Examples include:

• trick or trap subscription programs, also known as negative option subscriptions; are free or cheap when you enroll, but if you don’t cancel then a fee is charged or the price goes up
• disguising advertising as editorial content
• junk or hidden fees
• manipulating people into sharing unnecessary data e.g. misleading people into selecting the highest data-sharing option
• uneven weighting on options; having “accept” or “reject” is evenly weighted, offering “accept” or “manage preferences” would be uneven
• creating a false sense of urgency; fake countdown timers that never hit 00:00, and those products where 99 other people always seem to have this item in their cart

What this means for US businesses 

While the specifics of legislation vary, the themes are the same – and it’s reasonable to expect future legislation to be similar. 

US businesses are going to need to be able to provide data subjects (people they hold personal data about) with ways to:

• find out what data has been collected
• find out why their data is being collected and processed
• obtain a copy of their data
• amend the data held
• restrict or opt out of the selling or sharing of some or all of their personal data with third parties
• restrict or opt out of the use of some or all of their personal data for profiling or targeted advertising
• request processing of their data be stopped
• port their data to another platform
• request the data held to be deleted

Consumers will be able to initiate action against businesses if their personal data is breached or in the case where they’re unable to exercise the above.

US businesses that have a robust opt-in process and where records are kept of explicit consent for data collection and processing are going to be in a much better starting place. In addition to keeping opt-in data, brands that understand what data they collect and process and why, who document their data flows, and who use integrated platforms are going to be better able to fulfill the rights of their contacts and data subjects, as well as more easily implement a UOOM for targeted advertising.

Dark patterns also need to be on your radar; just because something is a common technique in your industry or vertical doesn’t mean that it’s not a dark pattern, and you could be penalized.

How to prepare for the new changes

I love hanging out with our fabulous legal and privacy teams here at Dotdigital, but I understand that talking to your lawyers or DPO might not be your idea of fun. Unfortunately, it’s going to be needed so you can stay on top of the rapidly changing privacy landscape.

If you want to avoid the legal conversations being long ones, then you can always decide to implement best practices when it comes to personal data. Best practices almost always trump the legal minimum. So rather than arduous legalese on what you might be able to get away with, make it a quick conversation where you ask for a review of your best practice plans or implementation to make sure all the boxes are ticked.

 Here’s some homework to do before you go talk legals:

• get familiar with GDPR; the US legislation looks similar, and having an understanding of some of the terminology and framework will help you understand the new laws. We have some great resources in our GDPR advice center to help you get started.
• understand what personal data you are collecting/processing – and why. Ask whether the collection and processing are necessary, ensure you have consent, and map out your data flows to include where storage and processing happen.
• talk to your developers and your vendors’ solutions architects to identify opportunities for integration to improve the flow and oversight of your data. 
• identify any marketing or advertising strategies that include manipulative techniques that could be identified as a dark pattern, and start investigating best practice alternatives.

Dotdigital can help

We’ve seen the writing on the wall and, having held our UK and European customers’ hands a few years back, we’re in a great place to help our US customers adapt to the changing landscape. We’re ISO 27001 certified in Information Security Management Systems, meaning that you can trust us to do our part when it comes to managing your data safely and securely. Our trust center has more details, as well as contact information for our Security Team who are happy to answer questions. 

Dotdigital customers can also leverage our CXDP superpowers, using our many integrations to connect all your customer data. Our solutions consultants are always happy to discuss your needs and how the Dotdigital platform can help you manage your data effectively. Reach out to your CSM or Dotdigital Support so they can put you in touch.

And, as always, our Deliverability Team is here to help advise you on best practices to stay ahead of the legal curve. Just drop an email to support@dotdigital.com and we’ll get back to you.

That’s because we know how valuable email is to your business. The 2021 DMA report showed that for every £1 spent on email campaigns, the return on investment (ROI) was an impressive £38. Moreover, in 2022, email marketing yielded a $36 ROI for each $1 spent. But to get this kind of return, you need to make sure your emails are reaching the inbox. And that’s where we, the email experts, come in.

The deliverability team

We’re the Deliverability & Messaging Operations team – Dotdigital’s experts in email & SMS delivery and inbox placement – and we’re here to ensure your messages, you guessed it, get delivered to the inbox. If you’re new to sending email at scale, some of these terms might be new to you. But if you’re here, we’re guessing you’re something of an expert too, and are reading this to get an edge over your competition. 

No matter your familiarity with the subject, deliverability is something you should constantly be considering. So whether deliverability is a new concept to you, something that’s recently become an issue, or something you want to learn more about so that your campaigns and comms are getting the very best return they can, here are the top six things every marketer or communication manager needs to consider.

There are 6 C’s we consider for every customer

1. Consent
2. Content
3. Cadence
4. Contacts
5. Consistency 
6. Change

All of these factors contribute to your sender’s reputation. Reputation in deliverability terms means the priority that mailbox providers give to email traffic. Put more simply, reputation influences whether emails land in the inbox or the spam folder. 

Missing the mark on just one of the 6 C’s leaves marketers or communication managers using self-service platforms wondering what on earth is happening to all the messages they are sending into the ether. Perhaps you have been burnt by one of these 6 C’s in the past. Luckily for you, not only are we going to talk you through the 6 C’s of deliverability, but at Dotdigital, we have in-house experts and services at our fingertips to offer advice on every single one of them.

1. Consent is the cornerstone of deliverability

Obtaining consent has always been important for successful email delivery, even before GDPR was introduced. Which is why we’ve always preached best practices in this area. If customers receive messages that they don’t expect or haven’t consented to, it’s only a matter of time before they hit the spam button or unsubscribe. Consent is also a crucial aspect of data privacy and regulations. Without it, building a successful relationship between your brand and your customers is unlikely. As we’ll go on to discuss, this is crucial, not just for the customer experience but also for deliverability’s sake.

At Dotdigital, we log something called ConsentInsight, which is all that you need to gain and demonstrate evidence of consent. This way, you can be sure to maintain excellent customer relationships, now and in the future.

But consent isn’t just about that initial sign-up – consent doesn’t last forever, and you need to keep an eye on your engagement to ensure that your contacts still want to hear from you. Your provider should have tools and services to help you continuously measure that continued consent, re-activate and re-engage lapsing subscribers, and know when it’s time to say goodbye to a contact who no longer wants your emails.

2. How deliverability is affected by content

Your customers and prospects shouldn’t just be content with your content – you want them to be delighted. And when we say content, we mean everything from the subject line, the friendly from address, the pre-header preview text, the body text, and even the imagery within your emails. 

Filters affect how much folks engage with your brand, but maybe not in the way you’d think. Most filters are a lot smarter than they used to be, and it’s less about whether specific words or content look “spammy” to the receivers and more about how recipients interact with your emails. 

Sometimes recipients don’t expect your emails, don’t recognize your brand, and think your emails look like spam. Your emails are unlikely to be opened, read, or clicked, or worse, they may be marked as spam or junk. 

This is a strong indicator to mailbox providers that your emails are unwanted, so they’re more likely to place them in the spam folder. The more relevant your content is to your targeted audience, the more engagement you’ll get from your emails and the better reputation you build up.

In a nutshell, content is the key to engagement, and engagement is key to deliverability. Pay attention to every aspect of your campaign content to make sure you’re delighting your contacts.

3. The effect cadence has on your reputation (especially during ramp up)

Sending frequency can impact your email inbox placement and delivery. It’s not just about the content of your email. For those who are unsure about the difference between delivery and deliverability, delivery refers to whether your email reaches the recipient’s inbox, while deliverability is concerned with its placement in the inbox. In other words, it determines whether your email makes it to the primary inbox or if it’s marked as spam.

How often you send can be a delicate balance. Too much, and your customers may unsubscribe. Too little, and they may forget you and become disengaged. 

Additionally, when new traffic is seen over a domain or IP that is inconsistent, it has the potential to look risky to the receiving mailbox provider. A common mistake is getting the send cadence wrong during the “ramp up” or “warm up” strategy phase when brands are still building the reputation of a new sending address. The problem is that going too fast during ramp up can damage reputation. Going too slow can cause you to lose it. Your provider should pay special attention during this crucial time to ensure everything goes to plan and continue to advise long after the first big campaign drops. 

4. Your deliverability is only as good as your contact data

The quality of the data you use for your contacts is crucial for both delivery and deliverability. Consider the following questions: 

• Where was the data sourced? 
• Is the information accurate enough to segment and personalize your emails, resulting in better engagement?
• How recent is the data? 
• Are your emails relevant to their situation, role, or interests?

The initial opt-in is a crucial aspect of consent: it’s an opportunity for you to set expectations around frequency and content, ensuring that recipients know what they’re signing up for, meaning they’re less likely to complain later. It’s also a key factor in keeping your contact data clean; using confirmed or double opt-in at the point of sign-up (where recipients need to click a link in an email to confirm they want to hear from you) means non-existent email addresses will be removed from your lists, and the email address signing up belongs to the person who entered it. 

We frequently see issues with bounces, complaints, or spam trap hits negatively affecting sender reputation and inbox placement because the email address that’s been added to the list (either accidentally or intentionally) either doesn’t exist or does not belong to the person or entity who filled out your subscription form. Using confirmed opt-in results in a more engaged source of contacts.

No matter the situation with your data, you or your provider should be asking the right questions and finding a way to move forward to make sure you get the absolute optimum ROI per email.

5. Nothing bolsters deliverability like consistency

Put yourself into the customer’s shoes. When you sign up for an email subscription, you already expect the messages you are going to receive – especially when the sender has followed best practice for consent and laid out the kinds of messages you will be receiving. 

When the consistency of this message varies, be this the content style or subject matter, customer engagement drops off because an expectation has suddenly not been met. Leave bait and switch to the fraudsters, focus on valuable content and be as consistent and dependable for your customers as you would like to see from your favorite brands. 

6. Monitor and refine your change management practices

Change is inevitable. You need to move with the times and keep up with your customer base and leverage the latest marketing program techniques. The last thing we want to do is dissuade you from changing when all successful businesses change to survive. But as we’ve outlined above, with consistency so integral to deliverability, if you made a change to your marketing program on any of the five other C’s, you could be putting your inbox placement and deliverability at risk. 

Luckily, we’re well-versed in change management. Every day, we help marketers adjust their campaigns and strategy, all whilst reducing the risk changes can pose. This is a vital piece of expertise most businesses can’t live without.

When to bring in the deliverability experts

The best way to think of all the 6 C’s of deliverability is as dominoes that have a long, viral-worthy domino effect. For example: the better your consent practice, the better your contact data, the more relevant content you can deliver, the better your engagement, the better your reputation, the better your deliverability.

Keep in mind that our experts are here to guide you in achieving those impressive engagement rates. Whether you’re launching a new campaign, troubleshooting an issue, or exploring a fresh approach, reach out to us for assistance. Remember, the £38 return on £1 spent is an impressive feat, but neglecting the 6 C’s of deliverability can hinder your full ROI potential. Stay informed and proactive in utilizing these 6 C’s of deliverability to optimize your campaign success.

In this blog post, we’re going to talk about where this question comes from and whether it’s still relevant when sending marketing emails today.

TL; DR

In most cases, the answer is: no, that one word will not or did not cause your email to go to junk.

Most mailbox providers rely on complex algorithms that create reputation scoring for sending IPs and domains, and take into account how their users are interacting with the emails – including giving the option to “complain” about an email by marking it as spam. Some mailboxes will fingerprint content and compare it to similar emails received, looking at how their users interacted with those. There are numerous factors that go into a mailbox provider’s decision about whether the message is a wanted email or unwanted spam.

Sure, if your reputation is in a very grey area – maybe your data acquisition isn’t as good as it could be, you’re not retiring inactive subscribers at the right time, or your content doesn’t match up with what they’re expecting – then sending something that looks a bit spammy could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, landing you in the junk. But for the most part, ending up in the spam folder is a symptom of a larger issue with your email marketing strategy and not just a word in a subject line.

However, we did recently find a regional exception to the rule – so keep reading…

The olden days

Email spam really started to become a problem in the mid-1990s, and ever since then mailbox providers have been inventing and implementing increasingly intelligent ways to filter or block it and ensure inboxes are usable.

The first attempts to block spam were solely IP-based – if you block the IP from whence the spam came, boom! – no more spam. However, spammers quickly got around this by regularly switching their IPs. They gain access to an IP (legitimately by renting it or illegitimately by accessing an unsecured server), send out a huge number of emails – often in the millions – and then abandon it once it becomes blocked. Then they go looking for the next IP and it all starts up again.

Mailbox providers soon realized that there were common themes and words used in spam emails. Original content filtering would assign points for using words like “free”, “cash”, “viagra”, etc. and if the email gained too many points then it would be junked or blocked.

Of course, every time mailbox providers make a move to block spam, the spammers change tactics. Filtering based on particular words quickly became ineffective as the spammers changed the spellings of words, inserted spaces between letters, or even used other characters that look similar to build words. That’s why mailbox providers took the next leap of looking at user interaction and building reputation scores for senders.

So the question, “is having X in my subject line going to make my email go to spam?”, comes from a place in history. Once upon a time in email land, it was really important and relevant to not use too many of these “spammy” trigger words in your emails, because it could indeed affect your inbox placement. Nowadays, marketers need much more awareness of how the data they’re sending to was collected and how their recipients are interacting with their emails if they want to maximize inbox placement and ROI for their campaigns.

The exception to the rule

All that being said…

When we investigated some issues with delivery to an APAC mailbox provider, we found that one of our clients had a problem with their usual email campaign send.

We know that big mailbox providers like Gmail, Microsoft, AOL, and Yahoo focus on user engagement when building reputation and deciding on inbox placement. For our APAC region clients, 80% of emails go to just five mailbox providers – including this particular mailbox provider. Given the scale of this mailbox provider in terms of size and infrastructure, we presumed they were using similar algorithms for intelligent filtering.

We suspected it could be due to reputation: an abuse-prone list acquisition process maybe, a semi-irregular sending pattern, or a limited amount of segmentation. This probably resulted in the email landing in junk. The subject line did include an element of gift card promotion, a popular product which spammers often peddle – so we concluded that recipients receiving the message were having to process its legitimacy and remember if they had signed up for the email, resulting in either confusion or outright annoyance. We believed it likely that recipients had complained to the mailbox provider who in turn took some action as a result.

On further investigation, we couldn’t pinpoint anything in the client’s strategy that was particularly problematic (apart from the somewhat suspect subject line) and they have great brand recognition. We escalated to see if we could get further information to help identify the problem.

Surprise twist: the response we received was not that this was caused by complex reputation problems. In fact, the messages were indeed blocked due to the spammy subject line and an emoji.

We worked with the mailbox provider to determine that it was a false positive and resolve the issue. But in today’s world where user engagement has become the focus, the whole team was surprised to learn that such a large (albeit regional) mailbox provider still utilized filtering that focused on subject lines and emojis. How much spam is getting through to their users, simply because it doesn’t look like spam? And how many legitimate and wanted emails are they preventing their users from receiving?

One size doesn’t fit all

There are a lot of general best practices which marketers should be following – like the 6 Cs of Deliverability – to broadly maximize the success of their email campaigns. However, the make-up of each contact list will be very different. It’s important to know the mailboxes you’re sending to, how they filter out spam from legitimate mail, and how to leverage their features to improve your strategy (as discussed in our Gmail deliverability post).

It can be challenging for marketers to pinpoint where in their strategy they are going wrong if they are landing in the junk folder, and a one-size-fits-all approach to deliverability advice is not going to work for every brand. That’s why our world-class deliverability team is on hand to provide tailored advice and consulting for dotdigital clients.

Fancy more deliverability advice? Grab your free guide here.