2021 has been a strange year (to say the least! ), and we’ve all felt the effects of the COVID-19 crisis in our personal and professional lives.

Individually, we’ve had to adjust to numerous uncertainties and live within new (and ever-changing) boundaries of what we can and cannot accomplish. Most companies have had comparable difficulties as a result of shuttered shop locations and decreased foot traffic after they reopened.

The peak shopping season is traditionally from mid-October through the end of December, and includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other holiday buying. With many individuals hesitant to visit establishments in person this year, companies must concentrate more than ever on their online presence and advertise themselves via email marketing.

Because so many firms depend on digital marketing this year, we should predict an even higher growth in worldwide email traffic, putting a greater demand on Mailbox Providers’ resources. Marketers should be aware that Mailbox Providers may struggle to handle this surge in email traffic, therefore they should implement greater rate limits and use stricter spam filtering criteria. This does not imply that email marketing will be useless; rather, you will need to be more cautious if you want to optimize results.

Checklist for Email Deliverability

Start planning and preparing now to capitalize on the 2021 shopping season and optimize delivery success. Check off these criteria before sending your next marketing email to analyze the health of your email marketing operation.

To begin, make certain that the persons on your list:

• have expressly requested to be included to your mailing list
• have received at least one of your emails during the previous year
• have contacted you in the previous 12 months (like opened an email, clicked a link, or made a purchase)

Check that your online forms:

• are protected against spambot assaults by reCAPTCHA
• Set up a welcome email for new subscribers to manage their expectations regarding email content and frequency of delivery.
• Use a Subscription Center to immediately gather crucial information from your audience.

Examine your account’s technical setup:

• Check that DKIM authentication is enabled for your email domain.
• Make certain that both your “RSVP” and “reply-to” addresses can receive messages.

You may use the following methods to make the most of your email list:

• Use list segmentation to structure sends depending on engagement, and send fewer emails to unengaged subscribers.
• Insights into monthly email interaction patterns based on delivery rates, unsubscribe rates, and bounce rates
• list segments to detect and opt-out inactive receivers who have not acted in over a year

After you’ve completed those tasks, you can go on to the exciting part of developing tailored and relevant content that your audience will look forward to receiving. You may also A/B test your subject lines to discover which are the most appealing and likely to stand out in a busy inbox.

Finally, we must keep in mind that, due to personal and global conditions, as well as an increase in mail in their inbox, people are more likely to experience mail weariness. Reduced overlap in mailings when the same audience gets comparable email content in a short period of time is one technique to prevent mail fatigue.

Wrap up

As we approach 2022, marketers must keep a laser-like focus on reaching their users’ inboxes. To maintain a strong sender reputation, it’s more vital than ever to assess how you collect emails, safeguard your sign-up forms from spambots, efficiently manage your lists, target your engaged audience, and delete inactive contacts from your lists.

Following strong deliverability techniques, as well as being consistent while offering relevant and tailored information to an engaged audience, is essential for effective email marketing. Keep this deliverability checklist on your desk to help you remember these recommended practices and reach out to your audience when it counts the most.