Dark Arts of Email Deliverability Brett Schenker, Sr. Deliverability Specialist, EveryAction #DMAWDigitalDay

Agenda The State of Deliverability Data Why This Matters to Nonprofits What You Need to Know and What Can You Do The Future of Spam & Email #DMAWDigitalDay

So why are we here? #DMAWDigitalDay

The State of Email According to the Radicati group… 293.6 billion emails a day Email users will grow from 3.930 billion users in 2019 to 4.371 billion by 2023 3.4 million emails a second 39 emails per person a day (56.1% of the world has internet access) I included this so it’s clear the immense task that spam filtering and email providers are under #DMAWDigitalDay

What percentage of email is unwanted? #DMAWDigitalDay

97% of all email sent over the internet is unwanted – Microsoft 85% of incoming mail is “abusive email” - MAAWG Email is in the eye of the beholder. If they donated, if they volunteer, they can still see email as spam #DMAWDigitalDay

Fun fact! The first spam message was sent May 3, 1978. But how does spam software work? Fun fact! The first spam message was sent May 3, 1978. #DMAWDigitalDay

Email Filtering Has Evolved! #DMAWDigitalDay

Email Filtering Has Evolved Key Words Ex. Viagra, Millions, Oprah! #DMAWDigitalDay

Email Filtering Has Evolved Key Words -> Context Ex. Get Viagra for FREE! #DMAWDigitalDay

Email Filtering Has Evolved Key Words -> Context -> Individual Behavior Ex. Opens, Forward, Place in Folder Shift by Hotmail, Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo in the last year #DMAWDigitalDay

Why does this matter to you? #DMAWDigitalDay

20.18% of email was delivered to spam folders monthly in 2018 Down from about 4 percentage points from 2017 2017 was 24.16 #DMAWDigitalDay

24.67% and 33.59%, respectively went to spam during #GivingTuesday & EOY campaigns Giving Tuesday - 2017- 20.34% End of Year (day) - 2017 21.36% End of year (weeks) - 2017 - 18.9%, 2018 - 25.91% #DMAWDigitalDay

Source: 2019 Nonprofit Email Deliverability Study 0% Spam 1% Spam 18.21% Spam INBOX 2,400,000 2.400,000 OPEN RATE (14%) 336,000 332,640 268,195 CLICK RATE (0.44%) 10,560 10.454 8,429 PAGE COMPLETION (14%) 1478 1463 1180 TOTAL RAISED (AV. DONATION $70) $103.488 $102,453 $82,604 M+R said donations were down 8%, we used that to calculate average donation compared to last year That’s a loss of close to $21,000 due to spam Source: 2019 Nonprofit Email Deliverability Study #DMAWDigitalDay

Dollars Raised through Email in 2018 by Nonprofits $459,868,181.50 #DMAWDigitalDay

Potential Dollars Raised through Email in 2018 $552,669,580.53 #DMAWDigitalDay

Dollars Potentially Lost through Email in 2018 $92,801,399.03 #DMAWDigitalDay

What you need to know. #DMAWDigitalDay

The Technical Spam Software Spam Software Rules Blacklists IP Reputation Authentication Manage bounces Domain Reputation Traffic Speed of Delivery Total Server Connections ….Constantly changing and updating! #DMAWDigitalDay

Phrases, Formatting, Links Untrustworthy links Odd formatting Too little text Poor HTML and CSS - Litmus/Email on Acid ….Constantly changing and updating! #DMAWDigitalDay

What to do? Increased Engagement Improves Chances of Delivery Get the basics down first What’s your goal? How does your email program reflect your brand? Don’t Focus on List Size Focus on Engagement Opt-In Welcome Series/Ramp Up Volume Measure Clicks, Opens, and Conversions Engagement is key today. It should be your primary focus as far as metrics to ensure good inbox placement Increased Engagement Improves Chances of Delivery #DMAWDigitalDay

What is considered “active” varies between services What Really Matters - Interaction Positive Open Reply Read length Negative Click spam/unsubscribe Delete Don’t open Open and quickly delete ….Clicks aren’t tracked... What is considered “active” varies between services #DMAWDigitalDay

What Can You Measure? Opens Clicks Seed Accounts – Return Path Spam Traps Comcast – Pristine AOL – Pristine, has recycled Microsoft – Measures dead accounts Google – Doesn’t use abandoned accounts Example: 17k list - 20.56% open rate 4,040 gmail - 4.38% 18k list - 22.70% open rate 4037 gmail - 20.63% open rate #DMAWDigitalDay

What Gets Measured, Gets Done Active List - 17,081 Open Rate - 31.1% Total Opens - 5,314 Unique Open Rate - 24.8% Unique Opens - 4,231 Inactive List - 159,622 Open Rate - 1.90% Total Opens - 3,026 Unique Open Rate - 1.60% Unique Opens - 2,491 Big list is 9.35x bigger 75.61% more total opens 69.85% more unique opens Example: 17k list - 20.56% open rate 4,040 gmail - 4.38% 18k list - 22.70% open rate 4037 gmail - 20.63% open rate #DMAWDigitalDay

Smaller blasts open percent near equal to mistake’s large blast   AOL Gmail Hotmail Yahoo Volume Open% 18053 25.31% 2773 8.94% 4367 45.80% 313 20.45% 2984 7.81% 18483 25.41% 2875 9.50% 4412 43.22% 317 22.71% 3089 10.29% 18682 28.53% 2928 14.04% 4392 41.67% 319 29.15% 3146 15.92% 17128 26.37% 2715 12.38% 4018 39.50% 267 23.22% 2905 13.25% 163,578 7.20% 17108 4.32% 52251 9.81% 11167 2.64% 28631 3.05% 18350 23.31% 3048 13.62% 4037 27.59% 342 34.50% 3248 14.90% 18352 24.77% 3049 19.09% 4032 22.32% 27.19% 3252 20.60% 18362 27.06% 3050 24.07% 4026 23.75% 28.95% 3254 23.08% 18407 26.67% 3058 24.53% 4036 21.63% 28.36% 3258 26.09% 22.70% 3057 20.09% 20.63% 23.98% 18.97% 18430 22.66% 3059 17.75% 4040 18.47% 26.90% 3260 17.61% 20784 20.36% 3301 1606% 5140 14.30% 400 27.50% 3552 17.43% 13,763 9.58% 2,151 6.60% 3,617 7.66% 244 7.79% 2,301 6.35% 15,956 18.66% 2,639 18.95% 3,761 8.69% 265 23.02% 2,818 19.48% 2,003 32.50% 321 22.12% 253 45.85% 71 32.39% 34.38% 1,861 1.83% 245 4.08% 788 0.13% 45 0% 335 3.28% 16,247 22.99% 2,660 28.31% 3,918 8.09% 24.34% 2,826 27.25% 2,118 39.90% 34.63% 275 47.27% 77 42.86% 329 36.78% 14,411 17.47% 2,587 14.61% 2,433 6.33% 25.84% 2,728 13.78% 246 33.74% 4 25.00% 235 34.47% 1,549 23.05% 10.57% 64 40.63% 272 9.56% 1,462 28.25% 202 25.74% 208 32.21% 38 47.37% 198 26.77% 54.55% 196 54.08% 16,715 18.49% 2,738 21.22% 3,855 4.12% 296 21.62% 2,907 21.98% 808 23.51% 128 28.91% 112 23.21% 28 35.71% 116 36.21% 1,495 31.37% 204 33.82% 224 28.57% 52 59.62% 197 38.07% 17,139 20.56% 2,786 4,040 4.38% 307 2,967 25.85% Smaller blasts open percent near equal to mistake’s large blast #DMAWDigitalDay

Inactive emails are like zombies. One or two are ok but when you get a hoard, you’ve got issues. #DMAWDigitalDay

More tips Include a single-click unsubscribe Don’t use old lists Send relevant email Don’t send messages to unsubscribes Work with your provider Know the law GDPR, CASL, California’s new law #DMAWDigitalDay

Confirm Opt-In! It’s a Security Issue More tips It’s a security risk not to. #DMAWDigitalDay

The Future More tailored messages – Use Data Wearable/Mobile Longer read time – Cable vs. On Demand Greater emphasis on Authentication Interactive Emails/Agile Email Augmented Reality #DMAWDigitalDay

Questions? #DMAWDigitalDay

For questions, contact deliverability@everyaction.com Tweet me! @bhschenker #DMAWDigitalDay