I was delivering a presentation on email marketing last week for a group of homebuilders in Philadelphia, when one attendee threw out the following question:
“What can we do to make sure our email blasts get through to the inbox - and are not sent to our recipients’ ‘junk mail’ folders?”
Ahhh…the classic “deliverability” question.
At first, I told him to avoid including any information in his emails about those little blue pills whose name starts with a “v” and are used for…well, you know - but then I realized he may be looking for an answer that’s a bit deeper.
Problem is, there’s no easy answer. Email deliverability is not an exact science. The rules change often, and vary depending on your recipients’ Internet Service Providers (such as Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, etc.).
But there are a number of things you can do to tip the scales in your favor. I’ll definitely touch on others in future columns, but here’s one simple method you may not have thought about.
ASK your customers to add your email address to their “trusted senders” list or address book!
Let me explain:
E-mail inboxes worldwide have become infested with “spam” (junk e-mail) – and recipients hate it (don’t you?). So over the past few years, large Internet companies like AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, etc. have designed ways to prevent spam from being delivered to your inbox.
They’ve created email filters for you, so that every time you receive an e-mail that they believe you won’t want, they send it directly into your “junk email” folder and not into your inbox.
While this method has proven very effective in blocking most of the spam we receive, there is one catch: the spam filter will likely block some messages that you want to read – and unless you check your “junk mail” folder from time to time, you’ll never even know you received them.
When customers provide you with their email address, they obviously want to receive information from you via email. But many of these customers never hear from you again, because your emails are trapped in their spam filters!
Fortunately, there is a solution. Find out the email address you use as the “from” address when sending email blasts. If your customers add this address to their address book, safe senders list, trusted senders list, etc., then your e-mails will ALWAYS get through.
Make sure your customers know this! Upon registration - whether online or in person - encourage them to take a minute to ensure that they receive the emails they’ve asked for, by taking the simple step outlined above.
Hey - if you’re spending money on email marketing…you may as well get the biggest bang for your buck, right?
Tags: email marketing, home building, real estate, sales tips
