Your ecommerce store is losing potential revenue, and it's not because of your products or your website. It's because of your emails.
Learn what to look for and what you can do today.
The hidden deep sea monster in the ocean of ecommerce success often swims unnoticed, subtly eroding your revenue and customer satisfaction - it's the issue of email deliverability. Your ecommerce store might be meticulously designed, your products might be exceptional, and your customer service top-notch, yet there is an insidious force potentially hampering your success. This force operates behind the scenes, often undetected, gradually undermining your marketing efforts and customer relationships.
Emails are the lifeblood of ecommerce communication and marketing. They are the vessels that carry your brand's message, offers, and unique value proposition directly to your customers' inbox. However, what if these vessels are not reaching their intended destination? What if your crafted messages are not being seen, your offers not being utilized, and your brand's value not being appreciated?
The symptoms might be subtle: a gradual decline in open rates, an unexplained dip in sales, customer complaints about missed communications, or an uptick in cart abandonment rates. Your analytics might show that your emails are being sent, but the engagement and conversion metrics tell a different story. This is the silent ecommerce killer at work - email deliverability issues.
In 2023, the landscape of email deliverability has become increasingly challenging. It's reported that 1 in 6 legitimate, permission-based emails never land in the inbox, and a further 1 in 10 emails are not accepted by mailbox providers at all. This alarming scenario demands attention, not only for its immediate impact on sales but also for its long-term effects on customer trust and brand reputation.
Navigating this complex issue requires understanding, vigilance, and strategic action. It's high time we shine a light on this silent ecommerce killer: let's delve deeper into the world of email deliverability.
Recognizing Email Deliverability Issues
The first step in combating this silent ecommerce killer is recognizing the signs. It's not always easy to spot the problem, but there are a few subtle indicators that your emails might not be reaching their intended recipients.
Are you noticing a dip in your email open rates or click-through rates? Maybe your conversion rates from email campaigns are lower than industry standards, or they've been declining over time. Perhaps you've seen an increase in the number of bounced emails or spam complaints. These are all potential signs of an email deliverability issue.
If you suspect that your ecommerce store might be facing email deliverability problems, there are steps you can take to investigate. Start by monitoring your email analytics closely. Look for any sudden or gradual changes in key metrics such as open rates, bounce rates, and spam complaint rates.
Also, consider using email deliverability tools that can help you diagnose issues and provide insights into how your emails are being received by different email providers. Such tools can test whether your emails are likely to land in the inbox or the spam folder and provide actionable advice on how to improve your deliverability.
Remember, the first step to solving a problem is identifying that it exists. Once you've confirmed that you have an email deliverability issue, you can start taking measures to address it and reclaim your lost revenue.
High complaint rates, high bounce rates, low engagement, too frequent campaigns, sudden increase in email volume, and constantly switching between different email service providers. These are all factors that can seriously harm your email deliverability and, consequently, your sales.
The good news? There are strategies and practices you can implement to improve your email deliverability.
Warm-up your reputation profile by gradually increasing the number of emails you send out based on a specific schedule. This is particularly crucial if your subscriber list is higher than 50,000 contacts or if you've recently switched to a new email marketing platform.
Statistically, 30% of subscribers change email addresses once per year. Make sure your email list is up-to-date and regularly cleaned. Treat contacts who haven't interacted with your emails in the last 12 months as inactive, as they could potentially harm your sender's reputation.
The content of your emails, including the subject line, should match your recipient’s expectations. Good subject lines can lead to good open rates, which in turn will help improve your email delivery and campaign results.
Here are step-by-step instructions on how to check and implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records if you suspect your email deliverability has issues:
1. Identify Your Sending Domain: The first step is to identify the domain you're using to send emails. This is typically your website's domain.
2. Check Existing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Records: You can check your existing records using a DNS lookup tool like MXToolbox or similar. You can simply input your domain and select SPF, DKIM, or DMARC to check if these records already exist.
3. Configure SPF Record:
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a type of DNS record that identifies which mail servers are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain.
- If an SPF record doesn't exist, you'll need to create one. The record might look something like this: `v=spf1 include:_spf.your-email-service-provider.com ~all`
- Replace 'your-email-service-provider.com' with the domain of your email service provider. You can usually find this information in the email service provider's documentation.
- The SPF record should be added as a TXT record in your DNS settings.
4. Configure DKIM Record:
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is another DNS record that helps prevent email spoofing. It allows the receiver to check that an email claimed to come from a specific domain was indeed authorized by the owner of that domain.
- Your email service provider should give you the values for creating DKIM records. These are usually added as CNAME records in your DNS settings.
- A DKIM record might look like this: `mail._domainkey.yourdomain.com CNAME mail._domainkey.your-email-service-provider.com`
- Again, replace 'yourdomain.com' with your domain, and 'your-email-service-provider.com' with the information provided by your email service.
5. Configure DMARC Record:
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is a protocol that uses SPF and DKIM to determine the authenticity of an email message.
- A DMARC policy allows a sender to indicate that their messages are protected by SPF and/or DKIM, and tells a receiver what to do if neither of those authentication methods passes – such as junk or reject the message.
- DMARC records follow this general syntax: `v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]`
- Replace '[email protected]' with your email address where you'll receive DMARC reports.
- The DMARC record should be added as a TXT record to your DNS settings.
6. Propagate DNS Records: After adding these records, it may take some time (up to 48 hours) for these changes to propagate across the internet.
7. Check Email Headers: Once the records have propagated, you can check an email's headers to confirm that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are working correctly. This usually involves sending a test email to a specific address (like [email protected] or similar) that will reply with a report on your email authentication.
Please be aware that you will need access to your DNS settings to perform these actions. If you don't have this access, please contact your hosting provider or IT department. Always be careful when changing DNS records, as incorrect settings can cause issues with your website and email delivery.
Developer Squad© 2023. All rights reserved.