Fighting Spam and Improving Deliverability: How to Ensure Maximum Effectiveness of Mass Mailings

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Statistics suggest that in 2024, the number of email users will reach 4.37 billion people, making it the largest digital marketing channel in the world. It is profitable for businesses to invest in this method of attracting customers.

In order to reach a larger audience, companies start sending out mass emails. This allows them to increase sales, quickly spread brand news among subscribers, and maintain contact with customers. Mass mailings are usually carried out using special tools that automate the routine process.

In this article, we will introduce you to the features, types and rules of mass mailings. We will tell you how to increase their effectiveness and how to avoid spam, and we will give several specific examples.

What is mass mailing​

Mass mailing is sending the same or similar email messages to a large number of recipients. Mass mailing is sent to all subscribers in the database or to different groups with certain characteristics.

This type of mailing is similar to spam, but it is still a marketing tool. Letters are sent only to those people who have agreed to receive brand messages, and they can unsubscribe from the mailing at any time.

Mass mailings from a marketing point of view are thoughtful content created after a detailed analysis of the target audience. Spam is sent to everyone without taking into account people's interests, most often the database for such mailings is stolen or bought.

Mass mailings are necessary in order to:

• Increase the company's sales;
• Promptly send out promotions, discounts, news and notifications about important events;
• Increase company awareness and maintain contact with customers;
• Conduct research into audience behavior.

What types of mass mailings exist?​

Depending on the tasks at hand, there are different types of mass mailings:

• Advertising - to inform about current discounts or brand promotions. This type of mass mailing is usually divided into several letters, which are then combined into one chain.
• Informational - informing clients about important company news, new products, changes in work, events, etc.
• Content-based – informative letters that build trust in brand experts among clients.
• Triggered - sent when the user performs certain actions: order/subscription (after which additional products are offered), forgetting an item in the shopping cart, etc. This is always a personalized email.
• Transactional - emails that are sent automatically, such as payment confirmations, order confirmations, messages, delivery status, etc.
• Onboarding - emails that introduce new users to the company with engaging content.
• Situational - used to invite users to brand events or congratulate them on a holiday.
• Research - used when a company wants to know the opinions of users, for example, to collect feedback on a product or service.

Rules for sending mass emails​

Please follow the general rules for sending emails:

• The sender name should be clear and the subject line should reflect the content.
• It is better to collect email addresses for mailing yourself; it is essential to obtain consent for mailing.
• Make the design of the letters attractive. Do not use a large number of images or animation. If the subscriber has a bad Internet connection, the images simply will not load.
• Add a call to action (CTA) button to your email.
• Check your emails before sending them to all subscribers.
• Don't send out newsletters too often (one or two per month is enough) so as not to annoy your subscribers.
• Provide accurate company information and include contact details in your email signature.

How to Create Mass Mailings to Avoid Getting Spammed​

Bulk emails can raise suspicions from email providers. Therefore, it is important not to exceed the established limits, follow the rules and make the necessary settings so that your emails do not become spam.

• Get subscribers to double-opt-in. This can be done using the double opt-in method, which requires users to confirm their email address when they receive their first email. This method prevents inactive addresses from appearing in the database and spam traps.
• Pay attention to the domain reputation: check if the IP address is blacklisted. The worse the reputation, the more likely it is that your emails will end up in the spam folder. Use special services to monitor this indicator. It is also important to regularly clean your database of inactive addresses.
• Set up SPF, DMARC, and DKIM records for outgoing email.
• Always add an unsubscribe link to your email signature. Users may not find this link and complain about spam. It's better to let them unsubscribe.
• Don't send too many emails at once. This signals to the ISP that the sender is sending emails to people who haven't given their consent to receive them. If you're planning a mass mailing, warm up the domain gradually.
• Avoid stop words in your emails. If your email mentions instant earnings and exclusive offers, the chances of your email ending up in spam are very high. Avoid using words like “only today,” “urgent,” “discount,” or “low price.”

How to increase the effectiveness of mass mailings​

• Personalize your emails and use segmentation of people into different groups, such as age, occupation, interests, shopping preferences, etc. Avoid randomly sending the same content to everyone. You can make a selection of products based on the user's previous orders or send personalized offers to a group of users with purchases worth more than 10,000 rubles.
• Analyze email delivery results and adjust your mailing list. Check how often users open emails and which CTAs they click on more often. Make changes to the content based on the results.
• Build trust with your subscribers instead of trying to sell straight away. Send helpful and informative emails to help them get to know your brand and products.
• Run a reactivation campaign - contact subscribers who have not responded to your emails for a long time. Try to revive their interest and, if this fails, remove them from your database.
• Use automation tools in mass mailing services - they are adapted to the provider's requirements and allow you to quickly and efficiently create letter templates.
• Test different email variations: change subject lines, preheaders, buttons, and design to see what works best. A/B testing can help with this.

Possibilities of bulk mailing services​

Mass mailing services are the "right hand of a marketer", especially when it comes to sending messages to thousands of people. These are legal and very simple tools that save specialists' time and eliminate common mistakes. What they include:

• Email Builder. This is a useful tool with ready-made modules that simplify the composition of emails. Knowledge of HTML is usually not required, because specialized template libraries are available. For example, the CDP Altcraft Platform editor allows you to add AMP elements, responsive markup blocks, videos, banners, menus, lists, and more. In addition, it has its own image library.
• Mailing analytics. Each mailing service includes an analysis tool. From standard analytics, including data on email openings and clicks, to special reports, which indicate information about the domain, sender, undelivered and rejected emails. In addition, click maps are provided to understand the optimal placement of buttons in emails, calculating the conversion rate and the number of orders.
• Automation of mailing. Automation of mass online mailings is done simply using a service that allows you to set up regular, trigger and other types of email chains. Often, it is enough to create a script once and make changes to it as needed.
• Personalized emails. Sending out fully personalized emails is possible with the help of a mailing service. This is usually done through variables: the name, number of accumulated points, discounts and other data about the user are substituted into the email. Advanced tools can collect selections of recommended products for users and determine the most effective time to send follow-up emails.
• Database collection. Mass mailing services have the ability to create forms for collecting email addresses (usually they are posted on the company's website). The mailing service can also be integrated with the company's internal data storage system.

Conclusion​

Bulk email is a way to communicate with a large audience by sending emails to hundreds or thousands of people. It can be used by brands to increase sales, raise awareness, notify subscribers about changes in operations, or conduct necessary research.

But mass mailing can become spam if you don't follow the rules. Therefore, it is recommended to monitor the domain reputation, provide users with the ability to unsubscribe from the mailing at any time, and gradually increase the number of addresses in the database.

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