Content:
EMAIL MARKETING AND WEB ANALYTICS INTEGRATION
Information on the behavior of your email newsletter recipients can be obtained in two ways:
Typically, analytics built into the email submission system provide only basic information about shipments:
How to integrate web analytics into email newsletters
In fact, all integration with metrics / analysts boils down to the formation of special URLs from your letter, and after receiving a transition to the site at these addresses, statistics will be kept.
Here it is worth mentioning right away that the emails must be in the html format. And that it is impossible to inject the java analytics code into the body of the letter, since scripts in emails in 99% of cases are not executed by modern email clients.
A number of parameters are added to the web links, which are read by the metric or analytics executable code after navigating to the page. It is noteworthy that the parameters do not change the page address, but only supplement it.
For example, links from an email should lead visitors to a sales promotion page located at / sale-2021 /
Then, with additional parameters, the link will look like:
... / sale-2021 /? utm_source = newsletter & utm_campaign = My_Campaign & utm_medium = email & utm_term = sale_2021_11_14 & utm_content = newsletter-14-11-2021
Parameters? Utm_source = newsletter & utm_campaign = My_Campaign & utm_medium = email & utm_term = sale_2021_11_14 & utm_content = newsletter-14-11-2021,
transmitted after the address of the page itself, it is precisely the metrics that are used in the work. There is no need to create another page with such a complex URL, the page itself remains at your site / sale-2021 / and works as usual.
The only requirement is that the analytics code that will read the parameters is installed on the specified page.
Some services, such as Unisender, offer automatic integration with some of the popular web analytics services.
Let's take a closer look at URL parameters in mailing lists.
Integration of email marketing and web analytics Google Analytics
By the way: Google offers an automatic link generation tool for its service.
The required fields are Website URL and Campaign Source.
Supported labels are shown in the table.
The parameters are connected using special characters:
That is, for example, several important data can be passed in the utm_content parameter.
So utm_content = nl_14-11-2021 can later be parsed into several components:
The more seriously you approach the issue of recording data in URLs in mailing lists, the easier it will be to segment and organize the information received.
Integration of email marketing and web analytics Yandex.Metrica
Yandex.Metrica also supports reading additional parameters.
So, the Yandex metric officially takes into account the transitions from mailing lists, for this you need to correctly form the URL inside the email:
If necessary, as in the case of Google Analytics, you can organize the analysis of data from the URL based on regular expressions (from other UTM tags). That is, with the correct formation of link addresses in emails, you can get a more detailed picture of your email campaigns.
The most accurate list of supported URL tags for Metrica can be found in the official documentation of the service.
Where:
HOW OFTEN TO SEND EMAILS
The frequency of sending emails directly depends on the type and type of content (product) offered, as well as on the interests and needs of the audience.
In email newsletters, the following types of letters (mailings) are distinguished by content:
Transactional
These are letters confirming a particular action on the part of both users and the service itself (the so-called transaction): the order is paid, registration on the site is completed, the product is awaiting delivery, etc.
Such letters, as a rule, should come instantly, as they contain very important information for the user. Waiting of several minutes is acceptable (if the service servers are overloaded).
Trigger
In many ways, these letters are similar to transactional ones, since their sending depends on an event, however, they differ from the latter in their commercial focus.
Trigger ones include letters sent, for example, after a long absence of a client on the site ("return letters"), telling about the site, store or service immediately after registration (greeting letters), letters of congratulations (happy birthday, what -or a holiday, anniversary, etc.) as well as letters of thanks (triggered after purchases), etc.
Such letters are sent in the same way as transactional ones immediately after the occurrence of a certain event, on the eve of such (before the holiday) or with a certain delay (letters with reminders or to return to the site).
Some market research advises companies to send trigger emails according to the following schedule:
Information
Email newsletters with informational or entertainment content can be sent daily. The only condition for effective mailing is the usefulness of this material for the target audience.
For example, if you publish a couple of new materials a day, then sending out a daily announcement is pointless. In this case, you can choose a more adequate period, for example, once a week or even once every two weeks.
If you own an Internet service and you have something to share with your users (talk about innovations, convey interesting technical information, etc.), then mailings can be done even once a month or less often (as useful information accumulates).
Commercial
Most of the experts in the email marketing world advise following the golden rule of sending sales emails:
"Not more than 1 time per week, but at least 1 time per month".
In fact, it all depends on the activity of your subscribers. Although many marketers can confirm that over time, the audience's interest in your products and services fades (as an example, you can use the schedule from triggered mailings), however, in order to retain customers, it is recommended to send mail at least once a month, even to the base of old customers.
If you are combining sales letters with informational letters, then it is recommended to observe the ratio of "one to five". That is, each commercial (advertising) letter should be sent after 4-5 informational letters.
Analysis of the frequency of email campaigns
All of the above recommendations should not be taken as dogma. Only a thorough analysis of your own audience can improve the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
It is imperative to test different shipping frequencies and combine different approaches. As a sample, you can send messages to various groups of users, selected based on certain criteria (gender, age, interests, etc.), and track open rates, bounce rates, and conversion rates in pivot tables.
You can use special A / B testing services (split tests), which are very often offered by the mass mailing services themselves.
HOW TO SEND EMAIL WITHOUT ADDRESS VERIFICATION
Address confirmation in bulk mailings to customer bases can be understood as two options:
The second option is needed in order to make sure of your decency. Most often, email marketing services require a simple confirmation of the address (for example, they send an email to your mailing address with a special link or confirmation code, by clicking on which or pasting the code in a special form, you will automatically confirm the ownership of the mail account). Sometimes additional questions are possible or even filling out a questionnaire with subsequent verification of the client. Confirmation of the mailing address from which mailings will be carried out is also necessary in order to exclude situations when unscrupulous customers indicate fake email addresses, misleading end users. Such messages are made not only to increase the rate of open letters, but also for phishing attacks.
It should be noted right away that both options for sending letters without confirmation cannot be attributed to legitimate. All self-respecting mailing services have long been working according to a legal scheme with verification of the sender's address and collect (or accept) a subscriber base only if there is confirmation from the user. Letters are checked for spam and possible sanctions from filters before mass sending. If during the process of sending your mailings a lot of complaints are received, the account may be blocked.
How to send emails without confirming your email address
HOW TO CHECK THE EMAIL DATABASE FOR EXISTENCE
Most often, the need to check the existence of an email address arises when analyzing a large database of email addresses collected to organize a mailing list. Sometimes, of course, you may need to check only 1-2 addresses for other reasons.
It should be noted right away that none of the methods described below can guarantee a 100% result. The absence of a response from the receiving side may be caused by your sending falling into the "spam" category, or the letter may be filtered by the mail server software at any stage of the transfer (for example, the "SpamAssassin" filter for Apache-based servers, DMARS policy at Mail.ru, etc.) etc.) The server of the receiving side may be unavailable only temporarily (for example, due to a failure or reconfiguration), etc.
In addition, the mail account to which you send letters may simply not be used (the password was forgotten or lost, the account was simply abandoned, etc.), and it is extremely difficult to verify this fact in general.
Verification methods
HOW EMAIL SPAM IS DETERMINED
Spam refers to all unsolicited messages received through various technical channels. These are SMS messages, emails, and messages received through popular instant messengers (instant messaging applications).
Below we will focus on the main criteria that characterize emails (email campaigns) as spam.
What parameters determine the spam content of an email?
Modern mail services, especially large ones, such as Gmail, etc., have long been using complex algorithms based on heuristics that work out many rules to protect users of mail accounts from receiving unwanted messages. These include:
Due to the fact that special rating systems are used to assess the quality of mailings in relation to companies or individual customers who send bulk emails, some postal services provide special tools for studying their statistics and analyzing the effectiveness of events. For example, the Postmaster Tools for Gmail (the Google mail service provides, among other things, detailed information about the technical requirements for bulk shipments) and others.
HOW TO AVOID SPAMMING YOUR EMAIL NEWSLETTER
The more sophisticated spam distribution schemes become, the more stringent the security policy of mail services becomes. Each major market player tries to develop and implement their own product that will be as effective as possible in the fight against unwanted emails. What is the reason for this attention to the issue of spam? The higher the comfort of using the mail service, the higher the likelihood that the end user will choose this particular product for permanent use, and along with it other services of the company (such giants as Gmail and etc.).
Due to the fact that the algorithms for combating spam regularly change (and sometimes even adapt for a specific user based on the analysis of his actions by artificial intelligence), and the requirements for the parameters of emails are processed and supplemented with new conditions, the measures indicated below may not work or work not in all cases of mailings. None of the bulk email service can provide a 100% deliverability guarantee (emails may not be delivered not only because they fall into the spam category, but also because some accounts no longer exist or are not available at the moment mailing list).
How to avoid spamming bulk emails
WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO SEND EMAIL NEWSLETTERS
There are many studies on this topic by large (and not so) companies. However, it is worth mentioning right away that the open rate of letters and the activity of the target audience depends on many factors and trusting someone's accumulated statistics, without being convinced of its effectiveness on your own experience, is a big risk.
Dependence of the time of mailings on the day of the week
You can build on the weekly cycle. If the staff has a full-fledged work week of 5-2, then on Monday employees are very reluctant to be distracted by reading extraneous letters (most often meetings are held on these days, various summing up of the past week, setting tasks for the next week, etc.). Starting from Tuesday, when the workload drops, the letter open rate is actively growing (this is evidenced by the statistics of popular services for sending emails, however, this does not mean that your target audience will have the same schedule, it is like "the average temperature in the hospital"), until Thursday. On Friday, the audience is already showing less interest, and on the weekends, the open rate is almost half of the weekly indicator.
Most often, emails advertising events or parties are opened just before weekends or holidays. But when your target audience (target audience) has a weekend, you can find out only from questionnaires or from test shipments (today many large companies are switching to a floating schedule, which significantly violates the harmony with the 5/2 schedule and sending letters on Friday).
The ideal email marketing campaign is ahead of payday. It is from the availability of free money that a potential buyer is repelled and therefore does not miss interesting offers.
Dependence of mailing on the time of day
It is not recommended to send sales letters at night, as recipients are likely to ignore them in the morning. However, night time is great for sending newsletters when the servers of the mailing service are relatively free. If you are sending out really interesting materials, users will definitely open them.
During the daytime, do not discount the typical work schedule. Before work (while the employee is on the way), the user reads personal mail. This is approximately from 7 to 9 am. The beginning of the working day is spent on being included in the work process, from about 10 to 14 hours employees are actively busy with work and are not distracted by reading extraneous letters, then lunch comes, and only from 2 to 3 in the afternoon, when lunch is over, and the work rhythm is not yet recovered, you can offer distracting information, such as business letters. After 15 o'clock, advertisements will open and read well, since the staff is already waiting for the end of the working day and is looking for something to be distracted by. Starting at 7 pm, letters can already go nowhere, as people go home from work. But if your letter came to the address,
How to create your own effective mailing schedule
In order to calculate the time of activity of your target audience as accurately as possible, you can use the service of collecting statistics from the store's website (if any). The peak of traffic to the resource can be safely considered a good time for sending promotional items.
All of the above points may not work in your particular case. In order to build your own schedule of effective mailings, you need to be patient and approach the issue systematically:
- Email marketing and web analytics integration
- How often to send emails
- How to send email without address verification
- How to check the email database for existence
- How email spam is determined
- How to avoid spamming your email newsletter
- What is the best time to send email newsletters
EMAIL MARKETING AND WEB ANALYTICS INTEGRATION
Information on the behavior of your email newsletter recipients can be obtained in two ways:
- through internal tools for analysis by the mailing service (provided in the service control panel);
- through third-party analytics services (Google Analytics, Yandex.Metrica, etc.).
Typically, analytics built into the email submission system provide only basic information about shipments:
- the number of messages sent,
- number of unsubscriptions,
- number of complaints (pressing the "spam" button).
How to integrate web analytics into email newsletters
In fact, all integration with metrics / analysts boils down to the formation of special URLs from your letter, and after receiving a transition to the site at these addresses, statistics will be kept.
Here it is worth mentioning right away that the emails must be in the html format. And that it is impossible to inject the java analytics code into the body of the letter, since scripts in emails in 99% of cases are not executed by modern email clients.
A number of parameters are added to the web links, which are read by the metric or analytics executable code after navigating to the page. It is noteworthy that the parameters do not change the page address, but only supplement it.
For example, links from an email should lead visitors to a sales promotion page located at / sale-2021 /
Then, with additional parameters, the link will look like:
... / sale-2021 /? utm_source = newsletter & utm_campaign = My_Campaign & utm_medium = email & utm_term = sale_2021_11_14 & utm_content = newsletter-14-11-2021
Parameters? Utm_source = newsletter & utm_campaign = My_Campaign & utm_medium = email & utm_term = sale_2021_11_14 & utm_content = newsletter-14-11-2021,
transmitted after the address of the page itself, it is precisely the metrics that are used in the work. There is no need to create another page with such a complex URL, the page itself remains at your site / sale-2021 / and works as usual.
The only requirement is that the analytics code that will read the parameters is installed on the specified page.
Some services, such as Unisender, offer automatic integration with some of the popular web analytics services.
Let's take a closer look at URL parameters in mailing lists.
Integration of email marketing and web analytics Google Analytics
By the way: Google offers an automatic link generation tool for its service.
The required fields are Website URL and Campaign Source.
Supported labels are shown in the table.
| Name | Description | Field name in Url | Usage example |
| Campaign Source | Here you can specify the traffic source | utm_source | utm_source = google (that is, the traffic source is Google) |
| Campaign Medium | Clarification to the first source (meaning, for example, an intermediary or channel for disseminating information) | utm_medium | utm_medium = email (here, for example, the distribution channel through email newsletters is used) |
| Campaign Name | The name or title of an advertising campaign, used, for example, to identify a specific newsletter | utm_campaign | utm_campaign = spring_sale_2021 (easy to understand this is spring 2016 sale) |
| Campaign Term | Google offers to indicate here paid keywords from search results, is used for running Google Adwords advertising campaigns | utm_term | utm_term = running + shoes (that is, contextual advertising was bought according to the words running and shoes) |
| Campaign Content | Additional content that can be used to identify individual links within an email (especially relevant for A / B testing) | utm_content | utm_content = logolink (link from the logo in the letter) or utm_content = textlink (link from the email body), etc. |
The parameters are connected using special characters:
- ? - is placed immediately after the page URL and indicates that further additional parameters will be transferred,
- & - is placed between parameters, serves to combine them into one request to the page.
That is, for example, several important data can be passed in the utm_content parameter.
So utm_content = nl_14-11-2021 can later be parsed into several components:
- letters starting with the combination nl will mean (from the abbreviation newsletter) newsletters, and the prefix pr (short for promotion) will mean promotional mailings;
- the four digits at the end can be interpreted as the year of the mailing, or the full date can be used.
The more seriously you approach the issue of recording data in URLs in mailing lists, the easier it will be to segment and organize the information received.
Integration of email marketing and web analytics Yandex.Metrica
Yandex.Metrica also supports reading additional parameters.
So, the Yandex metric officially takes into account the transitions from mailing lists, for this you need to correctly form the URL inside the email:
- utm_source = email or utm_source = e-mail, will indicate that the source of the referral is an email;
- from = email or from = e-mail - will duplicate the specified information;
- _openstat - in this label you should specify your email in the "Advertising service" or "Placement" field.
If necessary, as in the case of Google Analytics, you can organize the analysis of data from the URL based on regular expressions (from other UTM tags). That is, with the correct formation of link addresses in emails, you can get a more detailed picture of your email campaigns.
The most accurate list of supported URL tags for Metrica can be found in the official documentation of the service.
Where:
- utm_source - referral source;
- utm_medium - marketing tool;
- utm_campaign - the name of the advertising campaign;
- utm_content - additional information;
- utm_term is a specific passphrase.
HOW OFTEN TO SEND EMAILS
The frequency of sending emails directly depends on the type and type of content (product) offered, as well as on the interests and needs of the audience.
In email newsletters, the following types of letters (mailings) are distinguished by content:
- transactional,
- trigger,
- informational,
- commercial.
Transactional
These are letters confirming a particular action on the part of both users and the service itself (the so-called transaction): the order is paid, registration on the site is completed, the product is awaiting delivery, etc.
Such letters, as a rule, should come instantly, as they contain very important information for the user. Waiting of several minutes is acceptable (if the service servers are overloaded).
Trigger
In many ways, these letters are similar to transactional ones, since their sending depends on an event, however, they differ from the latter in their commercial focus.
Trigger ones include letters sent, for example, after a long absence of a client on the site ("return letters"), telling about the site, store or service immediately after registration (greeting letters), letters of congratulations (happy birthday, what -or a holiday, anniversary, etc.) as well as letters of thanks (triggered after purchases), etc.
Such letters are sent in the same way as transactional ones immediately after the occurrence of a certain event, on the eve of such (before the holiday) or with a certain delay (letters with reminders or to return to the site).
Some market research advises companies to send trigger emails according to the following schedule:
- from the first month after the subscription to the third - 2-3 letters per week,
- from the third to the sixth month - 1 letter per week,
- subsequent ones - once a month.
Information
Email newsletters with informational or entertainment content can be sent daily. The only condition for effective mailing is the usefulness of this material for the target audience.
For example, if you publish a couple of new materials a day, then sending out a daily announcement is pointless. In this case, you can choose a more adequate period, for example, once a week or even once every two weeks.
If you own an Internet service and you have something to share with your users (talk about innovations, convey interesting technical information, etc.), then mailings can be done even once a month or less often (as useful information accumulates).
Commercial
Most of the experts in the email marketing world advise following the golden rule of sending sales emails:
"Not more than 1 time per week, but at least 1 time per month".
In fact, it all depends on the activity of your subscribers. Although many marketers can confirm that over time, the audience's interest in your products and services fades (as an example, you can use the schedule from triggered mailings), however, in order to retain customers, it is recommended to send mail at least once a month, even to the base of old customers.
If you are combining sales letters with informational letters, then it is recommended to observe the ratio of "one to five". That is, each commercial (advertising) letter should be sent after 4-5 informational letters.
Analysis of the frequency of email campaigns
All of the above recommendations should not be taken as dogma. Only a thorough analysis of your own audience can improve the effectiveness of your email campaigns.
It is imperative to test different shipping frequencies and combine different approaches. As a sample, you can send messages to various groups of users, selected based on certain criteria (gender, age, interests, etc.), and track open rates, bounce rates, and conversion rates in pivot tables.
You can use special A / B testing services (split tests), which are very often offered by the mass mailing services themselves.
HOW TO SEND EMAIL WITHOUT ADDRESS VERIFICATION
Address confirmation in bulk mailings to customer bases can be understood as two options:
- the presence of consent to receive letters from one or another e-mail address of the recipient;
- confirmation of ownership of the email address from which (on whose behalf) the mailing will be carried out.
The second option is needed in order to make sure of your decency. Most often, email marketing services require a simple confirmation of the address (for example, they send an email to your mailing address with a special link or confirmation code, by clicking on which or pasting the code in a special form, you will automatically confirm the ownership of the mail account). Sometimes additional questions are possible or even filling out a questionnaire with subsequent verification of the client. Confirmation of the mailing address from which mailings will be carried out is also necessary in order to exclude situations when unscrupulous customers indicate fake email addresses, misleading end users. Such messages are made not only to increase the rate of open letters, but also for phishing attacks.
It should be noted right away that both options for sending letters without confirmation cannot be attributed to legitimate. All self-respecting mailing services have long been working according to a legal scheme with verification of the sender's address and collect (or accept) a subscriber base only if there is confirmation from the user. Letters are checked for spam and possible sanctions from filters before mass sending. If during the process of sending your mailings a lot of complaints are received, the account may be blocked.
How to send emails without confirming your email address
- On the Internet, you can find special services for mass mailing of emails without checking the sender's address or without supporting documents for each client in the mailing list for the right to deliver advertising materials. As a rule, they work illegally or semi-legally. They also offer the purchase of databases for mailing. However, it should be understood that the effectiveness of such services is extremely low. You might just lose your money and time.
- Bulk sending of emails can be organized on a rented or your own server (virtual, cloud or physical). Paid or free software packages are used to work with mailing lists. To set up and run such a mailing list, you will need technical knowledge in the field of configuring servers and highly specialized software. If the letters are not properly formatted (for example, there will be no DKIM and SPF digital signatures), they will automatically be placed in the "spam" category. Even if the letters go through, sanctions are possible after user complaints. The server and domain from which the e-mail will be sent will be blacklisted, after which its data will be distributed among all mail services using DKIM technology.
- To start the distribution of e-mails, you can use software that runs on personal computers (without special server platforms). However, as part of the fight against spam, you may be denied access to the Internet at the provider level (the user account or IP address will be blocked).
HOW TO CHECK THE EMAIL DATABASE FOR EXISTENCE
Most often, the need to check the existence of an email address arises when analyzing a large database of email addresses collected to organize a mailing list. Sometimes, of course, you may need to check only 1-2 addresses for other reasons.
It should be noted right away that none of the methods described below can guarantee a 100% result. The absence of a response from the receiving side may be caused by your sending falling into the "spam" category, or the letter may be filtered by the mail server software at any stage of the transfer (for example, the "SpamAssassin" filter for Apache-based servers, DMARS policy at Mail.ru, etc.) etc.) The server of the receiving side may be unavailable only temporarily (for example, due to a failure or reconfiguration), etc.
In addition, the mail account to which you send letters may simply not be used (the password was forgotten or lost, the account was simply abandoned, etc.), and it is extremely difficult to verify this fact in general.
Verification methods
- simple sending of a letter to the required mail addresses from your current account. It is best to send one letter at a time with any content, without organizing mailing lists (so that recipients do not see a list of other addresses). If the address is not available, you will receive an error with information that the sending failed. The cost of this method is that the return information may take a very long time to arrive (the parameter depends on the settings of the mail server trying to send), the error may not be returned due to the settings of the receiving server's security policy, your address may be included in the spam sender lists, from where it will be distributed to other mail servers (therefore, this method is categorically unsuitable for bulk verification of mail addresses). With a single message, you can request a message read notification (to make sure that the account is actually used);
- single check of email addresses in special monitoring services. Services can use their databases of already verified addresses, they can send test messages (as in the first method, but without using your address), they can use other algorithms to check the availability of an email address. Such services are most often free, but again they are not suitable for mass verification, as they are limited by the number of addresses to check, or the number of requests. An attempt to use scripts to automate the process will result in blocking access to such a service or even putting your IP on public "black lists";
- if the email address belongs to a large service (such as Gmail, etc.), then you can check the existence of the mailbox when you try to register a new account (you will receive a message that the address already exists). Similarly, you can try to search for an account in the social network "My World" (suitable for mail accounts);
- bulk verification of addresses through special services. Many mailing services offer an automatic procedure for checking the validity of your email address database. There are also separate verification services on the network. Free checks are limited either by the number of requests or by the time of use. As a result, you get a convenient format for lists of email addresses (separately valid, separately invalid), which can later be loaded into mail programs or other mailing services.
- You can set up your server (virtual, local or physical), where you can configure and run your SMTP service (mail server). Using third-party software or a simple SMTP session (such as telnet), a bulk email validation pipeline can be set up. Here you need to know the syntax of requests using the SMTP protocol, as well as provide technical requirements for the items (format, digital signatures, DKIM, SPF, etc.).
HOW EMAIL SPAM IS DETERMINED
Spam refers to all unsolicited messages received through various technical channels. These are SMS messages, emails, and messages received through popular instant messengers (instant messaging applications).
Below we will focus on the main criteria that characterize emails (email campaigns) as spam.
What parameters determine the spam content of an email?
Modern mail services, especially large ones, such as Gmail, etc., have long been using complex algorithms based on heuristics that work out many rules to protect users of mail accounts from receiving unwanted messages. These include:
- Availability of digital signatures and automatic systems of proof of ownership of a domain name, such as DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DMARS (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance). Here it is important to fulfill the technical requirements for the letter. That is, all the necessary attributes must be inserted in the email code, on the basis of which the system will automatically check the sender's validity. Any attempt to disguise or forge the sender's address automatically translates the shipment into the "spam" category.
- The presence of stop words in the content of the letter. The email content analysis algorithm checks for links and text. If the content contains words or phrases-markers that characterize the letter as intrusive advertising, then with a high degree of probability, it will automatically fall into the "spam" category. These stop words (phrases) include: "buy / sale", "important", "urgent", "free", "earn", "discount", etc. One or two stop words can be skipped by the system, but a large set of them or an increased ratio to the amount of text can exceed the threshold determined by each service individually.
- Suspicious design of the text in the email. This can be an abundance of words written only in capital letters, highlighting of text in color, no text content at all (when the text is completely replaced with an image), links to various domains or the use of link shortening services, a large number of special characters or other punctuation marks used for other purposes. and etc.
- The presence of the IP address of the server from which the mailing is carried out, or the domain name of the sender in one of the black lists with which the mail filter of the service is synchronized. These can be such public lists as: XBL, SBL, PBL or others, as well as closed blacklists created by the mail service itself. Spam can also be indicated by the presence in the content of the letter of links leading to domains or IP addresses from these black lists.
- The absence of a link to the unsubscribe page in letters from mass mailings. Some services, such as Gmail, allow you to use a special unsubscribe field (List-Unsubscribe - a link to an unsubscribe page or a special email address), then when you click on the "spam" button, the recipient will automatically be redirected to the specified unsubscribe address.
- Various policies for sorting emails based on the interests of a particular user. They work according to the individual requirements of each client, learning every time after the user's actions.
- Other technical aspects to the implementation of bulk mailings.
Due to the fact that special rating systems are used to assess the quality of mailings in relation to companies or individual customers who send bulk emails, some postal services provide special tools for studying their statistics and analyzing the effectiveness of events. For example, the Postmaster Tools for Gmail (the Google mail service provides, among other things, detailed information about the technical requirements for bulk shipments) and others.
HOW TO AVOID SPAMMING YOUR EMAIL NEWSLETTER
The more sophisticated spam distribution schemes become, the more stringent the security policy of mail services becomes. Each major market player tries to develop and implement their own product that will be as effective as possible in the fight against unwanted emails. What is the reason for this attention to the issue of spam? The higher the comfort of using the mail service, the higher the likelihood that the end user will choose this particular product for permanent use, and along with it other services of the company (such giants as Gmail and etc.).
Due to the fact that the algorithms for combating spam regularly change (and sometimes even adapt for a specific user based on the analysis of his actions by artificial intelligence), and the requirements for the parameters of emails are processed and supplemented with new conditions, the measures indicated below may not work or work not in all cases of mailings. None of the bulk email service can provide a 100% deliverability guarantee (emails may not be delivered not only because they fall into the spam category, but also because some accounts no longer exist or are not available at the moment mailing list).
How to avoid spamming bulk emails
- There are always a number of technical requirements for the format of emails (technical standards and specifications). So, in order to cut off rapidly deployable and also quickly removed SMPT services on virtual servers for mass mailing, additional measures of protection are being promoted by the efforts of large mail services. This can include the mandatory presence of a special digital signature associated with the sender's domain (DKIM technology - DomainKeys Identified Mail, E-mail authentication), SPF (Sender Policy Framework - technology for verifying the server's right to send letters from a specific domain name) and other methods of checking the validity of electronic letters.
- Most emails fall into the spam category based on automatic analysis of the contents of the message. The SPAM filter is triggered by certain conditions or their combinations, for example, certain stop words (“follow the link”, “buy”, “urgent”, “price”, “free”, “one hundred percent” and other marker phrases) , lack of text content (when content is replaced with a large image), highlighting blocks of text in different colors, an abundance of special characters ("!!!", "@@@", etc.), substitution of characters inside words for similar icons or numbers, and also other factors that distinguish spam messages from normal messages. Each factor taken separately gives a certain number of penalty points, and if the filtering threshold is exceeded, the letter will automatically be marked as "spam". Knowing the algorithms for filtering letters from the postal services,
- Many services keep statistics of the sender, assigning him a special rating. The fewer complaints about a shipment, the higher its rating. Points are awarded based on the number of emails read and spam marks. To generate positive statistics, you should use only high-quality content that does not cause a desire to mark the received letter as unwanted, and you also need to monitor the quality of your mailing base (you should not buy third-party databases, they will most likely quickly give you penalty points after the first mass sending, your own database should be collected exclusively from those customers who voluntarily agreed to the subscription, which means that you have confirmation of this fact - see the requirements of the federal law "On Advertising").
- Quick and easy unsubscribing from mailings in each letter will allow you to avoid unnecessary marks "this is spam".
- Check emails before sending them for possible filter sanctions. The network has special services for checking and testing letters (as a "testing ground" here are used the preinstalled widespread mail programs and filters). If the letter does not pass the check, it means that the content needs to be reworked and the stop words replaced. As an alternative to services, you can try to send emails to your accounts in major email services.
- To reduce the percentage of low-quality emails in the future, analyze the statistics of each mailing, monitor how users behave, what content is interesting to them, and what causes rejection. The built-in tools of the mailing service or third-party metrics (analytics from Google, Yandex.Metrica, etc.) will help you with this.
WHAT IS THE BEST TIME TO SEND EMAIL NEWSLETTERS
There are many studies on this topic by large (and not so) companies. However, it is worth mentioning right away that the open rate of letters and the activity of the target audience depends on many factors and trusting someone's accumulated statistics, without being convinced of its effectiveness on your own experience, is a big risk.
Dependence of the time of mailings on the day of the week
You can build on the weekly cycle. If the staff has a full-fledged work week of 5-2, then on Monday employees are very reluctant to be distracted by reading extraneous letters (most often meetings are held on these days, various summing up of the past week, setting tasks for the next week, etc.). Starting from Tuesday, when the workload drops, the letter open rate is actively growing (this is evidenced by the statistics of popular services for sending emails, however, this does not mean that your target audience will have the same schedule, it is like "the average temperature in the hospital"), until Thursday. On Friday, the audience is already showing less interest, and on the weekends, the open rate is almost half of the weekly indicator.
Most often, emails advertising events or parties are opened just before weekends or holidays. But when your target audience (target audience) has a weekend, you can find out only from questionnaires or from test shipments (today many large companies are switching to a floating schedule, which significantly violates the harmony with the 5/2 schedule and sending letters on Friday).
The ideal email marketing campaign is ahead of payday. It is from the availability of free money that a potential buyer is repelled and therefore does not miss interesting offers.
Dependence of mailing on the time of day
It is not recommended to send sales letters at night, as recipients are likely to ignore them in the morning. However, night time is great for sending newsletters when the servers of the mailing service are relatively free. If you are sending out really interesting materials, users will definitely open them.
During the daytime, do not discount the typical work schedule. Before work (while the employee is on the way), the user reads personal mail. This is approximately from 7 to 9 am. The beginning of the working day is spent on being included in the work process, from about 10 to 14 hours employees are actively busy with work and are not distracted by reading extraneous letters, then lunch comes, and only from 2 to 3 in the afternoon, when lunch is over, and the work rhythm is not yet recovered, you can offer distracting information, such as business letters. After 15 o'clock, advertisements will open and read well, since the staff is already waiting for the end of the working day and is looking for something to be distracted by. Starting at 7 pm, letters can already go nowhere, as people go home from work. But if your letter came to the address,
How to create your own effective mailing schedule
In order to calculate the time of activity of your target audience as accurately as possible, you can use the service of collecting statistics from the store's website (if any). The peak of traffic to the resource can be safely considered a good time for sending promotional items.
All of the above points may not work in your particular case. In order to build your own schedule of effective mailings, you need to be patient and approach the issue systematically:
- divide the mailing list into small groups according to various criteria (gender, age, place of residence, etc.);
- to work out different models of behavior for each group;
- enter all results into tables for further analysis.
- Some services offer so-called split tests (A / B testing), as a result of which you can visually see the result of the changes made.
