ReachMail: Email Marketing Blog

The average email open rate is 36.5% . However, open rates vary widely by industry, with technology services seeing 20.8% and faith-based organizations seeing a whopping 45.5%. Are you struggling to grab your audience's attention and get those coveted open rates? Look no further! In this post, we'll delve into six powerful best practices tailored specifically for businesses and individual owners to save money and skyrocket their open rates. If you are still using the same sending practices, the industry passes you by, leaving your money on the table.

1. Optimize Subject Line

The subject line is your first impression; make it count! Craft concise, attention-grabbing subject lines that pique curiosity and compel recipients to click open. Use ReachMail’s Subject Line Suggestor to craft the best subject lines.

2. Don't neglect the pre-header

The pre-header provides a sneak peek into your email's content. Use this space wisely to complement your subject line and entice recipients to open your email. Adding your preheader in ReachMail only varies based on the editor you choose.

3. Irresistible CTA

Your call-to-action (CTA) should be clear, compelling, and impossible to resist. Guide recipients towards the desired action, whether it's making a purchase, signing up for a webinar, or downloading a resource. Your email should always include 1 CTA. Multiple CTA’s can get confusing. You should have no more than 2 CTAs in your email for the best results.

4. Personalize Content

Tailor your email content to resonate with each recipient on a personal level. Address them by name, leverage past interactions, and offer relevant recommendations based on their preferences and behavior. ReachMail Personalization and Dynamic Content will help you tailor your recipient’s experience with your email.

5. Segment List

Not all subscribers are created equal. Segment your email list based on criteria such as time after joining, email engagement, and product usage. You'll increase relevance and engagement by targeting specific segments with tailored content.

Some potential segment criteria include

• Time after joining. New marketing leads and new trials have more conversion potential than old leads.
• Email list engagement. E.g. send your evergreen sales campaigns to those who have been actively consuming your content.
• Product engagement. Activated users have more potential than those who never actually used your product.

6. Conduct A/B Testing

Don't leave your success to chance. Experiment with different elements of your email campaigns through A/B testing . Test variations of subject lines, CTAs, content, and send times to uncover what resonates best with your audience.

Remember, these practices are not one-size-fits-all. Analyze your own email marketing statistics to track your successes and challenges and adjust your strategies accordingly. And if you're facing lower-than-average open rates, address common culprits like unqualified subscribers, lack of segmentation, inactive subscribers, and boring subject lines. Our List maintenance tool will guide you through your engagement and bounce data. This tool aids you in analyzing your list engagement.

Your email marketing success is within reach. Implement these best practices, analyze your results, and watch your engagement soar!

SafeNotify is your go-to service broadcast solution, designed to ensure your compliance with legal requirements while keeping your audience informed and engaged. Traditional email marketing methods often fail to manage or handle these mailings effectively. But with SafeNotify, you can effortlessly notify your users about updates to your terms of service, adjustments to your privacy policy, or the sharing of financial audit details.

Your Solution for Compliance Delivery

SafeNotify allows you to send to all your recipients as allowed by the CAN-SPAM Act , General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) , and Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) . The regulations diverge from conventional email marketing practices, and we've tailored ReachMail to deliver such mailings while ensuring effective compliance with pertinent laws.

This feature aims to communicate the following information with recipients, including but not limited to:

• Warranty, recall, safety, or security information about a product or service.
• Provides information about changes in terms, features, or account balances regarding a membership, subscription, account, loan, or other ongoing commercial relationship.
• Provides information about an employment relationship or employee benefits.
• Legal Compliance notifications.

Using SafeNotify outside of these specifications is allowed but approved on a case-by-case basis. This feature is not available for marketing material.

How To Use SafeNotify

A few minimum requirements must be met to use this service.

• Pro level account
• Dedicated IP Address

Don't risk non-compliance or miscommunication. Choose SafeNotify for a seamless and compliant communication experience.

Contact us today to learn more!

Inbox Previews

Elevate your email game this spring season with ReachMail's Inbox Previews feature. Seamlessly review how your emails render across a diverse array of widely used inboxes, encompassing both desktop and mobile versions. While we can't cover every potential inbox variation, our previews encompass a substantial sample of the most prevalent platforms. Dive deeper into customization by toggling images on and off within these previews, providing valuable insights into how your content transforms. Ensure optimal presentation and engagement across various platforms with ReachMail's Inbox Previews, empowering you to deliver impactful messages with precision.

Spam Analysis Tools

Spring into success with ReachMail's cutting-edge Spam Analysis tool , designed to elevate your email performance. Leveraging the power of SpamAssassin, Barracuda, and cutting-edge AI, you can meticulously evaluate your email campaigns. SpamAssassin and Barracuda generate numerical scores, indicating your email's potential to excel—the lower the score, the higher the performance likelihood. Meanwhile, our AI tool offers detailed insights, providing a comprehensive spectrum of adjustments to enhance your email's impact. These tools are like springtime buds, guiding you towards optimization, though they don't promise delivery guarantees. Rise above the rest and cultivate greater engagement with ReachMail's Spam Analysis suite.

Automations

As you schedule your campaign, seize the opportunity to supercharge your strategy with ReachMail's Automations. Nurture your workflow effortlessly by automating essential tasks, much like tending to a garden in springtime. Enhance your workflow effortlessly by automating key tasks such as sending a comprehensive report 18 hours post-campaign, seamlessly copying campaign openers to a designated list or strategically tagging engagements within your audience. These fundamental automations streamline your process, ensuring efficiency and precision in your email marketing endeavors. Elevate your campaign management and maximize results with ReachMail's intuitive Automation features.

Last Updated: 2/28/2024

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Are you ready for Google & Yahoo's DMARC policy changes?

Starting in February 2024, bulk senders using their own domains and who don't meet Google and Yahoo's new requirements may encounter temporary errors. By April 2024, expect a gradual increase in rejection rates for non-compliant emails. By June 1st, 2024, all bulk senders must implement a one-click unsubscribe feature in commercial messages (which ReachMail has already implemented).

DMARC is the guardian at the gate , distinguishing between legitimate and spoofed emails that destroy your reputation and deliverability. This checklist is tailored to help you navigate the changes and ensure your emails meet the new authentication requirements:

Who is Affected?

This change affects bulk email senders . A general rule of thumb is that any sender of 5,000 or more marketing messages in a 24-hour period will be affected by this policy change. While transactional emails are not directly affected, adhering to these guidelines can improve delivery.

Note: As part of this change, Google will enforce a reject policy on gmail.com, prohibiting its use as a from domain outside of users' Google accounts.

☐ Check SPF Configuration*

ReachMail offers clear instructions to add SPF to your domain. SPF is the first gate to pass, verifying that the email is from an authorized source.

☐ Update DKIM Signature*

ReachMail provides easy-to-understand documentation to install a DKIM signature to your domain. DKIM is the second gate to pass through. It creates a digital signature for your emails, ensuring they're genuine and secure when others receive them.

☐ Implement DMARC*

DMARC ties SPF and DKIM together and applies a policy on handling those emails. ReachMail makes it easy by showing you exactly what to add to enable DMARC on your domain and provides built-in tools to monitor your DMARC policy effectively, with no need for a 3rd party service.

Major mailbox providers are making DMARC a requirement.

☑ Everything Else

Don't worry. ReachMail has you covered for everything else. We've already implemented many of the requirements Google and Yahoo look for as best practices, so you'll have less to worry about when they become enforced.

We ensure valid forward and reverse DNS records, follow RFCs 5321 and 5322 for message format, avoid Gmail impersonation in FROM headers, and offer one-click unsubscribe for subscribed messages.

Use this checklist to ensure you're ready for February 2024. ReachMail simplifies the process with clear instructions and user-friendly tools you can use with your domain hosting provider. We take care of the rest by ensuring valid DNS records, meeting message format standards, preventing Gmail impersonation, and enabling one-click unsubscribes.

*To make these changes, you must navigate outside of ReachMail to your domain hosting provider, email service provider, and DNS hosting provider, or contact your IT support team.

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Authentication Best Practices
Are you ready for Google & Yahoo's DMARC policy changes? Starting in February 2024, bulk senders using their own domains and who don't meet Google and Yahoo's new requirements may encounter temporary errors. This checklist is tailored to help you navigate the changes and ensure your emails meet the new authentication requirements.

ReachMail in 2023 for 2024

ReachMail provides you with an easy email marketing service. Our goal is always to get Your Message, Delivered . 2023 is full of new features that get Your Message, Delivered . Let’s take some time to review each of them and how we feel they fit into our solutions.

2024 is the “year of authentication.” Mailbox providers are now going to expect that your custom domain is authenticated. They also are going to expect you to use a custom domain. ReachMail has developed a Domain Management Tool to help you manage those DNS records for all your sending domains.

Small Business

Our AI Subject Line Suggestor , is a bit like a really clever robot friend! It knows so many words and is super helpful. When you're unsure what to say in the subject line of your email, this robot friend can give you great ideas! It reads what you wrote in your email and suggests good titles so the person getting your email knows what it's about. It's like having a buddy who finds just the right words to get someone's attention!

If you're a small business and don't have lots of people to make great subject lines, it's okay! Even if it's just one person on your team and the words aren't coming easily, ReachMail can be there to lend a hand!

Marketing Firms

So, imagine you're making two different types of cakes. One has chocolate chips, and the other has sprinkles. You want to see which cake your friends like more. You give one cake to some friends and the other cake to the rest. Then, you ask them which cake they liked better.

Email A/B testing is a bit like that cake experiment! But instead of cakes, you try out two versions of an email. Maybe one has a big picture at the top, and the other has smaller pictures throughout. Then, you send the first email to some people and the second one to others. After that, you check which email more people liked or clicked on. It helps you figure out what works better for your email, just like knowing which cake your friends prefer!

With ReachMail, you can easily try out stuff like the email's subject line, email preheader, and email’s friendly from. But you can also do fancier tests , like checking different button colors, pictures, and where things are placed in the email to see what people like most!

Plus, ReachMail can pick the winning email by itself after some time. For our marketing firm customers, this gives your customers more choices and saves you lots of time!

Large Companies

For our big business solutions, we've created managed services that can help companies of any size. Think of managed services as having a specialized tech-savvy helper just for a company's email tasks. Imagine having loads of lists, mailings, and campaigns to handle, but you're not always sure how to keep them running smoothly or fix them when things go wrong.

That's where managed services come in! They're like hiring a skilled team that keeps an eye on your campaigns, networks, and software. They handle all the updates, HTML, and fixes behind the scenes, so you don't have to stress about glitches or breakdowns.

It's similar to having your own tech squad, making sure everything works perfectly while you focus on running your business smoothly. Companies pay these providers to keep their tech running without a hitch. It's like having a subscription to a service that makes your marketing tasks a whole lot easier.

High Volume

In 2023, to help our busy clients with lots of children, we introduced a new feature called context switching in your accounts. If you're an admin user, you can easily move between different users on the same account just by clicking a button. This saves you time because you don't have to log in and out of each child's account separately anymore.

Last Updated: 12/27/2023

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ReachMail provides you with an easy email marketing service. Our goal is always to get Your Message, Delivered. 2023 is full of new features that get Your Message, Delivered. Let’s take some time to review each of them and how we feel they fit into our solutions.

In the digital age, your email's first impression can make or break customer engagement. Discover how ReachMail's A/B testing tools can revolutionize your email marketing strategy. If you wish to attract more visitors to your website and turn them into customers, it is essential that they open and engage with your emails. ReachMail offers easy-to-use tools for A/B testing to help you determine the most effective email strategies.

What is A/B Testing?

A/B testing in email marketing is a technique that allows you to compare the effectiveness of different versions of an email campaign. With A/B testing, you can send different email variations to separate groups of people and compare which version performs better. This process helps you identify the most effective elements of your email campaign, such as subject lines, content, and call-to-action buttons. By analyzing the results of your A/B tests, you can make data-driven decisions to improve the performance of your email marketing campaigns.

How Does ReachMail's A/B Testing Work?

ReachMail is an email marketing service offering various testing options to help you optimize your email campaigns. Our platform allows you to conduct simple A/B tests on the most prominent elements of your emails, such as subject lines, sender names, and preview text, to determine which ones resonate better with your audience and generate more engagement.

Moreover, we provide more advanced A/B testing options, which enable you to experiment with entirely different email designs and content. You can test different combinations of images, text, and call-to-action buttons or even use dynamic content to find the winning combination that generates the best results for your email campaigns.

With ReachMail, you can rest assured that your email campaigns are optimized for success and that you're getting the most out of your email marketing efforts.

The Power of Small Changes

A/B testing isn't just about choosing the best email version; it's a strategic approach to understanding your audience's preferences, which can lead to increased conversion rates and customer loyalty.

Even tiny tweaks in your email, like changing the subject line or the name it's from, can lead to more people opening and engaging with your emails. Personalizing the subject line or making the preview text more interesting boosts your open rates.

If you're ready for more in-depth testing, you can change the whole content of your email - like the text, pictures, and layout - or even use dynamic content that changes for different readers. Finding the right content, visuals, and tone that resonate with your audience can lead to significant improvements.

Start harnessing the full potential of your email campaigns today with ReachMail. Sign up for a free account now and experience the difference A/B testing can make.

Starting February 1, 2024, all senders who send email to Gmail accounts must meet the requirements in this section.

• Set up SPF or DKIM email authentication for your domain.
• Ensure that sending domains or IPs have valid forward and reverse DNS records, also referred to as PTR records.
• Keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.3%.
• Format messages according to the Internet Message Format standard ( RFC 5322 ).
• Don’t impersonate Gmail From: headers. Gmail will begin using a DMARC quarantine enforcement policy, and impersonating Gmail From: headers might impact your email delivery.
• If you regularly forward email, including using mailing lists or inbound gateways, add ARC headers to outgoing email. ARC headers indicate the message was forwarded and identify you as the forwarder. Mailing list senders should also add a List-id: header, which specifies the mailing list, to outgoing messages.

In addition to the previous requirements, senders that send over 5,000 emails per day are required to fulfill these additional requirements.

• Set up DMARC email authentication for your sending domain. Your DMARC enforcement policy can be set to none .
• For direct mail, the domain in the sender's From: header must be aligned with either the SPF domain or the DKIM domain. This is required to pass DMARC alignment.
• For subscribed messages, enable one-click unsubscribe and include a clearly visible unsubscribe link in the message body.

ReachMail Tool Chest

We already provide one-click unsubscribe within your emails, format your emails RFC 5322 by the requirements, monitor Postmaster tools for your IPs, and send you updates if your IPs continually experience large spam complaint rates. These updates require no changes or updates on our part. It removes the fear of these guidelines as you are already above these minimum requirements.

The changes that will need to take place within your ReachMail account with the tools we provide are:

1. You can no longer send from a gmail.com domain; you will want to explore the option of a custom domain for your emails or another domain that works best for you and your mailings. Otherwise, your emails will default to @send.reach-mail.com.
2. SPF - We have the ability to add the SPF record to your account. Here is the documentation that guides you through this process. This works for when you have a custom domain. It cannot be added to a domain you don’t own.
3. DKIM - We have the ability to add the DKIM record to your account. Here is the detailed documentation that guides you through this process. This works for when you have a custom domain. It cannot be added to a domain you don’t own.
4. DMARC- This NEW feature now enables you to add a DMARC record and review the reports sent to ensure that the correct emails are passing and the spoofing/phishing emails are being rejected, pending your policy. This better explains the reason for DMARC and how it works . This leads you to how to set up that record and go through the journey of getting your DMARC in place.

As 2024 creeps in, the impending changes loom like eerie shadows. October, a month shrouded in horror and dread, brings unsettling news. On the ominous date of October 3rd, Gmail, Yahoo, and AOL unleashed a cryptic set of guidelines set to haunt the digital realm in the first quarter of 2024.

Google's recent announcement could shake up your email marketing approach! They are updating their inactivity policy, impacting accounts that haven't been used for two years across all their services and products.

The world's most popular email service , Gmail, has not purged inactive accounts like other major companies. Deliverability rates may suffer when this happens - make sure you're prepared!

Read more to determine if and how this will affect your email marketing.

Actions You Can Take Right Now

1. Email Hygiene

ReachMail offers the best value with our automated list cleaning . Email hygiene via list cleaning is the quickest way to remove problematic addresses. We partner with data hygiene and validation industry leaders to provide accurate and transparent results.

2. List Maintenance

Using ReachMail's List Maintenance tool , you can proactively address the policy change and possibly avoid its effects. Since Google is focusing on inactive accounts, you should prioritize engaging with disengaged recipients.

3. Re-engagement Campaign

ReachMail's Sending Optimization algorithm intelligently spreads out the campaign's sending for maximum deliverability through an exclusive algorithm. You can target your Gmail recipients with a re-engagement campaign if you don't have enough engagement data or haven't mailed to them in a long time.

Google's Updates & How It Affects Email

The big question is how this change will affect Gmail delivery for your email marketing. Accounts using sign-ups from the past year are exempt, but action is required by year-end for those with a marketing list spanning several years. Google's detailed blog post outlines the changes, but these are the key points:

• Google will send reminders to inactive accounts and recovery email addresses, targeting those idle for two years.
• Inactive accounts haven't done the following: read or send emails, use Google Drive, watch YouTube videos, share photos, download apps, use Google Search, or sign in with a third-party app or service.
• Having an active Google account can keep your Gmail email valid.

You can click here for a complete list of exceptions to Google's policy. The impact on deliverability is still unknown and will depend on many factors.

Last Edited: 10/05/23

An impressive 84% of marketers recognize email marketing as vital for business success. Nearly two-thirds of those marketers use open rates as their primary metric to measure the success of their email marketing efforts. Below is how that open rate is calculated.

The number of opens is identified by downloading an "invisible" image that’s the size of 1x1 pixel when the email is opened. This is inserted within your ReachMail campaigns with HTML mailings. There are limitations on the opening pixel. These limitations continue to grow with the security increases by providers. Several strategies don't relay on open rates as a success measurement.

Click through Rate

Utilizing your click-through rate involves examining the overall count of individuals who clicked through to engage with your call to action relative to the recipients of your message. This metric serves as another benchmark. A heightened click-through rate signifies an enhanced list quality, improved subject line, more enticing offers, effective call to action, better creative content, and more. To accurately discern these factors, comprehensive testing is essential.

Surveys

Incorporating surveys to gain insights about your subscribers lets you identify individuals actively opening your emails. Incorporating surveys into your future emails holds strategic benefits for several reasons.

Firstly, surveys provide an excellent avenue to generate clicks within emails that might otherwise receive limited engagement. By offering diverse clickable options in your emails, you can understand the level of engagement among your readers.

Secondly, surveys serve as a valuable tool to collect firsthand data directly from your audience. You have the opportunity to inquire about their content preferences or gather specific information. Requesting details such as their geographical location or industry affiliation aids in refining audience segmentation, leading to a more personalized and tailored email experience.

Responses

Promote responses from your recipients. Receiving replies serves as another measurable metric to monitor email engagement. The intriguing aspect of this approach is the personal touch it adds. By encouraging replies, you demonstrate the human element behind the email's creation, transcending mere corporate communication.

With this perspective in mind, it's essential to establish a well-structured framework for managing these replies. Requesting responses in an email sent to a large audience simultaneously could potentially inundate your team handling the replies. However, seeking replies in the context of a welcome email, for instance, which is dispatched automatically at various intervals, is less likely to inundate your inbox significantly.

Website Interactions

Examine user interactions on your website. As highlighted earlier, the objective of an email campaign seldom revolves solely around achieving opens or clicks. More frequently, it's the actions users take subsequent to clicking your email that hold significance.

If you can access tools such as Google Analytics or other website analytics platforms, leverage them to discern the post-email click user behavior. Ascertain metrics like the number of users making purchases or requesting demos. Frequently, the actions following an email click carry weight, and these valuable insights constitute the core of information to incorporate into your reports.

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Whether you're an experienced pro or a newcomer to this event, you'll require top-tier tips and strategies to attract customers and optimize online sales. This comprehensive guide unveils five actionable Black Friday marketing concepts, empowering you with precise steps to initiate your campaigns. Along with these tips are some inspirations to throw some gas on the creative fire!

List Cleaning

Getting rid of all the invalid addresses in your list is always a good place to start, but failing to address spam traps (honeypots) will continue to plague delivery results. Spam traps, bots, and other email threats will open and click on your messages, making them nearly impossible to address on your own. ReachMail List Cleaning services can help address both invalid addresses and dangerous ones.

Exciting Content

Craft your ideal content with our Message Builder or Advanced Editor . After creating your content, take advantage of Litmus previews available within your account to assess its appearance on mobile devices and in dark mode. These previews also offer insights into your email's performance across leading inbox providers, ensuring your content retains its intended formatting and behavior.

These ads are specific to their brand and have one main focused Call to Action. The reputation they have built is not questioned by these emails. Carvana is still selling cars, and GasBuddy is just looking to expand its Pay platform.

Inspiration Idea #1: Show off your achievements for the year before your BFCM ads to get your brand in the eyes of your audience.

Inspiration Idea #2: Run a "Secret Santa" campaign by enabling folks to purchase and send gift cards digitally through email to their colleagues or acquaintances.

Personalization

Leveraging personalized automations can significantly boost your holiday sales. Whether it's a follow-up on an abandoned cart or a timely reminder, these emails tailored to your exclusive target audience can greatly enhance your chances of sealing the deal this festive season.

The targeted nature of this email shows the reader that their work is noticed. It's no longer just a first name Personalization. It's very specific to their account. An abandoned cart email can be that perfect reminder to your customer that they might have left something behind.

Inspiration Idea #1: Personalize your clothing content for the gender of the recipient.

Inspiration Idea #2: Provide better offers to your VIP customers or use their shopping history to present the products they would be most interested in purchasing.

A/B Testing

Have you ever found yourself torn between choosing two distinct subject lines, CTAs, or pre-headers? Why not let your audience make the decision for you! With ReachMail's A/B Testing feature, you can send a portion of your emails to a sample audience, analyze the outcomes, and then automatically direct the remaining emails to the version that performed better.

This is how A/B Testing works! ReachMail's A/B Testing sets up these two test emails for you and automates the process.

Inspiration Idea #1: Test your From name/sender name before you begin your biggest email season.

Inspiration Idea #2: Have one goal to test with your BFCM emails.

Social Media

Expand the reach of your email campaign by seamlessly integrating ReachMail with your social media platforms. By sharing your email content on social media, you can broaden its visibility, thereby enriching your overall email marketing strategy.

You can use ReachMail to share that extra special deal or discount to your X(Twitter), Facebook, or LinkedIn pages to expand your reach to more than just the contacts on your list.

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