The inbox is full of opportunity. It’s where you can engage with your audience, learn more about them, and drive them to action. Join our webinar to find out how to maximize investments in your email marketing programs! In this webinar you'll learn: - Why there are three key challenges facing the inbox - The four most important tips to ensuring deliverability - The anatomy of a successful email

1. Overcoming the 3
Challenges to Optimizing
Your Email Program

2. Moderator:
Ali
Swerdlow
VP,
Industry
Rela1ons
LiveIntent
@swerdtoyourmom
@LiveIntent
Chris
Arrendale
CEO
Inbox
Pros
@Arrendale
@InboxPros
Tami
Forman
VP,
Corporate
Marke1ng
&
Communica1ons
Return
Path
@TamiMForman
@returnpath

3. We’re the only
real-time ad
optimization
platform for
email
newsletters

4. Putting ads in email is a natural thing.
We’ve aligned with key partners to ensure our
publishers and advertisers maximize their
investment in their email marketing programs
and in their LiveIntent engagement.
Inbox Pros & Return Path
for LiveIntent Clients

5. State of the Inbox
One fantastic opportunity
Three real challenges.

6. Opportunity
Email optimization.
The inbox has evolved into
a powerful market hub.

7. Who uses email? Everyone
(Literally. Everyone.)
Daily Usage

8. Over one-third of the
worldwide population will be
using email by year end 2019.
- The Radicati Group, Inc. "Email Statistics Report,
2015-2019" (2015)

10. Email wins on mobile devices
ExactTarget
“Mobile
Behavior
report”
(2014)

11. The inbox
knows us:
What we buy,
what we watch,
what we care
about.

12. It’s also where we take action.
We engage with email.
We like it.

15. Three Challenges
1. Gaining access
2. Gaining trust
3. Gaining advantage

16. Three Challenges
1. Gaining access
2. Gaining trust
3. Gaining advantage

17. The inbox
is hard to
reach
Source:
Return
Path
Inbox
Placement
Benchmark
Report,
September
2014

18. 4 Steps to Reaching the Inbox
1. Configure
– Set up authentication - SPF,
SenderID, DomainKeys, DKIM.

19. 4 Steps to Reaching the Inbox
2. Make Friends
– Get signed up on all feedback loops
and white lists possible – not all ISPs
and inbox providers have one, but do
the research and sign up!
– Research reputation.

20. 4 Steps to Reaching the Inbox
3. Design Campaigns
– Make sure your image-to-text ratio is ~30:70.
– Include an “Add to Address Book” statement.
– Brand messages.
– Include text or html unsubscribe link (not an
image) – one click opt-out is best.
– Include postal address in footer.

21. Anatomy of a successful email
To: John Smith
From: Lenovo
Subject Line
HTML Headline for
Email Subject
Hi, John,
Text. Embedded call-to-action.
Text.
Text. Re-iterate call-to-action.
Graphic
Graphic
Pre-header Text
Text.
Footer + Unsubscribe Verbiage
Ensure subject lines are
substantive (not
promotional) and speak to
business benefits; ideal
length is 100-140
characters and more than
16 words
Personalization is optimal
in B2B emails for higher
conversions; avoid “Dear
X.”
Ensure domain reputation
for landing page URLs
remains high; also, make
sure there are both text
and graphic links to
landing page
Smaller section graphic or
highlight graphic of
offering in the content
offer email
Include pre-header test
that is essentially the
“boilerplate version” of
your Content Offer email
Maintain 70/30 ratio with
essential graphics
highlighting Content Offer
or product/service
Design email content with
“images off,” ensure high
mobile readability
Optimize the footer and
unsubscribe verbiage

22. 4 Steps to Reaching the Inbox
4. Maintain
– Keep user engagement high – target recipients
with relevant content and stop sending to any
that are not interested.
– Keep your abuse complaint rate below 0.3% -
remove complaints immediately.
– Keep your bounce rates below 10% - remove
hard bounces immediately.
– Entice and remind recipients to add your from
address to their address book.

23. Delivered ≠ Inbox

24. What is Deliverability?
• Delivered is the way to measure that the email
was accepted by the recipient’s mail server
• Deliverability is getting to the inbox and
measuring the open/click statistics

25. Understanding Bounces
• Hard bounces
– Occur when the email server rejects the
email due to permanent conditions
– Examples: bad mailbox, bad domain
• Soft bounces
– Occur when the email server rejects the
email due to a temporary condition
– Examples: mailbox full, temporary ISP block

26. Bounces & Sender Reputation
• Bounce rates impact your Sender Reputation
• If your bounce rates are too high, the ISP may
think you are a spammer and may block your
domain or IP address
• There is no “magic number” that can get you
blocked/bulked

27. Reputation-based filtering works.
Spam in the Inbox
3%<

28. Email Filtering

29. Complaints
Source:
Marke1ngSherpa,
2015

30. List Management

31. Sending Volumes
• Sending volumes to smaller domains is key to getting
delivered.
• Major ISPs publish rate limits and connection settings.
• B2B and smaller B2C domains do not publish these
settings.
• Key is to send smaller volumes to not ‘flood’ the recipient’s
mail server.
• Get whitelisted, if possible.
• Communicate this with your subscribers!

32. Reporting – Keys to Deliverability
• Inbox Placement Rate
• Open rates: How many subscribers
open your newsletter
• Click rates: How many subscribers
click the link on your newsletter
• Bounce rates: How many emails
don’t make it into the inbox
• Complaints: How many “abuse”
complaints your campaign
receives
• Unsubscribes: How many people
unsubscribe from your newsletter

33. 5 Metric Takeaways
1. Fear not, the word "free" will not automatically
send your email to the junk folder.
2. Yahoo! accepts only 1 out of 8 emails.
3. 47% of subscribers use the "spam" button to
unsubscribe.
4. 77% of marketers experience emails being
diverted to the spam folder.
5. Many URL shorteners are on blacklists.
Don’t use them!

34. Three Challenges
1. Gaining access
2. Gaining trust
3. Gaining advantage

36. Around the world, 16
million phishing messages
arrive in inboxes every
single day…
Source: Symantec Security Technology and Response Group, August 2012

37. …50%
of them are opened…
…10%
of them are clicked on
Source: Symantec Security Technology and Response Group, August 2012

38. Message A Message B

39. Message A Message B

40. Authentication – Your Passport to the Network
IP and domain authentication are very
important for deliverability
• SPF
– IP Authentication
– DNS record update supplied by your MAP or ESP
• DKIM
– Domain Authentication
– DNS record update supplied by your MAP or ESP

41. DMARC.org

42. “If your domain doesn’t protect itself
with DMARC, you will be increasingly
likely to see your messages sent directly
to a spam folder or even rejected.”
Google Product Manager John Rae-Grant
DMARC: anti-phishing standard today,
inbox placement factor tomorrow
Source: DMARC.org, press release, February 2015

43. Three Challenges
1. Gaining access
2. Gaining trust
3. Gaining advantage

44. The inbox is an everyday battle
for consumers’ attention.
Who’s your competition?
Are you winning?

45. 15.5%
VS

46. READ
RATE
FOR
HOME
DEPOT’S
CAMPAIGNS
IS
HIGHER
BY
15.5%
VS
80%
WINNER:
HOME
DEPOT!

47. 34%
VS

48. READ
RATE
FOR
KOHL’S
CAMPAIGNS
IS
HIGHER
BY
34%
VS
13%
WINNER:
KOHL’S!

49. 20%
VS

50. THE
READ
RATE
FOR
PIZZA
HUT’S
CAMPAIGNS
IS
HIGHER
BY
20%
VS
41%
WINNER:
PIZZA
HUT!

51. Email Optimization
Gaining access.
Gaining trust.
Gaining advantage.

52. Key Takeaways
1. The inbox is full of opportunity – to engage with your
audience, learn more about them and drive them to
action
2. Getting to the inbox is the key to optimizing email
marketing results – know your inbox placement rate (IPR)
and the factors that drive it
3. Lack of trust in email authenticity will drive down
response rates and erode your brand equity – batten
down the hatches to prevent fraud
4. The inbox is a unique media environment where the
battle for attention is intense – know who you are
competing against and how you stack up

53. Moderator:
Ali
Swerdlow
VP,
Industry
Rela1ons
LiveIntent
@swerdtoyourmom
@LiveIntent
Chris
Arrendale
CEO
Inbox
Pros
@Arrendale
@InboxPros
Tami
Forman
VP,
Corporate
Marke1ng
&
Communica1ons
Return
Path
@TamiMForman
@returnpath
Q&A