Email Behind the Scenes

02/22/22 • 30 min

2 Listeners

Many creators know the ins and outs of authentication, spam traps, BIMI, and listbombing. And if you’ve been creating for a while, you probably understand best practices for email strategy and creative tips for encouraging engagement. But what about the basics? Do you really understand what happens to your email after clicking “send”? Most creators don’t, and there’s a strong case for shifting that statistic.

When a tool helps you earn a living, it’s important to have a general understanding of how that tool works from a technical standpoint. Email is no different. The inner workings of email are complex and understanding those complexities helps you improve your strategy, ask better deliverability questions, and stay calm when unexpected issues arise. So if you think technical know-how is irrelevant and only for the computer programmers of our world, think again.

In this episode, Alyssa and Melissa discuss technical complexities behind clicking “send”, how inbox providers determine where your email lands, what ESPs like ConvertKit really can control, and why understanding email basics sets you up for deliverability success.

Key Takeaways

[03:22] - Knowledge is power, and when you’re a creator depending on email for your livelihood, having a technical understanding of email can only help you.
[03:57] - There are many steps between when an email is “sent” and when the email reaches the inbox of your subscriber. This back-and-forth conversation between the sender and the recipient is complicated but only lasts several seconds.
[06:34] - Once a message is sent, there are still things on the recipient’s end that can cause deliverability issues. Once sent, an email is either accepted (delivered) or rejected (bounced).
[10:32] - Once delivered, the mailbox provider has to consider several factors before determining where your email will land.
[18:48] - Once a message is delivered, you can track how subscribers react to that message through open tracking, although it’s important to look at open rate trends over time versus day-to-day open data.
[24:47] - Spam complaints are another great data point for senders searching for feedback.

Quotes

[26:48] - “Being able to break down every step of email, in general, will help highlight how it all works together because it’s definitely not a to and from, easy send, one-sided piece of mail. Even with the post office, when you take a letter to the post office, it’s not just being magically delivered instantaneously to that person, it’s going through a lot of work to get there.” ~ @mel_lambert_

[27:34] - “I think one of the best outcomes from this episode is at least maybe you have a better understanding of how complex email is and whenever you do have a subscriber bounce or someone says their message went to the spam folder, it will feel a little more like, ‘Ok, I get that there’s a lot of moving pieces going in here, let’s take a look, let’s not panic.’” ~ @alyssa_dulin

[28:13] - “Our whole goal at Convertkit is that you’re earning a living from your emails, from your products that you’re selling, things like that. So when something is the cornerstone to your business, you should have a general understanding of how it works.” ~ @alyssa_dulin

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Key Takeaways

[03:22] - Knowledge is power, and when you’re a creator depending on email for your livelihood, having a technical understanding of email can only help you.
[03:57] - There are many steps between when an email is “sent” and when the email reaches the inbox of your subscriber. This back-and-forth conversation between the sender and the recipient is complicated but only lasts several seconds.
[06:34] - Once a message is sent, there are still things on the recipient’s end that can cause deliverability issues. Once sent, an email is either accepted (delivered) or rejected (bounced).
[10:32] - Once delivered, the mailbox provider has to consider several factors before determining where your email will land.
[18:48] - Once a message is delivered, you can track how subscribers react to that message through open tracking, although it’s important to look at open rate trends over time versus day-to-day open data.
[24:47] - Spam complaints are another great data point for senders searching for feedback.

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Previous Episode

How to Learn From Unsubscribes

2 Recommendations

Rejection is a terrible feeling. Especially when you’re pouring everything into a business and yearning for the approval of a new audience. But there are things to learn from every negative in life, and unsubscribes are no different.

So if you’re feeling down about your unsubscribes, consider this: the unsubscribe button is an automated list-cleaner, allowing subscribers the option to opt-out themselves, saving you the hassle of removing them manually when your deliverability starts to wane. And by implementing tools like exit surveys, you’re turning that unsubscribe into an invaluable insight.

Not to mention, unsubscribes are an unavoidable fact of email marketing. As our lives change, so do our email preferences. Plus, with a new feature from ConvertKit, you can send every unsubscriber a survey on their way out the door. While responses are never an exact science, there’s knowledge to be gained from every answer.

In this episode, Alyssa and Melissa discuss why an unsubscribe option is a win-win, what you can learn from every exit survey, how not to position your unsubscribe option, and why trying your best to avoid them can turn a minor loss into an email catastrophe.

Key Takeaways

[04:47] - Legally, all bulk emails are required to have an unsubscribe button, and morally, including an unsubscribe option is respectful to everyone.
[08:47] - Don’t make the unsubscribe button difficult to find. If you make it extra complicated, subscribers may mark your emails as spam to speed up the process.
[11:48] - Subscribers removing themselves from your list is beneficial to you because unengaged subscribers will ultimately damage your deliverability.
[12:11] - Surveys are a great way to learn from unsubscribers, and a new feature from ConvertKit sends your unsubscribers an exit survey.
[17:09] - If someone responds, “I no longer want to receive these emails”, most likely, they’ve simply outgrown your services.
[20:26] - A lot of “I never signed up to receive these emails” responses indicate that you’ve been a victim of listbombing.
[23:00] - Responses that your content is “inappropriate” may mean subscribers are surprised by the content they’re receiving. Be transparent with your subscribers about what they’ll be receiving from the get-go.
[26:51] - Multiple responses that your content is “spam” is also concerning. It may be an email frequency issue.
[28:46] - When someone marks “other”, there’s not much to be learned. It may be that you’re sending too much, the emails are no longer relevant, or maybe that subscriber just didn’t feel like explaining themselves.

Quotes

[11:07] - “Deliverability is one of those things where you really do have to follow the rules or you’re going to end up putting yourself in a hole. There are not a lot of ways you can get around doing things you don’t want to do. You have to do the right thing or you’re not going to have success.” ~ @mel_lambert_

[11:51] - “Unsubscribes are not personal, but they’re beneficial to both the subscriber and you. If someone doesn’t want to be on your email list, you don’t want them there. Having people on your list who don’t actually want to be there is guaranteed to damage your deliverability, ultimately hurting your ability to reach those people who do want to be on your list.” ~ @alyssa_dulin

[22:26] - “We’re here to help you reach the inbox and emailing people who didn’t sign up for your list is not going to get you there. Make sure that any list you’ve imported comes from sources where each individual opted in to receive emails from you specifically.” ~ @alyssa_dulin

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Next Episode

How to Clean Your List

From likes to follows to subscribers, when everything feels like a numbers game, the idea of actively deleting your subscribers can feel counterintuitive and downright terrifying. But there’s power in deleting people from your list who aren’t opening or engaging any longer. List cleaning saves you money and saves your reputation, a gift to yourself and the subscribers who matter. Well, at least the subscribers opening your emails.

But how exactly do you clean your list? Is the best list cleaning strategy the same for everyone? What really defines an unengaged subscriber? Depending on your niche, your followers, and your current deliverability health, the steps may differ. Nevertheless, one thing will always remain the same – list cleaning is an essential step for every creator, regardless of your audience size and regardless of your email strategy.

In this episode, Alyssa and Melissa discuss why list cleaning matters, tips for a top-notch re-engagement campaign, why less is more when it comes to opt-in confirmation emails, and knowing when to pull the plug and part ways with the people on your list.

Key Takeaways

[02:12] - List cleaning is so important because unengaged senders will damage your sender reputation by sending negative signals to inbox providers. That damaged deliverability can ultimately prevent engaged subscribers from seeing your emails.
[04:13] - A re-engagement series ending with an opt-in confirmation email is a great list cleaning strategy for a sender who isn’t struggling with deliverability issues.
[05:55] - If you are struggling with deliverability issues, sending a single opt-in confirmation email or simply deleting unengaged subscribers from your list are better options.
[09:31] - For the best results, send 1-3 re-engagement attempts and make sure those emails contain your best high-value content.
[12:27] - Strong opt-in confirmation emails are straight to the point with a clear action item. Fluff is unnecessary and distracting.
[18:14] - Senders should run re-engagement campaigns every 3-6 months. Avoid going more than 6 months without cleaning your list.
[20:24] - Unengaged subscribers are defined as subscribers who haven’t opened an email in 90 days or have been on your list for 30 days and haven't opened anything. You should always consider removing subscribers who haven’t engaged in six months.

Quotes

[03:23] - “This is the reason why we have this episode, why it’s so important to regularly clean your list of unengaged subscribers because if you let them sit there on your list, they’re going to start damaging your reputation and causing your messages to land in the spam folder.” ~ @alyssa_dulin

[07:43] - “A lot of senders don’t love to watch their numbers go down, especially when there’s a few thousand sometimes cold subscribers that need to be deleted, but you’re paying for those subscribers. And if there’s no interaction, if there’s no engagement, it’s probably not worth paying for those subscribers.” ~ @mel_lambert_

[08:13] - “You have to look at the big picture and recognize that, even though it’s hard to cut ties with people, they can always come back. Just because you delete them off your list because they’re not engaging, doesn’t mean that they don’t have the opportunity to come back some day if they really want to.” ~ @mel_lambert_

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