Database Group in the press
DATABASE MARKETING - January 2008
Press for Support |
Guy Hanson, Business Development Director, Database Group Interactive , discusses some of the ways an email specialist can help improve deliverability and response rates.
January 2008
... As regards deliverability, getting an email service provider (ESP) to carry out the broadcast makes sense for most, as the problem of spam has created a minefield that is hard for the uninitiated to navigate. In fact, managing email delivery is getting even further beyond the ability of company marketing teams to handle.
Two years ago, the challenge was to avoid using content that might be flagged up as spam: putting the message through a content validation filter would identify potential problems, such as too many images, the use of words such as “win” or lots of different fonts. That still applies, but these days experts say, the main focus is on the sender’s reputation, with organisations such as SenderScore and SenderBase monitoring email broadcasters on behalf of network administrators and ISPs in order to identify potential spammers.
Guy Hanson, business development director at Database Group Interactive, explains: “if you are a bulk sender, you will be on their radar. They look at your volumes, and the number of bouncebacks you generate, also the number of ‘complaints’, indentified by recipients who send the message straight to the junk folder. They will also take a view of the broadcaster, so a well know bluechip will do better than a garage set-up.”
Companies and ISPs who use these reputation-based services will block any message whose sender scores poorly. This means that by using bad data, companies are not just getting poor response rates to their campaigns, but also run the risk of their brand being blacklisted.
In effect, a company’s reputation score at any one time is an accurate reflection of the delivery rates it is generating, Hanson says. “The closer to 100 the better, SenderScore say that you should be getting scores of 70 or above to be a reputable sender and if you are below that threshold you need to reappraise one or more aspects of your email broadcasting.”
This is where using a good email service provider should pay dividends, its expertise helping to identify ways to improve results. In one example, a client had been broadcasting to a pan-European database and wanted to see if it’s response rates could be improved. Database Group Interactive identified possible improvements to the copy, which was being sent out as a simple large image, and broke it down into smaller components, replacing image text with plain text where possible.
It also tested alternative subject lines that would be less contentious to spam filters. It then conducted a head-to-head test, broadcasting half of the campaign while the company broadcast the other half itself. With the agency’s changes, open rates proved to be 33 per cent higher than before, with click through rates up 50 per cent.
But if the case for using an ESP is made, how of you go about choosing the right one? Hanson recommends asking prospective partners to show what deliverability metrics they can demonstrate across their client base.
“I would want to know whether they have achieved a white listing with the top domains like Yahoo, Hotmail and AOL, and are accredited with companies like SenderScore”....
Taken from an original article by Robert McLuhan which appeared in the January 2008 issue of Database Marketing. For more information, visit www.dmarket.co.uk.
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Press for Support
January 2008
Guy Hanson, Business Development Director, Database Group Interactive, discusses some of the ways an email specialist can help improve deliverability and response rates.
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What is...a Spam Trap?
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Guy Hanson, Business Development Director, Database Group Interactive
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