All That Matters Is The Inbox!

Hola… Chris here.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but counter to popular opinion “List Size Doesn’t Matter.” And it really doesn’t matter if your emails aren’t hitting the inbox.

Let me explain.

The most important metric of your list is not it’s size, but how engaged your subscribers are.

If your subscribers aren’t actively engaging with your content, there’s a strong chance you won’t end up in their inbox. If you don’t end up in the inbox, what value do they have?

See the example below:

• List of 500K subscribers with a CTR* of 3% = 15,000 clicks.

• List of 75K subscribers with a CTR* of 20% = 15,000 clicks.

*CTR (Click-Through-Rate) - percentage of subscribers sent to that click a link in your email.

Both these lists will generate the same amount of traffic, but there is a 425,000 subscriber difference.

The issues with the larger list are…

• 6x the sending costs.

• Most likely less return for your advertisers.

• More volatility in your delivery metrics - INBOXING ISSUES.

I’d rather have, a tighter list with super high engagement.

• Lower sending costs.

• More engaged audience for my advertisers.

• Much higher and consistent INBOX rates.

Now, if you’re able to grow a large list - with hyper engagement - you have a 🦄 on your hands… making some serious 💰.

So below are 5 tips to help you hit the inbox and boost your engagement.

Let’s start chasing that unicorn!

TIP 1: Create A Base Sending Segment

You don’t want to just send to your entire list. You should have a base sending segment to purge unengaged subscribers that add no value but could hurt your delivery.

When setting this up you have to know 3 basic types of subscribers.

• Clickers - subscribers who have clicked on a link in your newsletter.

• Openers - subscribers who have opened an email.

• Added - subscribers who have recently been added. Some call new to file or new subscriber.

To keep it simple, we will assume you send one email daily.

Our standard sending segment is called a 60/30/10.

Which includes anyone who has:

• Clicked in the Last 60 Days.

• Opened in the Last 30 Days.

• Added in the Last 10 Days.

You may want to adjust each of these factors based on your frequency of sends, delivery stats, and performance.

ie. If you send once per week, if you only had a 10 day added period there is a high chance the subscriber will only receive 1 email, giving you a single chance to engage them. If the content doesn’t hit them that day they would fall off your list.

TIP 2: Create a Re-Engagement Segment

No matter how good your content is, and how engaged your subscribers are, over time they will stop engaging.

If you are following the base sending segment principal listed above, these people would eventually stop receiving your emails..

Every so often, you should send to your Re-Engagement Segment, and try to re-activate these subscribers.

The Re-Engagement Segment Looks Like:

• Anyone who HAS Clicked Ever.

• Has NOT Clicked in the Last 60 Days.

• Has NOT Opened in the Last 30 Days.

You can send to this segment once a month, once every two weeks, once a quarter, whatever you feel is right for your list.

TAKE NOTE: It’s important you implement a re-engagement strategy because people may un-engage for a number of reasons including inbox delivery issues. If you have delivery issues for any period of time you could accidently lose engaged subscribers. Not because they aren’t interested, but because your email wasn’t hitting their inbox.

TIP 3: Consistency

Consistency is the name of the game. ISP’s (Internet Service Providers) who are the main source of email like Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, Verizon, Comcast, and Microsoft key-in on your sending habits.

They track your volume, frequency of sends, the times you send , and what you are sending.

It is important that you stay consistent with your delivery schedule so they learn your sending practices.

There is no right number of emails or time of day to send. Just stay consistent.

A standard schedule for many of my publications is:

• 6am - Morning Newsletter

• 6pm - Evening Newsletter

NOTE: As you can see we send twice daily. These are News style websites, where we publish numerous articles each day. You may be sending once per week or maybe every two weeks. Just be consistent with the time you are sending them out. For this newsletter I’ve chosen Monday’s at 8pm.

TIP 4: List Hygiene

This step is a little more technical but just as important.

When emails subscribe to your list, you want to ensure they are valid emails. You don’t want to send to invalid emails, spam traps, or bots that could hurt your reputation.

There are a number of list hygiene providers including:

• Email Oversight

• Never Bounce

• Xverify

TIP 5: Monitor Your Inbox

It’s important that you keep track of what’s happening with your email delivery. There are a number of free resources you can use to keep your eye on the prize.

If you are seeing any issues when using the resources above, make sure to look into them and take appropriate actions.

Could be you have to stop a traffic source that is giving you bad subscribers, or tighten your sending segment to increase your engagement.

Master these 5 tips, and you will be well on your way to inboxing on a regular basis.

If you have any questions or are looking for more advice on advanced email delivery topics like fingerprinting or email sender requirements, simply reply to this email.

Keep hitting that inbox,

Chris Miquel

Follow me on Twitter: @miqchris

Connect with me on LinkedIn: chrismiquel