Email deliverability - what is it?

This post is about email deliverability or 'the art and science of getting your emails read'. We will explore together what deliverability means and why it is an important but sometimes forgotten part of digital marketing. Therefore, I will start by answering the question...

What is email deliverability?

My definition is simple:

It's the degree to which your emails reach recipients, how quickly they reach them and how well they show up in recipients' inboxes. Everyone wants the highest email deliverability possible. You, me and the rest of the world. That it's the best thing since sliced bread seems to be clear as sausage meat. But why? It might seem like just another in a series of metrics that are all absolutely-no-debate-totally-necessary for your company's success. The reason becomes clear if we zoom out. 

In its latest 'State of Email' report from 2021, Litmus shares some interesting figures.

• Email marketing budgets are swelling. 37% of brands are increasing their budgets and only 1.3% are decreasing.
  
• 79% of marketers rank email as one of their top three channels.
  
  

This is reinforced by the fact that according to the 2020 edition of the same report, email has a solid return on investment (ROI) of 36 to 1. 

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No wonder the number of emails being sent just keeps growing and growing. Today, well over 300 BILLION emails are sent every day!

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Source: Statista

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So email is a digital tsunami you'd better surf on top of. 

If we shift the focus back and look at an 'ordinary day' in a company, we can put these (huge!) numbers into context. Here are just a few examples of the role email plays in a modern marketing mix.

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We use email as a channel for:

• Provide receipts, purchase and delivery confirmations.
  
  
• Newsletter
  
  
• Share offers
  
  
• Informing customers of changes in conditions or price increases
  
  
• Send gated content (ebooks, webinars, reports, etc.)
  
  

Therefore, it is no wonder that email is an important channel and a basic feature of any MA/CRM system. Given the role email has in the mix, the danger is that, like hot summer days, we take them for granted. You notice them when they're no longer there... but by then it's too late. Email is such a given that we can't, without stopping to think, relate to it - like the fish that can't see the water it's swimming in.

What does low email deliverability mean and what are some common reasons for it?

So what happens if you've been unlucky or misbehaved? A low deliverability means that:

•  They are relegated to spam bins, spam categories and other corners of recipients' inboxes
  
  
• They are de-prioritised and don't arrive as quickly as you and your customers expect.
  
  

Not being able to rely on your ability to send emails is having a faltering marketing. In other words, it's a disaster. Low deliverability can be caused by a number of things. Irrelevant communications that are not appreciated by recipients, the domain you are sending from having low credibility or poor list hygiene - can all be causes.

In the next installment, I'll tell you what marketers need to consider in order to design communications that help, rather than hinder, their reach. Read the post here.

Take care!