48 Experts Share Their Secrets to Land Your Emails in Inboxes

We have been told, time and time again, that the money is in the list. But what good is a list if you can’t land your emails in inboxes?

Your list is only as good as the subscribers that are in it and only as effective as your ability to reach your subscribers’ inboxes – not the junk or spam folders or Google’s promotions tab!

See all the tips our experts and members shared on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 during the LIVE #TipTalk text chat in the BizSugar Mastermind. Make sure you know how you can make sure your subscribers see the email messages you send!

Members can see this particular #TipTalk Live Text Chat by clicking here. 

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How to Land your Emails in Inboxes

Our BizSugar member Uttoran Sen compiled this roundup by asking for expert opinions from 48 email marketing specialists on how to reach your targets’ inbox instead of landing your messages in junk, spam or promotions.

1. Ted Rubin

Ted Rubin Blog | Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram

An email marketing list, and the marketing that follows, is not simply about numbers… it’s about adding value to both your brand AND the consumer. Unfortunately, too many are simply banging away at the numbers.

Consumers do not owe you their attention, and they certainly do not owe you their “permission.” We need to EARN it… permission is earned through quality content and offers, genuine interest in and deep understanding of consumer preferences/needs, and a consistent track record that builds trust. Keep the trust, keep the permission, keep the customer.

It’s not just the volume or brilliance of content that matters, it’s how that content relates to them.

If content is not relevant, it’s nothing more than a waste of your time and a reason for the consumer to take away permission for ongoing interaction with you.

People must come first – in your growth strategies, in your marketing plans, and in every interaction that you have. Brands are running headlong into brand equity destruction through incessant overuse of their email list and 'permission,' and incessant digital spamming.Click To Tweet

The rise of retargeting and digital yield techniques is killing brands, and brand equity for the long-term. It makes me wonder how many brand managers, and more importantly CMOs, bother signing up for their own email distribution lists, or shop their brands from an anonymous browser to experience what their customers are being subjected to.

Customer experience is no longer simply about product, delivery, and service, but about how the customer experiences our marketing.

Permission is your ROR, #RonR (Return on Relationship).

As you head into the second half of 2022 and the start of 2023, remember that Permission is a two-way street, and the traffic signals are controlled by your followers. Be their Green Light… not their stop sign!

The best way to ensure your email lands in the inbox is to send a short and sweet email that's straight to the point. Also, avoid baiting the recipient with a subject line that might not be related to your email. ~ Ahfaz Ahmed @iamahfaz Click To Tweet

Subject Lines are Key to Landing Emails in Inboxes

2. Ahfaz Ahmed

Website | Blog | Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram

I’ve been doing a lot of email marketing lately for marketing and outreach purposes. Whether you’re sending emails to your list or trying to reach out to someone, here are some tips that will help you a lot:

1. Keep your subject lines short and direct. Don’t try to bait the recipient with a subject that’s not relevant to your email. It’ll only tarnish your reputation and cause your emails to land in the spam folder.

2. Don’t insert too many links in your emails as it affects deliverability and spam score. The more links you add to your email, the higher the chances of it landing in the Promotions tab or in spam. Insert only 1-2 links only if necessary.

3. Use a reputable email provider to ensure good email deliverability. An email sender with a bad reputation can cause your emails to land in the Spam or Promotions tab no matter how good your email is.

4. Write short and straightforward emails so that the recipient actually reads your email. If you’re sending emails to your list, you can experiment with the email content length and find a sweet spot. But if you’re doing email outreach to prospects and leads, then a short email is the perfect way to go.

'Verify your email subscribers with a tool like Mailfloss or ZeroBounce to improve deliverability.' ~ Adam Connell @adamjcClick To Tweet

The Importance of Email Verification to Get Emails into Inboxes

3. Adam Connell

Blog | Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

One of the most underrated ways to improve email deliverability and get emails into more inboxes is email verification.

Here’s the deal:

When you’ve had an email list for a while, some email addresses will go dormant and you’ll end up emailing abandoned email addresses. Some of these will result in hard bounces. Some email marketing tools will remove these automatically (well, eventually!).

But there’s another type of email address that your email marketing provider won’t be able to do much to help you with — spam traps.

Avoid Email Spam Traps!

Spam traps are old email addresses on platforms like Yahoo, Gmail, and Hotmail. They’ve usually been closed but still receive emails. These platforms keep them around and turn them into spam traps. These help to identify those who are sending spam emails.

But honest folks can get caught up in this as well. If you end up sending enough emails to spam traps, this can harm your email deliverability. The solution? Verify all of the emails on your list to get rid of spam traps.

An email verification tool like Mailfloss or ZeroBounce can help with this and it makes the process very easy.

For example, with Mailfloss, you can just connect it to your email provider and it’ll constantly check for spam traps and other types of emails you don’t want on your list.

This will help to keep your domain’s sender reputation in a healthy state. And stop you from sending emails from worthless email addresses and being charged for the privilege.

Setting Up DKIM and DMARC

4. Jonathan Aufray

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

To reach your recipients’ inbox, I suggest you set up DKIM and DMARC for your email address. This will improve your deliverability. Then, if it’s a new email, you should warm up your email address. A tool like Lemwarm can help you do just that. Finally, personalize your emails and don’t send bulk, unpersonalized ones.

Acquire, Validate, Introduce, Warmup, get into the loop, prune, build trust, and finally - Sell. ~ Uttoran Sen @uttoransen Click To Tweet

5. Uttoran Sen

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

If you have been doing professional email marketing for the past decade or so, you will appreciate how difficult it is getting to reach your targets inbox. And that is just the first step.

In the past when there were just two tabs – Inbox or Spam, it was all about making it or losing it. But that has been steadily changing as Gmail has now introduced the promotions and the social tabs which are almost like Spam filters, after all hardly anyone checks those folders.

The first step is always about collecting your prospects the correct way. Make sure that your opt-in form has two fields at the very least – name and email. Most people skip the name field just to get more conversions but this is where everything goes wrong.

Always prefer double-optin so that your subscribers are all verified.

Don’t send a regular email, one-offs to new subscribers. Have a well planned email series for new members – like an introduction email, then after a few days time send the next email that explains why the target subscriber has signed-up in the first place and keep the series running for more than a month. If you do this then you will have faithful long-term subscribers.

Note: Everything today, from SEO to YouTube – relies on user engagement. If a few of your subscribers have marked you as spam, the rest of your emails will go to the spam folders as well. If some of your subscribers has interacted with your email, un-spammed it, clicked on the links in the email – that is positive usage – the rest of your subscribers will get your email delivered to their inbox as well.

Don’t add too many links; use short, plain text, and avoid using images.

While writing the email, take proper care of the basics – make sure to add the name field. Don’t add too many links; even your subscribers hate it. Adding an image isn’t suggested – plain text, just a few short paragraphs long is enough.

Once in a while, clean up your list – if you have subscribers that don’t open your email – it is best to remove them.

The 3 Rs of Successfully Landing Emails in Inboxes

Email marketing using the 3 Rs, researched, relevant and relatable, has a much better chance of success. ~ Alice Elliott @alice_elliottClick To Tweet

6. Alice Elliott

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

Relevant and Relatable. We are swamped with email marketing on a daily basis. So much of it is spam – irrelevant and unappetising.

So what can you do to get your email read?

First, do enough research.

This is actually hard graft, rather than relying on algorithms or other automated systems to do the work for you. Avoid paid lists, as these are bound to be irrelevant.

Being lazy in this way won’t allow you to really understand who you are targeting, whether they are a suitable match, and if your message will be appropriately received. You may end up with a much smaller list, but at least it will be more focused and relevant and have a better chance of success.

Second, assess if your product or message is relevant to this list.

Also how can you adapt it so that is resonates with them immediately. This means having the ability to write an email headline which won’t result in instant deletion. Badly written headlines are more likely to end up as spam, even those with the so-called ‘trigger’ words.

Third, avoid the spray and pray approach.

This is not only useless, this results in many rejections and is extremely annoying for those on the receiving end.

Your email campaign needs to be focused, considered, appropriate and relevant. Throwing your message at the wall in hope that something sticks is a waste of time and energy.

Fourth, think how your message or product can resonate with your target.

Even if it is something which they may already have, or don’t want. Focus on the benefits, rather than the features, something which makes them look twice or stop to consider how this could be useful to them.

The element which is truly enticing will have been gleaned through the first task: doing enough research into your mailing list to make it super relevant.

Fifth, avoid your content to look like it’s been cut and pasted.

The emails which get noticed usually have a story, an anecdote, something different than the usual humdrum rubbish people attempt to grab my attention with. And pay attention to your spelling and grammar.

Avoid your email looking like it’s been through Google Translate twice. And adjust your language and vocabulary to suit the demographics of the people on your list. This information can be derived from task one: do enough research.

Sixth, use the person’s name.

Nobody is going to jump to attention at ‘Hey’ or Hi there’ or even ‘Hello’. Names are obtained through the first task: do enough research.

People will respond better if you address them personally, and even more if you provide your own name at the end. Coming across as a real person (rather than as AI or an algorithm) will result in a better uptake, as it shows you really care about the person you are emailing.

Seventh, (and this is one people won’t do) is prepare your recipient in advance through a spot of social networking.

Approach them first without the sales pitch. Comment on their blog posts or connect with them on social media. Get yourself known or introduced before you bombard them with your email marketing.

If you are recognized, hopefully favorably, before you send them your email, there is a much better chance of it being accepted and even acted upon, rather than ending up in the bin or spam folder.

7. Bill Gassett

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | YouTube

My best method for getting an email opened and read is to write a compelling subject line. It is essential, however, to stay on topic and make the subject line deceiving or something a spammer would do. The email message should also be concise and to the point.

There is only one rule to get an email opened – don’t let it look like spam. ~ David Leonhardt @AmabaieClick To Tweet

8. David Leonhardt

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

There is only one rule to get an email opened – don’t let it look like spam. The best way is to make sure your name is known to the target. Obviously, that is not always possible.

The second best way is to be specific. I get several emails daily that refer to “the topic of your blog” or “in your city”. Hmmm.

If the sender hasn’t bothered to learn what the topic of my blog is or that I have to drive an hour to get to a city, I use my favorite time management tool – the “delete” button.

At the end of the day, this all comes down to that fundamental tenet of sales, communications and politics: know thy audience.

Avoid Using Images to Get Emails into Inboxes

'Focus on sending well-written and concise emails.' ~ Erik Emanuelli @ErikEmanuelliClick To Tweet

9. Erik Emanuelli

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Pinterest | Instagram

The best email marketing tip that I can give is to make sure that your recipients’ inboxes are always clean and organized. This means that you should avoid using images and other attachments that will likely clutter up their inboxes.

Instead, focus on sending well-written and concise emails that will be easy for them to read and digest. Additionally, make sure to send your emails at a time when they are likely to be able to check their inboxes regularly.

For example, avoid sending emails late at night or on weekends when they are less likely to be able to respond in a timely manner.

By following these tips, you’ll be much more likely to reach your recipients’ inboxes and get your message across effectively.

To make sure your emails reach inboxes and get opened, follow this basic formula. Research - Personalize - Show Pain Point - Offer Solution - Follow Up. ~ Gene Armstrong @bigapplemediaClick To Tweet

10. Gene Armstrong

Website | Blog | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Instagram

Most people won’t even open your email unless you catch their attention with a great subject line or personalization.

To keep them interested, after they open it, quickly get to the pain point they’re facing, then pitch by offering a solution and telling them how you can help.

Always make emails about them and how they can benefit. Finally, stick to this formula for the best results.

Research – Personalize – Show Pain Point – Offer Solution – Follow Up.

11. Jacob Cass

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

Make the subject line descriptive. Don’t just say “potential collaboration” or some other generic subject line. Make it personal and specifically say what the opportunity is about – that’s what a subject line is for!

 

How to boost your traffic and income by improving email open rates. ~ Janice Wald @MrsPaznanskiClick To Tweet

12. Janice Wald

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

You need your email to land in the inbox. If your emails don’t land in the inbox, and they go to spam, there will be repercussions.

First, your traffic will drop since people rarely check their spam folders. They won’t even know you sent them your article if that’s what you included in the email.

Next, your income will drop. If you emailed offers of new launches or discounts, again, people won’t see your offers because they’ll land in the spam folder which normally people don’t check.

Also, your email open rate will drop. This tells GMail or your mail carrier that your mail is spam leading to more emails landing in spam.

There is a solution for these problems: Prune the dead weight. You need to manually remove subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in a year. Many times people sign up to get your opt-in and don’t have interest in the articles. That’s why it’s so important to offer an incentive that people in your targeted audience would want.

This is how to better ensure the emails land in the inbox and not the spam folder.

There’s only one you. Be yourself. Jaime Buckley @WantedHeroClick To Tweet

13. Jaime Buckley

Website | Twitter | Facebook

I’ll make this simple. The advice I give about emails is the same I’d give about advertising, customer service or any other aspect of your business. The secret is you.

People are screaming to be heard, touting lies to be believed, casting nets too big so they can’t be pulled into their boats, and now AI services are used to be ‘original’.

I’m old enough to remember when marketing wasn’t about manipulation. It was about providing choice. A time when we believed in what we were selling, and we only had to show others the why to get conversions.

Nothing has changed about the fundamentals of what works

Relationships, integrity, honesty, quality, service, and being a person others would like to associate with.

I’ve given up on the marketing of today, running after the fads and trends of the world–-their success being temporary at best. Any and all barriers to my business goals have to do with what’s inside me.

Be the person you would want as a friend. Be someone you would admire, respect and talk kindly about to others. Then communicate to your clients and customers as that person, with clarity and confidence.

Offer them honest options, so they can come to an educated decision on their own. You’ll win their minds, their hearts, and if you do it well, their loyalty.

Ensure that you focus on building a relationship and increasing your brand awareness with those on your list before promoting your products or services. ~ Julie Weishaar @newhorizons123Click To Tweet

14. Julie Weishaar

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | YouTube

The key to getting people to open your email is to make it obvious in the subject line something that interests them.

To do that, you really need a highly targeted list. And you must keep your messages on topic, but use leading subject lines.

Because most people read their emails on their mobile devices, be sure that yours are mobile-friendly to enhance the user experience.

Although the emails you send to your target audience contain valuable content, you should always include a call-to-action (CTA) that prompts them to take an action such as signing up for your newsletter or downloading a white paper.

Be prepared to send follow-up emails as many people don’t respond to the first email. Ensure that you focus on building a relationship and increasing your brand awareness with those on your list before promoting your products or services.

15. Erika Mohssen-Beyk

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram | YouTube

Spam filters work with increasingly sophisticated technologies, and email marketing platforms must keep up with changes, and so must the marketer.

We have to take care of a few things to avoid our emails landing in spam. There are certain words to avoid which are negatively ranked by filters.

The email should not contain more images than text and not too many links. You should clean up your contact list, especially if your mailings are unopened over a longer period of time.

I usually rely on my email marketing platform, which provides a spam score.

• Do not overwhelm recipients with too many emails.
• Be authentic and write as if you are sending a letter to a friend to tell him exciting news.

Most important:

• Make your email subject line compelling. Make the reader curious; often, a few words are enough.
• Remember that people have no attention span or time to read long emails these days. Make it short, exciting, and on point.

Write short and engaging emails. Sometimes less is more 🙂

Avoid Clickbait Subject Lines to Get Emails into Inboxes

A catchy phrase in email subject line is essential for attention. ~ Justin Germino @dragonbloggerClick To Tweet

16. Justin Germino

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram | YouTube

A call to action and/or catchy phrase in the subject line is essential for capturing attention but don’t disappoint with clickbait, if you don’t deliver engaging content that your reader is expecting to be excited by or informed by you will end up with unsubscribes or the opposite desired effect in trying to engage your audience.

Never put any claims, currency, discount, coupon, or free word in the email title if you want to land in the primary email. ~ Kulwant Nagi @kulwantnagiClick To Tweet

17. Kulwant Nagi

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

Email written in simple text have more probability than media-rich emails. Use simple text editor to write your emails and write in very short paragraph to make it consumable with ease.

When few of your readers spend more time reading your entire email, it sends positive signal to SMTP providers that these emails are useful.

Soon they warm up your email and your emails will start landing in primary inbox. We have created a list of best email autoresponders for affiliate marketing if you want to do email marketing and promote products without getting banned.

Focus on quality over quantity. Identify perfect prospects and craft a personalised message that lasers directly in on their problems. No dirty tricks - just focus on helping them reach their goals. ~ Marcus Miller @marcusbowlerhatClick To Tweet

18. Marcus Miller

Website | Blog | Twitter | Linkedin | Facebook | Instagram

I am a big fan of quality over quantity. No point sending out 1000s of emails. Instead, find 10 companies you really want to work with and that you know you can get stellar results.

We also focus on trying to start conversations and build relationships more so than trying to turn an email into an invoice.

And we had some great success with a recent email campaign to businesses that we knew were running Google Ads but that was not doing a great job of it (and who we knew we could really help).

We identified a candidate list, highlighted an issue or opportunity with their ads, sent them a blog post about how to do PPC better (this one) and focused on starting conversations and building relationships.

I find this ethically easier to do if you honestly want to help – that is the philosophy I always try to start with and it largely removes the reliance on the latest email tactic and replaces that with just being useful.

Consistently write high-quality emails that value add. ~ Raelyn Tan @raelyntanClick To Tweet

19. Raelyn Tan

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

I’ve found that the best way to get your emails read… is to actually write good emails. No tricks required. This means writing engaging and interesting emails that actually provide value to your subscribers.

Build a reputation for sending great emails by sending emails that YOU would love to receive – for instance, by telling stories, sharing lessons, and providing solid tips.

Over time, your subscribers are the ones that look forward to, reply, and engage with your emails.

While this sounds incredibly boring and basic, it’s actually really hard to implement on a consistent basis. Just because something is basic, doesn’t mean it’s easy to accomplish. 🙂

Personalized email marketing is the way forward. ~ Ryan Scollon @ryanscollonClick To Tweet

20. Ryan Scollon

Website | Blog | Twitter | Linkedin

I’ve tried lots of different tips and methods over the years to improve my email marketing success, and the one that always trumps the rest is personaliaation.

While there are a few ways to personalise your email marketing, here is the one that I always start with: Instead of sending your emails out as the generic company name, improve trust by sending your emails from a real person, such as ‘Lisa from Amazon’ or ‘Derek from Nike’.

It helps build trust with the readers and I’ve found that it increases the open rate considerably.

21. Kent Lewis

Website | Blog | Twitter | Linkedin

I’ve found the best way to get emails into the inbox (beyond sending from a whitelisted server) is to craft a compelling, yet concise subject line that teases the purpose of your email (i.e. entertainment, education, or offer). For the email to be effective, it must deliver on the promise.

Don’t be too pushy in email marketing as you’ll put people off! ~ Victoria @lyliaroseClick To Tweet

22. Victoria

Website | Blog | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

It is not a good idea to be too pushy in email marketing as it will put people off. People don’t like getting unsolicited emails and will put you off if you are too aggressive.

You should also avoid sending too many emails to your recipients as they might get annoyed by your constant follow-up. Give it at least a week to follow up; people are busy, have lives, might be on leave, and they don’t need to be chased up three times a day!

Make sure that your content is personal, relevant and interesting enough so that people want to read it. If it sounds like a sales pitch, too pushy or looks too spammy (lots of bold and highlighted text) they will either unsubscribe, filter your emails to trash or spam or never open your emails again!

Newsletter copy is easy - write it weeks in advance like I do! ~ Yvonne DiVita @IdeaNurturingClick To Tweet

23. Yvonne DiVita

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | YouTube

Prepare your content well in advance. Instead of stressing over what to put in your email newsletter, create a monthly theme and write about that well ahead of time.

Take August, when people are beginning to wish summer was over. Your theme might be: Fall forward into Better Marketing for Q4.

Then, each newsletter can touch upon one marketing tip to take your readers into a successful fall. This prepares them for fall and winter, and takes their mind off of the heat of summer.

Of course, you will write it all in one day. Create that content and set it to publish accordingly. Your readers get great advice and you avoid the worry of wondering what to write this week.

(This also allows you to tap into current trends and conversations – to create even better content for the next month.)

Focus on a value packed auto responder and sell rarely. ~ Wade McMaster @creatorimpact Click To Tweet

24. Wade McMaster

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

I focus on an Autoresponder series which delivers free information, resources and value and sell very intermittently with solutions based off that information.

So subscribers stay connected and reading emails because they are waiting for more actionable content. I let my website do more selling with that content.”

Avoid spammy words in subject line and body text. ~ Tommy Landry @tommy_landryClick To Tweet

25. Tommy Landry

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Today’s spam filters have gotten much more sophisticated, many even using machine learning and artificial intelligence to identify spammy email content from clean domains and IP addresses.

If you’ve got a pristine sending profile, you still need to avoid these filters. When in doubt, look for an email subject line testing tool online that can help you clean it up before you send.

This specific tool will even help you improve your odds of getting more email opens, so it’s a great free tool to try out.

Personalize the email as BEST as you can. Include their first name in the subject line and begin the first couple of sentences of the email with something that is UNIQUE to that person only. ~ Rafi Chowdhury @Digital182Click To Tweet

26. Rafi Chowdhury

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | YouTube

Personalization is key. You need to grab the reader’s attention immediately in the first couple of sentences.

To do this, you need to start with something that is very unique and / or relevant to them. Starting with their name is a great start if you know nothing else about them.

Also be sure to keep the email short and sweet. I would recommend no more than 3-4 sentences to get your message across. DO not use fancy graphics etc. in email. Just stick to plain text.

My top secret to land emails straight to the consumer's inbox is to authenticate email. Most email services like Gmail trust authenticated emails and are likely to conduct less filtering and deliver emails right to the inbox. ~ Mudassir BE @Mudassir9sClick To Tweet

27. Mudassir BE

Website | Blog | Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram

Smart and responsible marketers always follow protocols to ensure email deliverability right to the inbox.

This is because they know that consumers provide their email ID by trusting you that you will deliver critical info to their inbox and to not get scammed by the scammers.

That is when email authentication does the job. My top secret to land emails straight to the consumer’s inbox is to authenticate email.

Email authentication

Authenticating email can seem challenging for the sender, but is vital to stay legit and land your email directly in the inbox.

Most email services like Gmail trust authenticated emails and are likely to conduct less filtering and deliver emails right to the inbox.

Email authentication includes verifying the email origin and domain ownership that is used for sending emails. It is like double-checking by the servers of both parties – sending and receiving.

Typically, 4 standard protocols are used for email authentication. They are:

1) SPF (Sender Policy Framework) – It is a DNS entry receiver server that checks to verify the sender’s IP address to learn whether it is authorized or spam.

2) DKIM – (Domain Keys Identified Mail) – It adds a digital signature to an email and is secured with encryption. The signature lets the receiving party know where the public key can be retrieved for email authentication. When verified, the email is more likely to land inbox.

3) DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) – DMARC is a kind of policy that either rejects, accepts, or passes the email to quarantine based on SPF and DKIM authentications.

4) Brand Indicator for Email Authentication – It is the latest addition, in which the logo can be displayed in the email section. The best part is that scammers can’t get to do that even if they crack the above three protocols. To pass this protocol, the brand must implement all the vital protocols like DMARC.

While it takes effort and time to set up all the protocols in place, it drives the best conversion if done properly. The good news is that the email provider or your in-house team could do this work for you.

Note prioritizing email authentication is crucial if you want to generate the maximum brand’s R.O.I via email marketing.

Improving engagement rates by letting subscribers reply to your emails, getting them to mark your email as ‘not spam’, and boosting your forward rates are among the biggest factors you need to work on. ~ Nisha Pandey @nishapandey510Click To Tweet

28. Nisha Pandey

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

Improving engagement rates is perhaps the biggest secret for me to land emails in the inbox. Letting subscribers reply to your emails, getting them to mark your email as ‘not spam’, and boosting your forward rates are among the biggest factors you need to work on.

When it comes to email marketing success, many factors are out of our control except the quality and relevance of our content. This is where we can make efforts and drive higher engagement rates.

Higher engagement rates themselves send out positive signals to ISP’s and email service providers. I suggest keeping the content relevant, useful, and interesting, and driving more actions such as ‘mark as not spam’, increased reply rates, and increased forward rates.

These are factors you have certain degree of control over. Instead of using a ‘no-reply address’, allow your subscribers to reply to the email address the emails are sent from.

Use a custom email address to send emails and make sure your emails provide value to the audience. Quick Tip: Always use a captivating subject to increase engagement and a CTA button to improve conversions. ~Nitin Dabas @DabasBlog'Click To Tweet

29. Nitin Dabas

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

Emails are a great way to boost your audience as well as conversions. If you provide value to your audience, you’ll improve for sure. You send emails to our audience in order to boost our sales but often do some amateur blogger mistakes.

Here are some tips to make sure your email lands in the inbox of your audience:

• Consistently deliver values in your emails and don’t make them self-promotion mails
• Ask your audience to add your email to their contacts
• Add some images and light HTML to your emails
• Avoid link stuffing and use only those links that are necessary for your readers
• Keep your emails precise to deliver only the information or latest updates
• Use personalized emails to ensure that they will land in the inbox
• Be active while sending emails, as it will increase your credibility with your audience

Quick Tip: Always use a captivating subject to increase engagement and a CTA button to improve conversions.

Get personal. Don’t be a robot while sending emails to others. Use their names while writing emails. Take time to craft each email and you’ll be stunned by the email response rates. ~ Anil Agarwal @bloggerspassionClick To Tweet

30. Anil Agarwal

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | Quora

One of the best ways to get your emails to land in the inbox is to get personal. Whether you’re building an email list or sending an email to someone, get personal. Get to know the recipient’s name.

Most digital marketers don’t do this as they send random emails in bulk. That’s NOT how you’re going to get success with email marketing. So ALWAYS personalize your emails by using the recipient’s name to get better email open and response rates.

Also, it’s always a good idea to use short paragraphs and shorter words while crafting your emails.

Use a call to action at the end of every email you send by using phrases like “Did you find it useful”, “Do you have any more questions”, “Do let me know what you think”, etc to get responses from your recipient.

Avoid spammy words in your email subject line & message body to land your emails in the inbox. ~ Amit Garg @bloggingbeatsClick To Tweet

31. Amit Garg

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linkedin

To avoid spam and land your emails in the inbox, my advice would be not to use bad or spammy keywords in the subject line of your emails.

Not only the subject line but you should also be careful while using them in the message body of your emails.

Use them sparingly, one or two spam phrases within context can bypass spam filters but make sure you follow the best email marketing practices:

Personalize your emails, insert the person’s name or company into your emails

Keep the text-to-image ratio appropriate (don’t add too many images)

Limit the number of links (max 3 times)

Add unsubscribe links to your emails

Free, Affordable, Cheap, Discount, Save $, etc. are some of the examples of spam trigger words.

Apart from spammy keywords, all caps letters, extreme punctuation, strangely formatted fonts, and links to fraudulent websites may result in spam.

So, next time, if you want your email provider to send your emails to recipients’ inboxes, start implementing all the tips mentioned above!

Warm pitch — instead of sending cold emails. If people know you, they are more likely to read and respond to your mail. ~ Chintan Zalani @chintanzalani Click To Tweet

32. Chintan Zalani

Website | Twitter | Instagram

If people know you, they are more likely to read and respond to your mail. So before you pitch someone your service or product or ask — it would be great if they already know you.

The best case scenario would be you getting an introduction through someone in their network.

But the next best would be engaging with their social media posts (in a non creepy manner). And trying to add some value to the person you intend to pitch.

Once you have a decent reputation and the prospect has “warmed up” to you, the email you send them (which you can request from the prospect) is more likely to get a response.

Aim to activate, scrub when you fail - Activate or remove inactive subscribers. ~ eyalk100 @Eyal KatzClick To Tweet

33. Eyal Katz

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

So you’ve built a great email list. You’ve segmented, personalized the content, and made sure to dot compliance I’s and cross the best-practice T’s.

However, to ensure those relevant emails keep landing in your subscribers’ inboxes, you need to keep working on that list.

You probably already know that optimizing for engagement in every outreach is the way to go. It’s the way to reach the goals of your email message or campaign. But that’s not the only reason you should aim to engage with every email.

Email service providers tend to flag the senders with low open and read rates, many bounced emails, and high delete rates as spammers.

So what is a busy marketer to do?

Remove incorrect addresses immediately and regularly. Especially true in a B2B context where people frequently change their email addresses as they switch jobs.

Consider engagement tiers. By crafting your email marketing campaigns based on subscriber engagement scores, you’re more likely to reach campaign goals and keep ESPs on your side.

Adjust your send frequency based on activity. Before you delete any emails from your list, try sending fewer emails further apart to check for “life signs.”

Keep aiming for action! Every engaged subscriber is another hint for ESPs that you’re a legitimate source of relevant emails for your target audience. Make it easy for subscribers to respond and engage, moving the conversation forward.

My best advice is don't spam. Network your way in.. ~ Mark Newsome @coach2coachguyClick To Tweet

34. Mark Newsome

Website | Twitter | Linkedin | YouTube

My best advice is don’t spam. Network your way in. Make cold email outreach one oof, if not your last resort. Instead rely and get other influencers you personally know or currently network with, to introduce you.

And pre-lay the foundation for your future emails or future text messages. In order to get a potentially valuable relationship initially established on solid footing.

ASK the visitor WHERE you can send the freebie! ~ Freddy G. C. @imblog101Click To Tweet

35. Freddy G. C.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Here is one of the best simple hacks I still use to ensure people; one, give a valid email address, and two, open my email. All you have to do is use human psychology.

Ask WHERE you can send them the free video or free ebook.

When you ask for a name and email, also ask; “where can I send you this video?” or “where can I send you this ebook?”

And instead of writing “Get Access” or “Download” on your opt-in button, write “Send me the video!” or “Send me this ebook!”.

By doing this, you are letting the person know they need to input a real email, and not only that, but they also will need to check their inbox to get the freebie.

On the next page, you want to ask them to check their inbox and even the spam folder to make sure they don’t miss it.

I also like to ask them to add my email to their contacts list inside their inbox. You can show them a screenshot of what exactly you mean.

If you take the time to put a visitor through this process, they will definitely open your email and future emails.

This simple hack works great. The type of people who actually follow through are your best subscribers. And the type of people who do not, you don’t want them as a subscriber anyway, because they are not that interested.

Be over with generic calls-to-actions. Go custom! ~ Srish Agrawal @srishagrawal Click To Tweet

36. Srish Agrawal

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram

Honestly, it’s time to shun the generic calls-to-actions in your emails. While generic calls-to-action viz, “Buy Now”, “Shop Now”, “Contact Us”, and “Request a Quote” – might just work for specific occasions, but they don’t always pack the punch that your target audience needs to take real action.

As a marketer myself, I would never answer a call to action that doesn’t appeal to me, that doesn’t evoke emotion inside me. For every novice out there aspiring for a better email open rate, my prime suggestion would be to induce a FOMO into your CTA.

Make them die for your deal, if you know what I mean! Give them a feel that something you are offering is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. And if they miss out, it’s their loss.

Creativity is crucial while writing your emails. Especially your subject lines. Because that is the statement that’s gonna hook your recipient. That’s where their eyes should stick and unknowingly entice them to click on your email.

Whether you are emailing your audience in a bid to attend a webinar you are hosting, an online course you have developed, or any new product your brand has launched – your CTA text in the subject line is your lucky talisman to get them to click that email.

Warmup your email id and send email to verified list. ~ Vineet Gupta @vineet18del Click To Tweet

37. Vineet Gupta

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin | Instagram

Make sure you are warming up the email id from which you are sending emails. There are many tools like GMass that help you to warm up your email id for free.

Start sending fewer emails if your email id is new, send emails to few people initially like 50-100 people on the list, and send emails to the verified list only (many tools are there to verify your emails like snov.io).

Avoid using so called ‘flagged words’ in emails – using such words there is a higher chance your emails may land in spam. Words like: money, free, dollar ($), casino, etc.

The last time I was researching around to ensure more number of my emails land in spam I came across Shane’s article to improve email delivery, I guess it’s a well-written piece that should be helpful for the audience.

Tweetable:

Keep your email simple and use a dedicated IP when sending. ~ Shounak Gupte @ShounakGupteClick To Tweet

38. Shounak Gupte

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Linkedin

The first thing you need to do is make sure your email is properly formatted. Emails that are not properly formatted are more likely to be flagged as spam.

Be sure to use a standard font like Arial or Times New Roman, and use a plain text editor instead of a word processor like Microsoft Word.

You should also avoid using too many images in your email. Spammers often use images to try and bypass spam filters, so including too many images in your email can actually hurt your deliverability rates.

Another thing could help is trying to send emails from a dedicated IP address. Using a dedicated IP address can help you increase your deliverability rates.

When your email send rate reaches a certain volume, it is advisable to switch to a dedicated IP address. This can help you in gaining control over your reputation and subsequently helps in gaining high email delivery.

The ideal hour to send emails is from 8:00 p.m. until midnight. ~ Sudhir Shukla @sudhirshukladrClick To Tweet

39. Sudhir Shukla

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | Instagram

A remarkable technique to generate buzz for your company, website, or blog is email marketing. The email marketing expert tip that follows can give your campaign the boost it needs.

Witty and thought-provoking emails grab attention. More clicks are generated by Catchy- subject lines than by simple text. Make your subject line click-worthy.

Build familiarity by making it personal. Start by including the recipient’s name. Their interests, locations, and any other data you may have on them can be included. The ideal hour to send emails is from 8:00 p.m. until midnight.

Avoid using common spam keywords in your email to improve email deliverability. ~ Aquif Shaikh @aquifs Click To Tweet

40. Aquif Shaikh

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

One of the best ways to make sure your emails don’t end up in recipients’ spam folders is to ensure you’re not using any common spam trigger words in your email subject lines. Some of these include “free,” “guarantee,” and “100%.”

To avoid using these trigger words, try to get creative with your email subject lines. For example, instead of “100% off all shoes this weekend!” you could say something like “Major sale on shoes this weekend!”

Additionally, make sure you’re not using excessive punctuation or capitalization in your email subject lines, as this can also trigger spam filters.

Land an email successfully in the inbox of your target audience: Choose a good email marketing platform, craft a compelling and irresistible subject line, write an engaging message and add a prominent call to action button. ~ Temi Odurinde @Temi_OdurindeClick To Tweet

41. Temi Odurinde

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Successfully landing emails into a recipient’s inbox and generating engagement, is like writing a small algorithm. First you need to choose a robust and respected email sending platform that delivers your email message into an inbox and NOT a sub folder. Choosing a cheap or free platform that does not get your email delivered to where it needs to be is pointless.

Then craft an engaging and irresistible subject line. A subject line that is so tempting that the recipient will find it irresistible to ignore. Craft is a compelling mess and a prominent call to action button. An email marketing message that follows these simple algo will have a very high rate of success.

42. Rintu Biswas

Website | Blog | Twitter | Linkedin

How to Bypass Spam Filters and Reach the Inbox Directly?

With the commonality of spam and filters, it can be difficult to get any emails through to the inbox these days.

Yet, there are a few simple adjustments that you can make that will put your email on the right track to reach the inbox first.

So, what is spam? in short..

Spam is defined as “unsolicited, often commercial messages sent over the internet, typically to large numbers of users, for the purpose of marketing or advertising a product or service.”

In other words, spam is any email that you didn’t ask for and isn’t related to something you’re interested in.

Most people find spam annoying, and some types dangerous. Due to rapid rise of phishing activities.

And here is how spam filters work..

Spam filters are designed to block spam messages from reaching your inbox. They work by scanning the content of an email and looking for certain keywords or patterns that are common in spam messages.

If the email contains these keywords or patterns, it is automatically marked as spam and sent to your spam folder.

To avoid triggering the spam filter, you can either avoid using common spam keywords in your emails, or you can whitelist your email address with the recipient’s email provider.

Whitelisting means that your messages will always be delivered to the inbox, regardless of whether or not they contain trigger words.

So here is how to avoid spam filters and make sure your emails hit the inbox straight.

• Use a professional email address. This is the first step to ensuring that your messages are not mistaken for spam.
• Keep your list clean. Make sure that you only send emails to people who have opted in to receive them. If you’re not sure whether someone wants to hear from you, it’s best not to add them to your list.
• Don’t use excessive capitalization or exclamation points in your subject line. This can make your message look like spam.
• Avoid using common phrases that trigger spam filters, such as “free” or “win.”

A takeaway of what we learned today

From using more relevant keywords to keeping your content fresh and up-to-date, there are several things to improve your email deliverability.

So don’t get discouraged if your emails end up in the spam folder — keep trying and eventually, you’ll find the right formula for success.

43. Ali Raza

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin | YouTube

People subscribe based on the power of your words. Call-to-action (CTA) is good and encouraging but when you over do it, people wont subscribe. The strategy is to work on Copywriting Skills, it can do the magic.

 

With so many emails being sent each day, engagement and memorability are more critical than ever. The best way to encourage is both - and improve deliverability as a result, is to utilize the power of storytelling. ~ James McAllister @JamesMOnlineClick To Tweet

44. James McAllister

Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram

With so many emails being sent each day, engagement and memorability are more critical than ever. The best way to encourage is both – and improve deliverability as a result, is to utilize the power of storytelling.

Too many emails follow the same boring templates and structures, which are easily forgotten. Even if you’ve sent someone 50 emails, they may have no idea who you are and how they ended up on your list.

By utilizing storytelling in your email marketing strategy, you will:

• Cause your name to stand out in the email inbox, increasing opens. This will improve deliverability not only to that subscriber, but to everyone else on your list as well.
• Create connection points with people that will cause them to like and trust you more.
• Make yourself seem more memorable, rather than just another marketer in their inbox.
• Reduce spam complaints, which will further help deliverability.
• Ensure every word of your emails actually get read once they’re open – including any call-to-actions or promotions.

Make use of the double opt-in confirmation and ensure that every new subscriber gives their consent to receive emails from you. ~ Manidipa Bhaumik @bmanidipaClick To Tweet

45. Manidipa Bhaumik

Website | Blog | Linkedin | Twitter | Pinterest

When you send emails to people who didn’t sign-up for your messages or aren’t fully aware of it, chances are high that they will mark your email as spam. This is dangerous as the ISPs may block the servers after getting a few spam complaints.

Double opt-in confirmation is a simple yet effective technique that makes sure your emails are landing at the actual email addresses and helps reduce bounce rate.

Whenever someone subscribes to your list, you send them a confirmation email asking them to validate their email address and get their consent. This is the best way to ensure that you don’t attract any spam complaints.

Avoiding common spam phrases, removing inactive recipients, and warming up before sending to the entire list are some other key tips that will help increase the chances that your emails are landing in the inbox.

Do NOT Use Power Words if You Want Emails in Inboxes!

To get more of your emails in the recipient's inboxes is to deliberately not use power words. ~ Nikola Raza @NikolaRazaClick To Tweet

46. Nikola Roza

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

To get more of your emails in the recipient’s inboxes is to deliberately not use power words because of 2 reasons.

First, power words are special, overused phrases that reek of ingenuity. It’s what sleazy sales marketers use.

Second, power phrases are trigger words for email filters.

If you use them within your email’s content or in the email subject line there’s a high chance your email will be put in the spam folder or in the Promotions tab in Gmail.

Of course, it’s not the only factor email filters consider when determining what is spam and what’s legit;

but with the ever stringent email filters you want to increase your chances of inbox landing as much as you can, and not using power words is an easy thing to do.

Examples of power words to avoid are best, free, simple, easy, scary, lucrative, hidden…

Our top performing method in order to get land email addresses from prospect clients into our inbox are floating conversational forms on our website. ~ Iñigo Etxebeste @GlocMediaClick To Tweet

47. Iñigo Etxebeste

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

Our top performing method in order to get land email addresses from prospect clients into our inbox are floating conversational forms on our website.

These forms make the website more conversational rather than static, informative one-way communication channels. They result in higher engagement from the prospect client and they often share their email address with us so that we can follow up the conversation and ultimately start a project.

48. Shamsudeen Adeshokan

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

There are 4.3 billion email users in 2022 according to this study. That’s something above 50% of the world population. As a marketer, getting your message read by a tiny percentage of this audience could mean massive attention and reach.

With today’s advanced technology, there is an abundance of tools and services to get your message across to your audience via email. But the problem is making sure your message does not end in the spam folder. How do you ensure your message lands safely in the user’s primary inbox?

Here are the three best tips I follow to make sure my emails are delivered to the user’s inbox.

For every subscriber that joins the list, I asked that he/she whitelist my email address. This message goes along with the welcome email with step-by-step instructions on how to whitelist an email address.

This is because not all subscribers have the technical knowledge to whitelist email addresses. Most don’t know this little thing.

I never add a contact to my list without permission. If you want to increase the odds of getting your emails into the subscriber’s inbox, make sure they gave you the right to do so. In fact, it is against the law to add people to your email list without their consent.

And lastly, while it is important to write catchy headlines, never write email headlines that sound/read spamming. Especially if you’re sending an email campaign that offers discounts, make-money opportunities, coupons, etc.

These words in the email subject line can trigger spam filter to catch your email as spam.

Ready to Go Land Your Emails in Inboxes?

Did you pick up any new tips on landing your emails in inboxes? Read the entire discussion on this topic from Wednesday, August 31, 2022. Log into the BizSugar Mastermind Community to see the link below.

We still encourage you to add to the comments there. Let’s hear your tips on how to make sure someone can land emails in inboxes. We all need to ensure our subscribers see the email messages we send!

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