Top 5 tips for getting into the inbox

A big challenge with all emails, particularly B2B, is getting into the inbox.( I’m talking specifically about permission-based emails that your subscribers expect to receive.) There are many aspects of ‘getting into the inbox’; but I’m going to zero in on one here: Outlook 2007. Because it’s something that I’m often asked about, I’ve pulled together a few tips that should help improve the likelihood of having your email communications delivered into your subscribers’ Outlook 2007 inboxes:

1.TEST. TEST. TEST. Test using an Outlook 2007 inbox you’ve set up that has the most up-to-date filter - with the junk email protection level set to Low (this is the default protection level in Outlook 2007).

2. If the test ends up in the Junk Folder, start with the subject line. Pay special attention to words used in the Subject line - the filter appears to score words/phrases higher here. If the tests still fail, move through and test one element at a time within the email body to spot possible words or phrases that are causing a high score.

3. Encourage readers to add your From: address to their Contacts by including a line at the top of every mailing, e.g.: “Please add emailaddress@domain.com to your address book to help ensure that our emails reach your Inbox."

4. Carefully craft marketing messages. B2B emails, by their very nature, will include heavy promotion of products and services and will use lots of ‘marketing speak’. This in turn means they may be viewed by filters as ‘perceived spam’. This element of an email appears to be particularly vulnerable to heavy negative spam scoring if phrases are repeated, or, it seems, the text is long and repetitive. One solution is to have a synopsis of up to 100 words, and have a ‘read more’ link to a back page – or microsite - of your email newsletter with the full article.

5. Reduce the complexity of HTML designs and ensure the HTML is well-formed. HTML tags appear to have a low level score, which accumulates, to a significant level in complex designs, e.g. tables within tables, or too many span tags.

It’s nice to get five tips, however remember that these are not silver bullets! The reality is your biggest key takeaway is to TEST. This applies to all aspects of email marketing by the way – opens, clicks, conversions, etc. But it is particularly essential to do if you are addressing a specific delivery issue.

Denise Cox is Newsweaver's Newsletter Specialist. In 1996 she formed her own email marketing agency, and in 2000 merged with European-based ESP Newsweaver. denise is a frequent contributor to industry publications and writes an award-winning blog, "... email matters!", as well as a newsletter, "Business of Email". She regularly speaks at conferences and seminars, is a member of the DMA UK's Email Marketing Council. Prior to becoming an email evangelist, denise was a top music biz PR exec in Los Angeles.Newsweaver is a leading global provider of email software that helps marketers deepen, monetise and understand the relationship they have with their customers and prospects. This strong relationship building ability extends to internal communications, as well as every type of membership and association. Newsweaver's client base ranges from SMEs, charities and associations to large multinationals and government agencies, and includes Shell, 3M, NEC Philips, Ogilvy and BP among many others.