Build your online reputation with engaging emails

And today it's not good enough merely to have your emails delivered, opened and not marked as spam. Major email service providers such as Google, Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL are increasingly factoring user engagement into their measurement of sender reputation and marketers need to respond accordingly.

Why click-throughs count

This means that today a brand's email sending reputation is assessed based on the behaviour of users once they have received the message. Do they click on links? Do they forward the mail to friends? Have they added you to their address book?

This type of active user engagement is now seen as a critical vote in favour of your content by ISPs, and can greatly increase the likelihood of your email finding its way to its intended recipients - and ultimately resulting in a conversion.

But, with the vast amount of email marketing consumers receive daily, eliciting interaction is becoming increasingly difficult. A recent survey indicated that up to 77% of US consumers are no longer willing to provide their email addresses to companies and that a significant 18% of those polled never bother to open any type of email marketing content.

So with audience scepticism at an all-time high, how do you cut through the inbox clutter and ensure that you deliver engaging, relevant email content that keeps your customers clicking?

Understand your customers

Don't make the mistake of assuming that all your customers share the same interests. And don't make assumptions based on demographics either. Rather properly segment your audience, delivering tailored content based on information your customer has requested, their past behaviour and their purchase trends.

Manage your databases

You'll also enjoy a greater chance of engagement if you practice proper list hygiene, removing subscribers who have never interacted with your content, re-confirming opt-in status and clearing out bounces and unsubscribes at regular intervals.

Stay focussed

While the temptation to embark on mass conversion campaigns is great, it is also the most likely way to guarantee that your emails follow a clear trajectory into the bulk folder. By focusing your efforts on those users who have volunteered to receive your content, you're far more likely to generate high levels of engagement.

Maintain trust

Delivering email marketing content to your customers on their terms is one of the most effective ways to establish trust and ensure that you maintain high subscriber rates. By having your subscribers opt-in or double opt-in at the outset you will immediately create a more favourable impression, and offering customers the opportunity to govern the frequency of your correspondence will let them know that you're respectful of their needs.

It's also critical that you steer clear of cheap ploys designed to trick your audience into mass clicking. Unclear offers and 'too-good-to-be-true' promotions riddled with terms and conditions might give you an incredibly high click rate, but are as likely to encourage mass unsubscription. Follow through on the promises outlined in your email marketing and you'll stand a good chance of retaining an engaged customer base.

Employ Metrics

By keeping track of your subscribers' engagement patterns, you'll be in a better position to ensure that you keep your content remains tailored to their interests and behaviours. Analytics software gives you access to a diverse range of advanced metrics, allowing you to identify a user's location and device preferences, and analyse the amount of time they spend reading your emails.

It's important to keep your finger on the pulse of this information, not only on a campaign-by-campaign basis, but also in a more holistic sense. It's unrealistic to expect every customer to engage on a daily or weekly basis, so you'd be better advised to look at long-term engagement, which will give you a broader idea of which emails have best resonated within your subscriber base.
At the end of the day, it's all about the customer. By identifying, understanding and meeting their needs, you'll encourage them to engage with your emails, thereby maintaining your online reputation, and ensuring that your email marketing campaigns hit the mark each and every time, rather than being relegated to the trash heap of the spam folder.