Understanding email deliverability is crucial for the success of your cold outreach campaigns.
At Luna.ai, we believe that knowledge is power, especially when it comes to ensuring Luna's carefully crafted emails reach the primary inbox.
In this guide, we'll break down common deliverability terms into easy-to-understand concepts, helping you navigate the technical aspects of email outreach with confidence.
Why Deliverability Matters
Before we dive into the terminology, let's address why deliverability is so important.
Simply put, if your emails aren't landing in the primary inbox, all your hard work is wasted.
Good deliverability means your emails are reaching your leads, giving you the best chance at engaging them and generating meetings.
Imagine this scenario:
You're a postman.
Every day, you deliver letters to different houses. To make sure you're trusted and that your letters reach the right homes, you wear a special uniform, show an ID badge, and carry a special letter from the post office.
In the world of emails, being a trusted sender is like being that postman. If you don't have the right "uniform" and "ID badge", your emails might not reach the people you want to send them to. They are even likely to end up in the "spam" folder or not get delivered at all.
The special uniform: SPF
What is it?
SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. It's like your postman's uniform that shows he's from a trusted postal service.
Why is this important?
Just like a uniform helps people trust the postman, SPF helps email services (like Gmail or Outlook) know that your email is really from you. Without it, your email might be seen as sneaky or untrustworthy.
The ID badge: DKIM
What is it?
DKIM stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail. It's like the postman's ID badge that shows his picture and name.
Why is it important?
An ID badge proves the postman is who he says he is. Similarly, DKIM proves your email is really from your company and not someone pretending to be you. This means people are more likely to see and read your emails.The special letter from the post office: DMARC
What is it?
DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance. It's like the postman carrying a letter from the post office that says: "This postman is trustworthy, and here's how you can verify his letters." If he doesn't follow the guidelines in the letter (i.e. doesn't wear the right uniform or doesn't have the correct ID badge), then homeowners know not to trust him.
Why is it important?
The letter is an extra level of trust.
Imagine if any stranger could pretend to be your postman, simply by wearing a makeshift uniform or flashing a fake ID. The letter from the post office acts as a safety protocol, telling homeowners exactly how to verify the authenticity of the postman and his deliveries.
DMARC works in a similar fashion for emails. By setting clear rules, it ensures that only legitimate emails from your domain get delivered, while suspicious or fraudulent ones are flagged or blocked, protecting your recipients from potential harm and ensuring your genuine emails reach their intended destination.
The blacklist: the naughty list (bonus)
Imagine some postmen are known for delivering junk mail or even stealing packages. They get put on a "naughty list". If you're on this list, many houses won't let you deliver mail to them.
In the email world, this is called a blacklist. If your company gets on this list, many of your emails won't get delivered. So, it's super important to check if you're on any blacklist and fix any problems.If your email health comes up with DMARC, SPF or DKIM issues, check out EasyDMARC!
Additional Key Deliverability Terms Explained
Authentication: Think of this as showing your ID to prove who you are. In email terms, it's how receiving inboxes verify that you are who you claim to be.
Bounce Rate: The percentage of emails that couldn't be delivered. A high bounce rate can hurt your sender's reputation.
Soft Bounce: A temporary delivery failure, often due to a full inbox or server issue.
Hard Bounce: When an email can't be delivered due to a permanent reason, like a non-existent email address.
Content Filtering: The process of scanning email content for spam or malicious elements, such as specific words, links, etc. Luna.ai helps you craft emails that pass these filters.
Inbox Placement: Where your email lands in the recipient's inbox (primary, promotions, or spam folder).
Deliverability: The ability of your emails to reach the recipient's inbox without being marked as spam.
Custom Tracking Domain: A unique domain used for tracking email opens. Using your own domain helps protect your sender's reputation.
DNS Records: Think of this as the internet's phone book, mapping domain names to IP addresses.
IP Reputation: A score based on the sending behavior associated with an IP address.
Spam: Unsolicited bulk emails, often for advertising or malicious purposes.
Warming Up an IP: Gradually increasing email volume from a new IP address to build a positive sending reputation.
Luna.ai's Approach to Deliverability
At Luna.ai, we've built deliverability best practices into our platform to help you achieve optimal results:
Email Verification: We automatically verify recipient email addresses to reduce bounce rates.
Content Optimization: Our AI helps you craft emails that are less likely to trigger spam filters (and contain 0% of AI-generated content).
Email Warming: Every email address added to Luna goes through our smart mail-warming to establish and maintain a positive sending reputation.
Authentication Setup: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are automatically set up for domains and emails bought through Luna.
Deliverability Monitoring: We perform regular health checks to give real-time insights into your email performance and deliverability metrics.
Best Practices for Maintaining Good Deliverability
Keep Your Lists Clean: When uploading your own leads, Luna will automatically remove invalid or unengaged email addresses.
Personalize Your Content:Use Luna.ai's AI to create highly personalized, relevant emails.
Monitor Your Metrics: Keep an eye on your open rates, reply rates, and bounce rates.
Respect Opt-Outs: Always include an easy way for recipients to opt out, and honor these requests promptly (full guide here).
Consistent Sending: Maintain a consistent sending volume and frequency. Luna will gradually allow you to send more emails as we warm up your email addresses.
Conclusion
Understanding email deliverability is key to successful cold outreach.
By familiarizing yourself with these terms and leveraging Luna.ai's built-in deliverability features, you can ensure your messages reach your prospects' primary inboxes, increasing your chances of engagement and conversion.
Remember, good deliverability starts with sending valuable, relevant content to your prospects.
Luna.ai's AI-powered platform helps you craft personalized messages that resonate with your audience while adhering to deliverability best practices.
If you have any questions about email deliverability or how to optimize your Luna.ai campaigns, don't hesitate to reach out.
We're here to help you achieve cold outreach success!