When Email Goes Wrong: Insights with Laura Atkins

Learn from expert Laura Atkins on fixing email mishaps and improving practices to avoid spam traps.

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How can email marketers improve ROI?

Improving ROI in email marketing involves focusing on quality, permission-based outreach rather than quantity.

"When we talked about it... we said a lot was, it's about consent, it's not about content... If you've asked for it and you've said, yes, that's fine, you have permission to send me mail, then that's not spam."

Takeaway:
  • Emphasizing consent leads to higher ROI.
  • Laura suggests that permission-based emailing improves engagement.
  • Quality, consented lists yield better results than large, unsolicited ones.

Why avoid pre-checked opt-in boxes?

Using pre-checked boxes for opt-ins can erode trust and harm your email campaigns.

"They went through at one point and they decided that they were gonna pre-check all their check boxes... And it was like, you can't just assume that."

Takeaway:
  • Pre-checked boxes assume consent without explicit permission.
  • Laura demonstrates that this practice can lead to deliverability issues.
  • Use clear, unchecked opt-in boxes to obtain genuine consent.

How does treating recipients with respect improve campaigns?

Viewing subscribers as partners and respecting their choices leads to better engagement and performance.

"I always think of it as, you know, it really is a collaborative relationship and we treat our subscribers... as if they have agency, and we give them the respect and we give them the understanding."

Takeaway:
  • Building respectful relationships increases subscriber loyalty.
  • Laura emphasizes treating recipients as active participants.
  • Respecting subscriber preferences improves campaign outcomes.

What's the impact of volume on deliverability?

Sending large volumes of emails to unengaged users can hurt your deliverability and overall campaign performance.

"A lot of people hesitate because they fear they will lose volume by limiting their sending... But in fact, those unengaged users are not helpful."

Takeaway:
  • Reducing email volume to focus on engaged users can improve deliverability.
  • Eric points out that unengaged recipients don't contribute to success.
  • Quality over quantity leads to better results in email marketing.

Why focus on engaged subscribers?

Sending emails to engaged subscribers boosts deliverability and effectiveness of your campaigns.

"It's really about trying to figure out who your receptive audience is and who are the people that are going to interact in ways... that tells that machine learning filter... that they want the mail."

Takeaway:
  • Engaged subscribers improve your sender reputation.
  • Laura highlights the importance of targeting your receptive audience.
  • Mailing to engaged users increases inbox placement and campaign success.

How to repair damaged email reputation?

If your email reputation is suffering, taking proactive steps can help you recover and improve campaign performance.

"The first thing you do is stop a lot of what you're mailing... You stop everything that you don't know is exactly wanted."

Takeaway:
  • Stop sending to unengaged recipients to prevent further harm.
  • Focus on those who are engaging to rebuild reputation.
  • Clean up your subscription processes to prevent future issues.

What happens when you assume consent?

Assuming recipients have given permission without explicit opt-in can damage your reputation and campaign performance.

"I call that taking permission. You're not being given permission, you're taking permission from them, and you're taking it away and you're not giving them a choice."

Takeaway:
  • Assuming consent without explicit opt-in violates best practices.
  • Laura stresses the importance of clear opt-in mechanisms for email marketing.
  • Always provide opt-in choices to build trust and improve engagement.

How can email preferences reduce unsubscribes?

Allowing recipients to customize their email preferences can enhance engagement and reduce unsubscribes.

"I would have happily stayed on their mailing list had they said, you know, no, just email me like once a week, don't email me 4 times a day... But they didn't have that preference center. And so I ended up unsubscribing."

Takeaway:
  • Providing a preference center allows subscribers to control email frequency.
  • Laura's experience shows that lack of options can lead to losing subscribers.
  • Customizing email cadence per recipient preferences can improve retention.

Should you purchase email lists?

Buying email lists may seem like a quick way to expand your audience, but it often leads to poor results and harms your email reputation.

"Any time you have outsourced the collection of email addresses and the collection of permission... when you put the onus and put the responsibility on that third party to collect email addresses for you, you lose all control over what kind of permission they're getting."

Takeaway:
  • Purchasing lists can lead to sending emails to people who haven't consented.
  • Laura warns that you assume all the risk without control over permission quality.
  • Focusing on organically growing your list leads to better campaign performance.

Why is consent essential in email marketing?

Gaining consent from recipients is fundamental to successful email marketing. Without it, campaigns can suffer from low engagement and poor deliverability.

"So I'm kind of old school. Spam is unsolicited bulk email or unsolicited commercial email... If I didn't ask to get your advertisement, or I didn't get asked to get, you know, this particular mail, or I am not a customer of yours, and you send me email, that's it. It's spam."

Takeaway:
  • Laura emphasizes that sending emails without consent is considered spam.
  • Obtaining explicit permission ensures higher engagement and better relationships with recipients.
  • Respecting consent improves deliverability and campaign performance.

Episode Info:

Title:
S3 Ep 07 - When email goes wrong with Laura Atkins of Word to the Wise
Episode Link:
Keywords:
email practices, spam solutions, expert advice
Episode Air Date:
March 16, 2022

Podcast info:

Show Name:
Email's Not Dead
Author:
Jonathan Torres and Eric Trinidad
Owner:
Emails Not Dead from Sinch Mailgun
Category:
Technology

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