Email Marketing

Things You Missed from the State of Email Live, Episode Four, the AMA Edition

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We like to mix things up here, so that’s exactly what we did this for our newest State of Email Live webinar. We invited Validity email experts Alex Heinz and Sloan Simmons to join our veteran hosts Guy Hanson and Greg Kimball, and they allowed the audience to ask them any and all questions they had. It was the ultimate email AMA.

But don’t fret, we didn’t leave out the COVID-19 data you’ve come to expect. Here are the top things you should know from the May 13 edition of State of Email Live.

COVID-19 email is still 10-20% more likely to be opened than other email.
But don’t get it twisted: This doesn’t mean they’re more likely to click on the content within it or convert. Keep a keen eye on which recipients are engaging with these messages to keep your email sender reputation in the green. Don’t bait and switch your recipients with misleading subject lines to get them to open, because they still have the ability to mark your message as spam to negatively ding your reputation, and thus, damage your deliverability. Speaking of…

Complaint rates are now virtually the same between non- and COVID-19 email.
Topical email is no longer a Get Out of Spam Complaints Free card. You’ll have to make sure your email is relevant, personalized, and wanted, even if it is related to the COVID-19 pandemic. You’ll need more than that to stay on your recipients’ good side.

The Food & Drug and Household categories are increasing their COVID-19 email today.
When you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. These two categories maintain the lion’s share of today’s “essential” purchases, because we’re spending more time at home. Even as more locations start to relax stay-at-home orders, COVID-19’s impact looms large on consumer habits. If you’re in these industries, consider how you can stand out in the inbox with relevant subject lines and engaging content.

If you’re curious what questions were posed to our panel of gurus, here are two to whet your appetite.

What advice do you have for email marketers trying to avoid hitting spam traps?
The experts outline what practices are must-follows for email senders looking to improve their email sender reputation by decreasing their trap hits.

How important is it to send marketing communications as normal, but still be sympathetic to the world today?
This is the million-dollar question, and all our panelists provide their view on ways to slowly return to “normal” without rubbing recipients the wrong way.

Hear the rest in the recording below, and don’t forget to sign up for our next State of Email Live webinar on May 27.