Is your email clickthrough rate not what it used to be? The reason could be poor email deliverability.

The average click rate, across all industries, is 2.62% according to Mailchimp. If your rate is way below this benchmark, it’s worth taking another look at your email marketing strategy.

While reaching the inbox entails a whole set of best practices, there are a few simple tweaks you can make to avoid the dreaded spam or junk folder.

What is email deliverability?
Email deliverability comes down to the number of emails that reach the inbox successfully. As opposed to strict email delivery, the deliverability benchmark doesn’t count the emails that land in spam.

To connect with their audience and increase revenue, email marketers focus on helping their emails get to the inbox. That’s where they have a chance to connect with customers and prospects — and also boost conversions.

Let’s examine some of the best practices successful email marketers use to get their emails into the inbox.

Let go of prospects who never click
A big email list equals a big ROI, right? This is one of the most common email myths out there, and it’s hurting many companies. Of course, as your list grows, you may see more purchases coming in. However, that’s only true if your database is healthy and engaged.

Holding on to subscribers who never click on your emails sabotages your email deliverability. The message they send to mailbox providers is that your content is irrelevant, so why should it be in the inbox?

Every three to six months, reassess your engagement rates and segment dormant subscribers. Next, try to re-engage them with a powerful offer or remove them from your list entirely.

Fix your bounce rate
Bounces are one of the most common reasons that emails get filtered as spam. A high bounce rate makes you look careless, even unlawful and will send you down the spam route in an instant. What’s more, ignoring bounces can cause your email service provider (ESP) to suspend your account. ESPs (like Mailchimp, Constant Contact or AWeber) don’t want a tainted reputation, so these companies will enforce rules against spam-like behavior.

If more than 2% of your campaigns bounce back, it’s time to re-evaluate your email list. There’s no point in keeping outdated contacts in your systems — delete them and your email deliverability will see a boost. Then, to prevent another increase in bounces, consider cleaning your list regularly.

Identify other bad data you may be using
Invalid contacts are the most prevalent types of emails lurking in databases and affecting email deliverability. They’re not the only ones, though.

In 2022, ZeroBounce identified more than five million disposable email addresses across all the databases it processed. Disposable emails have a high bounce risk; many of them self-destruct within a short time.

Also, email lists can acquire many role-based email addresses that are also risky to your email deliverability. Role-based contacts, such as contact@companyname.com, belong to a group of people within an organization. Some of these people may mass delete emails and even report them as spam, so it’s not a good idea to keep them in your list. Instead, use an email verifier to detect and remove them (and other undesirable data, too).

Stick to the content you promised
When trying to fix email deliverability, you might overlook the importance of content. But the content of your emails plays a dramatic role in your engagement — ensuring its relevancy is key.

First, scan through the emails you’ve sent in the past three months. Are they what you promised upon signup? Also, are you sending them regularly? It’s best to stick to your niche and to a sending schedule. If that’s not the case now, revise your approach.

Another thought worth pondering: How can you make your content even more compelling? Consider interviewing experts, infusing your copy with more testimonials, embedding videos and GIFs and even tweaking your design. Engagement and deliverability go hand in hand, so anything that gets people to interact is worth pursuing.

Consider a different email service provider
What you do as an email sender has the most impact on your email deliverability. However, your ESP shares some of the responsibility, too. Once you decide on an ESP, you’ll be sharing its reputation, so make sure you pick a reputable company.

Before you sign up for a paid plan, consider taking advantage of a free trial. That way, you see what it’s like to run a campaign on the new platform and whether that makes a difference in your metrics. Also, don’t hesitate to ask your new provider what it does to ensure the highest email deliverability. Lastly, reading a few reviews before you commit can help you make the best decision.