Essential Email Deliverability Strategies to Help Ensure Holiday Success

By Gene Gusman, Senior Director, Deliverability. It’s the middle of summer, so why are we talking about Black Friday and the holidays? Shouldn’t we be going to the beach, BBQing, and taking our summer vacations?

While enjoying the summer months is important, now is also the time to start thinking about the end-of-the-year holiday season. For some, peak campaign times might vary, but the principles remain the same. Early preparation is key to avoiding potential issues and maximizing revenue during these critical periods.

Why Prepare Early for Peak Season?

Preparing for peak season in advance is crucial. It’s a time when businesses increase their reach and maximize promotional opportunities in order to capture and preserve critical revenue. Email volumes increase drastically. For the mailbox providers, it means they must somehow sort through it all to identify the messages that their customers—also know as your subscribers—really want.

That makes deliverability—the likelihood an email message reaches the inbox of its intended recipient—more challenging than usual. Proper planning can help mitigate risks and improve success rates.

Key Steps for Peak Season Email Marketing Preparation

1. Ensure email infrastructure readiness.

Setting up your email infrastructure is the first critical step in preparing for peak season. Implementing email authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential to comply with the latest requirements from major email service providers like Gmail and Yahoo. These protocols help verify that your emails are coming from a legitimate source, increasing the chances of your emails reaching your subscribers’ inboxes.

Additionally, make sure your unsubscribe process is efficient and user-friendly. This involves including one-click list-unsubscribe headers and clear unsubscribe links in your emails, with unsubscribe requests processed within two days. Having these elements in place will help you maintain a good sending reputation and avoid deliverability issues during the high-volume holiday period.

2. Manage your email list effectively.

Email list management is another cornerstone of a successful peak season email marketing strategy. Start by running re-permission campaigns well ahead of peak season to re-engage unresponsive users who are being mailed regularly. Reach out to these users to confirm if they still wish to receive your emails. Monitoring their responses closely will help you clean your list of inactive subscribers and avoid potential deliverability problems.

It’s also crucial to maintain regular communication with your subscribers throughout the year. Sending emails at least once a month helps keep your list active and minimizes the risk of hitting invalid addresses or spam traps. For lapsed users who have not been mailed for over six months, consider validating their email addresses before adding them back to your list. This cautious approach will help prevent spam traps and maintain your sending reputation.

3. Understand and engage your subscribers.

Knowing your subscribers’ preferences and behaviors is vital for crafting effective email campaigns. Analyze past behavior, especially from previous peak seasons, to gain insights into what types of communications and products your subscribers prefer. This information will help you tailor your messages to better meet their needs and increase engagement rates.

Implementing a preference center is another powerful strategy. A preference center allows subscribers to choose what types of emails they receive and how frequently they receive them. This not only empowers your subscribers but also helps reduce the likelihood of complaints and unsubscribes, enhancing your email marketing performance.

4. Set and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs).

Setting and monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) is essential for tracking the success of your email campaigns. Start by conducting a baseline audit before the holiday season to establish benchmarks for your KPIs, such as open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and complaint rates. Monitoring these metrics throughout the peak season will allow you to make data-driven adjustments to your strategy.

Pay special attention to complaint rates, as Gmail and Yahoo have set new thresholds requiring complaint rates to be under 0.3%. By keeping a close eye on your KPIs, you can quickly identify and address any issues, ensuring your campaigns remain effective and compliant.

Managing Your Peak Season Email Campaigns

If you plan on sending more during peak, gradually increase your email volumes starting a month ahead to avoid triggering red flags with mailbox providers. A sudden spike in email volume can negatively impact your sending reputation and lead to deliverability issues. By ramping up gradually, you can monitor the response and make necessary adjustments.

Errors in the construction of an email are common among spammers and may be filtered by mailbox providers, so be extra careful about QA during this busy time.

Regularly review your performance metrics to ensure your campaigns are on track. Avoid sending exactly on the hour or half hour when many other businesses are also sending emails. This strategy reduces the risk of your emails being deferred and increases the likelihood of them being seen by your subscribers.

Relevance Is Key During Peak Season

During peak season, personalization and frequency management become even more critical. Tailor your messages to individual subscribers based on their preferences and behaviors. This personalization helps your emails stand out amid the flood of generic content they receive during the holidays.

Be mindful of the frequency of your emails to avoid subscriber fatigue. Sending too many emails can lead to complaints and unsubscribes. Keep a close watch on your sending reputation by monitoring for sudden changes or slow-moving downward trends. If you notice any negative signals, act quickly to address the issues. Avoid sudden spikes in email volume, as these can lead to deliverability problems. Issue mitigation is more challenging during peak because mailbox providers are under heavy load. Asking for help may take longer than usual. Consistent and steady sending using best practices will help maintain your reputation and ensure your emails reach your subscribers’ inboxes.

Post-Peak Season Strategies

After the peak season, reassessing your sending reputation and engagement segments is essential. Tighten your engagement segments to focus on the most active and engaged subscribers. This approach helps maintain a high-quality email list and reduces the risk of deliverability issues.

Ensure that new subscribers added during the holiday season continue to engage with your emails. Sending thank you emails can generate goodwill and strengthen your relationship with subscribers. This simple gesture shows appreciation and encourages future engagement.

The work you do in preparing for peak season has benefits that extend throughout the year. Keep it going! Maintaining a clean and engaged email list and continuously improving your email marketing practices will enhance your relationship with subscribers and boost your revenue.

By following these steps and using the actionable advice provided, you can optimize your email marketing campaigns for peak holiday seasons, ensuring you maximize revenue and maintain strong subscriber engagement.

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