Emailing in a Spammy World

Emailing in a Spammy World & the Future of Email

• It’s Time to Get Smarter About Spam

Today’s Agenda

• Why are we here?• How does spam software work?• An important reminder• The game has changed…• The most important thing you’ll ever learn

about spam

Why are we here?

144.8 billion emails are sent every day(Radicati Group Email Statistics Report, 2012-

2016)

• Projecting 192.2 billion a day by 2016

• 3.3 billion email accounts in 2012

• Email = 1 mile• 606,111 trips to the

moon

• Email = 1 foot• 995,587,345 Empire State

Buildings

That’s 20 emails for every person on the planet every day…

…and only 32.7% of the world has Internet access as of

Dec. 31, 2011

Hold up. What percentage is unwanted?

97% of email is unwanted

(according to Microsoft)

There’s just no way around itSpam software rivals the alphabet,

telephone, and television as the greatest invention in the history of human communication.*

*(Don’t trust “New Media”. Twitter makes email experts cry.)

There’s just no way around it.

Spam software is not your enemy

But how does spam software work?But how does spam software work?

It’s a Fight to Get Email Delivered

• Content• Spam Software• Spam Software Rules• Blacklists• IP Reputation• Domain Reputation• Traffic• Speed of Delivery• Total Server Connections• The Recipients themselves

Email service providers are under no legal contract, moral bond, ethical obligation,

religious commandment, philosophical fiat, or metaphysical concordance to deliver

your email

They don’t have to make best effort. They just have to… effort… well, technically, not

even that.

• Every time you mark something spam, you’re teaching your mail server what words, phrases, and formats appear in spammy email.

First, it learns from you

It consults the Rule Book

• Check under the email validation tab to see what your spam score is.

Second, it learns from everyone else.

• Spam blockers contain hundreds of rules about spam. These rules are the byproduct of 10+ years of identifying spammy messages.

• The first spam message was in 1978.

Finally, it assigns every email a score

• Every “spammy” element adds some number of points.

• Every non-spammy element scores zero or negative points.

It’s like nuclear disarmament… or golf:Aim for zero.

(so not much like golf)

What is learned is never unlearned

What scores points?

What scores points?

Some are funny…

• Oprah!• Larger body parts!• CAPITAL letters!• !!!!!!!!!!!!!• Hey bro!

• Dear (anything)• “You can be removed from this list.”• Mentions age > 20• Subject starts with “Do you”• URL Shorteners

Some are unexpected…

• Do you support gay rights?– We’re sorry, but you simply can’t use the words

“lesbian” or “lesbians.”• Do you support policy reform?– Better not be “bank laws.”

• Do you like to raise money?– For your sake and ours, stop talking about

“millions of dollars.”

Some are downright unfair…

Learn More at http://spamassassin.apache.org/tests_3_3_x.htmlGoogle “SpamAssassin rules”

Check out the top hit.

Follow the Spam Assassin

BEFORE WE CONTINUE, A QUICK REMINDER…

2.8 billion emails, 100 companies, 9 verticals

• 17 % open rate, down from 26% in 2009

• Highest open rate – Government & Pharmaceuticals with 25%

• Delivery rates = 95%, up from 93% in 2009

• Click rate = 3%• Bounce rate = 5%, down from 7%

According to Customer Insight Group…

• Interaction• Content• List Management

You’re now email marketers not email messengers

Orgs Focus

• Just see the… – From – Content – Reaction

Everyone needs to be professional emailers

When it Comes to Email Service Providers…

Email

Click

Open

Nothing

BounceUnsubscribeUser UnknownComplaints

Positive Interaction

Negative Interaction

ForwardReply

• Past– List size– Open rate– Click rate– Conversion rate– Unsubscribes– Complaints

• Now– Engagement

• Open, Click, Conversion

– Unsubcribes– User Unknowns– Complaints– Source

What to Measure?

• Clicks– Where did they come from?– What are they clicking?

• Opens– Where did they come from?– Why aren’t they clicking?– Change the message?

• Nothing– Where did they come from?– Message differently?– When do you cut loose?

• Bounces/User Unknown/Unsubcribes/Complaints– Where did they come from?– What’s their true “cost”?

Follow the Results

Why Deliverability Matters

OverallInbox Bulk Missing

November 90.9% 1.2% 7.8%December 89.2% 1.0% 9.7%January 88.9% 1.0% 10.1%February 90.6% 0.9% 8.5%March 89.9% 1.3% 8.8%April 95.5% 0.9% 3.5%May 95.8% 1.4% 2.7%June 94.5% 2.7% 2.7%July 95.2% 2.9% 1.9%August 94.7% 1.9% 3.4%September 93.7% 1.6% 4.7%Average 92.8% 1.6% 5.7%

GmailInbox Bulk Missing

November 86.3% 13.6% 0.1%December 83.3% 16.5% 0.2%January 81.1% 18.9% 0.0%February 83.2% 16.8% 0.0%March 76.8% 23.2% 0.0%April 84.7% 15.3% 0.0%May 75.6% 24.3% 0.1%June 69.8% 28.9% 1.3%July 82.3% 17.7% 0.0%August 82.8% 17.0% 0.2%September 68.7% 30.5% 0.8%Average 79.9% 19.9% 0.2%

• 50,000 emails per blast• 2 x week (104 a year)• Open rate – 25%• Click rate – 5%• Conversion – 1%• Average donation - $50

Emails Sent Inbox Place Open Click Conversion Raised Lost

100% Inbox 5,200,000 5,200,000 1,300,000 260,000 52,000 $2,600,000

Overall 5,200,000 4,825,600 1,206,400 241,280 48,256 $2,412,800 $187,200

Gmail 5,200,000 4,154,800 1,038,700 207,740 41,548 $2,077,400 $522,600

Why Deliverability Matters

• 32% of Obama for President Emails• 50% of Romney for President Emails

Source: ReturnPath

Why Deliverability Matters

• Hard Bounce Removal– Salsa Bounce Removal– Prevents Spam Traps– Helps deliverability

• Remove “inactives”– Helps deliverability– Prevents Spam Traps– One year and they’re gone

• Measure Sources– How many are unsubcribing, complaints

• Measure Life Cycle– How long is an email active?

Regular List Management

• There is no way for a Spam Trap or user unknown to be added to your list

• Only the most interested will sign up• This is the golden standard

Double Opt-In

Don’t “Opt-In” and

You’ll Catch Something

It’s OK to Remove People From Your List

Opt-in Only!!!! Seriously. It’s a violation of your contract with Salsa, our Authorized User Policy, is

completely ineffective, and is the worst possible thing you can do to your deliverability.

Oh and it makes the entire email world worse and Brett cry.

Do Not Buy or Trade Lists!!!!

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