A new reader writes in:
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John – just wanted to let you know that deliverability on your emails is pretty terrible.
I’ve marked your emails as not-spam multiple times. They keep ending up in spam though!
I want to read your emails.. ha.. you’re making it difficult for me though, haha. Are DKIM and SPIF set up properly?
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I’m grateful to this reader, both for fishing my emails out of the spam folder, and for writing me to tell me about my deliverability problems.
I do have DKIM and SPF set up but apparently it makes no difference for some email providers and some inboxes.
Beyond that, I have no interest in tech fixes for email deliverability, any more than I have in SEO tweaks for getting my stuff to rank on Google.
Instead, I prefer the following ultimate deliverability tips:
1. Novelty — writing something new in my emails, which gets people curious what I might have to say tomorrow, and seeking them out even in the spam folder
2. Deadlines — having strict, often 24-hour deadlines, to reward people who seek out and open my emails when I send them out
3. Featuring reader replies like above — encouraging others to reply to me as well
4. Replying personally to people who write me — encouraging more readership and replies in the future
5. Links at the end of almost every email plus a reason why to click — apparently Gmail and other inboxes like lotsa clicking
6. Occasional valuable ideas — again, this makes people want to seek out my emails and open them
7. Sending daily — so my most loyal readers sense something is wrong if they don’t get my email, and they go searching for it, or even write me to ask what’s up
8. Being transparent about what I offer so people can decide easily if it’s not for them and unsubscribe — unengaged readers are supposed to be bad for deliverability
9. Occasionally purging people who don’t open or click my emails
So there you go:
9 jaw-dropping, ultimate email deliverability tips you NEED to know in 2023.
And if you’re wondering about the disconnect between my subject line (10 tips) and that list of 9, I’ll make you a deal:
1. Get my Most Valuable Email course at https://bejakovic.com/mve/
2. Reply to this email before 8:31 CET tomorrow, Wednesday Oct 11
3. I will then write back to you with a simple but effective 10th way I’ve found to increase my email deliverability — something that multiple people have told me I should turn into a standalone course or training
4. Of course, if you’ve bought MVE before, this offer is open to you as well. But the same deadline applies.