Deliverability can be complex, but focusing on value and relationships helps.

My focus is just helping people really focus on the relationship side in email. We just had a session where someone compared it to training dogs and it's really more of a psychology thing. At the end of the day it really is about providing value to earn sort of the inconvenience. We don't want to think about it that way, but it is, so that's really what I'm focused on helping people with.

• Prioritize providing value to your subscribers.
• Understand the psychology behind email engagement.
• Build strong relationships to improve deliverability.

Subscriber feedback can drive improvements in your email marketing strategy.

Some of the replies that I've received as a sender over my career have changed the product that I'm working on, changed emails because of maybe typos that have slipped through, and just been incredibly eye opening. So if you can try and support a reply address, you'll be really surprised at what comes back.

• Encourage subscribers to reply and share their thoughts.
• Use feedback to refine your products and messaging.
• Open communication strengthens customer relationships.

Trust is essential in email marketing for better engagement and deliverability.

You really need to be building your trust, and it's not just with the providers at the back end work, but it's with your customers. If you're not focused on consent-based marketing, you're not going to get in the inbox, you're not going to get the revenue, the goals, the achievements you want. So focus on trust and privacy, and that's how you'll win.

• Prioritize subscriber trust through transparent and respectful communication.
• Focus on privacy and consent to enhance subscriber relationships.
• Trust leads to better deliverability and achievement of marketing goals.

AI is becoming prevalent, but marketers should approach it cautiously.

It really is one of those things where AI is being pushed so heavily in so many different markets, in so many different places of work. It makes a lot of things easier, but there is also a lot of pushback. I'm one of them. I don't necessarily like the technology in every single place, and I think it's so new and at the beginning of all this stuff, we don't know how to use it yet. We've already seen horror stories. Be careful how it's being advertised, be careful on how it's being utilized, be careful where you're saying you're doing it because not everybody's a fan.

• Use AI thoughtfully and cautiously in email marketing.
• Understand that not all subscribers are receptive to AI-generated content.
• Test and monitor AI implementations to avoid negative reactions.

Staying ahead of industry changes is crucial for email marketing success.

I would say don't wait for the next stage of enforcement. Go and look at our pages, our help pages. We've got all the information there that you need to know in terms of best practices and standards that we look at. So get ahead of the game, look at that list, and make sure that you're complying with those things.

• Proactively review and implement best practices from ISPs.
• Stay compliant with current standards to avoid future deliverability issues.
• Regularly check ISP guidelines to maintain email performance.

Proving the value of good deliverability practices to stakeholders can be challenging.

Sometimes you can try to show them facts and surveys and reports, but sometimes what they have in mind is just going to trump all of that. So sometimes you have to let it burn a little bit, but I always suggest people do a little test, like ask for a little bit of, you know, meet me in the middle here. Let me do a test. Let's see what performs better, what earns things. At the end of the day, results are really what's going to move them.

• Demonstrate the impact of deliverability through small tests.
• Use results to persuade stakeholders of the importance of best practices.
• Data-driven evidence can help align higher-ups with deliverability goals.

Engaging with subscribers is key, and using 'no-reply' addresses hinders communication.

Being open to replies, I hate a no-reply. I do understand how when you get to an enterprise level, maybe list of a million people, how supporting a reply-to address can be difficult, but some of the replies that I've received as a sender over my career have changed the product that I'm working on, changed emails because of maybe typos that have slipped through, and just been incredibly eye opening. So if you can try and support a reply address, you'll be really surprised at what comes back.

• Use a monitored reply-to email address to encourage subscriber engagement.
• Subscriber feedback can provide valuable insights to improve your product and emails.
• Avoid 'no-reply' addresses to build better relationships with your audience.

Building trust through consent-based marketing is fundamental for email success.

Of course, get all your back end stuff sorted. You got to do your DMARC, your SPF, your DKIM, but beyond that, you really need to be building your trust, and it's not just with the providers at the back end work, but it's with your customers. If you're not focused on consent-based marketing, you're not going to get in the inbox, you're not going to get the revenue, the goals, the achievements you want. So focus on trust and privacy, and that's how you'll win.

• Implement proper authentication protocols like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.
• Prioritize obtaining consent to build trust with subscribers.
• Focusing on trust and privacy leads to better deliverability and revenue.

Understanding and adapting to email service providers' changes is vital for maintaining deliverability.

I think a lot of the news is that nothing is being made clear to the marketers. Even when you've got marketers who are trying to do everything right, we don't know what it is that Microsoft wants from us. Even with us, we sometimes have to look at things, and Microsoft makes changes so quickly that they don't get announced clearly. So we need to keep up to date so that we can help our clients through it. It would be fantastic if some of the bigger hosts were to say, this is what's happening, these are the changes.

• Stay informed about changes from major email providers like Microsoft.
• Collaborate with professionals to navigate complex updates.
• Advocate for clearer communication from email service providers.

Pruning your email list is crucial for maintaining engagement and deliverability. Understanding when to let go of unengaged subscribers can improve your email performance.

One of the things that we constantly emphasize is when it comes to your mailing lists, accept the fact that sometimes we have to let people go. Like one of the things I talked about in the presentation was, with your dog, knowing when it's time to let go, that's the kindest thing to do is to let them go. And you have to make it easy. We're so afraid to whittle down our mailing list because it was so hard to get. But sometimes it's the best and the kindest thing to do, and we need to make it easy for our clients.

• Be willing to remove unengaged subscribers to improve overall list health.
• Make the unsubscribe process easy to enhance trust and reduce spam complaints.
• Regularly clean your list to maintain high engagement and deliverability rates.