{"id":1447,"date":"2020-01-21T21:47:24","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T21:47:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web_staging_fern.staging.cartstack.com\/blog\/?p=1447"},"modified":"2021-02-04T12:04:42","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T12:04:42","slug":"abandoned-cart-email-deliverability-best-worst-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cartstack.com\/blog\/abandoned-cart-email-deliverability-best-worst-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Abandoned Cart Email Deliverability: Best & Worst Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s great having a polished <\/span>cart abandonment strategy<\/span><\/a> that gathers email addresses from across your website and uses them to send conversion-boosting recovery campaigns. But if your abandoned cart email deliverability means that not all of these emails are hitting the inbox of your prospective customers, then that time, effort, and expense are for nothing.<\/span><\/p>\n

A whopping <\/span>78%<\/span><\/a> of companies have email deliverability issues, meaning that, chances are, you\u2019re part of this statistic, whether you know about it or not. If you\u2019re lucky, your email might land in the spam folder, where the most diligent of your customers could venture, see, and rescue. If you\u2019re not so lucky, then your email simply disappears into the web, never to be seen or heard from again. <\/span><\/p>\n

But, abandoned cart email deliverability isn\u2019t a cause for upset or fear. When armed with the right knowledge and tools, you can benefit from clearer inboxes, more chances of your email being seen and opened, and even more scope to improve your ecommerce conversion rates. <\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re new to abandoned cart email campaigns, check out our three-part customer recovery series first. These three guides will arm you with all the essential knowledge for creating an abandoned cart email to be delivered in the first place, including:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. On-site campaigns for capturing leads and boosting conversions<\/span><\/a>;<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Recovery campaigns for converting abandoned website visits<\/span><\/a>; and<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Tools and tricks for boosting your results<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    If you\u2019re already experienced in creating the perfect customer recovery campaign, then let\u2019s see about getting those emails delivered. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Why Email Deliverability Matters<\/span><\/h2>\n

    In regards to abandoned cart emails, your aim for deliverability is to get your recovery emails past the spam filter, bulk mail folder, and ISP blocker, and successfully into a customer\u2019s inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n

    While this might sound easy (because you\u2019re not spam), it\u2019s harder than it looks. Email providers such as Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo are continually tightening their belts when it comes to unsolicited emails. They want their customers to have clean, clear, and informative inboxes and, accordingly, are erring on the side of caution. <\/span><\/p>\n

    As we\u2019ve briefly mentioned, this is a good thing. Clearer inboxes mean that potential customers are more likely to spot your email, classify it as something they need to read, and accordingly open it. Not only this, but Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo\u2019s deemed inbox-worthiness of your email can also translate into the perceived trust of your brand and email content. <\/span><\/p>\n

    To benefit from this, you need to ensure that you adopt the best practices and avoid the worst practices for getting your email delivered. <\/span><\/p>\n

    Abandoned Cart Email Deliverability Best Practices<\/span><\/h2>\n

    There are six main abandoned cart email deliverability best practices that we recommend to CartStack users. These are:<\/span><\/p>\n

    1. Knowing your current performance<\/span><\/h3>\n

    First, it\u2019s necessary to know how many of your emails are making it into the inbox. The three main factors affecting email deliverability are:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Complaints – people marking your emails as spam<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Bounces – emails being returned by the server because the address is inactive or you\u2019re email address has been blocked<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Engagement – a low number of opens and clicks. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Therefore, it\u2019s crucial to monitor your spam, bounce, and open rates regularly. Ideally, you want to aim for a bounce and spam rate not exceeding 3% or 0.08%, respectively, and a deliverability rate of 95% or higher. <\/span><\/p>\n

      \"email<\/p>\n

      2. Ensuring that your domain names match up<\/span><\/h3>\n

      One of the biggest impacts we see on deliverability is domain name consistency. This means ensuring that the same domain is used for the \u2018from\u2019 email, the delivery server, and any links in the email itself. For example:<\/span><\/p>\n

      From: <\/b>info@cartstack.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

      Delivered by:<\/b> cartstack.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

      Linking to: <\/b>cartstack.com\/tour\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

      This is one of the first and most important things that ESPs (email service providers) will look for in deciding whether your email is received by the server to begin with – making it incredibly important. Plus, not only does domain name consistency increase your chances of email deliverability, but it also looks professional, reinforces your brand, and makes sense. <\/span><\/p>\n

      3. Doing a custom domain setup<\/span><\/h3>\n

      \u201cBut what about CartStack emails!?\u201d we hear you cry. You\u2019re right – when using CartStack, your abandoned cart emails are sent from our cartstack.com domain by default. However, they don\u2019t have to be. We recommend that you do a custom domain set up, to ensure that cart and browse abandonment emails come from your own domain to overcome any potential deliverability issues that may result. <\/span><\/p>\n

      4. Using an honest and relevant subject line<\/span><\/h3>\n

      You know the importance of a great subject line for getting an email opened, but do you know the importance of ensuring that your subject line is honest and relevant? While a subject line promising deals and discounts might sound like a great way to increase your click rate, it\u2019s vitally important that the follow-up content relates to what you\u2019ve promised and delivers what you\u2019ve promised. If not, your email will likely be reported. <\/span><\/p>\n

      For help in creating a subject line that is interesting, relevant, and click-worthy, check out our<\/span><\/i> top abandoned cart subject lines that get 40-70% open rates<\/span><\/i><\/a>. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

      5. Making it easy to say goodbye<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Of course, you don\u2019t want potential customers to unsubscribe from your emails, but making it impossible to unsubscribe only ends in bad news and labeling as spam. While emails sent via CartStack have an unsubscribed link included at the bottom automatically, it\u2019s good practice to go one step further. You can do this by adding an email address and phone number to your email, making it easy for customers to contact you if they\u2019re experiencing difficulties. <\/span><\/p>\n

      6. Delivering value<\/span><\/h3>\n

      And the best of the best practices is delivering value. The more clicks, opens, and conversions your emails generate, the more likely that email service providers will mark you as one of the good guys. You can achieve this by:<\/span><\/p>\n