To maximize the effectiveness of your email campaigns, it's crucial to focus on optimizing your email deliverability. A strong email deliverability rate confirms that you're sending the right content to the right contacts, boosting your chances of success. If you're a HubSpot user, there are several steps you can take to enhance your email deliverability, giving your campaigns the best chance of reaching your audience.
Ensuring your messages land in your recipients' inboxes is critical to driving engagement and achieving your marketing goals. HubSpot's email marketing platform offers a comprehensive tool suite to help businesses create, manage, and optimize email campaigns. As part of their CRM, HubSpot enables marketers to segment their audience, personalize messages, and track campaign performance through robust analytics. Below are essential HubSpot built-in tools designed to enhance deliverability and maintain sender reputation:
These features significantly improve email deliverability, as HubSpot helps ensure emails reach the right audience at the right time. Additionally, automated workflows ensure timely and consistent sends, maintaining audience interest and driving results.
Email authentication in HubSpot is essential for ensuring emails are trusted and not flagged as suspicious by receiving servers. HubSpot supports key email authentication protocols, including SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance). SPF helps verify that emails are sent from authorized servers, reducing the risk of spoofing. At the same time, DKIM ensures that the content of the email hasn’t been tampered with during transit by adding a digital signature. DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM, instructing receiving servers on handling unauthenticated emails, thus preventing domain spoofing.
Properly configuring these authentication methods through HubSpot is critical for building trust with email providers, reducing spam and phishing risks, and improving the chances of emails landing in the primary inbox rather than the spam or promotional folders.
HubSpot actively monitors email metrics and assists in cleaning up lists by identifying unengaged contacts, helping prevent users from sending to inactive or invalid addresses. The platform also plays a crucial role in managing bounce rates, spam complaints, and feedback loops.
HubSpot automatically handles hard bounces by removing those email addresses from future sends to prevent further damage while providing insights into soft bounces for corrective action. For spam complaints, HubSpot tracks and alerts users in real-time if complaint rates become problematic, allowing for timely adjustments to email strategy. Additionally, it integrates with feedback loops from major email providers. This way, users can monitor how often their emails are reported as spam and take immediate corrective actions to minimize the negative impact on their sender's reputation.
Several factors influence email deliverability, and HubSpot provides essential tools to help users optimize these:
Sender Score and IP Reputation Management
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use Sender Score and IP reputation metrics to assess the trustworthiness of senders. HubSpot offers tools for monitoring and managing shared and dedicated IP addresses to help maintain a high Sender Score. With shared IP addresses, multiple HubSpot customers send emails through the same IP pool. While this can affect deliverability based on the behaviour of others, HubSpot actively monitors and removes problematic senders to preserve the IP’s reputation.
A high Sender Score indicates a positive reputation, while a low score may mark your emails as spam. To help users maintain a high Sender Score, HubSpot provides email health reports to track key metrics like open rates, bounces, and spam complaints. It also offers an IP warming process that gradually introduces new or dedicated IP addresses to ISPs to build a strong reputation. Additionally, HubSpot offers feedback on spam complaints and bounces, allowing marketers to refine their strategies to improve deliverability.
Segmentation and List Management
Segmentation and proper list management are critical to optimizing email deliverability, as sending emails to an engaged audience improves open rates and reduces the risk of emails being marked as spam. HubSpot provides powerful tools for segmenting email lists based on various factors. Behavioural segmentation allows users to target contacts who have shown interest by opening emails or clicking on links. In contrast, engagement-based segmentation helps identify active users versus those who haven't interacted in a while, enabling targeted re-engagement campaigns or suppressing inactive users. Additionally, preference-based segmentation allows users to tailor email lists based on recipients' content or frequency preferences.
HubSpot also emphasizes list cleanliness by automatically suppressing hard-bounced emails, filtering out graymail to avoid sending emails to disengaged contacts and making it easy to prune unengaged contacts from lists and ensure better email deliverability.
Content Optimization with HubSpot
HubSpot's content optimization tools help marketers craft engaging emails compliant with best email deliverability practices. With personalization tokens, HubSpot enables marketers to include contact-specific details like names or purchase history, which improves open and engagement rates. HubSpot's dynamic content features allow different sections of an email to be customized for various audience segments, ensuring relevance and reducing the chances of being marked as spam.
To further enhance deliverability, HubSpot provides a built-in spam checker that scans for problematic elements, such as spam-triggering keywords or excessive punctuation, and offers guidance on creating clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that boost click-through rates. Additionally, HubSpot’s mobile-optimized templates ensure emails render well on mobile devices, improving user experience and engagement. These tools help marketers craft effective, compliant content that reaches the intended inbox.
Engagement Tracking and Metrics
Tracking engagement metrics is crucial for maintaining high email deliverability, and HubSpot offers comprehensive tools to monitor opens, clicks, and replies, providing marketers with insights to optimize future campaigns. HubSpot's open-and-click tracking helps gauge how healthy emails are performing, with high rates signalling to ISPs that the emails are wanted and should be delivered to inboxes. Reply tracking is another valuable metric, as emails that generate responses indicate strong engagement and are less likely to be marked as spam.
Additionally, HubSpot provides heatmaps and data on the time recipients spend on emails, helping marketers understand whether their content is holding attention or being quickly dismissed. Maintaining healthy engagement rates is critical for inbox placement, as ISPs use these signals to determine whether emails should be flagged as spam. If engagement drops, it may indicate declining interest, harming the sender's reputation. HubSpot's tools allow marketers to monitor engagement trends and take proactive steps, such as re-engaging inactive subscribers or removing them to maintain high overall engagement.
Authenticating your domain is one of the most crucial steps for improving email deliverability. HubSpot supports key email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, which help establish trust with receiving email servers and minimize the risk of your emails being flagged as spam or phishing. These protocols help develop a legitimate identity with ISPs and email providers, significantly boosting deliverability.
Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Records in HubSpot
1. Access Domain Settings:
2. SPF (Sender Policy Framework):
HubSpot provides an SPF record that needs to be added to your domain’s DNS settings. The record specifies which servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. To set it up, log into your domain provider and add the SPF record that HubSpot provides.
3. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail):In HubSpot, generate a DKIM signature by selecting your domain and following the setup prompts. Add the DKIM public key to your DNS as a TXT record. This key will allow receiving servers to verify that the email content has not been tampered with during transmission.
4. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance):HubSpot supports DMARC setup to enforce policies for how receiving servers handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks. Add a DMARC record to your domain's DNS settings to instruct email servers to take specific actions (e.g., reject, quarantine, or report failed emails).
The content of your email directly impacts deliverability, and optimizing your message using HubSpot’s tools can significantly improve your chances of reaching your recipients’ inboxes. HubSpot’s A/B testing feature allows you to experiment with different versions of your email to identify which elements drive better engagement.
Leverage HubSpot’s content optimization tools to avoid common spam triggers that can negatively affect deliverability. Use the spam-check feature to scan your content, highlight words and phrases that could trigger spam filters, and adjust these terms to improve deliverability.
HubSpot offers advanced segmentation and personalization features to help you better target your audience. It allows you to segment your contacts based on various criteria, such as behavior, demographics, and lifecycle stage. Narrowing your email audience to those most likely to engage helps improve the relevance of your emails and reduces the risk of spam complaints.
HubSpot's personalization tokens allow you to insert dynamic content into emails based on individual contact properties, such as names, company details, or recent activities, making them more tailored and relevant. Meanwhile, dynamic content allows for personalized blocks of text or images based on segmentation. For example, you can send one version of an email to prospects and another to current customers—within the same campaign. This level of personalization promotes engagement, improving overall deliverability.
Regularly monitoring email performance and maintaining list hygiene are essential for consistent deliverability. HubSpot provides detailed reports and dashboards to help track important metrics and keep your lists clean, including bounce rates, spam complaints, and open and click rates.
Automating list hygiene tasks is an effective way to maintain clean, engaged lists without manual intervention. HubSpot’s workflow automation allows you to:
HubSpot offers scheduling tools to help you send emails at times when your audience is most likely to engage. It enables you to schedule emails based on your recipients' time zones and behavior patterns, ensuring that messages are sent when your audience is most likely active. With the Smart Send feature, HubSpot optimizes send times based on recipients' past interactions, improving open rates and reducing the chances of emails being ignored or marked as spam. Sending emails at optimal times boosts engagement and enhances your sender reputation, which improves overall deliverability, while off-peak sending can lower engagement and harm your reputation.
HubSpot offers several tools to monitor and improve email deliverability. These features provide insights into performance, which are valuable for marketers to identify issues and make data-driven decisions that enhance email success rates.
Email Health Tool
HubSpot’s Email Health Tool offers an overview of how your email campaigns are performing. It provides metrics related to deliverability, giving marketers a clear picture of the overall health of their email campaigns. The Email Health Tool lets you make informed decisions to improve future campaigns by analyzing performance data. Testing new subject lines or optimizing your send times might be time if you see low open rates. High bounce rates can indicate hygiene issues on the list. The tool helps you identify trends in bounced emails, prompting list cleaning or re-engagement efforts. Tracking CTR and spam complaints allows you to adjust your email content to make it more relevant and less likely to trigger spam filters.
HubSpot’s Bounce and Spam Reporting
HubSpot offers detailed reporting tools that allow you to monitor bounces and spam complaints in real-time. The bounce reporting in HubSpot will enable marketers to spot problematic patterns, such as high bounce rates from a specific campaign or contact list, and take corrective action.
Leverage HubSpot's list segmentation and filtering tools to remove inactive or invalid email addresses. Create targeted re-engagement workflows for contacts who haven't interacted with your emails. If they remain unresponsive, consider removing them from your active list. Review email content, targeting, and frequency to understand why recipients mark emails as spam. Moreover, HubSpot integrates feedback loops from ISPs that notify you when recipients mark your emails as spam. This feedback helps you refine your campaigns to avoid further complaints.
A/B Testing and Campaign Optimization
A/B testing is crucial for enhancing email deliverability, and HubSpot provides robust tools for experimenting with different email elements such as subject lines, content, and send times. Testing various approaches helps unlock the most effective strategies to improve open rates, engagement, and overall campaign performance. With HubSpot's A/B testing features, you can analyze results, determine which email versions perform best, and apply these insights to refine future campaigns. This continuous testing and optimization process helps maintain high deliverability by ensuring your emails are engaging and timely.
Deliverability Support and Resources
HubSpot provides extensive support and resources to help marketers address deliverability issues and stay informed on best practices. Their Deliverability Support Team offers expert guidance on troubleshooting bounces, spam complaints, and technical aspects like email authentication and IP warming.
HubSpot’s knowledge base is filled with articles and guides on email marketing and deliverability optimization. For ongoing learning, HubSpot Academy offers courses and webinars that cover email marketing strategies, list building, engagement optimization, and current deliverability trends. These resources enable marketers to enhance their deliverability efforts and keep up with industry developments.
Improving email deliverability is essential for the success of any email marketing strategy, and HubSpot provides the tools and resources to make this process manageable and effective. From domain authentication and content optimization to advanced segmentation and A/B testing, HubSpot equips marketers with everything they need to ensure their emails reach their intended audience. However, mastering these tools requires a deep understanding of how to use them effectively.
As a marketing automation agency with HubSpot expertise, we can help you fully harness the platform’s capabilities to maximize your email deliverability and overall marketing performance. Contact us today to learn how we can help you make the most of HubSpot’s tools and boost your email marketing success!