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Black Friday might be just one day on the calendar, but it is only the beginning of the biggest sales season for eCommerce. It is the “unofficial” start of the shopping season because it’s closely followed by Cyber Monday and Christmas.
This article will discuss the strategies you can use to elevate your Black Friday marketing campaigns.
Mark your calendars, and let’s start!
Key Takeaways
- Longer than necessary page loading time is a huge deal-breaker. The ideal page load time is 1 to 2 seconds, as anything longer than that costs significant revenue loss.
- Leverage your online presence (website, app, and social media), use cross-channel marketing to connect and convert, and employ real-time analytics and on-site engagement solutions to enhance the user experience.
- Have a post-Black Friday follow-up strategy to turn the first-time customers you’ve gained with your Black Friday marketing into loyal customers.
Brands of various sizes and across different industries all participate in Black Friday, so having a solid Black Friday marketing strategy is of utmost importance to attract new customers and cultivate existing relationships.
Take a look at these must-haves for a bulletproof Black Friday marketing strategy, and plan your Black Friday marketing campaign around these checkpoints to ensure that things run as smoothly as possible.
Black Friday is one of the busiest times of the year for eCommerce. During this hectic period, the last thing you want is a website that slows down or crashes randomly, right?
Don’t underestimate your traffic load; make sure your website can handle the extra traffic. Consumers have low levels of patience. They’ll expect a smooth shopping experience and leave your website in case of a slow load time or crashes.
The ideal page load time is 1 to 2 seconds, as anything longer than that costs significant revenue loss. For each additional second your website takes to load, the average eCommerce conversion rate decreases by 0.3%.
To fully leverage your online presence for Black Friday marketing campaigns, optimising for a wide array of devices and screen resolutions, extending beyond just desktop platforms is essential. And you can’t ignore that mobile design is a massive part of our lives:
Here’s what you need for website mobile optimisation for the best Black Friday marketing period:
As you gear up for your Black Friday marketing shenanigans, the strategic selection of products to spotlight gains even greater potency through the integration of cutting-edge data analytics tools.
Real-time analytics play a crucial role in preparing Black Friday marketing campaigns, as they allow businesses to make informed decisions, optimise strategies, and capitalise on opportunities as they unfold during the frenzied shopping period. Here’s why real-time analytics are essential for Black Friday marketing campaigns:
In essence, real-time analytics empower brands to adapt, refine, and optimise their Black Friday marketing strategies on the fly, ensuring they can respond effectively to the dynamic and rapidly changing landscape of this high-stakes shopping event. By leveraging real-time insights, businesses can enhance customer experiences and achieve their Black Friday marketing goals.
Landing pages are fundamental for Black Friday marketing campaigns. Their purpose is to create awareness and drive traffic to a specific page.
Creating specific landing pages for different Black Friday marketing campaigns will help your visitors find what they are looking for easily and quickly.
Pay attention to these points for a successful landing page:
A Product Detail Page (PDP) refers to a webpage that provides comprehensive information to customers and buyers regarding a specific product. This information encompasses details about colour choices, sizes, materials, pricing, shipping alternatives, and additional relevant factors.
And since we’re discussing Black Friday marketing campaign best practices, an optimised product detail page carries great weight.
An optimised product detail page is one that is optimised for website performance best practices and with easy-to-digest information for the best user experience.
Effective return policies and affordable (or free) shipping fees are pivotal in boosting conversion rates, especially for Black Friday marketing campaigns. These strategies reduce buyer hesitations and motivate them to finalise their purchases.
By offering a transparent return policy, you’ll showcase your unwavering belief in your products’ excellence. Simultaneously, this policy reassures customers that should the product not meet their expectations, they have a straightforward process to return it, further enhancing their shopping confidence. This becomes even more pertinent during the Black Friday rush when shoppers are actively seeking valuable deals and reassurances.
As part of your Black Friday marketing strategy, ensure a seamless eCommerce experience:
It’s been quite a while since social media platforms have become more than just places to connect with friends. They have been a big part of a marketer’s arsenal for the good part of the past decade:
But how will social media advertising help with Black Friday marketing?
Gamification is the process of integrating game elements, mechanics, and design principles into non-game contexts, such as Black Friday marketing campaigns.
By leveraging the innate human desire for competition, achievement, and rewards, you can construct engaging and interactive scenarios that motivate customers to engage and remain loyal.
Black Friday presents the perfect opportunity to leverage gamification as consumers are on the lookout for deals, discounts, and unique experiences. By tapping into the inherent thrill of gaming, you can create a sense of urgency, fun, and anticipation that drives customers to explore your offerings and take action.
Spin-the-Wheel pop-ups, for example, are excellent solutions for an engaging Black Friday marketing campaign.
Check out how D&R, an online bookstore, increased AOV by 73% with gamification during Black Friday 2022.
Incorporating gamification into your Black Friday marketing strategy can significantly impact customer engagement and sales. By tapping into the excitement and enjoyment of gaming, you’ll not only create a memorable experience but also encourage customers to interact with your brand on a deeper level.
During the highly anticipated Black Friday period, email marketing assumes an even more vital role in captivating and converting customers, a scenario eagerly anticipated by both brands and consumers.
The correct Black Friday email marketing strategy empowers you to connect with a vast audience, foster anticipation, and generate sales amid the bustling shopping season, presenting attractive deals, discounts, and promotions. Anticipate the following gains from Black Friday email marketing campaigns:
Read more: Black Friday Email Marketing Strategy Best Practices
Cross-selling and upselling can be used to encourage customers to spend more and increase the AOV during the Black Friday period.
Use these Black Friday marketing strategies to increase AOV:
Communicate the value and benefits of cross-sell and upsell options clearly to customers through well-designed visuals and compelling copy. Tailor your cross-selling and upselling strategies based on customer segments and demographics for maximum relevance.
Remember that ethical and customer-centric marketing practices are crucial. Always prioritise the customer’s needs and preferences, providing genuine value with your Black Friday marketing campaigns.
After the dust settles from the Black Friday frenzy, your marketing efforts are far from over. In fact, this is where the real magic happens – cultivating lasting relationships with those who engaged with your brand during the shopping extravaganza.
A well-executed post-Black Friday follow-up strategy can transform transient transactions into enduring customer loyalty.
The period after Black Friday is a golden opportunity to deepen connections, fuel customer loyalty, and set the stage for a lasting relationship beyond a single shopping event.
Black Friday has evolved into a cornerstone of modern marketing strategies, driving both anticipation and fervour among consumers. As explored in this comprehensive Black Friday Marketing Guide for 2024, success during this shopping extravaganza requires a combination of strategic finesse, technological prowess, and customer-centric practices.
From optimising website performance and mobile experience to harnessing the power of real-time analytics, every facet of your Black Friday marketing campaign contributes to its overall triumph.
Mastering these ten strategies is critical to a successful Black Friday marketing campaign:
And remember that the journey doesn’t end on Black Friday. Employ a thoughtful post-event strategy to sustain excitement, nurture loyalty, and cultivate lasting relationships.
When is Black Friday 2024?
Black Friday 2024 falls on Friday, November 29th.
How long does Black Friday 2024 last?
Black Friday is only the day after Thanksgiving and ends when Cyber Monday starts on December 2nd. Retailers, however, love to combine the two days and extend them as far as possible. Many extend their Black Friday Cyber Monday promotions through early December, turning it into one big holiday shopping period.
Is Black Friday a thing in the whole world?
“Black Friday” refers to the day after Thanksgiving in the USA. Historically, this shopping event was only observed in the USA. But over time, it gained popularity worldwide. Today, people from around the world participate in Black Friday.
When should I start my Black Friday 2024 marketing campaigns?
Brands should start their Black Friday marketing campaigns several weeks before the event, with teasers and promotions building up anticipation in the weeks leading up to Black Friday itself. Intensify marketing efforts in the week before Black Friday, and ensure that all promotions are live and ready on the event day. Don’t forget about the post-event follow-up campaigns to help sustain the momentum and keep customers coming back.
Customers increasingly rely on internal search to navigate your website. But what happens when search results are irrelevant, slow to load, or fail to personalise the experience?
Frustration sets in, leading to abandoned searches and lost sales.
Introducing Searchandising 2.0, the next generation of internal search solution from Segmentify!
We’ve completely revamped the search experience, empowering you to deliver lightning-fast results, unmatched customisation, and a seamless journey that keeps users engaged and ready to convert.
Keep reading for all the juicy details ↴
Searchandising refers to the strategic optimisation of a website’s internal search function. It leverages merchandising techniques to tailor search results and product discovery, ultimately enhancing the customer journey and driving conversions.
Check this out: Bonservis and Segmentify’s dynamic partnership boosts conversion rates by %64.
Internal search plays a crucial role in the customer journey, directly impacting product discovery and purchase decisions. However, traditional internal search engines often struggle with:
These limitations disrupt the customer journey, leading to missed conversion opportunities and increased customer churn. Personalised search results, on the other hand, can significantly improve customer satisfaction and drive sales by ensuring users find the products they’re looking for quickly and easily.
Let’s get to know Segmentify’s Searchandising 2.0 a bit closer:
Searchandising 2.0 boasts a streamlined setup process, getting your internal search box operational in just 2 hours. This translates to faster time-to-value, allowing you to experience the benefits of enhanced search functionality and start driving conversions quicker than ever before.
Searchandising 2.0 prioritises a lightning-fast search experience without compromising website performance. Its code is 50% smaller than previous versions and 30% lighter than Segmentify alternatives. This translates to blazing-fast search results that keep your customers happy and engaged.
No more waiting for pages to load – your customers will find the products they need instantly, leading to a smoother purchase journey and increased conversions.
With customisable search facets, you can refine search parameters based on your specific product categories and attributes. Take control of result ordering, prioritising high-performing products or showcasing new arrivals first. Design product cards with the information most valuable to your customers, ensuring they can make informed purchase decisions quickly and easily.
With Searchandising 2.0, you can craft a search experience that seamlessly integrates with your brand identity and maximises conversion opportunities.
Organic traffic from Google searches is a powerful sales driver, but creating landing pages for every conceivable keyword combination is a losing battle. It’s expensive and impractical.
Searchandising 2.0 solves this dilemma by optimising your internal search results for SEO.
This means your product pages rank higher in relevant Google searches, attracting high-intent customers who are already actively looking for what you offer.
Searchandising 2.0 is built with mobile in mind, delivering a fully responsive search experience that adapts perfectly to smartphones and tablets. This eliminates the need for additional development or adjustments, saving you time and resources.
As a result, Searchandising 2.0 increases customer satisfaction and eliminates the risk of mobile users abandoning their search due to compatibility issues.
We understand that exploration is key to successful product discovery. That’s why we’ve eliminated frustrating page refreshes.
Seamlessly transition between product details and search results without disrupting the user flow. This allows customers to explore different options quickly and intuitively, ultimately leading to a more informed purchase decision. Searchandising 2.0 keeps customers engaged and focused on finding the perfect product, maximising the potential for higher conversion rates.
Searchandising 2.0 empowers you to transform your internal search engine with a range of game-changing benefits:
Don’t settle for a clunky internal search experience that drives customers away. Try Segmentify’s Searchandising 2.0 today and experience the difference! Maximise conversions, boost customer satisfaction and watch your sales soar.
Are you struggling with reaching your target audience?
You’re spending hefty chunks of your budget on targeted ads but not getting sales in return?
Do you wish for a magic mirror to tell you what you’re doing wrong?
We’re sadly here to tell you that no such magic mirror exists. But we might have something that can solve your problems with reaching your target audience and saving your precious marketing budget.
Let’s start with what you’re doing wrong:
You are saying that generic marketing campaigns are drowning you in lost revenue.
You’re pouring resources into marketing campaigns that fall flat, leaving you with frustrated customers and dwindling budgets.
Here’s the problem: Generic approaches to customer segmentation can’t predict future actions or preferences. This means missed opportunities for personalised experiences and engagement, ultimately leading to lost revenue and brand disconnect.
The harsh reality is that traditional customer segmentation falls short in several key areas:
Ready to break free from generic campaigns and unlock the power of true customer understanding?
Then, let us explore predictive segmentation—the key to personalised experiences and supercharged engagement.
It’s best to start with an official definition.
Predictive segmentation empowers you to truly know your customers, predicting their future actions and preferences. Unlike generic approaches, it analyses vast data to unveil their hidden potential, allowing you to tailor experiences and maximise engagement.
Imagine knowing which customers are likely to make a purchase, who might churn, and even what products or services they’ll be interested in before they even know themselves.
That’s the transformative power of predictive customer segmentation: Seeing the future of your customer relationships and tailoring your approach accordingly.
Now that we’re on the same page about how predictive marketing is not about reading teacups or looking at crystal balls let’s dive into its benefits.
Predictive marketing hurls those archaic generic campaigns out the window and replaces them with laser-focused personalisation that gets you your money’s worth. Here’s how predictive marketing aids your personalisation efforts:
Predictive customer segmentation isn’t magic; like any powerful tool, it comes with its own considerations. When it comes to predictive marketing, many marketers keep a wary eye on these points:
With all that being said, these challenges shouldn’t deter you from exploring the power of predictive marketing. Remember, with the right tools and approach, these concerns can be addressed.
In the next section, we’ll explore how Segmentify tackles these challenges and ensures responsible, effective use of predictive segmentation to benefit both your business and your customers.
Predictive segmentation holds immense potential, but as we’ve seen, it’s not without its challenges. So, how can you leverage this power responsibly and effectively?
Enter Segmentify, a solution designed to address these concerns and empower you with truly transformative customer segmentation:
Now, let’s dive into the concrete benefits of using Segmentify’s Predictive Segmentation:
More than just features, Segmentify offers:
Now that we’ve explored how Segmentify’s capabilities overcome the general limitations of predictive marketing let’s witness its transformative power across different industries:
Predictive marketing isn’t just about predicting the future; it’s about shaping it and creating win-win situations for both you and your customers.
While predictive segmentation comes with its challenges, these should not deter you from exploring its powers. With the right tools and approach, these concerns can be addressed.
What we discussed in this article is just a glimpse into the transformative power of predictive segmentation across diverse industries. With Segmentify, you can unlock deeper customer understanding, personalise experiences, and achieve sustainable growth—All tailored to your specific industry needs.
Take the first step towards a future-proof customer strategy—Explore Segmentify today!
Notice how everyone, and I mean everyone, talks about omnichannel marketing strategies these days?
And yet, all that talk feels…hollow.
Sure, it’s the difference between mere engagement and remarkable customer experiences. But it’s remarkable how many brands still struggle to get it right.
Well, I’m here to tell you there are 2 sides to a stellar omnichannel marketing strategy, which often coincide with one another.
You’ll see.
Omnichannel marketing commences with a robust data strategy. To understand your customers, you must gather and integrate data from all touchpoints. This involves not just online interactions but also data from in-store purchases, email responses, and even social media engagements.
A comprehensive data integration strategy grants you a 360-degree view of your customer’s preferences, behaviours, and historical interactions, empowering more personalised and effective marketing.
However, beware that as the amount of data you collect through various channels rises, the need for unified data becomes more and more important.
Once data is gathered and integrated, advanced real-time analytics tools come into play. These tools provide actionable insights into customer behaviours and preferences.
By leveraging data analytics, you can segment your audience effectively, gauge campaign performance, and optimise your marketing efforts. Analytics tools reveal customer trends, pain points, and engagement opportunities, all of which are vital for crafting personalised marketing strategies.
Data collection alone is insufficient. Brands need to create detailed customer personas based on the collected data.
These personas should delve deeper than basic demographics, encompassing insights into customer preferences, behaviours, and pain points. By comprehending various customer segments, you can tailor your marketing strategies to cater to the unique needs of each group.
Once you’ve established customer personas, you can fine-tune your messaging and offers to resonate with specific segments. Personalised marketing messages are more likely to capture customers’ attention and drive engagement. This personalisation extends to product recommendations, discounts, and content, creating a profound connection between your brand and the customer.
Choosing the right omnichannel marketing software is pivotal. These tools facilitate the efficient management and orchestration of marketing campaigns across various channels.
Look for software that offers customer data integration, automation, and analytics features. It should be adaptable to your brand’s unique requirements and scalable to accommodate future growth.
To offer a truly seamless customer experience, it’s imperative to integrate customer relationship management (CRM) systems, content management systems (CMS), and other relevant technologies. Integration ensures that customer data is seamlessly shared across various systems, allowing consistent and cohesive customer interactions.
Read more: Breaking Down Data Silos in eCommerce—Unlocking that Extra 30%
Your omnichannel marketing strategy thrives on consistent brand messaging. Customers should encounter a unified brand identity across all touchpoints, from the website to social media to physical stores. Establishing a style guide and ensuring that all content aligns with it is essential for building a strong and recognisable brand presence.
Different channels have distinct content requirements. Long-form blog posts might excel on your website, while shorter, visual posts are better suited for social media. Brands must optimise their content to align with the specific characteristics of each channel. This includes considering content format, tone, and timing.
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the two sides of building an omnichannel marketing strategy often overlap. Customer touchpoint mapping also fits perfectly into the data and analytics, and customer segmentation steps mentioned previously.
However, I believe it’d be better for comprehension to also look at it separately and in more detail:
This will be repeating myself, but the first step to mastering omnichannel marketing strategy is identifying all the touchpoints where customers interact with your brand, both online and offline.
Common touchpoints include the website, mobile apps, social media, email, physical stores, customer service, and more. Mapping these touchpoints provides a comprehensive understanding of the entire customer journey.
Once touchpoints are identified, data collection at each touchpoint becomes crucial. This includes tracking user behaviour, purchase history, contact information, and any other relevant data. Standardising data collection across all touchpoints ensures consistency and accuracy.
With data from various touchpoints, brands can analyse customer behaviour. This analysis yields insights into how customers move through the sales funnel, which channels they prefer, and what types of content or offers are most effective. Understanding customer behaviour is fundamental for creating more relevant and engaging marketing campaigns.
To fully understand the customer’s journey, you should create a comprehensive touchpoint map. This map visualises the customer’s interactions across all channels and identifies key touchpoints and moments of truth.
By connecting the dots on this map, you’ll gain a holistic view of the customer’s experience and can refine your marketing strategies accordingly.
Whether you’re an established brand or a budding enterprise, the power of seamless, personalised customer experiences cannot be underestimated. Yet, it’s astounding how many fall short of its promise. The quest for a seamless, personalised customer experience is a challenging one, but it’s far from impossible.
By following the crucial steps outlined in this chapter, you’re well on your way to mastering omnichannel marketing. It’s a journey, one that can be significantly smoothed by the right business partner.
In this pursuit, consider the pivotal role of Segmentify. With its advanced personalisation and analytics solutions, Segmentify is the key to transforming your omnichannel marketing strategy from ordinary to extraordinary.
Elevate your omnichannel marketing with Segmentify and discover what it truly means to deliver a seamless, personalised experience. Don’t wait; start your journey to excellence today. Try Segmentify and watch your brand soar!
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Never Mind the Bo**ocks, a whitepaper on omnichannel marketing, and has been edited to fit this medium.
Among the various tools that enhance customer interaction, the search box stands out as a critical element.
Unlocking the potential of the search box as a dynamic space with personalised content has the transformative power to revolutionise and reshape the entire customer journey. This approach doesn’t just raise the bar; it sets an entirely new standard for user-centric engagement.
This article explores the concept of “Before Search” and how it can revolutionise the user experience by providing personalised content right from the moment a visitor engages with the search bar.
“Before Search” refers to the moment a visitor activates the search box by clicking on the search bar.
Before Search is the preliminary phase where the search box transforms into an interactive gateway, offering users a glimpse of trending products, popular brands, categories, or frequently searched terms.
However, the uniqueness lies in the ability to customise the search box further, incorporating non-product elements such as blog posts or campaign banners to guide visitors through a multifaceted journey.
For first-time visitors, the search box presents a curated selection based on comprehensive data analysis, including geographical relevance, search analytics, website analytics, and insights from similar users. Including the first user source and medium refines this initial display, offering a sophisticated blend of contextual recommendations.
The initial interaction acts as a foundation for the algorithm, initiating a learning process from the user behaviour. Subsequently, whenever the search box is activated, the algorithm refines its suggestions, delivering a truly personalised experience.
Before diving into the intricacies of perfecting the search box personalisation, laying the groundwork is imperative.
Two crucial components—real-time website analytics and customer segmentation—are essential prerequisites for effective website personalisation.
Understanding user behaviour and preferences through analytics provides the necessary insights, while segmentation allows for categorising users into distinct groups, enabling targeted personalisation strategies.
The success of the Before Search feature hinges on incorporating certain elements into the search box for personalisation and engagement. Here are five essential components that elevate the Before Search experience:
A seamless personalised search experience relies on integrating search analytics with the entire website. This ensures that the recommendations provided align with the overall content and preferences of the users.
More often than not, the customer journey starts with the search box but doesn’t necessarily end in a sale. Even when they find the exact item they were looking for, visitors may need additional decision-making time.
Recognising this dynamic, advanced customer engagement platforms like Segmentify leverage the power of search analytics and browsing data for dynamic retargeting campaigns.
By linking search analytics directly to recommendation features and outreach channels, Segmentify empowers businesses to craft a nuanced and personalised experience.
This interconnected approach not only refines the search box experience but extends its influence across the entire user journey. It contributes to a cohesive and engaging customer experience beyond the initial search and resonates throughout the conversion funnel.
Enriching the search box with information on popular brands and categories creates a well-rounded user experience. Users are not only guided by their preferences but also exposed to trending and sought-after items within the platform.
What’s more is that with the right algorithm, you can empower the system to identify the sweet spot where the general popularity across all users intersects with the unique preferences of the individual user. This strategic fusion enables the search box to present a curated showcase of popular categories and brands tailored precisely to the user’s distinctive taste.
This intersection point serves as the nexus of user satisfaction, where the user is not merely exposed to what’s universally sought-after but is guided towards options that align with their preferences.
Crafting a truly personalised search box experience necessitates using diverse recommendation algorithms, each tailored to cater to the unique preferences of users.
This multifaceted approach encompasses an array of recommendation algorithms, ranging from trending algorithms and popular item suggestions to frequently searched terms and category-based recommendations.
As previously highlighted, the integration of search analytics with website analytics further refines and elevates the search box personalisation in this regard.
Embracing an interconnected approach, you can seamlessly embed your chosen set of personalised recommendation algorithms into the search box. The result is an enriched and tailored user experience that transcends conventional search mechanisms, resonating with users profoundly.
Visual cues such as badges help draw attention to specific products or content, increasing the likelihood of user engagement.
Take your product listings to the next level! Get your FREE Product Badges Guide to learn how to use product/content badges effectively.
While the most common product badges like Bestseller, Trending, New, and Free Shipping are undoubtedly an inseparable part of the eCommerce experience, there exists an opportunity to be creatively strategic:
Start by thinking about what you are and who your customers are.
Consider the cosmetics and beauty industry as a prime example. Within this niche, customers have distinct concerns and priorities. Consequently, the application of product badges in the search box should be tailored to address these specific considerations.
Going beyond the standard badges, introducing labels like Vegan, Cruelty-Free, Sensitive Skin, or Eco-Friendly becomes a game-changer.
By aligning the product badges with the core values and interests of the target audience, you elevate the user experience, fostering a sense of resonance and connection.
This way, the search box becomes more than a functional tool; it becomes a personalised gateway that not only understands the users’ needs but also anticipates them, facilitating a more streamlined and satisfying journey from exploration to purchase.
The Before Search feature is activated the moment a user engages with the search bar, unveiling a dynamic display of content curated through personalised recommendations and behavioural analytics. With each activation, the search box adapts to showcase personalised content based on user behaviour and recommendation algorithms at work.
However, you may need to alter the search box in a way that transcends the personalised recommendations. This need can be met by the pin/remove items feature.
This feature becomes the linchpin for managing sponsorships, spotlighting special offers, and ensuring universal visibility for specific products or non-product content. Its versatility extends beyond the promotional realm, allowing you to pin campaign banners strategically.
Imagine ensuring every visitor is informed about your winter sale or has access to a crucial blog article detailing how to clean a coffee machine.
By incorporating the pin/remove chosen elements feature, you’ll gain a nuanced level of control over your search box experience.
Of course, search results personalisation is essential and should be an integral part of any website. But why wait until you get there?
Ensuring search box personalisation the moment it is activated is easy peasy lemon squeezy, really. Here’s all you need for a personalised search box before the search begins: Segmentify’ Search Box.
Segmentify’s Search Box stands out from its alternatives with unique capabilities:
Considering that one-third of visitors will perform an internal search, upgrading your search box is paramount.
Let Segmentify be your partner in this mission—book a demo with one of our experts for more information.
It’s an email marketer’s worst nightmare—ending up in the spam box.
It destroys your engagement metrics and email sender reputation. And it only gets worse from there.
Because even if you take the necessary steps to correct a past mistake that got you in the spam folder in the first place, that is a red stain on your reputation. And it takes a lot of time and resources to mend the said reputation.
So you need to start caring about reducing your spam complaint rate long before it becomes a problem.
This article will discuss the new email sender requirements by Yahoo and Gmail, why the spam complaint rate is even more critical now, and a 10-step program on how to reduce your spam complaint rate.
One of the biggest digital marketing trends that will define 2024 will be, without a doubt, the new email deliverability rules by Yahoo and Gmail.
Starting February 2024, all email senders who send over 5,000 emails daily to Yahoo and Gmail users are required to comply with these new rules:
- Authenticate your email domain using DKIM, SPF, and DMARC security protocols.
- Enable one-click unsubscribe with a 2-day processing time.
- Keep the spam complaint rate under 0.3%—max 3 spam complaints per 1,000 emails.
Gmail has been recommending these as email marketing best practices for a long time, and now, organisations are required to provide a safer inbox for consumers.
You can get more information on how to comply with these new email sender requirements on Gmail’s Help Center.
Let us move on to another pressing matter: How to keep your spam complaint rate as low as 0.3%
You’ll see that those two of those new requirements being put into action by Yahoo and Google are not really new; you already needed to comply with them to keep your spam complaint rates low.
Keeping the maximum spam complaint rate under 0.3% will be the end result of following these best practices:
Whenever someone asks, “Why shouldn’t I buy email lists?” an angel loses its wings.
Buying email lists can create serious problems for your organisation:
Building your email list, on the other hand, will get you an engaged audience and reduce spam complaints.
A double opt-in process is essentially a two-stop verification to validate and confirm email subscriptions. It is a great way to ensure you’re complying with the Internet privacy laws and regulations.
Providing double opt-in:
Used to be a strong recommendation for digital marketers to reduce spam complaint rates, email domain authentication is now a requirement by Yahoo and Gmail.
Authenticating your email domains through these security protocols will validate and verify the authenticity of your email campaigns.
Reminder: If you don’t have a Custom Sending Domain (CSD) set up, you must do that before the email authentication step. If your emails go from @yourdomain.com, they will look more professional, and the chances of them being marked as spam will be lower.
Various laws govern email marketing depending on the location of both the marketer and the recipients. However, the essential data privacy laws that every marketer should be familiar with are:
Failure to comply with data privacy regulations may result in substantial penalties.
In the UK, for example, breaching the GDPR may result in “a maximum fine of £17.5 million or 4% of annual global turnover — whichever is greater — for infringement of any of the data protection principles or rights of individuals.”
A healthy and clean email list leads to better email deliverability rates, ensuring your emails reach their intended recipients.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use email engagement metrics, such as open rates and click-through rates, to assess the quality of your emails. Since a clean email list tends to have higher engagement, this practice directly and positively affects your email deliverability.
Regularly remove inactive or invalid email addresses and promptly address any bounces.
Another important way to ensure low spam complaint rates is to enable one-click unsubscribes—something that you are now obliged to do.
As of February 2024, you are not only advised but required to allow one-click unsubscriptions with a 2-day processing time, according to the new email sender requirements by Yahoo and Gmail.
Adopting suppression list management as a regular practice will help you greatly in this regard.
Suppression lists guarantee that you do not send emails to individuals who have chosen to opt out, allowing you to communicate solely with an engaged and interested audience. This minimises the likelihood of your messages being marked as spam.
Based on what was discussed so far, this one should be obvious.
> Send people the content they wish to see (a.k.a. the reason why they subscribed to your email list in the first place)
> Get higher engagement
> Improve your email sender reputation
> Unsubscriptions and spam complaints are minimised
Adopt email segmentation best practices to take advantage of personalisation’s power and increase your email campaigns’ relevancy.
There is no universally perfect frequency for sending emails. The optimal email sending frequency varies based on factors such as industry dynamics, brand identity, and target audience.
However, irrespective of these variables, sending emails with too little time in between each can result in subscriber fatigue, higher unsubscribe rates, increased spam complaints, and diminished engagement.
Besides measuring the impact of your campaigns and understanding what your subscribers respond to, closely monitoring email marketing KPIs serves as an early warning system.
By vigilantly tracking these metrics, you can swiftly identify any emerging issues or patterns that could adversely affect your campaigns, such as the changes in spam complaint rates.
This proactive strategy empowers you to make timely modifications, mitigating the risk of harm to your sender reputation and ensuring the overall success of your campaigns.
Spam checkers are web-based utilities that enable you to assess your emails, indicating the probability of recipients marking them as spam. While ISPs ultimately determine message filtering, spam checkers frequently reassure marketers as they plan new campaigns.
Here’s what you need to do to reduce spam complaint rates:
Once you make these best practices a regular part of your routine, keeping spam complaint rates below 0.3% will be as easy as breathing!
In today’s fast-paced world, time is a valuable commodity, and many people are constantly looking for ways to increase their productivity and get more done in less time. With the rapid advancements in technology, artificial intelligence has emerged as a powerful tool that can help individuals and organisations become more productive and efficient.
AI-powered productivity tools are becoming increasingly popular and are being used in various areas such as writing, content creation, project management, calendar management, transcription, social media management, sales, and marketing.
As tech genius Bill Gates said: “AI is the most important tech advance in decades. It would change the way people work, learn, travel, get health care, and communicate with each other.”
CATEGORY | TOOLS |
---|---|
Writing & Editing | Grammarly, Hemingway |
Content Creation | ChatGPT, Jasper, Canva, Adobe Sensei |
Project Management | Trello, Asana |
Calendar Management | Calendly, Google Assistant |
Transcription | Otter.ai, Rev |
Social Media Management | Hootsuite |
Sales & Marketing | Segmentify |
Grammarly is a writing tool that uses artificial intelligence to check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes instantly. Also, it offers advice on how to enhance your style in terms of sentence construction and word choice. Grammarly is a browser plugin that may be added to numerous writing programmes, including Google Documents and Microsoft Word. Students, professionals, and individuals looking to enhance their writing skills frequently use Grammarly.
Hemingway is another online writing tool that focuses on improving the readability and clarity of the text. It uses AI to analyse the text and provides suggestions for simplifying complex sentences, eliminating unnecessary words, and improving sentence structure. Hemingway also provides a readability score that helps users determine whether their text is suitable for their target audience. Hemingway is available as a web app or desktop app.
ChatGPT is an AI language model developed by OpenAI that uses deep learning algorithms to understand and respond to natural language queries. It can be used for various purposes, including language translation, content creation, and customer service.
Jasper is an all-in-one content generation platform, allowing users to write blogs, reports, emails, and stories. In addition to explaining complex topics, it can produce summaries and even illustrations for the text that’s being generated.
Canva is a graphic design tool that allows users to create professional-looking designs for various purposes, including social media graphics, presentations, and marketing materials. It uses AI to provide design suggestions and automate tasks like resizing images.
Adobe Sensei is an AI-powered platform that helps users automate tasks and improve productivity across Adobe’s suite of creative tools, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere Pro. It uses AI to provide features like automated insights, content-aware fill, and image recognition.
Trello is a web-based project management tool that allows users to organise and track their work using a visual interface. It uses a system of boards, lists, and cards to represent tasks and allows users to move cards between lists to reflect the progress of the work.
Trello is designed to be versatile and adaptable to all kinds of projects, such as individual assignments, group projects, and corporate workflows. Users can make boards for various projects, invite team members to contribute, and delegate duties to certain team members. Users may also attach files, specify due dates, and create reminders to guarantee that assignments are finished on time.
Asana is a cloud-based project management tool that helps teams organise, track, and manage their work. It provides a visual interface that allows teams to create and manage projects, tasks, and subtasks in a collaborative environment.
Calendly is an online scheduling tool allowing users to schedule appointments and meetings without needing back-and-forth emails. It uses AI to check user’s availability, suggest meeting times, and send reminders to attendees. Users can also customise their scheduling pages with their branding and meeting types, such as one-on-one meetings, group meetings, or webinars.
Google Assistant is a virtual assistant that provides voice and text-based responses to user queries. It uses natural language processing to understand and respond to requests for information, such as weather updates, directions, or calendar events. Google Assistant can also control smart home devices, make phone calls, and send messages. It is available on various devices, including smartphones, smart speakers, and smart displays.
Otter.ai is a web-based transcription tool that uses AI to transcribe audio and video recordings. It can transcribe meetings, interviews, and lectures in real-time and provide accurate and searchable transcripts. Otter.ai also allows users to highlight, annotate, and share their transcripts with others. It can be used for both personal and business purposes, including note-taking, meeting minutes, and content creation.
Rev is an online transcription and captioning service that uses AI and human editors to provide high-quality transcripts and captions for audio and video recordings. It offers a variety of transcription services, including verbatim, time-stamped, and speaker identification. Rev also provides a captioning service for videos to make them more accessible to a broader audience. It can be used for various purposes, including video production, academic research, and legal proceedings.
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows users to manage and schedule content across various social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. It provides a centralised dashboard that allows users to monitor social media activity, track mentions, and engage with their audience.
Segmentify is a Customer Engagement Platform that provides real-time personalised product recommendations, cross-channel retargeting, and sustainable growth for online businesses. It uses machine learning algorithms to analyse customer behaviour and provide personalised recommendations and campaigns based on their preferences and behavioural patterns.
Segmentify also provides A/B testing and data analytics tools to help businesses optimise their eCommerce performance. With Segmentify Analytics, eCommerce companies are also able to track their sales and marketing campaigns.