Testing is A Must to Reach Managed Inboxes September 19, 2019, | Posted by erin

The managed inbox has become a source of frustration for a lot of email marketing professionals, and it’s no mystery why: as consumers take more and more direct control over what lands in their inboxes, and email platforms like Google respond to demands to make controlling the increasing volume of content coming in by offering pre-set filters, it can be a real challenge to get seen. Site Impact has been on the ball when it comes to these challenges from the get-go, and we’re always looking to improve the edge we’ve got. In this case, though, the best way to get the results you’re looking for isn’t a quick fix or a handy hack; it’s good, old-fashioned work.

Test for the best

Yes: testing. We’ve talked about testing several times on this blog, and there’s a good reason for that; it simply is the best way to get the kind of information you need to make informed decisions on your strategy, and the best way to ensure that you’re not setting off any alarms with email services, too. Testing isn’t the most glamorous aspect of email, but it provides the data you need: what’s working and what isn’t, where your campaigns are struggling, and--importantly in this instance--whether your next campaign will make it to the inboxes you’re sending to at all. Testing of all kinds has to be part of your process, or you’ll continue to struggle with getting the response you want from your prospects. There are a few different kinds of testing that go into a truly successful email campaign, but for landing in the inbox, the primary one to concern yourself with is the most basic level.

Measure twice, cut once

To make sure that you’re landing where you want in your recipients’ inboxes, the biggest thing you need to make sure to incorporate into your processes, testing-wise, is that your email can actually get there, and be opened when it arrives. This means testing to make sure that it’s formatted properly for the various platforms that will serve it up--that it will render, the file sizes are appropriate, and so on--and that your list is as it should be. List hygiene is something we’re strong on at Site Impact, and of course you don’t have to do a complete overhaul of your list every time you send an email; but you should be checking to make sure that there are no obvious fake emails or other big issues with your list contents before you send. Fortunately, these kinds of checks are easy to accomplish with automated systems--so it takes no time at all, and you can incorporate it into a “pre-flight checklist” of sorts without having to spend lots of time. Run your test, make sure to correct any problems, run it a second time, and then when everything is green, get the email out there.

When it comes to landing in the right spot of managed inboxes, the fix for the problem isn’t as simple as just avoiding spam-filtering keywords or other simple hacks. The real way to make sure that you get to the inbox is to test your campaigns rigorously before you send them out, and make sure that you’re not giving the wrong impression about yourself as a sender without even knowing it. Contact Site Impact to learn how we can help you rise to the top of the inbox, every time.