Author Archives: Carly Brantz

Sometimes the “same old, same old” can be a good thing. We’re not saying not to try new and innovative ways to engage your users, but sometimes the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” has a bit more validity when you want surefire results. Our suggestion is to keep searching for fresh, new ways to increase response rates, but don’t forget the key tactics that have consistently worked for you in the first place. Here are 8 tactics that should always be included in your email program’s toolkit. Create relevant content:  You’ve heard this a million times before,…

No love has been lost for the National Security Agency after it was revealed that they were intercepting data between servers and computers. And it had yielded a strong response from Google. On March 20th, Google posted that they will always use an encrypted HTTPS connection whenever users check their mail. This move ensures that no one, not even the NSA, can listen in or read user messages as they move through Gmail’s servers. HTTPs encryption was offered by Google since Gmail launched and was enabled by default in 2010. However, users had the ability to disable it. Today, “always…

While your email program is humming along, spammers are still hard at work trying to devise ways to send malicious messages to your customers. Mobile is now the new frontier for these elusive thieves, allowing them to be even more creative in their approach, and according to Cloudmark’s 2013 Global Messaging Threat Report, they are making good progress. It’s important to stay on top of trends with spammers in all channels, so we’ve provided some highlights of the report here: Phishing tops the list. In 2013, phishing accounted for 20% of SMS spam in the U.S. with 67% of those SMS…

An email preference center is a tool that helps you establish a healthy communication cadence with your subscribers. It provides an easy way for your subscribers to manage their email by giving them a centralized portal to control what they receive and how often they receive your messages. What might motivate you to set up a preference center? Let’s start by taking a look at this survey from HubSpot that explains the main reasons why users unsubscribe from your list. It may come as no surprise that 54% of respondents said that they were receiving emails from a sender too…

We’re taking it back to the basics to define a term that is super important to email deliverability, but still seems to cause some mailers a bit of confusion: bounces. What’s the difference between a hard bounce and a soft bounce? At SendGrid, we probably position soft bounces a little differently. We look at soft bounces more as blocks–or short term issues. These blocks shouldn’t be added to a suppression list. But, hard bounces (invalid email addresses and nondeliverables) should be. Read on for why. The Definition of an Email Bounce An email bounce signifies non-delivery of your email message.…

Ah the trusted “Welcome” email! This simple message is one of the most important, yet overlooked, emails that you can ever send. Remember the old adage, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression?” It’s never been more true than with welcome emails. Your welcome email sets the tone for every subsequent email that you deliver to your subscriber…so make it a good one! Here are 5 tips to help make sure your welcome email is memorable and effective. Tip #1 – Make it personal. Establish a connection with your subscriber early by addressing them by name. During…

Do you know the current state of your email infrastructure? Here are 5 questions to ask to help make sure you’ve established a strong foundation for sending: 1. Are you using a dedicated IP Address? If you’re a high-volume sender who is working with an email provider, make sure you have an IP address dedicated to your mail stream. Ideally, have at least two IPs, one for your transactional email and a second for your marketing/promotional email. (Transactional email tends to have higher delivery rates than marketing email, so separate your mail streams to keep their reputations distinct.) Sharing an…