Yesterday afternoon was spent watching kids participating in a track meet. As an email deliverability consultant constantly on the lookout for ways to ways to make my case for better deliverability performance, I spent most of the meet reflecting on the similarities between a track meet and email deliverability best practices.
First off, there are many different activities at a track meet. Running, throwing, jumping, sprinting, leaping… Just as there are many different activities you need to be doing to make sure your email deliverability rate is high.
Second, not every athlete will excel at every event. One boy will be a sprinter while another can go the distance in a longer race. One girl might be awesome at the shot put while another shines at the long jump. The same is true for your email deliverability best practices. You’ll be able to master some better than others.
Third, the track meet and events move forward no matter what. No matter the weather, or a particular kid’s energy level that day, the whole event marches on per a predetermined schedule. Just because someone might want to skip an event that day, or the skies are dumping rain on the athletes’ heads, the meet must go on. Your email marketing program has the same rigidity to it. It marches on, adhering to ISP rules you didn’t choose and consumer preferences you didn’t sign up for. And you do it all anyway, rain or shine.
Fourth, what happens before the track meet matters as much as what happens at the track meet. Those kids who ran the extra mile or spent time in the weight room are likely to outperform those who didn’t. Your email marketing program works the same way. On that critical day when you send that campaign, your results will be measured based on what you did beforehand. How’s your online sending reputation? Do you have Goodmail certification? Is your list scrubbed?
Just like an athlete can’t sit on the sofa watching TV for a month then expect to break a record the day of the race, so must your email deliverability best practices have your constant attention. You might not be training for the big race, but you are training for the big send…and you hope to “win” some sales as a result of all your efforts.
About the Author: Jared LaRock
