arpReach Team

The Essential records that affect email deliverability

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essential records that affect email deliveryThere are some important NS (name-server) and DNS records that services like Gmail use to determine if a server is authorised to send email or not.  Get these wrong or don’t include them and the emails you send may well be heading to the spam bin, if they are even accepted by the email service.

This article gives you an overview of what the essential records that affect email delivery are.

Note: Due to the risks involved if you make a mistake changing DNS or Name Server records (your website might not be accessible and you might not be able to send or receive emails)  we strongly advise that you get your hosting company or a suitable professional to make the changes.

These essential records are:

reverse DNS

This is arguably the most important setting that you need to check and make sure it is correctly configured. Many e-mail servers on the Internet are configured to reject incoming e-mails from any IP address which does not have reverse DNS where the hostname of the server matches the rDNS.  Normally it is your Internet service provider (ISP) who must point (or “sub-delegate”) the zone (“….in-addr.arpa”) to your DNS server.  It is very rare that a user has the privileges to make rDNS changes or updates

Reverse DNS (rDNS) is an IP-address-to-domain-name mapping (the opposite of DNS, which maps domain names to IP addresses).
A special PTR-record type is used to store reverse DNS entries. Technically, the PTR-record for example.com is “34.216.184.93.in-addr.arpa”

SPF records

An SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is a type of DNS zone record that identifies which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. SPF is implemented using TXT records.

Further information about SPF records and how to configure them can be found at http://www.openspf.org/SPF_Record_Syntax
Google also has a helpful overview and insights here: https://support.google.com/a/answer/33786?hl=en

Remember, your hosting company will (or at least should) be able to help you set this up.  Out of the essential records on this page, this is the one you can do your self … if you want 🙂

DKIM records

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an authentication mechanism to help protect both email receivers and email senders from forged and phishing emails. Unlike SPF, DKIM must be configured on your server’s Mail Transfer Agent (MTA), so that your mail can be signed as well.  This means that in most cases your hosting company will need to set this up for you if it isn’t already.

There’s no agreed best method for email authentication and because there are pros and cons for each, you can’t assume that all mail servers will use the same one. It’s best to employ both all of them.

To check if your domain name and DNS records are using SPF, DKIM and to see if your rDNS is configured you can use one of the following free checking services:

http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools

http://mxtoolbox.com/ReverseLookup.aspx
http://mxtoolbox.com/spf.aspx
http://mxtoolbox.com/dkim.aspx
https://www.mail-tester.com/spf-dkim-check
http://vamsoft.com/support/tools/spf-policy-tester

 

How and why email gets from A to B – the basics

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how email gets from a to bThis is a very high level and very simplified overview of how email gets to the person you are sending it to.  This article is not meant to provide all of the nitty-gritty technical details, it is just the basics to give you an indication of what is involved.  If you want to know more then Google is your friend 🙂

  • Email is sent from servers.
  • Websites live on servers and servers are identified by IP (Internet Protocol) addresses.
  • An IP address is a series of numbers.
  • Domain names need a protocol call DNS (Domain Name System) to enable people to find the website.
  • DNS converts the domain name to the IP address numbers
  • There are two formats for IP address numbers IPv4 & IPv6
    e.g. domain name example.com = 93.184.216.34 ( IPv4 format = xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx)
  • Servers use name server (NS) records to tell other servers what domain names are available on what server.
  • Each domain name has a zone file record
  • A domain zone file can have multiple records.
  • examples are ‘A records’ and ‘MX records’
  • An A record is the actual record that points example.com to 93.184.216.34
  • An MX-record (Mail eXchange-record) states what specific IP address emails need to be sent to and possibly set a priority if you have two or more mail servers.
  • When you send an email to ‘somebody@…’ the sending server converts the domain name element (example.com) to the IP address
  • It contacts the IP address and ‘asks’ if the server at the IP address accepts emails for the domain name (example.com).
  • The receiving server says Yes or No
  • If the answer is ‘Yes’ the the sending server sends the email – if the answer is ‘No’ the email is not sent
  • If the email is sent then the receiving server will try to add the email to the mailbox of the recipient
  • Depending on the success or failure of every attempt to send and or deliver email the server(s) will send a ‘response message‘
  • The response message can be: Success, Failure, Deferred (will continue to try)
  • Failure messages (AKA Bounces) are either Total (hard bounce) or Temporary (soft bounce)

Global experts advise on building your email database and converting your new contacts

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Email MarketingContrary to some reports, email marketing is by no means dead, in fact it’s absolutely thriving!

Follow the advice below and you will reap the rewards.

With advice on how to build your database, effectively segment and then some top tips on email subject lines to help your conversion, it’s must read for all email marketers!

 

Building a quality email marketing

A quality in-house email-marketing list is essential if you contact customers via email. But how do you put such a list together? Tim Watson of Zettasphere outlines the steps to take when building an email marketing list.

http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/online-marketing/email-marketing/building-a-quality-email-marketing-list

 

Build An Email List

One of a small business’s best marketing assets is a healthy email list. While proper management and use of your email file will drive revenue immensely, it is often a challenge to create the email list itself. With inbox clutter on the rise and customers becoming more sensitive toward any unwanted communication, marketers should develop their subscriber lists with relevance and care.

Fortunately, there are a number of simple and effective ways of creating an email list, including traditional online and offline tactics, as well as emerging strategies, such as paid search, direct mail, events and special offers.

See more on the following blog post…

http://www.experian.com/small-business/how-to-build-an-email-list.jsp

 

How to Segment Email Lists for More Opens, Click-Throughs and Conversions

What makes email marketing so powerful? Some say that the secret sauce is list segmentation—the practice of dividing your email list into groups based on characteristics like interests and demographics.

Segmenting your email list helps you speak more intelligently and directly with your customers, giving them information that they want at the opportune time. And when you do it right, the payoff can be huge. Joe Stych talks us through how to do this.

https://zapier.com/learn/ultimate-guide-to-email-marketing-apps/email-list-segmentation-guide/

 

5 Tips for Writing an Absolutely Irresistible Email Subject Line

Enticing your audience to engage with your marketing content is a common struggle, especially when it comes to email marketing. After all, an email is only as good as its subject line. With fewer than five seconds to convince a recipient to open an email instead of delete it, you need to give your email’s subject line an edge.

The following contains top tips to get your emails opened !

https://www.aabacosmallbusiness.com/advisor/5-tips-writing-absolutely-irresistible-email-subject-line-000000992.html

 

Once you have all of this in place the next step is to choose a provider to deliver your emails.

arpReach is the affordable, automated email marketing tool chosen by thousands of online businesses. With No monthly fee, No per-message charges and No fee rises as your list grows. arpReach makes your email marketing targeted, automated and more profitable !

 

Discover how it will help your business grow at www.arpreach.com

Social media – Expert advise on why your business needs it and how to improve and measure it

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Social mediaToday’s Blog post focuses on the importance of social media as part of your marketing strategy.

It talks you though the reasons why your business needs it, how to make the most of it and follows up with how to measure and react to it.

So lets get started with the reasons why…

 

16 Reasons Why Your Business NEEDS Social Media Marketing

No matter what you sell and who you sell it to, using social media as a marketing tool can help you grow your brand and pad your wallet. See why here:

http://www.contentfac.com/9-reasons-social-media-marketing-should-top-your-to-do-list/

 

7 tips for making social media marketing work for your business

Is your business making the most of social media?

Expert Martin Jones gives us 7 Top Tips on how to make it work for your business

https://www.coxblue.com/7-tips-for-making-social-media-marketing-work-for-your-business/

 

Our 13 Best Social Media Marketing Tips EVER!

From identifying and targeting the right audiences to expanding your reach across different social media sites, this article by Dan Shewan covers it all !

http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/01/11/social-media-marketing-tips

 

7 Free Tools That Will Shave Hours Off Social Media Management

It costs time to create content and execute a full-blown social strategy. So what’s the solution for a budget-conscious business? First, enlist the help of social media tools to tackle virtually every aspect of your social media marketing, from content to advertising to lead generation, social listening, analytics, and more. John Hall gives us his top 7 FREE tools to help manage your social media strategy.

http://www.inc.com/john-hall/7-free-tools-that-will-shave-hours-off-of-social-media-management.html

 

A Comprehensive Guide to Social Media ROI

Measuring the return on your social media investment is no longer optional.

To secure executive buy-in for social marketing strategies—and larger, dedicated budgets—digital and marketing leaders need to confidently demonstrate how social media efforts are contributing to an organization’s broader business goals.

Dara Fontein talks us through how, and why, you need to measure your social media activity.

https://blog.hootsuite.com/measure-social-media-roi-business/

 

Once you have all your good quality leads now is the time to make the most of these valuable contacts and put into a targeted autoresponder.

The arpReach automated email marketing solution makes converting your leads simple and effective. See more by clicking here

How to make video work for your business – from fellow global experts!

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How to make video work for your business

  • Social video generates 1200% more shares than text and images combined.
  • Companies using video enjoy 41% more web traffic from search than non-users.
  • Businesses using video grow company revenue 49% faster year on year then organizations without video.
  • Video drives 157% increase in organic traffic from search engines.
  • 4 x as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.

(Source: http://www.slideshare.net/AdelieStudios)

We all know that video is vital for customer interaction as will as Search engine optimization. But with 62% of consumers more likely to have a negative perception of a brand that publishes a poor quality video, it is also vital to get it right !

We have collated some great tips and advice from fellow global experts to help you make the most of this essential marketing tool.

 

The Quick-and-Simple Guide to Getting Started With Video Content Marketing

Making your video stand out, increasing engagement and finding ways to add value is a mammoth task, Matt Aunger takes you through the process in a simple step by step guide

https://blog.bufferapp.com/the-delightfully-short-guide-to-adding-value-with-video-content

 

Why online video is the future of content marketing

By 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco. Video-on-demand traffic alone will have almost trebled.

Chris Trimble from the Guardian advises on why video is an essential part of your content marketing.

http://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2014/jan/14/video-content-marketing-media-online

 

TubeBuddy: Is it Really a YouTubers New Best Friend?

When you think about the fact that over 300 hours of video are being uploaded to YouTube (some reports say 400) every minute of the day than you might think your little YouTube channel doesn’t stand a chance.

Lleane Smith shows you how to optimize your YouTube channel

http://basicblogtips.com/tubebuddy-review.html

 

Top 7 Video Takeaways from Social Media Marketing World

Want 7 Top Tips on how to make the most of your video online?

Owen Hemsath shows us how

http://www.reelseo.com/7-video-tips-social-media-marketing-world

 

Let Customers Get to Know You With Video

Video lets you do more than just share information about a product: you can immerse viewers in an inspiring narrative about how your business came to be, and its potential. Video is the most efficient way to form a large-scale human connection — you get to make eye contact and speak face-to-face.

Walter Chen talks us though how to use this to your advantage in his blog post ‘Let Customers Get to Know You With Video’

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/271711

Industry insights on how to make landing pages work for you

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Landing PageThis week we wanted to share with you some top insights from other industry experts on how to create high converting landing pages.

A Simple but Effective Framework for Landing Page Information Hierarchy

Some marketers do an excellent job of laying out information on their landing page so that it tells a story in a way the reader needs to hear it. Not only does that yield awesome conversion rates, it creates an experience for the reader that feels effortless.

Other times, information is presented in a way that feels disjointed or out of order.

Take a look at this article by Corey Dilley setting out an effective hierarchy to follow for good conversion rates.

http://unbounce.com/landing-pages/information-hierachy-helps-you-convert-and-delight/

How to Create Conversion-Ready Landing Pages Like a Pro

The best conversion optimizers have analyzed thousands of landing pages, spent a long time on boring split test results, and have developed the ability to read the minds of their customers.

This article by Neil Patel unveils how the best conversion optimizers create landing pages.

https://blog.crazyegg.com/2015/05/05/conversion-ready-landing-pages/

4 Lead Gen Campaign Ideas (+ the Landing Page Templates to Power Them)

This post, by Jennifer Pepper, outlines four strategic campaigns you can run for different stages of the funnel, and advises on the landing pages you’ll need to build for them.

http://unbounce.com/lead-generation/4-lead-gen-campaign-ideas/

3 Surprising Stages of Successful Landing Pages

High-converting landing pages consist of three action-driving stages: before, during, and after.

Many content marketers often focus on just one stage: during.

Aaron Orendorff, breaks down the detail of these stages to make your landing page effective in this informative, easy to read article.

http://www.copyblogger.com/successful-landing-pages/

Here’s 5 Top Tips that we learnt from other industry experts !

1 – High-converting landing pages consist of three action-driving stages: before, during, and after.

2 – There is no formula to creating a high converting landing page. What works for one site may not work for another.

A/B test your landing page to maximize your conversion rate.

3 – Knowing your target customer is the single most important thing you can do as you create your landing page.

4 – Understand the right conversion action

Every landing page has a certain action that it is trying to get the customer to do. When the customer completes that action, it is known as a conversion.

Be clear on this before you start creating your landing page.

5 – Create cognitive flow

Cognitive flow is the way that a landing page addresses a user’s need, answers the user’s question, and leads them to the point of conversion.

You can see some top tips By Neil Patel in the link above.

Email verification is relevant for all email data

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email_im1Do you think that email verification is only relevant for purchased data? Think again…

I recently had a conversation with a business owner and the reaction to a discussion on email verification was “I don’t need email verification as we are only emailing customers based on the details they provide us with, and they can unsubscribe at any time”

Of course I can see why business owners and marketers might think their database is clean and that they are on top of it by managing the unsubscribes. However this is far from the case.

Here’s a couple of facts to keep in mind:

1 – Only 28% of emails sent reach the inbox!

Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) such as AOL, MSN, AT&T, BT etc. and Mail Service Providers (MSP’s) like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook.com and others put in place active measures to reduce the volume of UCE (spam) their users receive. ISP’s & MSP’s are getting better at stopping unwanted mail before it gets to their users inbox by using a mix of third party ‘scoring’ services and their own internal algorithms.

(Source: Return Path, 2014)

2 – Emailing dead addresses reduces delivery by 43%

Sending emails to ‘bad email addresses’ , which include dead address types (and unsubscribe management will not address this) will reduce your sender reputation and inbox delivery rates by at least 43% before none get delivered at all.

(Source: Return Path, 2009) & (Source: Return Path, 2012).

3 – Poor reputation causes 83% of delivery failures !

If your IP address has a poor reputation, your email (importantly, even the good addresses!) is less likely to reach the inbox, risking the chance that your subscribers may never even see your message.

(Source: Return Path, 2015)

With headlines like this it’s worth looking at how you are currently gathering data…

Do you have an email sign up on your website? If you do, does it have a double opt in so that you the user has to confirm their email address?

Where else are you gathering data from? Do you have a call centre or data input process? Are you collecting business cards from events/trade shows? If so both of these processes require human input and subject to data errors.

Do you have a forward to a friend offer, and does that user have to input the address on their friends behalf?

If the answer is yes to any of the above you could unknowingly have a high % of inaccurate emails within your database.

The point here is that if there is a high % of inaccurate data, ISPs will stop delivering your emails, even to the good addresses, as they may perceive you as spam.

The good news is that you can do something about it, quickly, easily, cost effectively and accurately !

With the arpReach 1.5 upgrade our team recognised this increasingly devastating problem and developed a fully integrated email verification tool to help combat this issue.

The new arpVerify email verification integration means that you could now have:

  • The ability to verify your entire existing database from within arpReach
  • Real-time integrated email verification from your online forms and contact points.
  • Constant, automated, list monitoring

PLUS, you can also batch import new or existing (data that until now you have held outside of arpReach), email lists and get them verified instantly!

If you are an arpReach user, getting started is easy, simply click this link for some more information on the 1.5 upgrade.

http://blog.arpreach.com/updates/release-news/arpreach-version-1-5-is-available/

If you are not an arpReach user you can still take advantage of this amazing new email verification service. A standard monthly subscription to arpVerify offers you all of these flexible benefits:

  • Clean up your existing contact list.
  • Clean new lists of email addresses by file import.
  • Verify individual email addresses entered on subscription forms.
  • Verify single email addresses adhoc.
  • Via the API, add arpVerify verification to other inhouse tools such as CRM and accounting software.

Find out more by clicking here: https://arpverify.com/