email-deliverability

Thanks to rapid technological advancement, the way in which we live and work has changed. We’re now ‘hyper-connected’ – toggling between multiple devices in an effort to stay in touch with multiple people across multiple platforms. Thanks to cloud based services, even when we’re on the go, smart phones enable us to be connected 24/7/365. According to Business2Business, the average mobile phone user checks their phone 34 times a day.

If you’re a marketing manager or corporate event planner, you’ll know all too well just how vital your phone is. What you may not have considered, however, is that just like you – your guests are receiving and reading their email invitations on their phones. In fact, 48% of emails are opened on mobile devices. (Find out by downloading our benchmarks report)

If you want to make sure that your email invitations result in optimal event attendance, we’ve compiled a guide on email deliverability ‘best practice’:

1. Stick to a plain text format

If you’re sending out email invitations that contain embedded images, or a custom-designed font, the chances of the email becoming illegible are high. Only ever use plain text, with a universal font like Arial or Helvetica. This will ensure that your invite can be read on any device, and that your guests are able to reply to it with ease. This one, simple step will up your email deliverability and in turn, your event attendance rates. An embedded image is also more likely to be blocked by a server which is why The RSVP Agency don’t use this practice.  (See our demo). In addition, your image to text ratio is vitally important – if your image ratio is larger than your text ratio, there is a good chance it will be perceived as spam and blocked

2. Have a way of tracking your delivery and open rates

Knowing whose email invitation has been successfully delivered, as well as the invitations that have been opened and replied to, is vital. If you see that an email hasn’t gone through, you’ll be able to contact the guest via an SMS or phone call. Bounce rates are par for the course, but if they’re inordinately high, you’ll need to address the problem in order to ensure that your email deliverability rate is higher.

The RSVP Agency sends out our emails via SendGrid – which is also used by leading brands like Uber and Spotify. This has helped us to achieve our current delivery rate of 90%.

3. Make sure any links you include take guests to a responsive web page

If you’re using links in your invitations, make sure that they link to a page that’s viewable on a mobile device. This can be done by using either a specifically designed mobi-site, or a website that incorporates responsive design.

4. Use professional software to send your email

If you’re using a reputable service provider for your RSVP process, you’ll be assured that any emails sent via the software are designed with maximum email deliverability in mind.

Because been vetted by SendGrid any invitations sent out via our software are recognised as coming from a reliable source. This safeguards against corporate intranets labelling these mails as spam.

What’s even more crucial, an RSVP management solution that’s able to remember vital information about your guests enables you to build up a profile and history about them. This data is vital – not only when planning future events – but for gaining invaluable insight into your market.

Image Credit: Amiando