When sending email to your members it is important to make sure you've taken steps to ensure that as many members receive your email in their inbox as possible. Both MailChimp & Constant Contact have suggestions of their own to help you out, but this checklist can serve as a reference for the most important steps.
It's important to note that these suggestions only apply to your marketing emails and not to the transactional/system emails sent by Novi or QuickBooks. The Novi team worked with you upon your launch to complete steps like these for those transactional emails, and the deliverability and reputation of your marketing email account will never affect the deliverability of things like password resets or invoices from Novi.
Email Address Matters - It's important to consider the email address your emails are coming from. An email address that matches your website will look more professional and lead to higher trust in the emails your members receive!
Authenticate Your Domain - If there's one tip to take away from this list, it's this one. Once you've chosen an email address to send from, it's important to confirm for the internet that MailChimp/Constant Contact have permission to send emails on your behalf. You do this by authenticating your domain (your domain is the part of the email address after the @ symbol), which usually involves adding a DNS (Domain Name Server) entry or two. If this sounds over your head, don't worry, both platforms have easy-to-follow instructions to help you out.
MailChimp Domain Authentication Instructions
Constant Contact Domain Authentication Instructions
Advanced Note: There are more advanced domain authentication topics you could visit with a qualified IT person to improve the deliverability and trustworthiness of your email. Some terms to know are DKIM & SPF (these are methods MailChimp & Constant Contact will use in the above instructions), but also DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance). These technologies can be set up not only for marketing emails but also for your normal emails sent by your team. It's best to consult a qualified IT person to help you dive into these topics in your setup.
Only Send With Permission - If your members aren't expecting to receive a certain type of email from you, it makes them more likely to mark your emails as spam. When they do this, it affects your sender reputation across the internet and can make it more likely for your email to be sent to their junk folders automatically.
Make It Professional - Take the time to make sure your emails look professional and are branded to be recognizable and trustworthy.
This is just a shortlist of the most important best practices to help with your email deliverability. Both MailChimp & Constant Contact have their own lists of suggestions, so we suggest checking with your email provider to learn more!
Read More