Ever wondered why some emails feel invisible – even though you spent hours perfecting the message? The truth is, your campaign has to get past three silent gatekeepers before it can even be read. Each one tests a different strength: your credibility, your identity, and your appeal. Miss even one, and your message may never see the light of day.
In this post, we’ll meet those three gatekeepers that stand between your email and the inbox – and learn how to beat them so your open rates can soar.
The Security Gatekeeper
Are you legitimate? Hounding you throughout your quest in an officious and annoying, yet understandable way, is the security gatekeeper. This warder wants to make sure you have legitimacy and that you are allowed near that final location. In email marketing, it’s the difference between making it to the inbox or not.
Think Agent Smith in The Matrix, an incredibly efficient, rules-bound adversary who will do everything he can to stop you reaching your end goal unless you meet a set of predefined conditions.
Here, we see email authentication protocols: SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance). A trio of mechanisms that prove you are who you say you are and that you have the right to represent the business in email communication. You need to:
- Ensure your domain has a correctly configured SPF record in the DNS
- Include your public DKIM key in the DNS
- Add a DMARC record that dictates how to treat failures
Learn more about these security protocols in my earlier article, People Not Opening Your Emails? Read This Before You Blame Your Copywriter.
The Recognition Gatekeeper
Do I know you? The recognition gatekeeper is interested in whether you belong here, whether you are of interest or if you should simply be ignored. It helps sort your emails into priority groups, determining if reading should happen now, later, or even ever, just like the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter.
For email marketers, recognition is served by your email address and name. An email that comes from Exciting Business <[email protected]> is far more likely to succeed than one from Unknown <[email protected]> – and quite rightly so!
Even more effective is a personal connection. Try giving your email marketing a human quality. Sally Jenkins <[email protected]> typically gets more interest than a generic info account.
Once you’re recognised, you may pass to the next stage.
The Intention Gatekeeper
Why are you here? Are you worthy? Finally, you meet the scrutiny of The Sphinx, who will look into your heart and determine whether you are truly heroic. You may not have to solve a riddle, but you do have to show that you have something to offer.
The subject line is the email marketing intention gatekeeper, providing that initial snippet of information that will either show you to be enticing enough to merit further interaction or have your message summarily dismissed – yet another irrelevant moment in a long history of failed attempts.
Writing a good subject line is vital. Read some tips on how to get this right here.
Perseverance - The Hero’s Quest
Heroes don’t give up until they have achieved their goals, and neither must you. Think about Frodo Baggins as he crosses from the Shire, across Middle-earth, and into Mordor, bearing the weight of the One Ring; consider Harry Potter who struggles and suffers through adolescence until he must face Lord Voldemort himself; follow Luke Skywalker as he journeys from farm-boy to Jedi Knight, through Yoda’s training, until standing against his own father and the powerful emperor.
All of these heroes refused to stop. All of them persevered. All of them sent emails regularly, week after week, month after month, producing exciting, interesting, and value-driven content.
Well, they would have done if they’d been email marketers and not busy saving the world.
To drive successful open rates in your email marketing, you need perseverance and the skills to get past the gatekeepers. It’s no easy quest, but someone must take up the challenge.
Improving Your Open Rates with Nathan Littleton
Hi, I’m Nathan Littleton, and when I’m not stretching pop-culture references to breaking point, I’m busy working with my clients to develop and improve their email marketing. Just as every hero needs a companion, every good email marketer could do with a little specialist support. So, if you’re in need of a Han Solo, Samwise Gamgee, or Hermione Granger, book a consultation with Nathan Littleton today.
