In a previous article, I showed you how to update sender details. This handy tool lets you customize the footer information in campaign and automation messages. It can also change the way your messages appear in the customer's Inbox.

In this article, I want to help you optimize results by answering one question: what are the best practices for addresses in the email field?

To optimize the benefits of the Sender details tool, I encourage you to read this article. It's a decent primer on how to fill in the email address field properly. Yes, it's long and rather dull, but the benefits will stay with you for a long time.

To give your email the best possible chance of landing in the customer's Inbox, please, please, please don't use a Gmail account (or any free webmail service like Yahoo, AOL, Outlook.com, or Hotmail) as your From address. Instead, use an email address registered at your organization's own domain.

Here's why. When an email goes through a third-party email service provider (ESP) like ours, the receiving servers eye free webmail addresses with more suspicion than those from custom domains. This built-in doubt increases the possibility that emails with those From addresses will be rejected. This is the case no matter which ESP you use.

Sending from a no-reply address comes across as uncaring. Is that you?

A no-reply address can also frustrate subscribers if they need to contact you. In the long term, this type of From address could also negatively impact delivery rates. The way users engage with your email—like replies—can help determine if your messages land in the Inbox.

Here's why. When people reply to your campaign messages, some ISPs see this behaviour as a signal that you are legit, which can help improve your reputation, which can keep your messages out of the spam folder.

Sure, I recognize that putting a valid email address out there comes with some risk. It could attract auto-replies, bad responses, and messages from Nigerian bankers looking for your help. But it also opens the door to useful, legitimate conversations with your customers.

Legit conversations are precisely the sort of behaviour that email marketers should cultivate. That's especially true for business operators that don't have a call center or physical store. Customer replies are gold. They're a valuable source of feedback and a chance to connect.

Using an actual, existing mailbox to collect replies is more than good manners. It's good for business. Some email providers, like Gmail, look into recipient behaviour after an email hits the Inbox. If a subscriber responds to your email, it's more likely to be marked as important.

To build subscriber trust, it's a good idea to align the From name with the From email address. For example, if a subscriber receives a message from tinyAvocado Support, they'd expect it to be linked with an email address similar to [email protected].

If you send marketing and transactional emails, give subscribers an idea of what you're sending by aligning the From email address with the purpose of the message. For example, newsletters@, support@, or billing@.

Splitting functions is good for subscribers, too. They can manage messages using their own filters. This hack can also improve customer engagement. If a customer, for instance, writes a rule to delete all emails from newsletters@, they'll still receive messages from invoices@ and support@.

Sometimes, it's a good idea to have a reply-to email that's different from the sender's email if you invite subscribers to contact you. Depending on your list size, your Inbox could quickly fill up with bounces, out-of-office automated messages, and legit questions.

If you're in the email marketing game, you should know these acronyms.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft use DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) authentication to find spam and spoofs. Authenticated emails are less likely to be sent to spam or junk folders.

Spam filters and ISPs inspect the links in emails and use that information to decide if the email is trustworthy and safe to deliver. If you take the time to set up DKIM authentication for your own domain, the odds of your messages landing in the Inbox will likely increase.

A Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) record goes hand in hand with DKIM. The DMARC tells the receiving email server what to do after checking a message with DKIM. For example, if a message fails the DKIM test, the server should mark the message as spam.

If you have a DMARC record or would like to sign a DKIM with us to improve your email delivery, click here to learn more and then follow the instructions.
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