What is Deliverability?
To better understand email deliverability, let’s first talk about it in relation to email delivery.
Delivery vs. deliverability
In the email world, these terms are often used interchangeably. However, they actually have different meanings.
Delivery refers to whether a message is accepted or rejected by the receiver. When a message bounces, for example, it means the message was rejected and not delivered. If a message is accepted by a receiver, then the message was delivered. Senders are able to easily discern whether a message was delivered or not because receivers explicitly provide this information during SMTP. If you use an ESP for your email marketing, your deliveries and bounces are likely being managed for you. You also probably see a delivery rate for each of your mailings. This rate is the percentage of messages delivered out of all of the messages that were sent. Be on the lookout for an upcoming blog post that outlines why messages bounce and how to improve your delivery rate!
Deliverability refers to whether or not a message is delivered to the inbox of a subscriber. This can also be referred to as inbox placement. Deliverability is a little trickier to discern than delivery. Senders get clear feedback about whether a message is delivered or not. However, after a receiver indicates if a message is accepted, the receiver doesn’t send any more data about where the message actually went (inbox, spam, trash, etc.). While all senders want good deliverability, there is no way to truly know your exact deliverability rate, the percentage of messages sent to the inbox out of all of the messages sent. However, assumptions can be made about a sender’s deliverability based upon engagement rates such as open rates and click rates.
Deliverability can be complex
There’s no magic bullet to achieving great deliverability. If you’re seeing deliverability issues, it will likely take time and testing to improve your deliverability. However, senders can focus on a handful of factors that greatly influence deliverability. Be on the lookout for a blog post covering the top factors that influence deliverability!
Summary
Delivery and deliverability are both important, and senders should aim for high delivery and deliverability rates. However, delivery is often more straightforward while deliverability can be more complex.