6.4 Email Deliverability Best Practices (Reaching the Inbox)

Getting your emails delivered reliably to your contacts' inboxes (and not their spam or promotions folders) is arguably the most critical aspect of email marketing. Poor deliverability means wasted effort and missed opportunities. Follow these best practices diligently:

1. Domain Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC - ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL):

  • Purpose: These technical standards prove to receiving email servers (like Gmail, Outlook) that emails claiming to be from your agency's domain are legitimate and authorized by you. This is the foundation of good deliverability and is required by major providers for anyone sending more than a small volume of email.
  • Setup via Dedicated Sending Domain (LC Email Recommended): The most straightforward way to implement authentication within Close Master is by setting up a Dedicated Sending Domain.
    1. Go to Settings → Email Services → Dedicated Domain & IP tab.
    2. Click + Add Domain.
    3. Enter a subdomain: Use a subdomain of your main agency domain, specifically for sending email (e.g., mail.youragencydomain.com, email.youragencydomain.com, or reply.youragencydomain.com). Do NOT use your main website domain (e.g., www.youragencydomain.com or just youragencydomain.com) here.
    4. Get DNS Records: Close Master will generate 5 specific DNS records (usually 1 TXT for SPF, 1 TXT for DKIM, 2 MX records, and potentially 1 CNAME for tracking).
    5. Add Records at Your Domain Registrar: Log in to where you manage your agency domain's DNS settings (e.g., GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Google Domains). Carefully add these 5 records EXACTLY as provided by Close Master. Pay close attention to Host/Name values (use the subdomain you chose, e.g., mail or dkim._domainkey.mail) and the corresponding Value/Points To information. Ensure Cloudflare proxy (orange cloud) is OFF (DNS Only/grey cloud) for these verification records.
    6. Verify in Close Master: Go back to the Dedicated Domain & IP tab in Close Master. Wait for DNS propagation (can take minutes to hours) and click the Verify Domain button. All records should eventually show a green "Verified" status. Troubleshoot any records that fail verification (check for typos, extra quotes, correct Host/Name).
    7. Set up Basic DMARC: Separately, add one more TXT record at your domain registrar for your main domain (not the subdomain).
      • Host/Name: _dmarc (or _dmarc.youragencydomain.com)
      • Value: v=DMARC1; p=none; (Start with p=none which monitors but doesn't block).
  • Verification Tools: Use external tools like MXToolbox Email Health Check or EasyDMARC to verify your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up correctly after propagation.

2. Use Your Authenticated Domain Consistently:

  • From Address: Always use "From" email addresses that belong to your verified dedicated sending domain (e.g., jane.doe@mail.youragency.com or info@youragency.com if your main domain is properly configured alongside the subdomain). Avoid sending business emails from free domains (@gmail.com, @yahoo.com, etc.) as this lacks professionalism and hurts deliverability.
  • Domain Alignment: Ensure the domain in your "From" address visually aligns with the domain authenticated via SPF/DKIM. This builds recipient trust and satisfies technical checks.

3. Maintain Excellent List Hygiene (Keep Your List Clean):

  • Permission is Paramount (Explicit Consent): Only email contacts who have clearly and explicitly opted-in to receive emails from your agency. Use unchecked checkboxes on your website Forms specifically asking for email consent (separate from general terms/privacy policy agreement). Record the date, time, source, and method of consent for every contact. Never buy or rent email lists. Consider using double opt-in (where users click a confirmation link in an initial email) for the highest quality list, although single opt-in with clear consent is often sufficient if managed well.
  • Validate Emails: Use an email validation service (some are integrated into Close Master's import or available via Settings > Business Profile, or use third-party tools *before* importing lists) to identify and remove invalid, misspelled, risky (spam traps), or disposable email addresses from your lists. Sending to bad addresses significantly harms your sender reputation.
  • Manage Bounces: Ensure the setting Mark Emails as Invalid due to hard bounce is enabled (Settings > Business Profile). Close Master (LC Email) should automatically suppress future emails to addresses that hard bounce. Regularly monitor your bounce reports (in Campaign stats or potentially overall deliverability reports) and remove addresses causing repeated soft bounces (e.g., mailbox full, temporary issue).
  • Prune Unengaged Contacts: Regularly (e.g., every 3-6 months) identify contacts who have not opened or clicked any of your emails in a long time. Send them a targeted re-engagement campaign asking if they still want to hear from you. If they don't respond or re-engage, remove them from your active marketing lists. Sending repeatedly to unengaged recipients signals to ISPs that your content isn't relevant, hurting your reputation. Use filters based on Last Activity or specific email engagement triggers.

4. Optimize Your Email Content:

  • Avoid Spam Trigger Words/Phrases: Be mindful of using excessive capitalization (ALL CAPS), too many exclamation points (!!!), spammy words (FREE!, $$$, Act Now!, certain financial terms), or misleading subject lines.
  • Balance Text and Images: Aim for a good ratio of text content to images. Emails that are mostly images with little text are often flagged as spam. Always use descriptive Alt Text for your images (e.g., "Living room with fireplace at 123 Main St") so recipients (and spam filters) know what the image is about even if images are blocked.
  • Personalize When Possible: Use merge tags like {{contact.first_name}} to greet recipients by name. If possible, tailor content based on their known interests (Custom Fields) or past behavior.
  • Provide Value: Focus on sending content that is genuinely useful and relevant to your real estate audience – property alerts matching their criteria, insightful market updates, helpful tips for buyers/sellers, community information. Don't just send constant sales pitches.
  • Check Your Links: Ensure all links go to legitimate, relevant destinations. Use full URLs or Close Master's Trigger Links. Avoid using public URL shorteners (like bit.ly) in email bodies, as these are often associated with spam. Test all links!
  • Ensure Mobile-Friendliness: Most emails are opened on mobile devices. Use responsive Email Templates provided by Close Master or ensure your custom HTML is mobile-friendly. Always use the mobile preview option in the builders. Keep content concise and easy to read on small screens.

5. Practice Good Sending Habits:

  • Warm Up New Domains/IPs: As mentioned in 6.1, gradually increase your sending volume over the first 2-4 weeks when using a new Dedicated Sending Domain. Start by sending small batches (e.g., 50-100/day) to your most engaged contacts (those who have recently interacted or opted-in), then slowly ramp up the volume daily or every few days as long as engagement remains good (high opens/clicks, low bounces/complaints). Use the Drip Mode / Batch Schedule feature for this. Consult Close Master help docs or The Close Agency for specific warm-up schedules.
  • Maintain Consistent Volume: Avoid sending huge, infrequent blasts after long periods of inactivity. Try to maintain a relatively consistent sending volume and frequency based on your content strategy (e.g., weekly newsletter, daily property alerts). Predictable patterns are better for reputation.
  • Monitor Your Sender Reputation: Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools (requires verifying your sending domain) to monitor metrics like Domain Reputation, IP Reputation, Spam Complaint Rate, and Delivery Errors as seen by Gmail. Keep your Spam Complaint Rate extremely low (ideally well below 0.1%, aim for <0.05%).

6. Ensure Legal Compliance:

  • Clear Unsubscribe Link: Mandatory in all marketing/bulk emails. Use the {{unsubscribe_link}} merge tag or the unsubscribe option in Footer elements. Make the link easy to find and ensure it works with a single click (or minimal steps). Honor unsubscribe requests immediately (Close Master typically handles this automatically via DND when the standard link is used).
  • Physical Address: Include your valid physical brokerage address in the email footer. Use the {{location.full_address}} custom value if your address is correctly entered in Settings → Business Profile.
  • Identify Yourself: Clearly state your agency name in the email content and use a recognizable From Name and a legitimate From Email address associated with your authenticated domain. Don't misrepresent who is sending the email.

Following these deliverability best practices requires ongoing effort but is essential for successful email marketing in today's environment.