| Hey, Did you know that the worst thing readers can do is to leave your newsletter unread? Well, we've all seen Misery so it's perhaps not the worst thing. And I guess they could mark you Spam - almost as bad. But you won't get more than a handful of Spam reports - or Kathy Bates tying you to a bed - unless something goes very wrong. The worst thing you'll likely face - at a scale which is truly impactful - is readers not opening your newsletter. Because if they then delete it unopened later on, which is quite likely to happen at some point, well, that's no bueno. The reason is Sender Reputation, and today we're breaking down what exactly goes into it, and how you can stop inadvertently dragging your (email) name through the mud. Please note this isn't just some minor curio for email nerds; it has huge implications for how you run your list. To be precise, this will hurt your open rates if you are not careful. And I'll break things down in a way anyone can understand. Pinky swear. This is a two-part series, but let's kick off with the things readers can do to hurt your Sender Rep - in rough order of gravity - before showing you the things that give you a boost in the eyes of our all-seeing Robot Overlords. Next week we'll dig into the implications, and how you should run your list, so you don't get turned into Soylent Green. Speaking of delicious things to eat... 1. Marking as Spam Doesn't matter so much if they open your email first and then mark it Spam, leave it unopened and mark it as Spam, or whether they hit the actual Spam button versus dragging it into the Spam folder manually *takes breath* it's all bad. And a negative hit to your Sender Rep. It has further negative effects on deliverability outside the orbit of this particular conversation - which could put you in hot water with Gmail and/or your email marketing service. But unless things go very badly wrong for you and your newsletters, there should never be more than a handful of Spam reports. They can be difficult to eliminate completely - the blighters - especially once your list gets to a certain size; rein in your perfectionist tendencies. Positive subscriber actions (which we'll detail in a moment) will more than balance these out if you are making any kind of effort to Do the Right Thing. 2. Non-spammy Negatives These you need to pay a lot more attention to. I suspect this category screws the open rates of many more writers than anything directly pertaining to Spam. The two biggies are: - when a reader leaves your email unopened and then deletes it; and/or,
- when a reader leaves your email unopened and then unsubscribes.
We'll talk about the implications later but it's important to immediately clarify that this only pertains to unopened emails. Because... 3. Neutral Sub Actions If a reader opens your email, and then unsubscribes or deletes, this is considered a neutral action - neither positive nor negative. At least in terms of Sender Rep; you probably don't have people unsubscribing from your list on your Dream Board. Although, he continues in the gravely tone exclusively reserved for foreshadowing, a neutral unsubscribe today is for better than a negative action tomorrow. If your content isn't right for someone, if this subscriber isn't one of your Ideal Readers, if some stray waif followed the trail of breadcrumbs to your door but isn't really part of your target audience... then you should be fine with them removing themselves from the equation. It's better for everyone. And it's far better than an unhappy reader staying, getting successive emails they don't care about, and then letting your emails pile up unopened. 4. At Last, The Positives Hey, it's not all negative! Simply opening your email is viewed by Gmail as a positive subscriber action. Getting someone to click a link in your emails is even better. And then if you can get an organic reply, well, that's the cherry on top of the icing on the cake. But if you want the much-coveted Sender Rep Achievement Badge, then getting a reader to add you to their Address Book will complete the set - which is why I advise making that part of your onboarding process. That's The Ball Game Drawing this together into one cohesive approach, the main thing you want to avoid is going unopened (and getting marked as Spam, obvs). And the primary goal is that engagement I'm always harping on about - generally reflected in opens, clicks, and replies. Getting unsubscribes is not ideal, but not the worst outcome; it's for better to have someone open your email and opt out of your newsletter because it wasn't quite for them, than to sit there unread before eventually getting deleted. The smart cookies will have already figured out what this means for things like list optimization, double opt-in, and how aggressively you build your list. But let's pause it there until next time and let them enjoy their moment in the sun. Dave P.S. Music this week is Jonathan Richman with That Summer Feeling. | 
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