By Julia, Deliverability Expert

Life: through the perspective of an email.

If you have sent a mass email through a marketing platform, you’ve probably wondered why the standards for “good” recipient engagement are so low.

That’s because there is a lot more involved in the life cycle of an email than just receiving and opening emails.

To get a better idea of the entire journey of an email, let’s review the phases of life your email goes through after you hit send…

First, we have the matter of deliverability. Domains and IPs that are blocked by a server will not deliver to that server, no matter the circumstances (referred to as hard blocks). It’s important to note that there can also be many temporary issues with deliverability (known as soft fails), that can randomly affect any email.

From there, we will encounter difficulties with inbox placement. Not every email will land in a recipient’s inbox; some will find their way into spam & promotional mailboxes, which are rarely checked by recipients.

Lastly, & seemingly most important, is the overall recipient engagement. This is, by far, the most broad phase of life as it is affected by so many factors. Should your email make it to the recipient’s inbox, there are countless elements that will determine whether or not & how the user engages with your email. For instance, your user may love your subject line & hate your content; they may hate your subject line so they never open to see your content, they may never check their inbox & didn’t even see your email, & numerous other scenarios that lead to more or less engagement in an email.

The majority of emails sent will actually never be seen by anyone & that’s just how the game of email marketing goes. BUT, for this reason, you should be proud to see a 15% open rate with a 2.5% click rate – those numbers are actually a lot better than you think!

For more resources, Nucleus users can visit the resource library! 

or

June features update

Whether it is small or large, our team at Nucleus is working tirelessly to give you the perfect command center with every possible feature. This month, our team focused on features to enhance specific actions with your Nucleus account.

• Resend expired invite links

Managing users in your account shouldn't be an added hassle. That's why we've created an easy way to view pending users and resend expired invite links.

• Blank states

Seeing empty modules with no data can be concerning, so we have removed blank states from areas where you currently have no information. Now, you will be alerted and prompted with the next steps to take.

• Custom dashboard

Now you can customize your dashboard! Choose from predefined widgets to add profile breakdowns, email performance, event sign-ups, and more. Not only can you select your widgets, but you can also customize your layout. Easily view all the activity in your account at a glance!

Stay tuned for next month's exciting updates!

Email marketing can be really hard, we know! Sometimes, what we think is a carefully curated email with stunning visuals just isn't performing as well as we hoped, and you don't know why. That is where A/B email testing comes in to highlight aspects of emails, whether they be copy or subject lines, that your subscribers like to interact with more. So what is A/B testing, and how does it work? A/B testing, also referred to as split testing, is a method used to compare the performance of two different versions of something in order to determine which one is more effective. A/B testing can be used in marketing in many different ways, not just in emails but in web designs, print marketing, and more! So, we have incorporated this tool into Nucleus to take your email marketing to the next level!

Why use A/B testing: 

When using testing for an email, the purpose to to find the most successful email combination for a specific message or campaign. For example, if you are trying to test an email with the goal of getting subscribers to click a link to get an ice cream coupon. Our platform, allows you to then create 2 different variations of the email and then see what email gets more traffic.

Here are some tips & tricks:

- Test on emails that are not urgent or need to be delivered in a tight time frame (testing takes a little while to gather the performance of the test and pick the winning one to send out the rest of)

- Keep notes of what you are trying to test so you can track performance with the stats you receive back

- Try to test the campaign frequently to get the most accurate 

- Intentionally target out elements to test, such as subject line, sender, CTA, etc.

- Think of even testing different variations against different audiences.

Benefits of using:

• Open and Response Rates: Identify factors that contribute to higher open rates by testing different subject lines, preheader text, and send times.
• Content Engagement: Test various versions of your email content to determine which version receives more clicks and prompts readers to take action.
• Cost-Effective: Utilize A/B testing as an affordable method to make data-driven decisions and gain insights from your campaigns.
• Ease of Analysis: Analyze test results using straightforward metrics to easily identify the better option.
• Increased Sales: Implement optimized changes to boost sales, enhance user experiences, build brand trust, and foster customer loyalty.
• Enhance Deliverability: Ensure your emails are sent correctly from your application and are received by users.
• Spam Testing: Identify characteristics that might make an email appear untrustworthy.