When it comes to achieving high rates of delivery, we need to all understand that Email Service Providers (ESPs) cannot be held solely responsible for delivery issues. The majority of delivery issues are caused by the ESP users and email marketers themselves, knowingly as well as unknowingly. Matt Blumberg, CEO & Chairman of ReturnPath, refers to Ken Magill when stating that it is a myth that deliverability is controlled by the ESP – it is controlled by the marketer. Ken Magill further comments that the client can impact on deliverability with the right “data collection, data hygiene, frequency and relevance. The main factors that affect deliverability are all within the list owner’s control”.

Delivery issues

We think that the majority of delivery issues come from bad list acquisition and bad list management.  Delivery issues such as “mailbox unknown”, “domain unknown” and “complaints” can be directly attributed to the users’ actions. Sometimes, a simple misspelling can lead to email being returned (domain or mailbox unknown); much more often, however, the mail is returned because the subscriber didn’t feel they had given their permission to be on the list.

Clean lists

Some email marketers become too greedy when acquiring lists and buy lists or scrape the net for any random email address that fits their marketing segment. This has created an army of elite spammers – users who buy lists are usually much more likely to get blocked and thrown off a sending server as they are not hard to spot.

Having a good opt in list saves time and money and improves delivery in the long run.  Also, remember that subscribers change their preferences from time to time – we recommend you send occasional emails asking subscribers to update their profile. This way, if someone is not interested in receiving your newsletter anymore, they will unsubscribe from it immediately.  It will also give you the opportunity to shift them to a more targeted list which will communicate directly to them thereby deepening your relationship with the subscriber.

Clean content

Remember the content of subject lines and the email itself are very important in reminding subscribers that they have given their permission.  Content should be clean and not contain any words that are regarded as spam. Do a spam check before sending your next email newsletter.  But also, send content that is in line with what your subscriber has asked for.

The quality of your list and the content of your email are the two largest components that ensure delivery of your email into your subscriber’s inbox.  So remember to review your practices to make sure you’re not your own worst enemy.

Are you not quite sure about all these email deliverability terms? We found this really good glossary by Mark Brownlow.

How do I link my GraphicMail email newsletters to my Facebook page?

So you’ve just written a great email newsletter and you want to share it with your Facebook friends.  Simply, add the link to your email newsletter to your Facebook profile.  You can find the link to the newsletter on the top of the Preview Pane in the Edit menu.  Adding this link to your profile will also add the link to the News Feed and Mini Feed of you friends on the Facebook  network.

Better yet!  If you’ve set-up a GraphicMail microsite archive that contains all your past email newsletters simply get that link from the microsite page and add it to your profile.

What's the point in having a great email newsletter and nobody to send it to? That's just like being all dressed up for a party and have nowhere to go. So why not take your email newsletter campaign to where the best parties are going down, on Facebook? All you need is your own Facebook Fan page and the GraphicMail subscription form code.

STEP 1 – Make sure your subscription from is properly customized.  

Once you’ve customized it and are happy then go to the Embed Form menu and copy the non-javascript code into NotePad or a TextEdit.

STEP 2 -  Adding the FBML application to your Facebook account
Facebook has it’s own code called FBML (Facebook Markup Language).  You’ll need to have the Facebook FBML application if you want to add widgets to your Fan Page.  To add it, simply search for Static FBML and then click on Add to my page. 

STEP 3 – Creating the Facebook Subscription page
When you have added the app, go to your Facebook page and click on Edit Page.  Find FBML in your list of applications and click on the pencil icon.  In Box Title give your tab its name like “Email signup” or “Email updates.”  In the FBML section simply copy and paste the HTML non-javascript code that you get from the Embed Form section of GraphicMail. 

STEP 4 – Adding the Subscription Tab to your Facebook Navigation
Under the Add a New Tab dropdown in the FBML application you will see the custom name you just gave to the subscription page you created in Step 2.

STEP 5 – Try it out.
Go to your Facebook Fan Page and do a test subscription to make sure it’s all working.

In the movie Il Postino by Michael Radford, the life of the fisherman Mario changes dramatically when the famous Chilean writer Pablo Neruda settles on his little Italian island. Neruda needs a postman to deliver the huge quantities of mail sent to him by his admirers and Mario takes the job since he hates fishing anyway.

GraphicMail might not be as poetical as Neruda, and Nicolo probably rather sits down to a good seafood dinner than chaving to catch the fish himself, but the two have entered a relationship that works; the setting is also not on an island but in Lanciano in the region of Abruzzo, just south of Rome. However, GraphicMail has definitely found a professional "postman" in Nicolo Capone, owner and manager of ADVMedia, a company specializing in web strategies, online marketing, web hosting and mobile applications.

The Italian connection is the latest addition to the GraphicMail family of franchises. GraphicMail’s business partners operate successfully in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain,  Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. It is said that GraphicMail is also rubbing shoulders with lovers of fine cheeses and baguettes, and will light the lanterns for the Chinese New Year... watch this space!