Email Strategy for Government: Tips for Success

Understanding how email deliverability works, and what actions you can take to improve your email reach, is critical for communications professionals. With nearly 350 billion messages sent every day, email is a top communication channel for companies, lawmakers, and individuals alike. The system that makes the magic happen has evolved over the years both in what sort of content you can send but also how email providers determine what to do with the messages they receive.

How Does Email Deliverability Work?

“Email Deliverability” is the measurement of how much email winds up in the inbox versus how much goes to the spambox. Mailbox providers, such as Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, and dozens of others have the goal of getting email that is wanted to the inbox while protecting users from spam and threats. However, each mailbox provider approaches this problem differently, as there is no one set of deliverability rules that is standard across providers. Instead, mailbox providers are unique kingdoms making their decisions through the internal processes they have developed over the years.

There are 100s of factors that go into determining what to do with the bulk email that is received by mailbox providers, a branching decision tree that makes a decision in seconds. The process of making that decision has evolved in the decades since spam filtering began and even now, rules can change daily based on what is sent and how individuals react to it.

Currently “reputation” is the main factor in how inbox placement is determined at the major mailbox providers. Think of reputation like a credit rating. The more positive actions taken, the rating goes up while the more negative actions that occur, that rating goes down. In the end, the success of an email program is in the hands of those you send your email to.

What are the types of reactions that impact your reputation?

Positive Impact

• Opens
• Clicks
• Forwards
• Reply
• Reading

Negative Impact

• Complaint
• Deleted without reading
• Quick deletion
• Inactive account
• Closed account

All of the positive and negative interactions by recipients of your email are measured by mailbox providers, and these behaviors drive where the email ultimately is delivered. If your email gets too many complaints, it will go to spam. If your message has lots of opens and replies, this demonstrates that individuals want the email, resulting in it being more likely to wind up in the inbox. Simply put, sending email to individuals who want to receive it, on topics they want to read about, is a key to a successful email program.

Email Deliverability Challenges for Government

Email programs from elected officials are in a difficult position when it comes to these rules. There are times, you might need to email individuals who have not signed up to your email list about an emergency as an example. Or they’re part of a constituency that needs vital information. Email providers unfortunately don’t make a distinction between that email and all the other offers and messages businesses send. As is, the golden rule of email applies to everyone who sends: Send email to individuals who want it with content they’d want.

How can you boost your email program?

Government use of email communication is vast, and is used for constituent services, as well as for getting the word out about initiatives for the public good, driving enrollment into government programs, or ensuring communities have access to their government. Mailbox providers apply their guardrails around email deliverability specifically to bulk emails - this means 1:1 messages government offices are conducting are not subject to the same rules. However, when you’re considering newsletters, and special targeted messages, keep the below tips in mind for optimal success.

1. Focus on your opted-in newsletter - individuals who proactively opt in have agreed that they want your email - By sending to them regularly, you’re sending a positive signal to email providers that your email is wanted. This will help boost your domain metrics over time. Indigov’s data shows that these individuals are the most active out of all of the groups, opening messages the vast majority of time. We see open rates for newsletters over 50% and often well into 60% and 70%.
2. Segment your audience with targeted messages - Rather than using generic text to reach out to the masses, try a more personalized approach to reaching out to constituents on topics that affect them. Using a tool like Indigov, you can build audiences based on interests, demographics, or previous interactions, to increase the likelihood of your message being received and opened.
3. Content is Key: Your email subject line is most likely to drive email opening - you should ensure it’s concise, and encourages individuals to open the message. Additionally, the email itself should contain information that is easy to read, and convey useful or relevant information. As we mentioned earlier, the best way to ensure your email lands up in a stakeholders inbox is by showing that your emails benefit the individuals, as demonstrated by email opens, clicks, forwards, and replies.
4. Practice caution when engaging with non-opted in stakeholders: There are many reasons a government office may need to reach out to its constituents - however, when reaching out to stakeholders who have not formally signed up for your content, you should be aware of the challenges. This group is the most difficult to email as they are not expecting email, may be not interested in any email from their elected officials, and/or they disagree with those who are sending the email. Non-opted in stakeholders have high complaint rates and low engagement, with open rates often less than 5%. When crafting your email strategy, offices should first prioritize communication with their opted-in group, and secondarily ensure they have sufficiently targeted the message to the correct stakeholders, prior to sending to non-opted in stakeholders.
5. Encourage Engagment: At Indigov, we think of every communication with a non-opted in stakeholder as an opportunity - by using surveys, and reaching out with messages that truly matter, you can drive open rates and convert them to subscribers. Always be sure to include a subscription link to enroll in your newsletter, as well as an unsubscribe link to ensure stakeholders can take action.

Managing a successful email program is hard, and perhaps even more so in the government space, where you represent individuals who are not aware of the services you provide. But, with a little work, and a focus on delivering messages that matter, your office can maximize their reach and best serve your constituents.

Interested in learning how a software like Indigov can help your office drive effective outbound engagement campaigns? Reach out to our team.