I often get this question from clients:

“We plan to start sending emails in Account Engagement (Pardot). How can we make sure that we do everything correctly?”

Here are three steps to getting started correctly sending emails in Account Engagement:

Clean your lists

When was the last time you emailed these prospects? If it’s been a while (more than six months), I recommend cleaning your lists. List cleaning means downloading the emails into a spreadsheet and importing them into online software that will tell you if the emails are valid.

I use Validity’s BriteVerify, but other sites work well too.

This is an important step. (Don’t skip it.)

Remove any emails that come back as “Invalid” from your email sending list.

Why? Because if you send it to a “dirty” list, you look like spam. Email servers will see that you have many invalid emails and, over time, may start sending your emails to the spam folder or blacklist you.

 

Start with small email sends

Great. Your list is ready. (Woo hoo!) Now, start small.

You don’t need a formal IP warming procedure using Account Engagement (Pardot) with a shared IP address. (Many other companies are already sending emails from that IP address.)

But you still want to make sure you ease into the email sending so that you can identify a problem before you whack out 110,000 emails in a single send.

Start with 50 people on the list.

Send the following email to 100-300 names.

Try 1,000 names next.

Once your emails return with good metrics, you can get braver with larger list sizes.

Look for a delivery rate of 90% or higher. You also want a healthy click rate (2-22%) and zero spam complaints.

 

Send to the most engaged (best prospects) first

Another approach is to send the first emails to the most engaged prospects.  

You want email servers to see that you have high-quality emails with excellent click metrics. So, send your first email to people that will likely engage. Maybe it’s an email to current customers. Or, it’s hot content you know a particular segment of readers wants.  

Starting with your most engaged prospects will set you off to a great start.

Good luck!