Chapter 6

Boosting subscriber experience and engagement

Do you include any customer feedback functionality in your emails?

In a competitive marketing climate, standing out in the inbox requires marketers to move beyond traditional tactics and focus on creating valuable, targeted interactions.

Oftentimes, the best way to learn what subscribers want from your emails is to simply ask.

However, our data shows that the majority of email marketers fail to do so. A surprising 58 percent of respondents said they don’t currently include any feedback functionality in their emails. Only 21 percent actively seek feedback, while 12 percent plan to introduce feedback loops in the future.

While implementing feedback mechanisms can be time-consuming, it’s a critical step in helping marketers refine email content, improve subscriber satisfaction, and ultimately, drive conversions.

Air France has mastered the art of using customer feedback
to take their emails to new heights. See how they do it in
this on-demand episode of State of Email Live.

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First impressions matter

What type of onboarding program do you run for new email subscribers?

In an ideal world, marketers would wow their subscribers with the very first email they send—typically an onboarding email or series of emails.

Onboarding emails are valuable tools to encourage users to share data such as content preferences, product interests, and desired communication frequency. This data helps marketers create tailored, relevant experiences that boost long-term engagement and trust. In the aftermath of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection, onboarding emails have become especially critical for gathering consumer information without relying on third-party data.

Encouragingly, most email marketers seem to recognize the importance of a structured onboarding experience. Sixty-one percent of respondents report running a multi-message onboarding series for new subscribers. This phased approach allows brands to build rapport gradually, introduce key products or services, and gather valuable subscriber insights over time. Meanwhile, 30 percent rely on a single welcome email. While useful, this one-and-done approach may lead to missed opportunities to deepen engagement through multiple touchpoints.

The power of personalization

Do you have enough data to achieve the level of personalization you want to deliver?

This is particularly surprising given the gold rush to collect first-party and zero-party data that began in the immediate aftermath of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection—which obscured traditional go-to subscriber engagement signals.

Senders looking to power up their personalization can use these tried-and-true data collection methods:

Promote your preference center

Include a link to the preference center in every marketing email (preferably at the top of the email). Include fields encouraging consumers to manage their communication preferences and select topics that interest them.

Offer incentives

Offer discount coupons, loyalty points, and exclusive content in exchange for information such as date of birth, product interests, etc.

Quiz them

Consider adding a quick poll or survey to understand subscribers’ interests, needs, and preferences. Make these engaging by adding an incentive, like a small discount or entry into a prize draw. Surveys can be embedded directly into emails or linked on a separate landing page.

In 2024, email personalization is no longer optional—it’s crucial for cutting through inbox clutter and forging genuine connections with subscribers.

Our data shows that marketers feel appropriate urgency behind personalization: 45 percent report feeling limited by a lack of consumer data needed to personalize communications—and are actively working to collect more.

Sender spotlight

For a deep dive into more winning examples of email personalization, watch our on-demand webinar featuring Global Hotel Alliance.

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Black Friday ramp-up

Thinking specifically about email deliverability, what preparation do you do in the run-up to Black Friday?

For many senders, the holidays (starting with Black Friday) are the culmination of a year's worth of hard work—and the time to pull out all the stops to win subscriber engagement.

Given the importance of this period, it’s surprising that 28 percent of respondents reported taking no special measures to prepare. Remember: Hope alone isn’t a strategy. The actions listed—like monitoring sender reputation, re-validating email addresses, and running re-engagement campaigns—are best practices that should be part of a year-long strategy to safeguard deliverability.

Interestingly, only 11 percent of respondents offer a temporary “snooze” option for marketing emails.

This option has garnered attention in recent months as a respectful way to allow subscribers to opt out of communications for holidays they wish to avoid (like Valentine’s Day for someone who recently experienced a breakup). Oracle research showed that offering snooze options reduced opt-out rates by over 80 percent.

However, this functionality may soon reach a tipping point. Brands that send too many snooze emails may end up having the opposite of the intended effect—they might amplify the very event the target subscribers were trying to avoid. Instead of sending a snooze option email for every holiday, Validity recommends offering holiday emails as preference center options, which subscribers can set once and forget.