Finding the database shortfalls

Cuisinart partnered with Acoustic and digital agency Whereoware to develop a plan to improve deliverability, and get their emails into more inboxes and in front of their customers. Whereoware approached improving Cuisinart’s deliverability in three steps: analyzing the present state, improving data and send health, and maintaining data and deliverability health using Acoustic.

Step 1: Analyzing the present state

Because deliverability problems are not caused by one issue alone, the first step was to take a holistic approach and assess the entirety of Cuisinart’s current email strategy. The team conducted an in-depth analysis of 12 months of emails, evaluating email content, database health, and domain reputation to get to the root of the problem.

Every element of their email sending practices was investigated to determine what could have triggered spam filters and abuse reports.

The analysis began by sending live tests of all email templates to 90+ applications, devices, and platforms for spam and deliverability testing. The email template code and renderings were analyzed to see how the emails appeared in the inbox. Whereoware then measured the performance of the tests, based on email marketing best practices and benchmarks.

After reviewing the email content and code, Whereoware took a deep dive into Cuisinart’s database. Since low deliverability is largely due to database health, and hard and soft bounces, the evaluation started there. Data maintenance and collection practices were also evaluated to determine if poorly maintained data was exacerbating Cuisinart’s deliverability issue.

Whereoware reviewed key performance metrics and conducted rigorous diagnostic testing to examine Cuisinart’s domain reputation through their current email service provider. Whereoware then facilitated Cuisinart’s migration to Acoustic Campaign, for a fresh start on a new, dedicated IP address.

Step 2: Improving data and send health

By taking advantage of the Acoustic toolkit, Whereoware’s team helped develop a new database structure for Cuisinart that would accommodate data from multiple systems and allow the team to keep tight control of email content and frequency preferences. Whereoware also initiated a data cleanse to identify spam traps, hard bounces, and inactive subscribers. This prevented bad or old data from being imported into Cuisinart’s new database.

Using Acoustic Campaign, Whereoware created an email preference center to help Cuisinart honor subscriber preferences and reduce their emails being marked as spam or abuse. Whereoware also implemented a double opt-in confirmation to ensure that only legitimate email addresses were mailed. This ultimately reduced the size of Cuisinart’s email database significantly, but was critical in improving their overall database health.

Step 3: Maintaining data and deliverability health

With continued services, Whereoware helps Cuisinart maintain the health of their newly cleansed data and nurture their growing email deliverability rate.

Cuisinart uses a master email template created by Whereoware in Acoustic Campaign. The master template features a flexible layout that ensures a consistent brand experience across devices. Whereoware also implemented user-friendly opt-in and unsubscribe forms, so the new templates meet all CANSPAM requirements and enable subscribers to easily update their email preferences or unsubscribe.

Cuisinart can now segment their subscribers into distinct audiences to offer greater personalization, encouraging higher engagement and boosting open rates. They take a data-driven approach to content strategy, using Google Analytics pageview data to match email content to consumer interests. Cuisinart can now get ongoing deliverability metrics, and continuously test and update the master template.

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