Email marketing engagement measures how your subscribed contacts interact with your email campaigns, and every interaction (or non-interaction) and engagement (or non-engagement) matters. Mailbox providers used to mainly focus on the “bad” interactions from the subscribers such as spam complaints, bounces, and spam traps to gauge deliverability. With more data at their disposal, their evaluation system has shifted, and they are now considering a much wider range of metrics including “good” interactions such as email opens, email clicks, and additional data. So, what counts as a good (positive) interaction versus a bad (negative) interaction? Have a look at the lists below.

Good interaction

• Open  
• Reply  
• Not junk  
• Move to folder  
• Add to address book  
• Click 
• Forward  
• Long reading time  
• Label  
• Fast time to action (recipient’s action on an email within a given number of seconds following delivery to the inbox)  
• Move tabs (in Gmail)  
• Convert

Bad interaction

• Move to junk (abuse/spam complaints)  
• Delete without open  
• Don’t read 
• Don’t click  
• Don’t open

Acoustic Pro Tip: In the world of email engagement metrics, unsubscribes are considered neutral, meaning they won’t harm email deliverability. And, if you make it as easy to unsubscribe as it is to hit “report spam,” you’re likely to get a net positive impact to your sending reputation.

A high and positive email engagement rate means that your emails are more likely to be delivered to inboxes, while a low and negative email engagement rate can result in your messages being sent to spam folders or being blocked entirely.

Focusing on good and neutral interactions sounds like a great strategy, but don’t lose sight of the bad interactions that may be happening and take steps to make sure that these types of interactions and non-engagement are as low as possible.

6 tips for boosting positive interactions (and avoiding the negative ones):

1. Leverage personalization

Personalization is the most important thing that brands can do to increase email engagement and there are plenty of options to add personalization to your emails. When email content is personalized, brands see higher open rates, click rates, longer read time or faster actions, and conversions.

2. Use segmentation

Segmenting your audience enables you to target your subscribers with the right message at the right time. Subscribers will get excited by the content since it’s aligned to their interests or preferences. They will be more likely to convert or forward the email to their family and friends. When you segment your audience, you will stay away from including subscribers who don’t want to hear about some products or services your brand offers decreasing the risk of being flagged as spam.

3. Get creative with subject lines

Subject lines are one of the most significant determinants of the real opens so think about how to make yours stand out in a crowded inbox. If you are not sure which subject line to use or which one would work for your audience, use our AI-generated feature for subject line to tailor your subject line to your message type and sentiment or conduct A/B testing.

4. Leverage the power of automation

Email automation works, so use it to your advantage. You’ll spend less time on simple, generic copywriting tasks, and more time on the high-value, high-impact process of personalizing your marketing communications, maximizing your chances to generate positive engagement. With behavioral insights and customer signals, automated campaigns are highly targeted and so timely that they’re rarely ignored by subscribers.

5. Aim to drive a single action

The smart move is to focus on a single action that’s 100% relevant to the audience segment you’re targeting, then build the whole email –– including subject line, intro, body copy, imagery, and call to action (CTA) –– around driving that one purpose.

6. Include interactive elements to your creative design

Interactive elements such as videos or GIFs and games can complement your email design and keep readers engaged for longer. Not only do these elements entertain your audience, but they can also increase click-through-rates and drive conversions. Read more about gamification in emails in our latest blog here.

Clearly, it’s not enough to fire off an email marketing campaign and hope for the best. An effective email campaign requires strategizing about the best ways to increase positive engagement with your subscribers and avoid negative interactions or the absence of interaction.

At Acoustic, we work closely with brands to create email marketing campaigns that maximize good levels of engagement and interactions. Contact us to learn how we can help.