What is digital adoption and how is it improving email deliverability in 2024?

Digital adoption means using new technologies, tools, and systems to make various processes more efficient and less time-consuming. There are tons of apps and software that do so many things that we don’t have to do manually. For example, Whatfix is a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) that helps organizations implement new CRM systems quickly and get accustomed to the new software with minimal disruption. For companies implementing internal tools like HR or accounting software, Userlane ensures users can navigate new platforms without formal training sessions.

These days, companies are not hesitating to adopt complex digital platforms, and DAPs step in to ensure that their workforce or customers can navigate them effectively. 

3 ways to improve email deliverability through digital adoption

While digital adoption has proven to make things easier, it has also significantly transformed email deliverability by improving the underlying security, trust, and reliability of email communication. You must foster digital literacy among employees and customers to make them more informed about the current and potential scenarios of email-based cyber threats. This will contribute to bringing down the current statistic of losing an average of $136 per phishing attack. 

Here are three ways to incorporate digital adoption to enhance email deliverability–

Responsive design

In a time when almost 1.7 billion people access emails using mobile phones, it’s not an intelligent move to turn a blind eye to the importance of responsive email content. You should create email content that automatically modifies configurations and structuring depending on the device from which a user accesses email. It should be able to withstand different screen sizes of desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets so that more people can interact with it. 

Digital adoption highlights the importance of responsive email design. Optimizing emails for different devices and screen sizes helps them avoid spam filters and reach recipients’ inboxes. This approach also improves user experience, making emails easier to engage with, which boosts click-through rates and overall deliverability.

List segmentation and customization

Using digital adoption tools, you can target specific recipients— the ones that actually interact with your emails or are more inclined towards a certain type of content. This way, you work in a specific direction that is more likely to give you results than just randomly sending anything to anyone.

Email authentication using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

Email authentication is simply the process of ensuring that a trusted person has sent an email on your behalf and that the email content was not changed in transit. There are three primary protocols for this process- SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance). Here’s why these protocols, when supported with broader digital adoption, contribute to better email deliverability.

Improved trust and authentication

With digital adoption comes digital literacy. SPF enhances email deliverability by assisting receiving servers in determining if an unauthorized email sent on your behalf should be marked as spam or rejected entirely. This way most of the legitimate emails land in the inboxes.

DKIM ensures that the integrity of the email content is intact. If an email is tampered with in transit, the DKIM signature will fail, marking it as potentially malicious. This improves the credibility of the sender, which is why email filters work in your favor. 

If you further strengthen email security with DMARC, you instruct recipients to reject or quarantine illegitimate emails sent on your behalf. Not just thus, but you receive reports on email activities which helps you monitor and improve your authentication infrastructure. 

Over time, this leads to higher deliverability rates for domains that use DMARC, as ISPs and mail providers trust their emails more. And digital adoption helps getting accustomed to this.

Reduction in spam and phishing

With digital adoption, the process of deploying and managing these protocols becomes quicker and more fine-tuned. Moreover, major email service providers like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook have integrated advanced filtering mechanisms that align very well with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. In fact, now these major email providers have mandated the adoption of email authentication protocols, especially for bulk senders. 

With these joint efforts, spam and phishing emails reduce. Since mailboxes become less cluttered, the visibility and likelihood of delivery for legitimate emails increase significantly. 

Increased transparency and reporting

Digital adoption empowers businesses with the ability to continuously monitor their email activity and authentication processes. Many digital platforms provide real-time reporting, dashboards, and analytics that show patterns of email use and any unusual behavior.

If you have mechanisms in place to continuously monitor DMARC reports and email authentication data, it becomes easier to spot issues like failed authentication attempts, domain spoofing, or spikes in email activity that suggest a potential cyberattack.

Digital adoption help refine protocols, adjust DMARC policies, an prevent IP and domain blacklisting. There are digital platforms that automatically adjust SPF, DKIM, and DMARC policies based on detected threats or failures. This rapid response ensures that email security remains strong and prevents unauthorized senders from further impacting email reputation.