How to Ensure Emails Land in Customers’ Inboxes (Not Promotions or Spam)

Email is one of the best ways for Farmers to generate a high return for minimal effort, where it’s an essential tool for improving buyer loyalty and customer retention. When Farms have a high-quality email list and engage subscribers consistently, they see more frequent purchases and enjoy higher average order sizes. However, for emails to be effective, they must reach the inbox.  

Up to 20% of emails never see an inbox. Why? Because email providers (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) take different factors into consideration when emails are delivered. That means if you have 1,000 contacts on your buyer list, up to 200 of them regularly do not see your emails. Think of how many potential orders, shares, or interactions you could’ve had with those 200 potential customers to engage with your Farm.

So, how do you get more emails to land in inboxes rather than promotions or spam folders? Here are three tips:

1. Build a High-Quality Email List

One of the best ways to ensure your emails land in your customers’ inboxes is to organically build a high-quality contact list. People are more likely to open and engage with your emails when they opt-in to receive your newsletter through an email capture form on your website.

Email sign-up forms and voluntary opt-ins reduce spam complaints and unsubscribes. So, how do you build your email list? Here are three ways:

When building your email list, try and get to 500 quality emails as quickly as possible. Once you reach 500 emails, then aim for 1000. Email will generate $1000s+ in orders guaranteed. When you have that many people on your list, you can't lose when you send an email. It’s guaranteed sales.

- Farmer Tom, Bennett Farms (MI)

• Collect Emails from Existing Customers: Your existing customers are loyal and 3x more likely to purchase than potential customers. If you have a Farm web Store, it’s easy to create a list with existing customers’ details. If you don’t sell through an online store, create a spreadsheet and fill in customers’ details after they place their next order.

• Use Promotional Incentives: 52% of online shoppers’ buying decisions are significantly influenced by the availability of promotions and discounts. Offer 5-10% off first purchases when customers sign up for your newsletter. This is a proven way to drive more sign-ups and first-time orders to your Farm.

• Collect Emails Online & Offline: Americans love to support small businesses, especially Farms! Keep a manual email collection form with you at the farmer’s markets, schools, local events, and churches! Some Farms choose to offer employee incentives for every verified email collected at farmer’s markets (e.g., $1 per email), knowing that those emails can turn into $100’s worth of orders.

Read: 5 Promos to Drive FOMO (Fear-Of-Missing-Out)
Watch: Why Farmers Need a Simple Email Marketing Strategy to Grow Your Business

2. Send Emails Tailored to Different Audiences

Sending emails that are tailored to different audiences is another tactic that will help you land in the inbox. When customers receive email messages that include their first name in the subject line, they’re more likely to open and engage with your email. Not only are you sending emails with the right information to the right people, but you’re also strengthening your customers’ experience. Increased engagement improves the performance of future emails and the odds of customers’ seeing your Farm name in their inbox.

When we need to generate more sales, we send out an email. It's just like going to an ATM.

- Pastured Proteins Farm

A great way to send emails that are automatically tailored to individuals is to use an email marketing tool. We recommend Mailchimp! With the Barn2Door + Mailchimp integration, it’s easy to arrange different groups and send targeted, personalized information to each contact on your list. You can even create customer groups based on their relationship with your Farm: new subscribers, loyal customers, and customers who haven't purchased from you in the past 90 days. For example, welcome new subscribers with a first purchase promo, drive additional add-on purchases from loyal customers with Smart Product Recommendations, and re-engage absent customers with discounts or reminders to order from your Farm. Email segmentation has the power to increase your open rates by 203%!

Read: How $11 Can Increase a Farmer's Average Order Size by up to 30%
Watch: 5 Steps to Write a Winning Email
Listen: Save Time and Boost Sales with Practical Email Marketing Tactics

3. Find the Right Email Cadence 

A regular cadence of communication is key! Regular marketing to regular customers leads to regular sales. When Farms use regular emails to communicate with customers, they generate more sales and stay top of mind longer – spurring more frequent purchases overall. However, sending too many emails can be annoying and often get emails thrown into Promotions or Spam folders. So, how many emails should you be sending in a month? Here’s what we know works:

• Farms that send welcome emails generate 4x as many opens and 10x as many clicks.

• Weekly Order Reminders prompt regular purchases (Barn2Door can automate these!).

• Newsletters sent 1-2x per month (including more detailed content) create trust and drive Farm brand awareness.

• Audience segmented emails sent 1-2x per week (especially to new or loyal buyers) will drive more regular and repeat orders.

Consistent engagement keeps your Farm top of mind. When you don’t engage your contact list consistently, you’ll lose your “rank” among email servers, sending your emails to Promotions or Spam folders. Sending frequent emails also helps your Farm maintain a high-quality list, removing unengaged contacts automatically.

Read: 6 Tactics to Grow your Farm’s Mail List (and Increase Sales)
Watch: 5 Tactics to Save Time & Drive Farm Conversions with Email Marketing

We know Farms that follow the above tactics enjoy a +30% increase in average monthly orders. That’s why the most successful Farms use email to regularly reach their customers to drive consistent sales. When your emails regularly appear in your customers’ inboxes, your Farm will stay top of mind, build brand awareness, and create loyalty. With your Farm name frequently appearing in inboxes, customers will think of your Farm business first when they’re ready to purchase.

Barn2Door provides an all-in-one solution to grow and manage your Farm business. If you’re curious to learn why successful Farms run on Barn2Door, watch this 5-minute video.