PassKit’s Welcome Email feature sends an automated email containing the customer's pass link when they enroll in your campaign.
To help ensure these emails reach your customers, this guide covers key steps you can take to minimize delivery issues.
Welcome Email customization is enabled for Production Accounts only.
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Terminology
Welcome Email
PassKit offers a customizable Welcome Email for all pass types, including memberships, coupons, and event tickets.
You can tailor the template to match your branding and messaging. Once a user is added to your campaign, the email is automatically sent with a link to their pass.
Email Deliverability
The ability of an email to reach the intended recipient's inbox, rather than being filtered as spam or blocked.
Email Validation
A process that checks whether an email address is correctly formatted, active, and capable of receiving messages. This helps reduce bounces and improves deliverability.
Double Opt-In
A process where users must confirm their email subscription through a verification email before being added to a mailing list. This helps prevent invalid sign-ups and ensures the accuracy of collected email addresses.
Real-Time Email Validation
A system that checks the validity of an email address as it is entered into a form, preventing typos and detecting disposable or inactive email addresses before they are added to a mailing list.
Bounce (Bounces)
A bounce occurs when an email cannot be delivered to the recipient's inbox. Hard bounces result from invalid or non-existent email addresses, while soft bounces are temporary issues, such as a full inbox or server downtime.
Spam Filters
Automated systems used by email providers to detect and block unwanted or suspicious emails. Factors like excessive links, misleading subject lines, and certain keywords can trigger spam filters.
Best Practices for Email Deliverability
Check and Maintain Your Email List
The success of your Welcome Email delivery depends on the validity and correctness of the recipient email addresses.
Incorrect or invalid email entries are highly problematic, resulting in immediate bounces and undelivered messages.
Common issues with email addresses include:
Typos in Email Domains: For example, “gamil.com” instead of “gmail.com.”
Disposable or Temporary Email Addresses: Users might use one-time or temporary addresses to avoid receiving ongoing communication.
Inactive or Invalid Email Addresses: Email accounts that are no longer in use or have been abandoned will also cause delivery failures.
Missing "@" or Incorrect Formatting: For example, "john.doe@com" instead of "john.doe@gmail.com"
To maintain consistent and dependable email communication, building a high-quality email list is therefore a priority.
How to Build a High-Quality Email List
A strong email list is built on trust, engagement, and quality over quantity. Instead of collecting emails in bulk, businesses should focus on ensuring they have real, active, and interested recipients. Here’s how to do it right:
Use Double Opt-In – Instead of automatically adding users, ask them to confirm their subscription through a verification email. This process helps verify the accuracy of the email address, reduces bounce rates, and ensures a more engaged audience.
Validate Emails at the Point of Entry – Implement real-time email validation on sign-up forms to catch typos and detect invalid addresses before they enter your database. This prevents errors that could negatively impact email deliverability.
Avoid Purchased or Scraped Lists – Buying email lists is a violation of best practices and can result in spam complaints, low engagement rates, and even email blacklisting. Always grow your list organically.
Monitor Engagement & Remove Inactive Subscribers – If a contact hasn’t opened or clicked an email in six months, send a re-engagement campaign to determine their interest. If they remain inactive, consider removing them to maintain a clean, high-performing list.
If your Welcome Emails aren't reaching customers, a common cause is email list quality. For PassKit's Welcome Email feature to function as intended, providing a good, clean email list is essential.
Use Email Validation Tools
Email validation tools help detect and filter out invalid or unreliable addresses in your email list.
Email validation services can check for:
Checking for formatting errors – Identifies missing "@" symbols, typos, and incorrectly structured addresses.
Detecting disposable emails – Flags temporary email addresses that might be abandoned after one-time use.
Validating domain authenticity – Confirms if the email domain exists and is capable of receiving messages.
Assessing email activity – Identifies whether an email address is active and in regular use.
Filtering out spam traps and blacklisted emails – Helps avoid sending to addresses that could harm your sender reputation.
If you plan to upload a large email list to PassKit, it's a very good idea to validate the list beforehand. This is a practical step that can really help to ensure your emails get delivered successfully
Make periodic email validation a part of your routine upkeep, especially if your PassKit campaigns are driving rapid list growth or if you haven't cleaned your list for a while.
Customizing Your Welcome Email
To improve the deliverability of your Welcome Email and ensure customers can access their digital passes, it's important to optimize the email content and structure. By making smart customizations, you can reduce the chances of your emails being flagged as spam.
1. Use a Recognizable Sender Name
The sender name is one of the first things recipients see when they receive an email. If the name is unfamiliar or appears generic, recipients may ignore the email or flag it as spam. Using a recognizable name builds trust and increases the likelihood of your email being opened.
To ensure your sender name is effective, prioritize using your business or program name. This helps recipients immediately recognize who the email is from. For example, you might use “PassKit Membership” or “[Your Company Name] Digital Pass”.
2. Write an Effective Subject Line
Email services often check for words and patterns associated with spam, so it's important to use a subject line that accurately represents the purpose of your email.
Best Practices for Subject Lines:
Keep it specific and informative – For example, "Your Digital Card is Ready to Save" directly tells the recipient what to expect.
Be Mindful of spam-triggering words – Phrases like "Free," "Limited Offer," or "Act Now" can increase the likelihood of being flagged.
Keep it short and to the point – Subject lines under 50 characters tend to perform best.
Avoid excessive punctuation and all caps – Too many symbols or capital letters can make the email look like spam.
A well-structured subject line improves deliverability and engagement, ensuring recipients understand the email’s purpose at a glance.
3. Focus the Email Content on the Action
The Welcome Email is meant to guide your customer toward downloading or saving their digital pass. Overloading the email with unnecessary information or promotional content can make it less effective and may trigger spam filters.
Tips:
Focus on one key action – The most important step should be clear, such as tapping the "Save to Phone" button.
Use direct, simple instructions – Avoid unnecessary details and keep the message brief and clear.
Minimize extra content – Additional promotional messaging can distract from the main goal and reduce effectiveness.
The purpose of the welcome email is to deliver the digital pass to your users so they can download their digital pass. For this reason, it’s best to keep the email focused and avoid overcomplicating the content.
Welcome Email Suspension
PassKit monitors email delivery performance to maintain a healthy ecosystem. If your account triggers our warning threshold for bounce or complaint rates, you'll receive an email notification. If the issue is not addressed and the rate continues to climb, your welcome emails will be temporarily suspended. Refer to this article for more information.
Conclusion
Ensuring the deliverability of your PassKit Welcome Emails is crucial for a successful pass program. By prioritizing email list hygiene through double opt-in, real-time validation, and regular maintenance, you can minimize bounces and maximize the number of customers who receive their passes.
Leveraging email validation tools, especially before uploading large lists, further safeguards against invalid addresses and improves your sender reputation. Furthermore, crafting a clear and concise Welcome Email with a recognizable sender name, an effective subject line, and a focus on the primary action—saving the pass—reduces the risk of emails being flagged as spam.
By implementing these best practices, you can optimize your Welcome Email deliverability, ensuring your customers receive their passes promptly and seamlessly, ultimately driving engagement and maximizing the value of your PassKit campaigns.