How can I accurately test and measure email deliverability and sender reputation?

Email marketer from SendPulse shares to track email open rates and click-through rates (CTR) to gauge engagement levels. Low open rates might indicate deliverability issues, while low CTR could point to content problems. Monitoring these metrics over time will help you see if your deliverability and content is getting better or worse.

Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that regularly cleaning your email list by removing unengaged subscribers reduces bounce rates and spam complaints. Focusing on engaged subscribers improves your sender reputation and overall deliverability.

Email marketer from Litmus shares to ensure your emails are properly authenticated using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These authentication protocols help verify that your emails are legitimate and reduce the chances of them being marked as spam. Correctly configured authentication also improves your sender reputation.

Email marketer from StackOverflow shares to regularly check your IP address against known email blacklists. If your IP is blacklisted, take immediate action to get it removed. Being on a blacklist can significantly impact your email deliverability.

Marketer from Email Geeks answers that shutdowns from ESP due to low engagement of seedlist, this might have more to do with the fact they are Glock seeds...although there is no way for us to know for sure

Email marketer from TalosIntelligence says sender reputation is a score assigned to an IP address and domain that sends email, determining the likelihood that its messages are seen as spam. A good sender reputation leads to higher deliverability and is influenced by authentication, spam complaints, and engagement metrics.

Email marketer from Reddit's r/emailmarketing explains that if you are using a new IP address, it's vital to warm it up gradually. Start by sending small volumes to your most engaged subscribers and slowly increase the volume over time to build a positive reputation with ISPs.

Email marketer from Mailtrap Blog shares that using seed lists involves sending test emails to a list of email addresses owned by the tester. The placement of these emails in inboxes (or spam folders) indicates deliverability performance. However, seed lists should be used cautiously, as they may not accurately reflect real-world results due to factors like engagement and spam filtering.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains if the seed is disabled due to low engagement that has nothing to do with the ESP, that has to do with the sender. ESPs also don't bounce email to seeds for the hell of it, it would be due to the actual address bouncing or the address is globally suppressed due to concerns about the provider of the seed.

Email marketer from GlockApps explains that using deliverability testing tools is the most efficient way to check where your emails land: inbox, spam, or missing. These tools send your email to real email addresses across different mailbox providers and give a comprehensive report on your email placement.

Email marketer from SparkPost explains feedback loops (FBLs) as a mechanism where ISPs forward complaints about spam to the sender. Monitoring and acting on FBL reports allows you to identify problematic sending practices and remove complainants from your list, improving your sender reputation and deliverability.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that probe-account based measures of deliverability are no longer accurate measures of actual deliverability. You can't measure deliverability with a small number of emails or recipients because it's a statistical thing and you're not providing a mailstream with a reputation.

Expert from Spamresource explains that sender reputation directly impacts deliverability, where ISPs assign reputation scores to senders based on factors like authentication, complaint rates, and sending volume. A positive reputation leads to better inbox placement, while a negative reputation results in emails being filtered to spam or blocked altogether.

Expert from Email Geeks shares links to documents containing thoughts on reputation (<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DsQTAcDt7u-UZd3vf7S_MWoiEtaxzmiScJgh75hMhEQ/edit#heading=h.lusqs66ahnq2>, <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1twW4H7nhn3gdiF5K6vObiWypUkPiVhCtC9xWN70GEkA/edit#heading=h.lusqs66ahnq2>, <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UL7URneTI1UlxDOFq4Zo5vSJHWBOiPUmnURcQsx_IDo/edit#heading=h.lusqs66ahnq2>, and <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f5SV0_nwT0Sz6WDz8K4vB84KlVRk8d_2h0NhxumwnaM/edit#heading=h.lusqs66ahnq2>).

Expert from Email Geeks shares that domains sending from low reputation IP addresses can damage their domain reputation, and vice versa.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that consistent monitoring of your sending IP and domain reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools, Microsoft SNDS, and third-party services is crucial for identifying deliverability issues. Monitoring allows for early detection of blacklistings, spam complaints, or authentication failures that may affect inbox placement.

Expert from Spamresource shares the importance of maintaining a clean email list to accurately measure deliverability. Regularly remove inactive subscribers, handle bounces promptly, and process unsubscribe requests to prevent low engagement from skewing deliverability metrics and negatively impacting sender reputation.

Expert from Email Geeks shares shuts down the entire account - that tells her that they thought the sender was doing something totally hinky and they tripped their alerts and automated "this is not a real customer" detectors. Given they're trying to test 'deliverability' that tells her that their sending patterns are, ultimately, not 'normal.' That also contributes to the problematic nature of their claimed results.

Expert from Email Geeks shares that there is no way to sequentially test things in an email space because the first test will change the reputation filters, so the second test will not be starting with the same baseline. The underlying assumption that domain reputation and IP reputation are independent and independently measurable is not a good model of reputation.

Expert from Email Geeks says she has had discussions with industry groups and ESPs about removing addresses that bounce from one customer from all lists and thinks that's universally seen as a bad idea. She's unsure what ESPs Robert is using, but says they're not adhering to general standards.

Documentation from Microsoft SNDS explains the Sender Network Data Services (SNDS) program which provides data about your sending IP addresses, including complaint rates and spam trap hits. Monitoring SNDS data can help identify and fix deliverability issues when sending to Microsoft email services like Outlook and Hotmail.

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools describes how to use their tools to monitor your sending reputation with Gmail users. They provide metrics like spam rate, feedback loop complaints, and authentication status that are helpful to keep your sender reputation high with Gmail users.

Documentation from RFC-Editor defines Sender Policy Framework (SPF) as a mechanism to prevent sender address forgery, where domain owners specify which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of their domain. Email receivers can verify that emails claiming to be from a specific domain are sent from an approved server, improving deliverability and trust.

Documentation from RFC-Editor defines DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) as a mechanism that allows a domain to associate a signature with an email message, permitting a recipient to verify the sender's authenticity. This helps ensure the message wasn't altered in transit and builds trust.