How can I assess deliverability health for prospective email marketing clients?

Summary

Assessing deliverability health for prospective email marketing clients is a multi-faceted process involving technical checks, analysis of sending practices, and evaluation of engagement metrics. Begin by understanding their list acquisition methods and business practices to identify potential red flags like purchasing lists or sending unsolicited emails. Verify email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to prevent spoofing and ensure message integrity. Utilize tools such as Google Postmaster Tools, GlockApps, MXToolbox, and Validity to monitor sender reputation, blacklist status, and email placement across different ISPs. Analyze engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints to understand how recipients are interacting with their emails. Proactive testing by simulating email delivery can identify potential issues before campaign deployment. Check DNSBLs to see if their IP address or domain has been associated with spam. Continuously monitor and adapt to the evolving deliverability landscape. Subscribing to their emails offers direct insights, though paid tools can provide deeper analytics. Trust your intuition when taking on a client and also ensure that non technical aspects of delivery are considered.

Key findings

  • Business Practices: Inquire about list acquisition methods and business practices; avoid clients with questionable practices.
  • Email Authentication: Verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration to prevent spoofing and ensure message integrity.
  • Deliverability Tools: Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools, GlockApps, and Validity to monitor sender reputation, blacklists, and placement.
  • Engagement Metrics: Analyze open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints to gauge recipient engagement.
  • Proactive Testing: Simulate email delivery across different ISPs to identify potential issues.
  • DNSBL Monitoring: Check DNSBLs to identify if the client's IP address or domain has been associated with spam.
  • Intuition: Trust your intuition when considering if to take on a client.

Key considerations

  • List Hygiene: Ensure the client maintains a clean, permission-based email list to avoid deliverability issues.
  • Budget for Tools: Factor in the cost of deliverability tools when assessing client's health.
  • Non-Technical Factors: Consider non-technical aspects such as poor list management, and unsolicited emails which can affect deliverability
  • Continuous Monitoring: Deliverability is an ongoing effort requiring continuous monitoring and adaptation to changes.
  • Client Cooperation: Client must be transparent and co-operative and willing to change processes to improve delivery.

What email marketers say
14Marketer opinions

Assessing a prospective email marketing client's deliverability health involves a multifaceted approach. Initially, it's crucial to evaluate their current email practices by asking about list acquisition methods, permission processes, and overall sending behavior. Key indicators include the presence of confirmed opt-in, avoidance of purchased lists, and adherence to anti-spam regulations. Technical aspects are paramount, requiring a thorough check of email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and sender reputation. Tools such as Sender Score, Google Postmaster Tools, MXToolbox, and GlockApps can aid in monitoring reputation, blacklist status, and email placement across different ISPs. Analyzing engagement metrics (open rates, click-through rates, spam complaints) provides insight into how recipients perceive and interact with their emails. Proactive testing, simulating email delivery to diverse mailboxes, allows for identifying potential deliverability issues before campaign deployment. Finally, understanding non-technical factors, such as list hygiene and content quality, is essential for maintaining optimal deliverability.

Key opinions

  • Email Practices: Inquire about list acquisition, permission processes, and sending behavior.
  • Authentication: Verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are properly configured.
  • Sender Reputation: Monitor sender reputation using tools like Sender Score and Google Postmaster Tools.
  • Blacklist Status: Check if the client's IP or domain is on any blacklists.
  • Engagement Metrics: Analyze open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints.
  • Proactive Testing: Simulate sending emails to different mailboxes to identify issues.

Key considerations

  • List Hygiene: Ensure the client maintains a clean and up-to-date email list.
  • Permission Practices: Verify the client uses confirmed opt-in and avoids purchasing lists.
  • Content Quality: Assess the quality and relevance of the client's email content.
  • Non-Technical Factors: Focus on non-technical aspects like poor list management and unsolicited emails.
  • Underlying causes: Ability to identify the underlying causes of issues.
  • Intuition: Trust your intution when considering if to take on a client.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit explains you should subscribe to their list, inspect headers, and check if they are on any blacklists before taking them on as a client. Looking for authentication is key.

March 2022 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that assessing deliverability involves checking sender reputation (using tools like Sender Score or Google Postmaster Tools), authenticating your email (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), monitoring bounce rates, and analyzing engagement metrics like open and click-through rates.

February 2025 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailToolTester suggests checking email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sender reputation, blacklist status, and content quality to assess deliverability. They advise reviewing spam filter results and analyzing engagement metrics.

January 2024 - EmailToolTester
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests identifying questionable prospects by asking about their processes, problems, why they seek a new vendor, list collection practices, signup links, and typical performance metrics.

December 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Validity shares that proactive testing is crucial, and you can simulate sending emails to various mailboxes across different providers, analyze the results, and identify any potential issues before a major campaign.

October 2021 - Validity
Marketer view

Email marketer from SendPulse explains that you can assess deliverability by checking your sender reputation, monitoring blacklist status, setting up feedback loops, and analyzing engagement metrics. They also recommend performing a deliverability test with different email clients.

April 2023 - SendPulse
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks agrees that qualifying prospective clients involves asking questions and reviewing websites, but emphasizes the importance of intuition in identifying potential issues.

September 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from SparkPost explains that a DMARC record tells receiving mail servers what to do with emails that fail SPF and DKIM checks. This can include rejecting the email, quarantining it, or delivering it as normal. Implementing DMARC helps protect your domain from email spoofing.

August 2021 - SparkPost
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that you can qualify clients by asking about their email practices, particularly how they acquire new clients and business. They suggest that this can reveal potential spammers and recommend billing for initial discovery work, including reviewing GPT data and credit checks.

August 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests using the Word to the Wise authentication tool to assess SPF health. They also recommend using MXToolbox for deliverability checks.

March 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from GlockApps shares that you can use tools like GlockApps to test email placement across different ISPs. They also suggest monitoring blacklists and analyzing feedback loops.

March 2024 - GlockApps
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum mentions that red flags include not using confirmed opt-in, purchasing email lists, or sending unsolicited emails to large lists.

April 2023 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests focusing on non-technical aspects affecting deliverability, such as poor list management, sending unsolicited emails, and cross-subscribing. They emphasize identifying these underlying causes and communicating a path to recovery.

December 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus shares that it's important to monitor open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints to get an idea of how recipients are engaging with their emails. High spam complaint rates indicate a deliverability issue.

February 2025 - Litmus

What the experts say
3Expert opinions

Assessing a prospective email marketing client's deliverability health involves several key steps. Subscribing to their emails offers direct insights into their sending practices. Additionally, tools like EDS, Inboxable, and Validity provide varying levels of deliverability analysis, although they come at a cost. A thorough review of their practices is crucial, encompassing list hygiene, permission protocols, content quality, and authentication setup. Ongoing monitoring and adaptation to the evolving deliverability landscape are vital. Checking DNSBLs (DNS-based Blackhole Lists) helps determine if their IP address or domain has been linked to spam activities, and using multiple lookup tools is recommended for a comprehensive view.

Key opinions

  • Direct Observation: Subscribing to the client's emails provides direct insights.
  • Deliverability Tools: Tools like EDS, Inboxable, and Validity offer detailed deliverability analysis.
  • Practice Review: Thoroughly review list hygiene, permissions, content, and authentication.
  • DNSBL Monitoring: Check DNSBLs to identify spam associations.

Key considerations

  • Budget: Consider the cost of deliverability analysis tools.
  • Ongoing Adaptation: Adapt to the changing deliverability landscape continuously.
  • Multiple DNSBLs: Use multiple DNSBL lookup tools for a comprehensive view.
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) explains that a thorough review of sending practices is essential, including list hygiene, permission practices, content quality, and authentication setup. She also emphasizes the importance of ongoing monitoring and adaptation to changing deliverability landscapes.

May 2023 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that subscribing to the client's emails can provide insights. They also mention that tools like EDS, Inboxable, and Validity offer varying degrees of insight into deliverability for a cost.

February 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource explains that checking DNSBLs (DNS-based Blackhole Lists) can help identify if the client's IP address or domain has been associated with spam activity. They advise using multiple DNSBL lookup tools to get a comprehensive view.

April 2022 - Spam Resource

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Assessing deliverability health involves leveraging Google Postmaster Tools to monitor sending reputation, spam rates, feedback loops, and authentication status specifically for Gmail users. Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial. SPF records specify authorized mail servers, preventing domain forging. DKIM provides a digital signature to authenticate senders and ensure message integrity. DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM by adding reporting and instructions for handling authentication failures, further protecting domains and improving deliverability.

Key findings

  • Google Postmaster Tools: Provides data on sending reputation, spam rate, and authentication status for Gmail.
  • SPF Records: Authorize mail servers to prevent domain forging.
  • DKIM Signatures: Authenticates senders and ensures message integrity.
  • DMARC Implementation: Adds reporting and instructions for handling authentication failures.

Key considerations

  • Gmail Focus: Google Postmaster Tools primarily applies to Gmail inboxes.
  • DNS Configuration: Properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in DNS settings.
  • Authentication Hierarchy: DMARC builds upon SPF and DKIM, so they must be properly configured first.
Technical article

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that the tool provides data about your sending reputation, spam rate, feedback loops, and authentication status for Gmail users. It highlights the importance of maintaining a good sender reputation to ensure deliverability to Gmail inboxes.

August 2021 - Google
Technical article

Documentation from DKIM.org explains that DKIM is a digital signature that authenticates the sender of an email. This prevents email spoofing and ensures the message hasn't been tampered with during transit.

September 2021 - DKIM.org
Technical article

Documentation from RFC explains that SPF is a DNS record that specifies which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. Setting up SPF records helps prevent spammers from forging your domain in the 'From' address.

June 2022 - RFC
Technical article

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC builds upon SPF and DKIM by adding reporting capabilities and instructions for handling emails that fail authentication. This helps protect your domain and improve email deliverability.

March 2021 - DMARC.org