How can I effectively use SparkPost's delivery index and other KPIs to measure and improve email marketing health and deliverability?

Summary

Effectively improving email marketing health and deliverability, with consideration to the SparkPost Delivery Index, requires a holistic, multi-faceted strategy. While the SparkPost Delivery Index serves as a benchmark, it shouldn't be the sole focus. The most meaningful measure of email health is tying performance back to revenue or ROI. Essential KPIs include open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, complaint rates, and unsubscribe rates. Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is critical, as is maintaining a clean email list with double opt-in. A/B test subject lines, segment your lists for personalization, and preview emails across devices. Monitor sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools and proactive deliverability testing with tools like GlockApps. Investigate significant drops in opens, segmenting by ISP. Prioritize sending relevant content, as engagement is crucial. Proactive monitoring of sender reputation across different ISPs and blocklists is vital. Correct DKIM setup is a necessity and DMARC policy is also key.

Key findings

  • Delivery Index: Use the SparkPost Delivery Index as a benchmark, not the sole focus.
  • Business Impact: Revenue or ROI is the best measure of email success.
  • Essential KPIs: Track opens, clicks, bounces, complaints, and unsubscribes.
  • Authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify sender identity.
  • List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists and use double opt-in.
  • A/B Testing: A/B test subject lines to optimize open rates.
  • Segmentation: Segment email lists for more targeted content.
  • Device Preview: Preview emails across different devices and clients.
  • Testing Tools: Use deliverability testing tools to check inbox placement.
  • Monitor Reputation: Actively monitor sender reputation.
  • Engagement: High engagement is crucial for deliverability.
  • Data investigation: Investigate all delivery issues by ISP.

Key considerations

  • Beyond the Index: Don't rely solely on the SparkPost Delivery Index; consider other factors.
  • ISP Variance: Deliverability can vary significantly across different ISPs.
  • Consistent Relevance: Ensure all content is relevant to maintain engagement.
  • Proactive Approach: Address issues immediately to prevent further damage.
  • DKIM Setup: Ensure DKIM keys are correctly set up for email provider verification.
  • DMARC Policy: Implement a DMARC policy to instruct receiving servers on how to handle unauthenticated emails.

What email marketers say
9Marketer opinions

To effectively leverage SparkPost's Delivery Index and other KPIs for improving email marketing health and deliverability, marketers should focus on a multi-faceted approach. This includes closely tracking key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, complaint rates, and unsubscribe rates to understand engagement and identify potential issues. Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is crucial, along with maintaining a clean email list by removing inactive subscribers and implementing double opt-in. A/B testing subject lines, segmenting the email list for personalized content, and previewing emails across devices ensures a positive user experience. Using deliverability testing tools helps proactively identify inbox placement issues, and personalizing email campaigns drives better engagement, ultimately enhancing sender reputation and deliverability.

Key opinions

  • Track KPIs: Monitor open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, complaint rates, and unsubscribe rates.
  • Authenticate Email: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify sender identity.
  • List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list by removing inactive or invalid addresses and use double opt-in for new subscribers.
  • A/B Test: Test different subject lines to optimize open rates.
  • Segmentation: Segment your email list for more targeted and relevant content.
  • Preview Emails: Preview emails across different devices and email clients to ensure proper rendering.
  • Testing Tools: Use deliverability testing tools to check inbox placement before sending.
  • Personalization: Personalize email campaigns to improve engagement.

Key considerations

  • Engagement Matters: Low engagement can negatively impact sender reputation; focus on sending relevant content.
  • Proactive Monitoring: Continuously monitor sender reputation and address issues promptly.
  • DKIM Setup: Ensure DKIM keys are set up correctly for email provider verification.
  • DMARC Policy: Implement a DMARC policy to instruct receiving servers on how to handle unauthenticated emails.
Marketer view

Email marketer from SuperOffice explains the need to personalize email marketing campaigns. The better you can personalize your email marketing, the more likely it is that users will engage, and your reputation with mail providers will improve.

July 2022 - SuperOffice
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus shares that A/B testing different subject lines is essential to improve open rates. Test various subject lines to determine which ones resonate best with your audience and drive higher engagement.

November 2021 - Litmus
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet shares that key KPIs to track include open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, complaint rates, and unsubscribe rates. Analyzing these metrics helps understand if emails are reaching the inbox and if recipients are engaging with the content.

July 2024 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from GlockApps explains that using deliverability testing tools to check inbox placement rates with various ISPs can highlight deliverability issues before a major campaign launch. This proactive approach helps you identify and fix problems early on.

December 2021 - GlockApps
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that previewing your emails across various devices and email clients is important to ensure consistent rendering and a positive user experience. This helps prevent deliverability issues caused by broken layouts or code.

December 2021 - Email on Acid
Marketer view

Email marketer from SendPulse explains that to improve email deliverability, it's crucial to authenticate your email (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintain a clean email list by removing invalid or inactive addresses, and avoid spam trigger words in your email content.

July 2022 - SendPulse
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot shares that segmenting your email list allows you to send more targeted and relevant content to specific groups of subscribers. This personalized approach increases engagement and improves overall email marketing performance.

October 2022 - HubSpot
Marketer view

Email marketer from StackOverflow details how to setup DKIM keys for a domain. Ensuring your DKIM keys are correctly setup will ensure that email providers can correctly verify the email is correctly sent from the specific domain.

July 2023 - StackOverflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit r/emailmarketing forum mentions that regularly cleaning your email list by removing inactive subscribers is crucial for maintaining a good sender reputation and improving deliverability. Use double opt-in to ensure quality subscriptions.

August 2021 - Reddit

What the experts say
6Expert opinions

Effectively using SparkPost's Delivery Index and other KPIs to enhance email marketing health and deliverability involves understanding the index's correlation with deliverability factors while recognizing its limitations for direct optimization. The most meaningful measure is tying email performance back to revenue or ROI. Key metrics include changes in opens and clicks, tracked over time. Significant drops in opens despite stable clicks warrant investigation by ISP. Proactive sender reputation monitoring across ISPs and blocklists is critical. Focus on engagement data, as low engagement negatively impacts sender reputation, requiring relevant content for engaged subscribers.

Key opinions

  • Delivery Index Correlation: SparkPost's Delivery Index correlates with deliverability but shouldn't be the sole optimization metric.
  • Business Value: Revenue or ROI is the ultimate measure of email health.
  • Open/Click Trends: Changes in opens and clicks over time are meaningful KPIs.
  • Drops in Opens: Significant drops in opens require investigation, starting with ISP segmentation.
  • Sender Reputation Monitoring: Proactive monitoring of sender reputation is crucial.
  • Engagement Importance: High engagement levels are crucial for deliverability.

Key considerations

  • Index Limitations: Don't rely solely on SparkPost's Delivery Index for optimization.
  • Data Segmentation: Segmenting data by ISP helps identify specific deliverability issues.
  • Content Relevance: Ensure content is relevant to maintain high engagement.
  • Proactive Approach: Address sender reputation issues promptly to prevent major problems.
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource explains that proactively monitoring your sender reputation across different ISPs and blocklists is critical. Address any issues promptly to prevent significant deliverability problems and maintain a healthy email program.

September 2022 - Spam Resource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks responds that a significant drop in opens while unique clicks remain the same indicates an issue that requires further investigation, starting with breaking down the data by recipient ISP.

June 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that engagement data, such as opens and clicks, is an important factor in deliverability. Low engagement can negatively impact your sender reputation. Focus on sending relevant content to engaged subscribers to improve overall deliverability.

August 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks shares that SparkPost's delivery index likely correlates positively with factors affecting deliverability, but the strength of this correlation is hard to determine and varies among ISPs. He suggests it's a useful tool for identifying areas for improvement, but optimizing solely based on this metric would be a mistake.

September 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks suggests that changes in opens and clicks, smoothed over multiple mailings, are likely meaningful KPIs for deliverability success.

March 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that the most meaningful measure of email health is revenue tracked back to email or RoI for your business. All other metrics are secondary, and you need to determine over time whether they correlate well to actual business value.

September 2021 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Effectively using SparkPost's Delivery Index and other KPIs to improve email marketing health and deliverability involves understanding the Delivery Index as a benchmark for current email program performance based on engagement and spam complaints. Monitoring sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools provides insights into your standing with major ISPs. Implementing email authentication methods like SPF and DMARC is critical to prevent spoofing and improve deliverability by verifying sender legitimacy.

Key findings

  • Delivery Index as Benchmark: SparkPost's Delivery Index measures current email program performance against past performance.
  • Engagement and Complaints: The Delivery Index is calculated based on engagement and spam complaint metrics.
  • Sender Reputation Monitoring: Google Postmaster Tools helps monitor sender reputation with Gmail users.
  • SPF Authentication: SPF prevents spammers from using your domain and improves deliverability.
  • DMARC Protection: DMARC defends against spoofing and phishing attacks by validating SPF and DKIM.

Key considerations

  • Regular Monitoring: Continuously monitor the Delivery Index and sender reputation for trends.
  • Authentication Implementation: Properly configure SPF and DMARC records for your domain.
  • Actionable Insights: Use insights from these tools to identify and address deliverability issues proactively.
  • Holistic Approach: Combine insights from different tools and KPIs for a comprehensive view of email health.
Technical article

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that builds on SPF and DKIM to provide a more robust defense against email spoofing and phishing attacks. Implementing DMARC helps protect your brand and improve deliverability by instructing receiving mail servers on how to handle emails that fail authentication checks.

May 2022 - DMARC.org
Technical article

Documentation from RFC explains that SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication method that helps prevent spammers from using your domain to send unauthorized emails. Implementing SPF records can significantly improve your email deliverability.

March 2024 - RFC
Technical article

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools highlights the importance of monitoring your sender reputation within their platform. This tool provides insights into your domain's reputation with Gmail users, helping you identify and address deliverability issues.

April 2021 - Google
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost explains that the Delivery Index is a benchmark that shows the current state of your email program compared to past performance. It is calculated based on engagement and spam complaint metrics. A higher score indicates better deliverability and sender reputation.

May 2021 - SparkPost