How can I improve transactional email deliverability after a subscription bombing?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailgun recommends implementing a double opt-in process to confirm subscriptions, closely monitoring sender reputation metrics (like bounce rates and complaint rates), segmenting email lists to target engaged users, and warming up IP addresses to establish a positive sending history. Furthermore they say to authenticate email with SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
Email marketer from StackOverflow user EmailDev suggests implementing a suppression list to immediately remove all known problematic email addresses. They highlight segmenting email lists based on user engagement and sending to most engaged users first to rebuild sender reputation. They also mention that carefully monitor bounce rates and complaints, adjusting sending volume as needed.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests testing a new transactional domain while the current one is offline. They suggest splitting the traffic between the two domains to see which performs better.
Email marketer from EmailOnAcid suggests creating a dedicated IP address for transactional emails to isolate deliverability issues caused by subscription bombing. They recommend monitoring deliverability metrics using their platform and implementing A/B testing on email content to improve engagement and reduce spam complaints.
Email marketer from Email Geeks advises mentioning the subscription bombing incident in the detailed description when contacting Apple, and to include steps taken to prevent future occurrences.
Email marketer from Litmus recommends using their email testing tools to check for potential deliverability issues such as broken links or content that triggers spam filters. Then they suggest to authenticate emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC and to regularly audit your email list to remove inactive or invalid addresses.
Email marketer from GlockApps suggests using their email testing tools to monitor your sender reputation and deliverability across different ISPs. They advise segmenting your email lists based on engagement and gradually increasing sending volume to rebuild trust with mailbox providers. Finally they highlight the use of blocklist monitoring to ensure your sending IPs aren't listed.
Email marketer from Reddit user u/EmailExpert advises to immediately pause all email sends, then identify the source of the subscription bombing and implement measures to prevent recurrence (e.g., CAPTCHA, double opt-in). They recommend warming up your IP address gradually with highly engaged users and carefully monitoring bounce rates and spam complaints.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that after cleaning the list and fortifying the signup form, the only solution is time. They suggest opening a ticket with Apple by emailing icloudadmin@apple.com, providing company name, email domain, affected mail server IPs, SMTP errors, and a detailed description of the issue.
Email marketer from SendGrid stresses the importance of immediately identifying and suppressing the affected email addresses to prevent further sending. Then they suggest setting up feedback loops with ISPs to manage complaints, auditing your subscription process, reviewing authentication and implementing rate limiting to avoid large spikes in sending volume.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource suggests immediately throttling sending to avoid triggering rate limits and further damaging sender reputation. It then highlights the importance of identifying affected subscribers, suppressing them immediately, and then to investigate the source of the attack.
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, advises that immediately stopping the flood of emails is key. She also states that it's important to engage with abuse desks at major mailbox providers and provide them with the details of the incident to start reputation recovery. In addition, she highlights the importance of reviewing your signup processes and hardening them against abuse.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft suggests using the Junk Email Reporting Program (JMRP) to identify users marking your emails as junk. Microsoft suggests removing these users from your sending lists and ensuring proper list hygiene. Furthermore they suggest joining their Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) program to monitor your IP reputation and identify potential issues affecting deliverability to Outlook.com users.
Documentation from RFC explains the importance of implementing proper email authentication standards (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) as described in RFC specifications. RFC Documentation indicates these protocols allow receiving mail servers to verify the authenticity of the sender and combat spoofing, which can significantly improve email deliverability and trust with ISPs.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that monitoring your domain and IP reputation within their tool is crucial for identifying deliverability issues. Google recommends adhering to their sender guidelines, ensuring a low spam complaint rate (below 0.10%), and properly authenticating your emails to improve placement in Gmail inboxes.