How can I restore my domain reputation after sending outreach emails that landed in junk folders?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from SendGrid explains that gradually increasing your sending volume over time (IP warming) can help establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs. Start with small batches of highly engaged users and gradually increase the volume as your reputation improves.
Email marketer from Neil Patel explains that the first step in repairing a sender reputation is to identify and fix the problems that caused the reputation damage in the first place, such as spam complaints or high bounce rates. He recommends cleaning your email list, improving email content, and authenticating your email.
Email marketer from GMass recommends checking feedback loops (FBLs) to monitor spam complaints from users. If you receive a high number of spam complaints, take steps to address the issues that are causing them.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that you should check if your domain is blacklisted on any major DNSBLs (DNS Blacklists). If you find your domain on a blacklist, follow the delisting process for each list to request removal.
Email marketer from GlockApps shares creating a warm-up schedule is necessary, if you are using a new IP address. Don't start with blasting lots of emails. Focus on engaged users and slowly build the volume over time to show the mailbox providers you are not a spammer.
Email marketer from Woodpecker suggests to only send email to people that will find them useful. Before you send, ask yourself: is the email offering value? Is the user going to want to engage with what you're sending? If the answer to both of these is yes then your email reputation is likely to improve as you're not sending spam.
Email marketer from Litmus shares about using tools and services to monitor your email deliverability. This can help you identify any issues that are affecting your ability to reach the inbox, such as blacklisting, spam filtering, or authentication problems.
Email marketer from Mailchimp shares that increasing email engagement (opens, clicks) signals to ISPs that your emails are wanted. Focus on sending relevant, valuable content to your subscribers. Also recommends segmenting your audience and personalizing your messages to improve engagement rates.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains that the problem might be the nature of your outreach campaign. Sending unsolicited emails to a large number of recipients can trigger spam filters and damage your sender reputation. Instead, focus on building a list of subscribers who have opted in to receive your emails.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce shares the importance of removing invalid email addresses from your list. Cleaning your email list and removing invalid addresses will reduce bounce rates.
What the experts say9Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks notes that if mail goes to the junk folder, it's important to know more about how it's known, as junk foldering at consumer mailbox providers is often somewhat specific to the recipient, rather than a broader decision.
Expert from Email Geeks states that spam ending up in the spam folder suggests everything is working correctly.
Expert from Email Geeks asks if potential investors were on Outlook/Hotmail addresses and suggests that if not, it’s probably a coincidence.
Expert from Email Geeks advises to stop the current spam campaign, avoid starting another one, and gradually rebuild reputation by sending email people want to receive, starting with engaged users.
Expert from Email Geeks recommends checking rejection messages (starting with a 4 or 5) to understand why Microsoft dislikes the email and suggests contacting the ESP support team if the messages aren't available through the ESP interface.
Expert from Spamresource explains you should set up and monitor feedback loops from ISPs. By dealing with the complaints it will minimise the damage of the complaint.
Expert from Word to the Wise responds that proactive monitoring of sender reputation is key. Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS to track your reputation and identify potential issues before they impact deliverability. Also, pay attention to blocklist listings and feedback loops.
Expert from Spamresource explains that ensuring your list only contains valid emails is important. They respond by saying regularly clean your list by removing bounced, invalid, and unengaged email addresses to improve your sender reputation and deliverability rates.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that cleaning up sending practices is important. Assess the list, sending infrastructure, and content to identify and resolve the issues causing deliverability problems. This often involves removing unengaged subscribers, authenticating email, and improving content relevance.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help advises to authenticate your email using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. This helps receiving mail servers verify that the email is actually from your domain and not a spammer. They also note maintaining a low spam complaint rate is critical.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) records to provide instructions to receiving mail servers on how to handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM authentication. This can help prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks.
Documentation from Microsoft explains about using the Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) program to monitor your IP reputation and spam complaint rates. You can use this data to identify and address any issues that are affecting your deliverability to Outlook.com users.
Documentation from RFC explains how to configure SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records for your domain. This allows you to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain, preventing spammers from forging your email address.