How can you improve a bad domain reputation for email sending?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that improving a bad domain reputation involves consistent effort. Start by authenticating your emails (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), cleaning your email lists to remove inactive or invalid addresses, and sending engaging content that recipients want to receive. Monitor your sending reputation with tools like Google Postmaster Tools.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign recommends using a dedicated IP address if you're sending a large volume of emails. This allows you to build your own sending reputation independent of other senders.
Email marketer from GlockApps recommends focusing on email deliverability testing. Before sending campaigns, use a tool like GlockApps to identify potential deliverability issues and fix them. Monitor your inbox placement rate to see how many emails reach the inbox vs. spam folder.
Email marketer from Litmus recommends segmenting your email list based on engagement and sending targeted emails to each segment. They highlight the importance of sending to engaged users to improve domain reputation.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum user explains that, from their experience, ensure that all of your emails have an easy-to-find unsubscribe link. Respecting unsubscribe requests promptly helps reduce complaints and improve your reputation.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares an experience where a segmentation issue led to a bad domain reputation and low deliverability (30%). It took 5 months of segmentation, sending engaging content, and targeting only engaged users to recover. Recovering reputation won't be easy.
Email marketer from Constant Contact advises that you should regularly clean your contact list of inactive or unsubscribed emails. This will improve your sender score and domain reputation.
Email marketer from Moosend shares that you should use double opt-in for new subscriptions. This ensures that only valid email addresses are added to your list, which lowers the chances of spam complaints and helps maintain a good sending reputation.
Email marketer from HubSpot advises that to improve your domain reputation you should consistently monitor your bounce rate. High bounce rates can negatively impact your sender reputation, so it's crucial to identify and remove invalid or non-existent email addresses from your list.
Email marketer from Neil Patel shares that you should personalize your email content to increase engagement, thus, improve your domain reputation. Tailor the email's message to match each subscriber's individual preferences and behavior to increase open and click-through rates.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests that, to improve your domain reputation, you should warm up your IP address gradually by sending a small volume of emails initially and then slowly increasing it over time. This helps establish a positive sending history with ISPs.
Email marketer from Sender Score advises focusing on sending relevant content to an engaged audience. Segment your lists to target specific interests, personalize your messages, and A/B test different email elements to optimize for engagement. Remove disengaged subscribers regularly.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Spamresource shares that you should sign up for complaint feedback loops. This will notify you when a user marks your emails as spam, so you can remove them from your list and reduce future complaints, thus improving your domain reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that to fix a bad domain reputation, you need to stop doing the 'Bad Thing', and the first step is to identify what that 'Bad Thing' is.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains the importance of ongoing list maintenance. Regularly removing unengaged subscribers improves deliverability and demonstrates responsible sending practices, boosting domain reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that fixing domain reputation takes time but is completely possible if you can figure out why recipients don't want the mail and start sending mail that recipients do want. This may mean removing recipients, changing your cadence, or other changes to make recipients act differently towards your emails.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft explains that maintaining a good sender reputation involves authenticating your emails, avoiding spam traps, and following best practices for email marketing. Monitor your complaint rates in the Microsoft SNDS program.
Documentation from Google explains that several factors contribute to domain reputation, including sending spam, sending unwanted mail, and having a high complaint rate. Use the Postmaster tools to understand the IP and domain reputation.
Documentation from RFC-Editor explains that Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is an email authentication method designed to prevent spammers from sending messages with forged 'from' addresses at your domain. Ensure your SPF records are properly configured to improve your domain reputation.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that sender reputation is based on various factors, including complaint rates, spam trap hits, and email authentication. To improve it, ensure proper authentication, monitor bounce rates, and promptly remove unsubscribed recipients from your lists.