How do I troubleshoot email deliverability issues with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Sendinblue advises monitoring your IP address reputation as Microsoft Exchange Online Protection often filters emails based on the sender's IP reputation. They suggest using tools to check if your IP is blacklisted.
Email marketer from Litmus suggests setting up and enforcing a DMARC policy to instruct receiving mail servers (including Microsoft Exchange Online Protection) on how to handle emails that fail authentication checks. This can help prevent domain spoofing and improve deliverability.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow says to ensure that URLs within the email body do not point to domains with poor reputation scores, as these can be flagged by Microsoft Exchange Online Protection.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor recommends setting up feedback loops with major email providers, including Microsoft, to receive notifications when recipients mark your emails as spam. This helps you identify and address potential issues.
Email marketer from Mailjet recommends authenticating your email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to improve deliverability with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection. These authentication methods help prove that you are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain.
Email marketer from Quora advises regular list cleaning to remove inactive or unengaged recipients. Sending to a clean and engaged list improves sender reputation, which can positively impact deliverability in Exchange Online Protection.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that content is key, and to avoid using spam trigger words that are common in spam emails, and check your content with a spam filter before sending it to help identify the cause of deliverability issues with Exchange Online Protection.
Email marketer from GlockApps suggests using a spam testing tool to preview how Microsoft Exchange Online Protection and other filters will treat your emails before you send them. This can help identify content or configuration issues that lead to spam classification.
Email marketer from Email on Acid advises personalizing and customizing email content to avoid generic messages that might be flagged as spam by Exchange Online Protection. Tailoring content to the recipient can improve engagement and deliverability.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares a link to an article describing the methodology for content testing to identify deliverability issues: <https://expert-connect.emarsys.com/hc/en-us/articles/18277588924562-How-to-Test-whether-your-content-is-causing-deliverability-issues>
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks suggests starting with checking the URLs in the messages to see if they are linking to or mentioning a domain with a poor reputation. Otherwise, they recommend swapping out text to identify what might be causing the issue.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that understanding the specific feedback provided by spam filters within Microsoft Exchange Online Protection is crucial. Reviewing detailed reports can identify particular phrases, links, or code snippets that trigger spam filters.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests ensuring https links, reasonable message and image sizes, malware-free landing pages, and proper authentication. They also mention that Outlook and Office 365 use different filters.
Expert from Spam Resource emphasizes the importance of actively managing sender reputation. This includes monitoring blacklists, ensuring proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and maintaining consistent sending volumes to build trust with Microsoft Exchange Online Protection.
Expert from Word to the Wise recommends optimising email content by avoiding common spam triggers. This includes reducing the use of excessive capitalization, exclamation points, and spammy keywords that may be flagged by Microsoft Exchange Online Protection's content filters.
Expert from Word to the Wise advises segmenting your email list and focusing on sending to highly engaged recipients. Microsoft Exchange Online Protection considers engagement metrics when determining deliverability, so sending to an active audience can improve inbox placement.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that you can configure SCL (Spam Confidence Level) thresholds in Exchange Online Protection to define what happens to messages based on their spam score. These settings can be adjusted to manage how aggressively messages are filtered.
Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains the importance of setting up DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) correctly. This is important to ensure that outbound email isn't marked as spam. The documentation details the exact steps for configuring DKIM.
Documentation from Microsoft Learn details how to analyze anti-spam message headers, particularly the X-MS-Exchange-Organization-SCL value, to understand why a message was marked as spam. Analyzing these headers can provide insights into the specific filters triggered.
Documentation from Cisco explains to monitor your sender reputation on SenderBase, which is used by many email filters including those in Microsoft Exchange. A poor sender reputation can lead to deliverability problems.
Documentation from RFC explains to verify that your SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is correctly configured to authorize your email sending servers. An incorrect SPF record can cause Exchange Online Protection to flag your emails as potentially fraudulent.