How do I troubleshoot low email open rates, check DKIM configuration, and warm up a new subdomain in Salesforce Marketing Cloud?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from SparkPost shares that a good IP warming strategy involves starting with a small volume of emails to your most engaged users and gradually increasing the volume over time. Monitor your sender reputation and adjust the sending schedule as needed.
Email marketer from StackExchange forum says, you can use online tools like MXToolbox or DKIM Record Lookup to verify your DKIM record is correctly configured in your DNS settings. These tools will confirm if the record is valid and properly set up.
Email marketer from Gmass suggests that you need to start email warming at least four weeks before your campaign. Send 10 emails a day for the first week, 20 the second week, 30 the third, and 40 the fourth, and increase the amount of recipients each week.
Email marketer from Sendgrid suggests that you need to setup SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify your authenticity. Make sure your email is wanted, by starting with your most engaged segments.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests in r/emailmarketing, check your sender reputation, ensure your emails aren't landing in spam, and verify your email authentication settings (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). A/B test your subject lines to see what resonates with your audience.
Email marketer from Litmus shares tips to improve email open rates include optimizing subject lines, segmenting your audience, cleaning your email list regularly, and sending emails at the right time.
Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential for proper email authentication. These protocols help prove that your emails are legitimate and reduce the chances of them being marked as spam.
Email marketer from MarketingProfs explains that cleaning your email list, segmenting your audience, and personalizing your email content can significantly improve your email deliverability and open rates.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that DKIM is a crucial authentication method. Properly configuring DKIM helps improve email deliverability and avoid spam folders. You need to add the DKIM record provided by your ESP to your domain's DNS settings.
What the experts say9Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that when implementing DMARC, start with a policy of 'p=none' to monitor email flows without affecting deliverability. Analyze DMARC reports to identify authentication issues and gradually transition to stricter policies like 'p=quarantine' or 'p=reject' as confidence in authentication increases.
Expert from Email Geeks says if you change to the subdomain yes, if you only change the alias it should be fine.
Expert from Email Geeks shares to start by sending a test to aboutmy.email - it will give you a good overall view of your authentication/configuration and some general issues.
Expert from Email Geeks says you should send mail from a mailbox that can receive mail.
Expert from Spamresource explains that factors such as list quality, sender reputation, content relevance, and email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) significantly influence open rates. Addressing these areas can improve deliverability and engagement.
Expert from Email Geeks says bulk mail must be dkim authenticated at google and yahoo.
Expert from Email Geeks states one profile in SFMC is not configured to sign with dkim and it should be fixed.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests sticking with sender profile 2. And if you’ve got RMM enabled, SFMC can direct replies back wherever you want.
Expert from Word to the Wise recommends that to warm up a new IP address effectively start by sending small volumes to engaged subscribers. Gradually increase volume based on positive engagement and feedback from ISPs. Monitor bounce rates and spam complaints closely.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft Learn mentions to improve email deliverability, configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your email. This ensures your email isn't marked as spam by recipient servers.
Documentation from Salesforce Help states the process for warming up a new subdomain or IP address involves gradually increasing sending volume over several weeks to build a positive reputation with ISPs. Start with your most engaged subscribers and monitor deliverability metrics closely.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help details DKIM setup requires you to generate a DKIM key in your email service, then add the key's TXT record to your domain's DNS records. This helps authenticate your outgoing messages.
Documentation from Salesforce Help explains how to configure DKIM for your sending domain in Marketing Cloud, which involves generating a DKIM key, adding the DKIM record to your DNS, and configuring the key within Marketing Cloud Setup.
Documentation from Salesforce Help shares that to troubleshoot low email open rates, ensure you're following email deliverability best practices including authentication, list hygiene, and engagement strategies. Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides tools to manage these aspects.