How to identify the cause of declining email deliverability and improve it?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that improving email engagement through personalized content, relevant offers, and interactive elements can positively impact deliverability. Higher engagement signals to ISPs that recipients value the emails, leading to better inbox placement.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains that a low sender score will affect your email deliverability rates. Sender score is a reputation score, ranging from 0 to 100, which measures your sending practices and IP address reputation.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that the timeline for improving deliverability depends on the issue and how quickly changes can be made. Fixing authentication errors is faster than addressing bought lists.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that a sudden drop in email deliverability often indicates a change in sender reputation or a spike in spam complaints. Monitoring feedback loops and promptly addressing any issues identified is crucial to restore deliverability.
Email marketer from Sender Blog explains that maintaining a good sender reputation, avoiding spam trigger words, and optimizing email design for mobile devices are key factors in improving email deliverability rates. Regularly monitor your sender score and adjust your sending practices accordingly.
Email marketer from GMass Blog answers question about how to prevent emails from going to spam folder by mentioning that using a custom tracking domain can drastically improve deliverability when using a third-party email sending service. Also, properly configuring DKIM and SPF records, and keeping the content relevant and personalized can help prevent emails from being marked as spam.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog shares that declining deliverability can stem from poor list hygiene, low engagement, or authentication problems. Regular list cleaning, re-engaging inactive subscribers, and ensuring proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are crucial steps to improve inbox placement.
Email marketer from Litmus Blog shares that using seed lists to test inbox placement across different email clients and ISPs is an effective method for diagnosing deliverability problems. Analyzing these results provides insights into whether emails are landing in the inbox, spam folder, or being blocked altogether.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that declining deliverability measurement, list acquisition, and the distinction between spam complaint rates and spam folder placement are important considerations. Focus on acquisition channels and implement a tighter sunsetting policy.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow explains that for transactional emails, ensuring correct IP address warm-up, having dedicated IP addresses, and actively monitoring the IP reputation will ensure deliverability is improved.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains that to identify the root causes of deliverability issues, check the IP address on blocklists, ensure the sending domain's reputation hasn't been damaged, and examine recent email content for spam triggers.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains the importance of sender reputation and the factors that influence it. They highlight that consistent sending volume, low spam complaint rates, and proper email authentication contribute to a positive reputation, which is crucial for ensuring emails reach the inbox.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the timeline varies depending on the problem and whether the consultant's advice is followed, with potential outcomes ranging from 30 seconds to never.
Expert from Email Geeks shares insights into why an opt-in flow might lead to spam complaints. He mentions potential disconnects between acquisition and opt-in, mismatched messaging, delayed opt-in flows, missing unsubscribe options, security issues and ease of marking as spam versus unsubscribing.
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes the importance of explicit permission and clear opt-in processes. She also shares that declining deliverability can often be traced back to issues with how subscribers are acquired and the expectations set during the signup process. Ensuring a double opt-in process and transparent communication about the email content and frequency are critical for maintaining a healthy sender reputation.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC Editor explains that implementing SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is critical for email authentication. These standards help verify the sender's identity and prevent email spoofing, thus improving deliverability.
Documentation from Microsoft Support explains that Outlook.com users experiencing delivery issues should review their sender reputation using Microsoft's SNDS (Smart Network Data Services) and JMRP (Junk Mail Reporting Program). These tools help identify and resolve issues that affect deliverability to Outlook.com inboxes.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help explains that using Google Postmaster Tools is crucial for monitoring your domain's reputation and identifying deliverability issues. They provide data on spam rates, IP reputation, and authentication status, enabling senders to pinpoint problems and take corrective actions.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that key metrics such as bounce rates, complaint rates, and engagement rates (opens, clicks) provide valuable insights into deliverability performance. Monitoring these metrics helps identify issues and track the effectiveness of deliverability improvement efforts.