How to improve email deliverability to Microsoft and avoid spam filters?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that Pardot's deliverability team reached out to Microsoft on their behalf and got their IP delisted and they sent Microsoft details of their program.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that avoiding spam trigger words in email content, using a reputable email service provider (ESP), and testing emails before sending are all important when trying to improve deliverability.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that segmenting your email list based on user behavior and demographics ensures recipients receive relevant content, which increases engagement and reduces spam complaints.
Email marketer from Neil Patel explains that cleaning your email list regularly is important. Remove inactive subscribers and those who haven't engaged in a while to improve your sender reputation.
Email marketer from Gmass explains that focusing on improving email engagement (opens, clicks, replies) sends positive signals to Microsoft and other ISPs, improving deliverability.
Email marketer from Quora explains that personalizing email content can improve engagement and reduce the likelihood of recipients marking your messages as spam.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that maintaining a good sender reputation is key. Monitor your IP and domain reputation using tools like Sender Score and ensure your sending practices are clean.
Email marketer from Tech Blog shares that making it easy for users to unsubscribe from your emails prevents them from marking you as spam.
Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that warming up a new IP address gradually is important when starting to send emails. Start with small volumes and slowly increase it over time to establish a positive sending reputation with Microsoft.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum explains that keeping complaint rates low is critical. Encourage recipients to whitelist your address and make unsubscribing easy.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares that using Cloudflare can negatively impact deliverability because it hosts a lot of malicious content, and if one of their sites starts spamming Microsoft, it could hurt your deliverability.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that proper authentication is crucial, but it's not a magic bullet. It only proves you are who you say you are, and that content and engagement are critical for good deliverability.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that even if the content hasn't changed, how users are reacting to it might have. Content includes links and image hosting, so those should be checked as well.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that it's important to remove inactive addresses, stating that regularly scrubbing inactives from your list can improve deliverability to engaged recipients.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that monitoring your sender reputation is important, and to regularly check blocklists and use feedback loops to identify and address deliverability issues.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests tightening up engaged user targeting because Microsoft has become more aggressive on mailing to unengaged users.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft SNDS explains that SNDS (Smart Network Data Services) provides data about your sending IP addresses, including complaint rates and spam trap hits, which can help you identify deliverability issues with Microsoft.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication protocols correctly helps verify your identity and prevents spoofing, which improves email deliverability.
Documentation from Microsoft Postmaster explains that bulk senders should authenticate their email using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Also maintain low complaint rates, and provide easy unsubscribe options.
Documentation from Microsoft JMRP details the Junk Mail Reporting Program (JMRP), which allows senders to receive copies of messages that users mark as junk. This feedback can help identify and fix issues that lead to complaints.