Is M3AAWG membership worth it for networking and insights on email deliverability and compliance, especially regarding cold emailing practices?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailjet's blog emphasizes the importance of cleaning email lists regularly. They recommend removing inactive subscribers, handling bounces and unsubscribes promptly, and segmenting lists based on engagement to improve deliverability and maintain a healthy sender reputation.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that email deliverability issues can arise from various factors, including poor list hygiene, low engagement rates, and sending to spam traps. They suggest regularly cleaning email lists, monitoring sender reputation, and implementing authentication protocols like SPF and DKIM to improve deliverability.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum discusses the importance of monitoring sender reputation. They emphasize that consistently tracking metrics like spam complaint rates and bounce rates helps identify deliverability issues early on, allowing senders to take corrective actions and protect their sender reputation.
Email marketer from Quora shares that industry groups offer networking opportunities, access to resources, and a platform for knowledge sharing. Membership can enhance credibility and provide insights into industry trends and best practices, aiding in professional development and business growth.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that testing email deliverability helps identify potential issues that could impact inbox placement. They advise using tools to simulate different spam filters and mailbox providers, analyzing results, and making adjustments to improve deliverability rates.
Email marketer from StackExchange explains that cold email deliverability depends on various factors, including sender reputation, email content, and recipient engagement. They recommend warming up new IP addresses, personalizing email messages, and segmenting audiences to improve deliverability and avoid spam filters.
Email marketer from GrowthHackers responds by saying that balancing growth with deliverability and compliance is essential for sustainable email marketing. They advise focusing on building strong relationships with subscribers, providing valuable content, and adhering to email regulations to maintain deliverability and foster trust.
Email marketer from G2 shares advice on how to be compliant when sending. They suggest that when it comes to cold email compliance that it's important to understand regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA, and implement appropriate data protection measures. Prioritize obtaining consent, provide clear opt-out options, and maintain accurate records of data processing activities.
What the experts say7Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that M3AAWG's value depends on what you want to do, how much work you're prepared to put in, and your budget. He suggests getting a guest pass to a meeting to see if it's a fit, while acknowledging current meetings are just Zoom calls.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that companies 'doing it right' with cold email might not even be recognized as marketing. Examples include personalized follow-ups after webinars or offering solutions related to topics raised in training sessions.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that M3AAWG's underlying ethos is 'permission first,' opposing sending mail without explicit consent. Cold emailing can be seen as 'taking known or assumed demographic data and correlating it to an email address assumed to be owned by the individual,' which violates M3AAWG values, and includes links to their official documentation on sending best practices and appending.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that M3AAWG is a working group where you get out what you put in. The main benefit is not direct access to MBPs for unblocking, but in developing relationships with other deliverability professionals for troubleshooting. She notes that certain business models, like cold emailing, may face challenges joining due to MAAWG's stance on permission-based sending.
Experts from Email Geeks state that cold email done right is personalized and 1:1, making it statistically unlikely to be widely observed, and often won't even be thought of as marketing.
Expert from Spam Resource suggests that M3AAWG membership can provide valuable networking opportunities with other industry professionals, access to resources and information related to deliverability and compliance, and insights into best practices for email marketing. However, the value of membership depends on the specific needs and goals of the individual or organization.
Expert from Word to the Wise details that deliverability mailing lists and working groups like M3AAWG provide a great way to learn what others in the industry are doing and seeing, provide tips and support. Also that if your business model is in contrast to the group, this can be problematic and can damage your reputation
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google's Postmaster Tools explains that sender reputation is a key factor in email deliverability. Google uses sender reputation to assess the trustworthiness of email sources, and senders with poor reputations are more likely to have their messages filtered to spam folders. Maintaining a positive sender reputation requires following best practices, such as authenticating emails and avoiding spam complaints.
Documentation from M3AAWG.org explains that M3AAWG (Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group) is an industry association focused on combating malware, spam, viruses, denial-of-service attacks, and other online abuse. It fosters collaboration between industry stakeholders to develop best practices and address emerging threats.
Documentation from M3AAWG.org outlines best practices for email senders, emphasizing the importance of obtaining explicit consent from recipients before sending marketing messages. It details guidelines for maintaining clean lists, handling unsubscribes, and preventing spam complaints to ensure responsible email marketing practices.
Documentation from RFC Editor details the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) standards for email delivery. It outlines the technical specifications for message formatting, relaying, and delivery, providing the foundation for email systems and ensuring interoperability between different email servers.
Documentation from DKIM.org details the DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) standard for email authentication. DKIM allows senders to digitally sign their email messages, providing recipients with a way to verify the authenticity of the sender and protect against email spoofing and phishing attacks.