What are the challenges of working with cold email senders and deliverability?
Summary
What email marketers say8Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that one of the main challenges of cold email deliverability is building trust with mailbox providers. They suggest warming up your IP address gradually, authenticating your email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and consistently monitoring your sender reputation to ensure your emails reach the inbox.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that effective tracking and analysis of cold email campaigns can be challenging without the right tools and processes. They suggest monitoring key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates to identify areas for improvement and optimize your approach.
Email marketer from Woodpecker Blog explains the need to maintain a clean email list for effective cold outreach. They highlight the importance of verifying email addresses to reduce bounce rates and protecting your sender reputation. They recommend using email verification tools and regularly cleaning your list to remove inactive or invalid contacts.
Email marketer from Hunter.io explains the legal compliance is another challenge, particularly with regulations like GDPR and CCPA. They advise obtaining consent where necessary, providing clear unsubscribe options, and being transparent about data handling practices.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that the biggest challenge they faced with cold email was the sender reputation. Explains you must constantly monitor IP and domain reputation or risk being flagged as spam.
Email marketer from Quickmail explains that personalization in cold emailing is key, but scaling it effectively is a major challenge. They share the need to strike a balance between genuine personalization and efficient outreach. This includes researching prospects, tailoring messages to their specific needs, and using personalization tokens strategically.
Email marketer from GMass explains warming up a new IP address is critical. Gradually increase sending volume over time to establish a positive sender reputation.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that avoiding spam filters in cold email requires focusing on relevance, personalization, and providing value to the recipient. They recommend segmenting your audience, crafting highly targeted messages, and offering something useful, such as a free resource or exclusive discount.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that authentication is key to good deliverability. She recommends that if you are sending email, you need to authenticate it. If you are sending cold email, you REALLY need to authenticate it.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that one critical challenge is effective complaint handling. He notes that high complaint rates directly impact deliverability, and cold email senders need robust systems for managing and acting on complaints promptly to maintain a good sender reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks shares an experience at HubSpot Inbound where some attendees were excited about avoiding spam folders for their cold emails. Jeff highlights that confirming they're going to spam folders is the likely outcome in those cases.
Expert from Email Geeks shares their canned response when dealing with cold email senders. It includes stating that their expertise relies on recipients wanting the email and that they don't consult for cold email due to the frustration and unhappiness it brings clients. They also mention not recommending anyone for cold email consulting.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft explains that DKIM is a must for cold email because it adds a digital signature to your emails, letting email providers know your messages are legitimate. Without it, your emails are more likely to land in the spam folder.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains how DMARC policies help protect your domain from email spoofing and phishing attacks, which, as a result, directly relates to deliverability. By implementing DMARC, domain owners can instruct recipient mail servers on how to handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks, reducing the risk of malicious emails reaching recipients' inboxes. This helps build trust with mailbox providers and improves overall deliverability.
Documentation from RFC explains that SPF records are crucial for email authentication. It details the syntax and usage of SPF records, emphasizing their role in preventing email spoofing and improving deliverability. It outlines how to configure SPF records to authorize sending servers and prevent unauthorized use of your domain.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains Google's guidelines for bulk email senders, including requirements for authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), list management (easy unsubscribe), and spam complaint rates. It warns that non-compliance can lead to deliverability issues and email blocking.