What are the deliverability considerations when moving to Amazon SES with a dedicated IP?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Litmus Blog shares the importance of segmenting email lists based on engagement and demographics. Sending targeted emails to specific groups of subscribers improves engagement rates and reduces the likelihood of spam complaints.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that consolidating mail flows might cause a temporary issue, but it shouldn't matter if neither platform has prior reputation problems. They advise ensuring technical and legislative aspects align, such as authentication and maintaining old unsubscribe links.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that the choice between SES via Sendy or directly depends on existing operational capabilities. Using SES directly requires a software backend and trained team. Amazon is strict about spam and bounce thresholds, so it's not the best time to learn while merging streams if you lack experience managing a sending platform from scratch.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum mentions that proactively monitoring your IP reputation is essential. Use tools to check if your IP address is on any blacklists and take steps to remove it if necessary. A blacklisted IP can severely impact deliverability.
Email marketer from GlockApps Blog shares about using seed lists to monitor deliverability across different ISPs. Seed lists allow you to track where your emails are landing (inbox, spam folder, or missing) and identify any deliverability issues early on.
Email marketer from SendGrid Blog shares that handling bounces and complaints effectively is important for maintaining a good sending reputation. Implement a feedback loop to automatically remove subscribers who mark your emails as spam. Regularly review bounce codes to identify and address any underlying issues.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that throttling your email sending rate is crucial when moving to a dedicated IP on SES. ISPs monitor new IPs closely, and sending too many emails too quickly can trigger spam filters. Gradually increase your sending volume to avoid deliverability issues.
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog shares that proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is essential for deliverability when using Amazon SES. These protocols verify that emails are sent from a legitimate source, reducing the likelihood of being marked as spam. Implement these before sending any significant volume of emails.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce Blog shares that regularly verifying email addresses to remove invalid or inactive accounts is critical. Sending to invalid addresses leads to bounces, which can damage your sending reputation. Use an email verification service to clean your list.
Email marketer from SparkPost Blog shares that maintaining a clean and engaged email list is vital for deliverability. Remove inactive subscribers and those who have not engaged with your emails in a long time. Sending to a disengaged list can lead to higher bounce rates and spam complaints, harming your reputation.
Email marketer from Email on Acid Blog shares that maintaining a consistent sending volume helps build a positive reputation with ISPs. Avoid sending large bursts of emails followed by periods of inactivity. A steady sending pattern demonstrates that you are a legitimate sender.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks shares that Microsoft actively dislikes Amazon and blocks IP ranges.
Expert from Spam Resource highlights the importance of having a clean IP reputation when moving to a dedicated IP with Amazon SES. She explains that inheriting a 'dirty' IP (one previously used for spamming) can significantly harm your deliverability from the start. Checking the IP's history and ensuring it's not blacklisted is crucial.
Expert from Email Geeks adds that the Amazon IP ranges start with a worse reputation.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that a proper IP warm-up process is critical when transitioning to a dedicated IP with Amazon SES. This involves gradually increasing sending volume over time to establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs. Ramping up too quickly can trigger spam filters and damage deliverability.
Expert from Spam Resource mentions that deliverability is affected by list acquisition practices. Buying email lists or using other non-permission based acquisition methods will cause significant deliverability issues with Amazon SES. Building a permissioned based list is important.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that when using SES, a near-perfect technical setup is crucial, including clear rDNS, good naming conventions, and perfectly aligned authentication.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from AWS Documentation explains the importance of monitoring your sending activity, including bounces, complaints, and delivery rates, via the Amazon SES console or CloudWatch. High bounce or complaint rates can negatively impact your sending reputation and deliverability. Take immediate action to address any issues.
Documentation from AWS Documentation explains that when using a dedicated IP address with Amazon SES, it's crucial to warm up the IP by gradually increasing the volume of emails sent. This helps establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs. Start with a small volume and gradually increase it over several weeks, monitoring deliverability metrics closely.
Documentation from AWS Documentation explains that the content of your emails should be relevant, engaging, and free of spam triggers. Avoid using excessive capitalization, exclamation points, or spammy keywords. Ensure your emails provide value to recipients and are properly formatted.
Documentation from AWS Documentation explains setting up feedback loops (FBLs) with ISPs to receive notifications when recipients mark your emails as spam. This allows you to quickly identify and remove problematic subscribers from your list.