What deliverability monitoring platforms are recommended for startups?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Litmus highlights the use of data and email analytics to highlight any deliverability issues by tracking overall performance. The analytics can identify possible problems such as low engagement, spam complaints, and deliverability issues, which can ultimately save you money.
Email marketer from Reddit recommends Mailgun for its robust API and deliverability tools, stating it offers good control over email sending and provides detailed analytics on deliverability metrics.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that several tools are available, with Everest from Validity and Inbox Monster being on the higher end, and GlockApps, Kickbox, and SendForensics being mid-tier options. Mentions that these tools are indicators, and just because messages land in the inbox according to these tools does not mean that it will for all subscribers.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester shares that Sendinblue provides useful features such as email heatmaps, and A/B testing which is useful for startups looking to optimize their strategy. These tests help to target any deliverability problems.
Email marketer from TrustRadius says that Omnisend provides email marketing analytics that allows you to see metrics such as deliverability rates, open rates, etc. for email marketing efforts, SMS, and even push notifications.
Email marketer from Email Vendor Selection shares that Kickbox is a great tool to improve deliverability. It is extremely useful in verifying email lists to check if they are valid and safe for sending.
Email marketer from G2 mentions that Mailjet provides email tracking and deliverability features within its platform, making it a user-friendly option for startups that want to consolidate their email marketing efforts.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow suggests Sendinblue because it offers a built-in email health check feature, which helps startups diagnose and resolve common deliverability problems before launching campaigns.
Email marketer from Email Geeks recommends looking at open rates by domain using your own data. Any open rates that are much lower than the rest is typically a sign of potential spam folder placement, that's how to validate what you're seeing with any paid tools you're using.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests Postmark for transactional emails due to its focus on deliverability and speed, essential for startups relying on order confirmations and password resets.
Email marketer from Quora suggests that Validity Everest is a great platform to assist with your email marketing strategy by using its data analysis and reports to improve deliverability.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that platforms like Validity and Sparkpost are limited because they primarily track mail sent to addresses not associated with real humans and lack the per-user filtering found in actual subscriber inboxes. Complete visibility of email delivery is unattainable because the recipient owns the mailbox.
Expert from Email Geeks says that the services have similar underlying functionality, so the choice depends on preferred reporting and price sensitivity. Mentions that Kickbox and eDataSource have members in the community.
Expert from Email Geeks mentions that Kickbox offers a free tool called KBXSCORE that helps with technical deliverability checks.
Expert from Spam Resource highlights the importance of monitoring blocklists to identify potential deliverability issues, suggesting that startups should use tools that provide alerts for blocklist appearances.
Expert from Word to the Wise details that monitoring data collected from the recipient is a huge factor. Email marketers should review user engagement (opens, clicks, purchases) and segment accordingly.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that Postmaster Tools and SNDS only provide data for Gmail and Outlook/Hotmail/Microsoft's free domains, and don't offer insights into inbox placement across other domains. Other tools provide a wider picture of mail delivery at consumer mailboxes but it's a limited view.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Mailjet describes deliverability as a key element in any email marketing strategy, and highlights the importance of monitoring sender reputation metrics to help understand your customers and inbox providers. They provide tools in the platform to measure your sender reputation
Documentation from SparkPost provides advanced deliverability data and analytics. The reports are able to tell you your bounce rates, failed deliveries, delays in delivery, and spam complaints.
Documentation from SendGrid explains that SendGrid offers tools within its platform to monitor deliverability metrics, such as bounce rates, spam reports, and block lists, which helps startups identify and address deliverability issues proactively.
Documentation from GlockApps describes seed testing in their platform to help companies monitor deliverability for marketing emails. Seed testing is testing of your email campaigns to evaluate inbox placement with many different mailbox providers before live deployment.