What steps can be taken to resolve iCloud email blocking issues?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks confirms seeing recent iCloud blocking issues with new DTC clients in good standing, based on inbox placement tests.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares their experience dealing with iCloud's postmaster team, noting they were helpful in resolving a sending problem. They suggest reaching out to them and mentions the possibility of direct connections within the community.
Email marketer from Postmark suggests avoiding spam trigger words in your email content. Use clear and concise language, and avoid using excessive capitalization, exclamation points, or spammy phrases that can trigger spam filters used by iCloud.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests checking your sender reputation. If your IP address or domain is blacklisted, iCloud will likely block your emails. Use online tools to check your reputation and take steps to remove yourself from any blacklists.
Email marketer from Email on Acid suggests setting up feedback loops with ISPs like iCloud. Feedback loops allow you to receive reports about spam complaints from iCloud users, enabling you to identify and address any issues with your sending practices.
Email marketer from GlockApps recommends conducting inbox placement tests. Use tools like GlockApps to test your email deliverability across different email providers, including iCloud, and identify any potential issues that need to be addressed.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests checking for blacklistings of the IP or domain when emails are blocked/bounced, as iCloud might not explicitly indicate blacklisting.
Email marketer from SendGrid notes the importance of monitoring your bounce rates. High bounce rates can negatively impact your sender reputation and lead to blocking by iCloud. Implement a process for handling bounces and removing invalid email addresses from your list.
Email marketer from HubSpot suggests segmenting your email list based on engagement. Send targeted emails to active subscribers and re-engage inactive subscribers with special offers or incentives, which can improve your overall engagement rates and prevent deliverability issues with iCloud.
Email marketer from EmailGeek Forum advises monitoring your IP address's reputation. Use tools like SenderScore or Talos to check your IP reputation. A low score indicates potential problems that could lead to blocking by iCloud.
Email marketer from Mailjet recommends authenticating your emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Proper authentication helps prove that you are a legitimate sender and can improve your deliverability to iCloud and other email providers.
Email marketer from Litmus advises previewing your emails across different devices and email clients, including iCloud Mail. Ensure that your emails are rendering correctly and that there are no formatting issues that could negatively impact deliverability.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes the importance of focusing on subscriber engagement. He suggests that consistently engaging content leads to higher deliverability rates, whereas ignoring subscriber engagement can lead to deliverability issues, including potential blocking by ISPs like iCloud.
Expert from Word to the Wise, when talking about list bombing and using purchased lists, suggests that marketers ensure they only send to engaged customers, and to do this one should use double opt-in processes. By ensuring only engaged users are on the list it prevents being blocked by ISPs such as iCloud.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from the Internet Society emphasizes consistent list maintenance. Remove unengaged subscribers, and validate addresses at the point of signup using double opt-in, to ensure only valid recipients are added to the list.
Documentation from Microsoft Support recommends warming up your IP address gradually. If you're starting to send emails from a new IP address, gradually increase your sending volume to build a positive reputation with ISPs like iCloud. Avoid sending large volumes of emails all at once.
Documentation from SparkPost emphasizes the importance of maintaining a clean email list. Regularly remove inactive subscribers and those who have opted out to reduce bounce rates and improve your sender reputation, leading to better deliverability to iCloud.
Documentation from RFC Editor recommends configuring a reverse DNS (rDNS) record for your sending IP address. rDNS helps verify that your IP address is associated with your domain and can improve your sender reputation with ISPs like iCloud.
Documentation from Apple Support explains that if you can't send or receive email on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, check your Internet connection. Make sure you can access websites on your device. Check with your email service provider to find out if they're experiencing a service outage. If you can access websites, contact your email provider to make sure that your email settings are correct.