What steps can be taken to resolve widespread email blocking and spam issues for B2B opt-in emails?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email on Acid highlights testing email content for spam triggers, optimizing email design for various email clients, and ensuring emails are mobile-friendly to improve engagement and deliverability.
Email marketer from Reddit recommends gradually increasing sending volume (IP warming) when starting with a new IP address to establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs.
Email marketer from Hunter.io highlights the need to target relevant audiences, personalize email content and subject lines, and provide value to recipients to maintain good sender reputation and deliverability rates.
Email marketer from Reddit advises regularly cleaning email lists by removing hard bounces, unsubscribes, and inactive users to maintain a healthy sender reputation and improve deliverability.
Email marketer from Sendinblue shares focusing on building a strong sender reputation by using a dedicated IP address, consistently sending emails, segmenting lists to target engaged subscribers, and personalizing email content, alongside authentication protocols and list hygiene practices to ensure B2B emails reach the inbox.
Email marketer from Email Geeks provides a numbered list to analyse to diagnose the cause of spam issues: 1) check IP/domain reputation and DKIM status 2) if infrastructure is good, check content/attachments/code 3) high email volumes can lead to high spam rates 4) if all destination domains are affected, the issue may be at the client's end.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that improving sender reputation, authenticating emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, cleaning email lists, and providing clear unsubscribe options are crucial for avoiding spam filters and improving deliverability for B2B emails.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises to respect the recipient network and stop sending to those addresses, focusing on improving the client's data acquisition.
Email marketer from Litmus discusses monitoring sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools, setting up feedback loops, and regularly testing email placement to identify and address deliverability issues.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign stresses the importance of email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), consistent sending volume, list segmentation, and personalized content to improve deliverability and avoid spam filters for B2B emails.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests looking at the MX records of the sending domains to highlight correlations and rule in/out factors like Proofpoint.
Email marketer from Gmass focuses on strategies to improve email deliverability, including warming up IP addresses, implementing email authentication protocols, segmenting lists to improve engagement, and consistently monitoring email deliverability metrics.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks states that an "Unknown user" bounce means to stop sending to that account because it doesn't exist.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that there's no general answer and suggests hiring a consultant for specific solutions and to look at rejection messages first.
Expert from Word to the Wise highlights that sender reputation is crucial for B2B email deliverability. Building and maintaining a positive reputation requires consistent email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), managing complaint rates, and ensuring high engagement rates. Sending relevant and valuable content to engaged subscribers can improve your reputation.
Expert from Spam Resource notes that corporate filters often use more aggressive blocking techniques than ISPs. The primary issue is often sending unwanted mail, whether technically spam or not. Key strategies include obtaining explicit opt-in, honoring unsubscribe requests promptly, and segmenting lists based on engagement. Focus on sending only to genuinely interested recipients.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that Cisco uses its own spam filter internally, and CapitalOne uses Proofpoint.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft details maintaining accurate WHOIS records, using a dedicated IP address, avoiding URL shorteners, and proactively enrolling in Microsoft's Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) and Junk Mail Reporting Program (JMRP) to monitor sender reputation and address spam complaints for optimal deliverability within the Outlook ecosystem.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) helps control how email receivers handle unauthenticated email, providing a crucial layer of security against spoofing and phishing attacks.
Documentation from RFC Editor clarifies understanding SMTP error codes (e.g., 550 for permanent failure) helps diagnose email delivery issues and implement appropriate strategies to avoid blocks. Analysing error codes provides actionable information to improve deliverability.
Documentation from SparkPost states that maintaining clean lists, segmenting your audience, monitoring your sender reputation, and engaging proactively with feedback loops can all contribute to higher deliverability.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help emphasizes authenticating email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, keeping spam rates below 0.10%, using a consistent sending IP address, and monitoring feedback loops (FBLs) to identify and address issues causing spam complaints specifically for Gmail users.