What tools and methods can I use to monitor spam rates and proactively identify deliverability issues, including using Google Postmaster API and tracking engagement metrics?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from GlockApps says using GlockApps' deliverability testing tool enables you to monitor inbox placement across different email providers and identify potential deliverability issues. It was suggested that regularly testing your emails before sending them to your entire list helps proactively avoid problems.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that monitoring your sender reputation, analyzing bounce rates, tracking engagement metrics (opens, clicks), and using feedback loops (FBLs) are essential for proactively identifying deliverability problems. They advise regularly checking blocklists and using tools like GlockApps to test deliverability.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce advises using email validation tools to clean your email list and remove invalid or inactive email addresses. They share that maintaining a clean email list helps reduce bounce rates and improve deliverability.
Email marketer from Reddit shares to regularly check Google Postmaster Tools for insights into spam rates and domain reputation. They suggest using this data to identify and address any deliverability issues proactively, such as improving email authentication and list hygiene. It was from a thread discussing email deliverability issues.
Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that monitoring key metrics such as bounce rate, unsubscribe rate, spam complaints, and engagement (open and click rates) is crucial for maintaining good deliverability. High bounce or complaint rates can indicate issues with your sending practices or list quality.
Email marketer from Postmark recommends consistently monitoring your sender reputation and taking immediate action to address any issues, such as high bounce rates or spam complaints. They emphasize that a good sender reputation is essential for ensuring high deliverability.
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that ensuring proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is critical for improving deliverability. They also suggest monitoring your sender reputation and promptly addressing any issues to prevent your emails from landing in the spam folder.
Email marketer from Litmus advises using tools like Litmus Spam Testing to preview how your emails will be received by different email clients and identify potential spam triggers before sending. They also suggest monitoring blocklist status and authenticating your email using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
Email marketer from GMass recommends using email testing tools like Mail-Tester to check your email's spam score and identify any issues with your email content, authentication, or server configuration. This helps in proactively addressing problems that could affect deliverability.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise details that monitoring DMARC reports helps to identify authentication issues and potential spoofing attempts. Analyzing these reports enables you to adjust your SPF and DKIM configurations, ensuring that your emails are properly authenticated and preventing unauthorized use of your domain.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that it's better to pull raw numbers and calculate spam rates, as many ESPs have inaccurate rate calculations due to limited FBL data. Using the Google API might provide the best data.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that Google Postmaster has its own API which can be used to build custom reports and integrate with data management systems for spam rate monitoring.
Expert from Email Geeks recommends monitoring per domain opens, clicks, and unsubscribes over time to spot changes in trends, as these can provide early warnings of issues like Microsoft blocks. A drop in clicks/opens/unsubs while bounces remain steady can indicate spamboxing.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that setting up feedback loops (FBLs) is essential for monitoring spam complaints. FBLs provide valuable data on when users mark your emails as spam, enabling you to remove those users from your list and investigate the reasons for the complaints.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that inbox placement monitoring tools are crucial for identifying deliverability issues. By testing your email campaigns with these tools, you can see how your emails are being handled by different ISPs and mailbox providers, allowing you to make adjustments to improve your delivery rates.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from MailChannels explains that they provide tools and services to monitor and improve email deliverability, including reputation monitoring, blocklist management, and deliverability analytics. They recommend using these tools to proactively identify and resolve any issues that could affect email delivery.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that using the Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) and the Junk Email Reporting Program (JMRP) can help monitor deliverability issues. SNDS provides data about your IP address reputation and complaint rates, while JMRP allows you to receive reports when users mark your emails as junk.
Documentation from Google explains that Postmaster Tools provides insights into your email performance, including spam rate, domain reputation, and feedback loop (FBL) data, which can help identify and address deliverability issues proactively. You can also use authentication to ensure that emails are verified correctly.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that using their Deliverability Analytics tools allows you to track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as inbox placement rate, spam folder placement, and engagement metrics. They recommend analyzing this data to identify and address any deliverability issues quickly.
Documentation from RFC explains that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that allows senders to indicate that their emails are protected by SPF and DKIM, and tells receivers what to do if authentication fails. DMARC reporting provides valuable insights into authentication results, enabling senders to identify and address deliverability issues.