Why are Microsoft email deliverability issues unusually bad right now?
Summary
What email marketers say13Marketer opinions
Email marketer from SendGrid recommends authenticating your emails with SPF, DKIM and DMARC. SendGrid also recommends warming up your IP address, cleaning your email list, segmenting your email list, and monitoring your sender reputation.
Email marketer from GlockApps shares tips to improve deliverability to Outlook and Hotmail, including authenticating your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, monitoring your IP and domain reputation, and segmenting your email list to send targeted content.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that consistent sending volume and frequency help establish a positive sender reputation. Abrupt changes can trigger spam filters.
Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog shares that deliverability issues can be caused by a poor sender reputation due to spam complaints, low engagement, or sending to inactive email addresses. Technical setup problems, such as incorrect SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, can also cause deliverability problems.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that Microsoft blocking emails can be due to several factors including sender reputation, spam content, authentication issues, and high complaint rates. They also mention possible IP blacklisting.
Email marketer from Email Geeks asks about sending to business domains vs freemail, noting differences in 365 and Hotmail/Outlook filtering. Suggests content and blocklist issues.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains they've seen Microsoft deliverability issues, with clients experiencing blocks even with good sender reputation. They've resorted to eliminating Microsoft from risky strategies.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that Everest seeding shows more O365 problems. They filtered MS free domains from marketing sends. They advise cleaning data and monitoring stats.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that email deliverability issues are caused by a complex interplay of factors, including sender reputation, authentication, content quality, engagement, and infrastructure. Senders must actively monitor and manage these factors to ensure their emails reach the inbox.
Email marketer from SparkPost notes that Microsoft uses complex algorithms to filter email. Deliverability can be affected by factors like IP reputation, content quality, engagement metrics, and recipient complaint rates.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that they experienced deliverability issues due to a sudden increase in email volume without properly warming up their IP address. Also suggested checking IP blacklists.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares a similar experience, with clients getting blocked repeatedly for short periods.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce explains that poor list hygiene can cause issues. They advise regularly cleaning your email list to remove invalid or inactive addresses to improve your sender reputation and deliverability.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource answers that blocking is likely caused by a combination of factors like sudden volume spikes, poor list hygiene, and negative engagement metrics. It's important to warm up IP addresses properly and monitor sender reputation closely.
Expert from Email Geeks responds that Anne is not alone, advising to persist, boost engagement, and reduce risky data.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that Microsoft's filtering system is adaptive and responds to user behavior, so engagement (or lack thereof) strongly influences deliverability. Sudden changes in sending patterns or negative feedback can lead to filtering problems.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from DKIM.org explains that DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication system designed to verify the domain name of an email sender and the integrity of the message. DKIM uses cryptographic signatures to allow receiving mail servers to verify that an email message was sent by an authorized sender and has not been altered in transit.
Documentation from Google explains that in order to reach Gmail inboxes, you should authenticate your email, avoid spammy practices, and make it easy for users to unsubscribe. Google recommends monitoring your sender reputation in Postmaster Tools.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that builds on SPF and DKIM to provide domain owners with control over how their domain is used in email, and provides reporting mechanisms to track email authentication results.
Documentation from RFC explains that SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is an email authentication method designed to detect forging sender addresses during the delivery of email. SPF allows receiving mail servers to check that mail claiming to come from a specific domain is authorized by that domain's administrators.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that to ensure deliverability to Outlook.com, senders must comply with their policies and guidelines, which include using authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintaining low complaint rates, and following best practices for email content.