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The following post is from SendLabs' Director of Deliverability (and good friend of Dr. J), Steve Wheeler. For follow up, hit him up at swheeler@sendlabs.com:
Checking for blocked words and bad code are extremely important when trying to assure high deliverability rates and getting your emails past the ISPs filters and out of the Spam Folder. However, there is an equally important qualifier in making this happen: reputation.
My guess is that you have heard the word “reputation” many times when it comes to email marketing, but what does that really mean? What are the core items your reputation is based upon? Here’s a few that come to mind:
- Email volume is key. Not just a large amount now and again, but a consistent flow of quality email landing in the recipient’s inbox is crucial for establishing a good reputation. The definition of “quality” is emails that don’t get trapped in the junk mail folder and actually make it through to its ultimate destination: the inbox.
- Email infrastructure and authentication set up properly is a must to deal with not only the large ISPs, but company firewalls and spam filters.
- Reporting and list management has to be taken seriously and addressed often. Bad email addresses and complaint responses will quickly distinguish you as a non-reputable marketer.
- Spam traps are set up to see if your list is legitimate. Setting off spam traps tells the ISPs that your list is either not maintained or possibly purchased from a 3rd party.
- Being listed on public blacklists will affect your reputation and delivery rates as some mail servers will not accept ANY mail from you.
Getting on whitelist status and maintaining that status will be much easier if you keep up on the above items. Remember that ISPs don’t forget your previous email campaigns, good or bad. They will use that information to either your advantage or disadvantage with your current campaign in determining whether it will pass through filters and make it into the inbox.
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