Summary
The overall message from email experts, marketers, and documentation is that while push notifications and email are distinct channels, issues with push messaging (especially bounces and poor engagement) *can* negatively impact email deliverability. This impact primarily stems from a shared sender reputation. Poor push notification practices (high bounce rates, spam reports, blocks, intrusive messaging) damage sender reputation and/or brand perception, leading to reduced email engagement (increased unsubscribes, spam complaints). Shared infrastructure (same IP/domain) exacerbates this. Analyzing bounce codes, monitoring user engagement across channels, and maintaining strong list hygiene are crucial.
Key findings
- Shared Sender Reputation: A damaged sender reputation from push notifications negatively impacts email deliverability.
- Push Bounces Signal Issues: High push notification bounce rates often indicate poor list hygiene, a key factor in email deliverability.
- User Engagement is Key: Negative user engagement (spam reports, blocks) with push notifications spills over to email, harming deliverability.
- Domain/IP Connection: When push and email campaigns share the same IP/domain, deliverability problems in one channel can affect the other.
- Brand Perception Matters: Negative brand perception stemming from intrusive push notifications can lead to more unsubscribes and spam complaints for both push and email.
Key considerations
- Monitor Push Metrics: Actively track push notification bounce rates, opt-out rates, and user engagement metrics to identify potential problems.
- Segment and Target: Ensure push notifications are relevant and targeted to minimize negative user engagement and opt-outs.
- Clean Your Lists: Maintain clean and up-to-date lists for both push notifications and email marketing to minimize bounces and spam complaints.
- Holistic Approach: Manage sender reputation holistically across all communication channels, addressing issues promptly regardless of their source.
- Analyze Bounce Codes: Analyze bounce codes in both push and email to understand the root cause of delivery issues and implement corrective measures.
What email marketers say
6 marketer opinions
The consensus among email marketers is that push messaging bounces and poor push notification practices can indirectly impact email delivery and inbox placement. High bounce rates from push notifications, similar to email, signal poor list hygiene. Negative user engagement with push notifications (uninstalls, blocks, spam reports) can damage sender reputation and brand perception, leading to reduced email engagement (increased unsubscribes, spam complaints). Email providers may associate domains with unwanted communications if push notifications lead to negative user experiences, potentially affecting email deliverability.
Key opinions
- Sender Reputation: Poor push notification practices (high bounces, spam reports) damage sender reputation, impacting email deliverability.
- List Hygiene: High push notification bounce rates indicate poor list hygiene, negatively affecting email deliverability.
- User Engagement: Decreased user engagement due to push notifications can translate to reduced email engagement and harm sender reputation.
- Brand Perception: Intrusive or irrelevant push notifications can negatively impact brand perception, leading to increased spam complaints across channels.
Key considerations
- Monitor Push Metrics: Actively monitor push notification metrics (bounce rates, opt-out rates) to identify potential problems.
- Targeted Messaging: Ensure push notifications are relevant, targeted, and provide value to users to minimize negative engagement.
- List Management: Maintain clean and up-to-date lists for both push notifications and email marketing.
- Holistic Approach: Consider the overall user experience across all communication channels (email, push, SMS) as they can influence each other.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog suggests that poorly executed push notification campaigns can negatively impact your sender reputation, potentially leading to email deliverability issues. High bounce rates from push notifications can signal poor list hygiene, which email providers also take into account.
14 Jun 2022 - Neil Patel's Blog
Marketer view
Email marketer from SendPulse Blog shares that while push notifications and email marketing are distinct channels, neglecting push notification deliverability can indirectly affect email deliverability. Specifically, if push notifications lead to a high number of uninstalls or blocks, it may indicate a poor user experience, which could reflect negatively on your brand and potentially impact email engagement.
25 Jul 2024 - SendPulse Blog
What the experts say
2 expert opinions
Experts agree that push messaging issues, particularly bounces and poor engagement, can impact email deliverability. Troubleshooting bounce messages, especially from providers like Apple, can provide insights. Moreover, push campaigns sharing the same domain/IP space as email can directly affect deliverability. More broadly, a damaged sender reputation from any source, including push, casts a 'halo effect' impacting all channels.
Key opinions
- Bounce Analysis: Analyzing bounce messages, especially those specific to providers like Apple, can aid in diagnosing deliverability problems.
- Shared Infrastructure: Push and email campaigns sharing the same domain/IP space are more likely to have interconnected deliverability issues.
- Reputation Halo: A sender's reputation is interconnected. Poor performance in one channel (e.g., push) can negatively impact other channels (e.g., email).
Key considerations
- Monitor Push Performance: Actively monitor push notification metrics like bounce rates and engagement to proactively identify potential issues affecting deliverability.
- Isolate Testing: Consider isolating push and email infrastructure (different IPs/domains) to minimize the impact of one channel on the other.
- Holistic Reputation Management: Manage sender reputation holistically across all communication channels. Address issues promptly regardless of where they originate.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks suggests the bounce messages from Apple can help troubleshoot delivery problems, and the sending system will have the bounce logs. Additionally, it is possible the issue is related to the push marketing if the push marketing was in the same domain/IP space as normal marketing.
26 Jul 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that although not directly tied, poor engagement and reputation from push notifications can have a halo effect on email deliverability. A damaged sender reputation, regardless of the source, can affect all communication channels.
19 Jul 2024 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
Official documentation from Google and Microsoft emphasizes that sender reputation is crucial for email deliverability. Google highlights the impact of user feedback (spam complaints, unsubscribes) on reputation, implying that negative engagement across channels (even if not directly email-related like push) can affect email deliverability. Microsoft notes that overall engagement may influence sender reputation. Additionally, RFC documentation points to the importance of SMTP status codes for understanding delivery failures and the impact of poor list hygiene on sender reputation.
Key findings
- User Feedback Impact: User feedback (spam complaints, unsubscribes) directly affects sender reputation and email deliverability, according to Google.
- Holistic Engagement: Overall engagement across communication channels (including push) can be considered when determining sender reputation, according to Microsoft.
- SMTP Status Codes: RFC documentation highlights SMTP status codes as valuable for diagnosing delivery failures and identifying issues like poor list hygiene.
- List Hygiene: Poor list hygiene impacts sender reputation, according to RFC documentation.
Key considerations
- Monitor User Engagement: Actively monitor user engagement metrics across all channels to identify and address potential issues impacting sender reputation.
- Implement Feedback Loops: Implement feedback loops to promptly address spam complaints and unsubscribe requests to maintain a positive sender reputation.
- Analyze Bounce Codes: Regularly analyze SMTP status codes and bounce messages to identify and address delivery problems and improve list hygiene.
- Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly clean your lists and remove unengaged users.
Technical article
Documentation from RFC details SMTP Enhanced Mail System Status Codes which can be used to determine reasons for mail delivery failure and can inform email delivery issues. It shares how failures related to poor list hygiene can impact sender reputation.
24 Dec 2023 - RFC-Editor
Technical article
Documentation from Google details that user feedback, including spam complaints and unsubscribe rates, directly impacts your sender reputation and, consequently, email deliverability. Although it doesn't directly mention push notifications, the principle applies: negative user engagement across any channel can negatively affect your overall reputation with Google.
26 Nov 2021 - Google
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