Summary
Including TikTok links in email footers can impact email deliverability due to various factors related to domain reputation, political influences, and email content. While not a guaranteed deliverability killer, the reputation of the TikTok domain itself, the potential for blocking by governments or organizations, and the overall safety and compliance of URLs play crucial roles. Most ESPs wrap links, but the ultimate destination's reputation still matters. It is recommended to monitor sender reputation closely, analyze links for safety, and consider using a custom tracking domain or link wrapping to mitigate potential risks.
Key findings
- Domain Reputation is Critical: Your domain's reputation significantly influences email deliverability. Linking to untrustworthy or questionable sites negatively impacts your sender reputation.
- Link Analysis is Important: Analyzing links for safety and reputation is essential. Linking to low-reputation sites can damage your sender reputation.
- Content Matters: Be cautious about the content you link to. Blacklisted or questionable content can negatively affect deliverability.
- Potential for Blocking: TikTok links may face blocking from governments, corporate entities, or smaller domains based on internal policies or political reasons.
- Not Always a Problem: The mere presence of TikTok links doesn't guarantee deliverability issues, but the overall context and reputation influence outcomes.
- Link Wrapping Provides Some Protection: Link wrapping can offer some protection against reputation damage, but the end destination’s reputation remains a factor.
- Existing ESP Wrapping: Most ESPs already wrap links for tracking purposes.
- Technical Compliance: Adherence to URL standards (RFC, IETF) and the absence of errors in URIs are vital for deliverability.
Key considerations
- Monitor Sender Reputation: Regularly monitor your sender reputation to identify and address potential deliverability issues.
- Analyze and Audit Links: Routinely audit links for safety and reputation, removing problematic or untrustworthy links.
- Use Reputable Link Shorteners: When using link shorteners, choose reputable providers to minimize risks.
- Consider Custom Tracking Domain: Employ a custom tracking domain for social media links to isolate potential reputation issues.
- Implement Defensive Wrapping: Defensively wrap TikTok links in your click-tracking domain for better control over reputation.
- Check Blocklists: Monitor blocklists like Spamhaus to ensure linked domains aren’t blacklisted.
- Review Corporate Policies: Be aware that some organizations may block TikTok links due to internal policies or cultural considerations.
- Ensure technical compliance: Ensure that all URLs are fully compliant, tested, and free from errors.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
Including TikTok links in email footers can affect email deliverability, primarily due to domain reputation concerns. While adding the links alone isn't guaranteed to hurt deliverability, several factors come into play. These include the reputation of the TikTok domain itself, whether it's blacklisted or associated with spam, and the overall content of your email. Smaller and corporate domains may block TikTok links independently. Experts recommend monitoring your sender reputation, auditing your links, and using reputable link shorteners or a custom tracking domain to mitigate potential risks. Link wrapping provides some protection against reputation damage from linked sites but does not guarantee full protection.
Key opinions
- Domain Reputation: Your domain's reputation is crucial. Linking to untrustworthy sites can negatively impact your sender reputation and deliverability.
- Link Analysis: Analyzing your links and ensuring they are safe and reputable is important. Links to low-reputation sites can damage your sender reputation.
- Content Caution: Be cautious about the content you link to. Blacklisted or questionable content can negatively affect deliverability.
- Not a Guaranteed Killer: The presence of TikTok links alone isn't a guaranteed deliverability killer, but several factors influence the situation.
- Tracking Domain: Using your own tracking domain for social media links can help isolate potential reputation issues.
- Link Wrapping: Wrapping your links can provide some protection against reputation damage from linked sites, however it is not full protection
Key considerations
- Monitor Sender Reputation: Regularly monitor your sender reputation to identify and address any deliverability issues.
- Audit Links: Audit your links regularly to ensure they are safe and reputable, and remove problematic links.
- Use Reputable Link Shorteners: If using link shorteners, ensure they are reputable.
- Custom Tracking Domain: Consider using a custom tracking domain for social media links to isolate any potential reputation damage.
- Monitor Inbox Placement: Monitor inbox placement and sender reputation after adding new links, especially to less-established platforms.
- Corporate Policies: Be aware that some organizations may block TikTok links due to internal policies.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog advises to be cautious about the content you link to. They share that linking to sites that have been blacklisted or are known for questionable content can negatively affect your deliverability. They recommend checking the reputation of sites before linking to them.
25 Jun 2021 - Mailjet Blog
Marketer view
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog shares the importance of analyzing the links in your emails. They say that including links to websites with poor reputations or those frequently associated with spam can damage your sender reputation, leading to deliverability issues. They advise regularly auditing your links and using a link checker tool to ensure they're safe and reputable.
8 Dec 2024 - Sendinblue Blog
What the experts say
6 expert opinions
Including TikTok links in email footers can affect deliverability, primarily due to domain reputation and potential political blocking. While most ESPs wrap links, issues may arise at mailbox providers where links are clicked. Experts recommend defensively wrapping TikTok links in your click-tracking domain to control reputation. Monitor your sender reputation and adapt linking practices accordingly. Link wrapping provides some protection but doesn't eliminate risks if the destination site has a poor reputation. Western governments may increasingly block TikTok, impacting mail linking to it.
Key opinions
- Domain Reputation: Domains can develop their own link reputation, influencing deliverability.
- Political Blocking: Increasing political pressure may lead to blocking of TikTok links.
- Link Wrapping Protection: Link wrapping offers some reputation protection, but ultimate destination matters.
- Mailbox Provider Impact: Issues are more likely at mailbox providers where all links are clicked.
- Existing ESP wrapping: Most ESPs already wrap links for tracking.
Key considerations
- Use Click-Through Domain: Wrap TikTok links in your own click-through domain to control reputation.
- Monitor Sender Reputation: Closely monitor sending reputation with mailbox providers.
- Adapt Linking Practices: Adapt linking practices based on sender reputation monitoring.
- Defensive Wrapping: Defensively wrap links as a precaution against potential blocking.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains why TikTok links might be blocked for political reasons, even though they aren't typically used to hide malicious content like bit.ly links were.
2 Nov 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that link wrapping provides some protection against reputation damage from linked sites. Wrapping your links will stop bots from crawling the destination site, but if a human clicks through and the end destination has poor reputation your email will likely still get flagged.
16 Apr 2025 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Email deliverability is affected by the links included in the message. Google and Microsoft both consider the reputation of linked domains when filtering emails, and linking to sites with a history of spam or malware can harm sender reputation, potentially leading to messages being marked as spam. It's also crucial to ensure that all URLs are error-free and compliant with IETF standards, as any errors in the URI can prevent message delivery. Monitoring blocklists like Spamhaus is essential, as a linked domain ending up on a DNSBL can cause deliverability issues.
Key findings
- Reputation Matters: The reputation of linked domains directly influences email deliverability.
- Filtering Practices: Google and Microsoft use the reputation of linked domains when filtering emails.
- Spam/Malware Risk: Linking to sites with spam or malware history harms sender reputation.
- URI Errors: Errors in URLs can prevent message delivery.
- Blocklist Impact: Linked domains on blocklists cause deliverability issues.
- Compliance: URLs must be fully compliant and tested for security.
Key considerations
- Reputable Links: Ensure all links are to reputable and secure websites.
- Monitor Links: Monitor links and avoid those associated with spam or phishing.
- URL Validation: Validate all URLs to prevent errors.
- Blocklist Monitoring: Monitor blocklists to prevent deliverability issues.
- Security testing: Test all URLs used to ensure they are secure
Technical article
Documentation from Spamhaus explains the importance of monitoring blocklists. If the domain of any links in your emails end up on a DNSBL such as Spamhaus, there may be deliverability issues.
15 May 2022 - Spamhaus
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft's Sender Support mentions that Outlook.com considers the reputation of linked domains when filtering emails. Microsoft explains that if your emails contain links to domains with a poor reputation, your messages are more likely to be classified as junk. They advise monitoring your links and avoiding those that may be associated with spam or phishing.
26 Aug 2021 - Microsoft's Sender Support
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