Summary
Assessing deliverability health for prospective email marketing clients is a multi-faceted process involving technical checks, analysis of sending practices, and evaluation of engagement metrics. Begin by understanding their list acquisition methods and business practices to identify potential red flags like purchasing lists or sending unsolicited emails. Verify email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to prevent spoofing and ensure message integrity. Utilize tools such as Google Postmaster Tools, GlockApps, MXToolbox, and Validity to monitor sender reputation, blacklist status, and email placement across different ISPs. Analyze engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints to understand how recipients are interacting with their emails. Proactive testing by simulating email delivery can identify potential issues before campaign deployment. Check DNSBLs to see if their IP address or domain has been associated with spam. Continuously monitor and adapt to the evolving deliverability landscape. Subscribing to their emails offers direct insights, though paid tools can provide deeper analytics. Trust your intuition when taking on a client and also ensure that non technical aspects of delivery are considered.
Key findings
- Business Practices: Inquire about list acquisition methods and business practices; avoid clients with questionable practices.
- Email Authentication: Verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configuration to prevent spoofing and ensure message integrity.
- Deliverability Tools: Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools, GlockApps, and Validity to monitor sender reputation, blacklists, and placement.
- Engagement Metrics: Analyze open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints to gauge recipient engagement.
- Proactive Testing: Simulate email delivery across different ISPs to identify potential issues.
- DNSBL Monitoring: Check DNSBLs to identify if the client's IP address or domain has been associated with spam.
- Intuition: Trust your intuition when considering if to take on a client.
Key considerations
- List Hygiene: Ensure the client maintains a clean, permission-based email list to avoid deliverability issues.
- Budget for Tools: Factor in the cost of deliverability tools when assessing client's health.
- Non-Technical Factors: Consider non-technical aspects such as poor list management, and unsolicited emails which can affect deliverability
- Continuous Monitoring: Deliverability is an ongoing effort requiring continuous monitoring and adaptation to changes.
- Client Cooperation: Client must be transparent and co-operative and willing to change processes to improve delivery.
What email marketers say
14 marketer opinions
Assessing a prospective email marketing client's deliverability health involves a multifaceted approach. Initially, it's crucial to evaluate their current email practices by asking about list acquisition methods, permission processes, and overall sending behavior. Key indicators include the presence of confirmed opt-in, avoidance of purchased lists, and adherence to anti-spam regulations. Technical aspects are paramount, requiring a thorough check of email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and sender reputation. Tools such as Sender Score, Google Postmaster Tools, MXToolbox, and GlockApps can aid in monitoring reputation, blacklist status, and email placement across different ISPs. Analyzing engagement metrics (open rates, click-through rates, spam complaints) provides insight into how recipients perceive and interact with their emails. Proactive testing, simulating email delivery to diverse mailboxes, allows for identifying potential deliverability issues before campaign deployment. Finally, understanding non-technical factors, such as list hygiene and content quality, is essential for maintaining optimal deliverability.
Key opinions
- Email Practices: Inquire about list acquisition, permission processes, and sending behavior.
- Authentication: Verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are properly configured.
- Sender Reputation: Monitor sender reputation using tools like Sender Score and Google Postmaster Tools.
- Blacklist Status: Check if the client's IP or domain is on any blacklists.
- Engagement Metrics: Analyze open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints.
- Proactive Testing: Simulate sending emails to different mailboxes to identify issues.
Key considerations
- List Hygiene: Ensure the client maintains a clean and up-to-date email list.
- Permission Practices: Verify the client uses confirmed opt-in and avoids purchasing lists.
- Content Quality: Assess the quality and relevance of the client's email content.
- Non-Technical Factors: Focus on non-technical aspects like poor list management and unsolicited emails.
- Underlying causes: Ability to identify the underlying causes of issues.
- Intuition: Trust your intution when considering if to take on a client.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit explains you should subscribe to their list, inspect headers, and check if they are on any blacklists before taking them on as a client. Looking for authentication is key.
10 Oct 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that assessing deliverability involves checking sender reputation (using tools like Sender Score or Google Postmaster Tools), authenticating your email (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), monitoring bounce rates, and analyzing engagement metrics like open and click-through rates.
22 Nov 2021 - Mailjet
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Assessing a prospective email marketing client's deliverability health involves several key steps. Subscribing to their emails offers direct insights into their sending practices. Additionally, tools like EDS, Inboxable, and Validity provide varying levels of deliverability analysis, although they come at a cost. A thorough review of their practices is crucial, encompassing list hygiene, permission protocols, content quality, and authentication setup. Ongoing monitoring and adaptation to the evolving deliverability landscape are vital. Checking DNSBLs (DNS-based Blackhole Lists) helps determine if their IP address or domain has been linked to spam activities, and using multiple lookup tools is recommended for a comprehensive view.
Key opinions
- Direct Observation: Subscribing to the client's emails provides direct insights.
- Deliverability Tools: Tools like EDS, Inboxable, and Validity offer detailed deliverability analysis.
- Practice Review: Thoroughly review list hygiene, permissions, content, and authentication.
- DNSBL Monitoring: Check DNSBLs to identify spam associations.
Key considerations
- Budget: Consider the cost of deliverability analysis tools.
- Ongoing Adaptation: Adapt to the changing deliverability landscape continuously.
- Multiple DNSBLs: Use multiple DNSBL lookup tools for a comprehensive view.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) explains that a thorough review of sending practices is essential, including list hygiene, permission practices, content quality, and authentication setup. She also emphasizes the importance of ongoing monitoring and adaptation to changing deliverability landscapes.
11 Jun 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares that subscribing to the client's emails can provide insights. They also mention that tools like EDS, Inboxable, and Validity offer varying degrees of insight into deliverability for a cost.
24 Dec 2021 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Assessing deliverability health involves leveraging Google Postmaster Tools to monitor sending reputation, spam rates, feedback loops, and authentication status specifically for Gmail users. Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is crucial. SPF records specify authorized mail servers, preventing domain forging. DKIM provides a digital signature to authenticate senders and ensure message integrity. DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM by adding reporting and instructions for handling authentication failures, further protecting domains and improving deliverability.
Key findings
- Google Postmaster Tools: Provides data on sending reputation, spam rate, and authentication status for Gmail.
- SPF Records: Authorize mail servers to prevent domain forging.
- DKIM Signatures: Authenticates senders and ensures message integrity.
- DMARC Implementation: Adds reporting and instructions for handling authentication failures.
Key considerations
- Gmail Focus: Google Postmaster Tools primarily applies to Gmail inboxes.
- DNS Configuration: Properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in DNS settings.
- Authentication Hierarchy: DMARC builds upon SPF and DKIM, so they must be properly configured first.
Technical article
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that the tool provides data about your sending reputation, spam rate, feedback loops, and authentication status for Gmail users. It highlights the importance of maintaining a good sender reputation to ensure deliverability to Gmail inboxes.
27 Oct 2021 - Google
Technical article
Documentation from DKIM.org explains that DKIM is a digital signature that authenticates the sender of an email. This prevents email spoofing and ensures the message hasn't been tampered with during transit.
28 Jun 2024 - DKIM.org
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