Summary
Improving email deliverability for a client with a poor sender reputation and questionable email acquisition practices requires a comprehensive approach involving ethical considerations, technical implementations, and strategic adjustments. Experts suggest a range of actions, from potentially declining to work with the client due to ethical concerns, to focusing on acquiring payment upfront. Core strategies include eliminating co-registration and purchased lists, concentrating on engaged subscribers, routinely removing inactive users, warming up IP addresses carefully, and diligently authenticating email with DKIM/SPF/DMARC. Monitoring deliverability metrics through tools such as Google Postmaster Tools, creating engaging content, utilizing feedback loops, and adhering to stringent list-cleaning practices are also vital. Ultimately, transitioning to ethical acquisition methods and prioritizing quality over quantity are paramount for long-term success.
Key findings
- Ethical Dilemma: The client's practices may be so problematic that the most ethical course of action is to decline the engagement.
- Financial Risk: Clients with deliverability problems may refuse to pay if results are not immediately apparent, necessitating upfront payment.
- Acquisition Audit: A thorough audit of current email acquisition practices is necessary, with a shift towards explicit opt-in methods.
- Engagement Focus: Building genuine engagement, as measured by replies and forwards, is more important than opens and clicks.
- List Hygiene: Regularly removing inactive and invalid email addresses is critical to maintaining a healthy sender reputation.
- Authentication Imperative: Proper authentication with DKIM, SPF, and DMARC is essential to verify sender identity and prevent spoofing.
- IP Warming Needed: Carefully warming up new IP addresses by gradually increasing sending volume establishes trust with ISPs.
- Monitoring Is Key: Continuous monitoring of sender reputation through tools like Google Postmaster Tools is vital.
Key considerations
- Client Commitment: Assess the client's willingness to adopt ethical practices and invest in long-term solutions.
- Content Strategy: Develop a content strategy that provides value to subscribers and encourages genuine engagement.
- Segmentation Tactics: Segment email lists based on engagement to send targeted content and improve sender reputation.
- Feedback Implementation: Implement and monitor feedback loops provided by ISPs to quickly address deliverability issues.
- Gradual Changes: Implement changes gradually to avoid triggering spam filters and allow sender reputation to recover.
- Legal Compliance: Ensure compliance with relevant email marketing regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM.
- Offer Scrutiny: Examine the offers being sent, as uncompelling or scammy offers can undermine deliverability efforts.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
To improve email deliverability for clients with poor sender reputation and questionable email acquisition, experts recommend several strategies: eliminating co-registration and purchased lists, focusing on engaged subscribers, removing inactive users, warming up IP addresses, segmenting email lists, authenticating email with DKIM/SPF/DMARC, creating valuable content, utilizing feedback loops, and regularly cleaning email lists. Emphasis is placed on shifting to ethical acquisition practices and prioritizing quality over quantity.
Key opinions
- Eliminate Bad Acquisition: Dumping co-reg and purchased lists is crucial for improving sender reputation due to consent and list quality concerns.
- Focus on Engagement: Building reputation with engaged members by creating valuable content improves deliverability and sender trust.
- Remove Inactives: Removing inactive users from mailing lists improves reputation by showing quality over quantity.
- IP Warming: Gradually increasing sending volume to new IPs is essential for establishing trust with ISPs.
- Authentication: Authenticating email with DKIM, SPF, and DMARC is vital for verifying sender identity and preventing spoofing.
- List Cleaning: Regularly cleaning email lists improves deliverability by reducing bounce rates and spam complaints.
Key considerations
- Ethical Acquisition: Shift to transparent and explicit opt-in methods for acquiring subscribers.
- Content Quality: Create engaging and valuable content that recipients want to read to signal sender trustworthiness to ISPs.
- Feedback Loops: Implement and monitor feedback loops provided by ISPs to identify and address issues causing complaints.
- Segmentation: Segment email lists based on engagement levels to tailor sending strategies and improve sender reputation.
- Gradual Improvement: Implement changes gradually to avoid triggering spam filters and allow the sender reputation to recover over time.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests creating valuable and engaging content that recipients want to read. High engagement rates signal to ISPs that the sender is trustworthy.
26 Jul 2024 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view
Email marketer from Gmass recommends regularly cleaning your email list to remove invalid or inactive email addresses. This helps maintain a high sender reputation and improves deliverability by reducing bounce rates and spam complaints.
26 Feb 2023 - Gmass
What the experts say
5 expert opinions
Improving email deliverability for clients with a poor sender reputation and questionable email acquisition practices is a complex challenge. Experts suggest that ethical concerns may warrant declining to work with such clients. Getting paid upfront is advised due to the risk of non-payment if results aren't immediate or advice isn't followed. A focus on genuine engagement, moving away from co-registration, and removing old email addresses are crucial for improving deliverability.
Key opinions
- Ethical Considerations: The situation might be ethically problematic, potentially warranting a refusal to work with the client.
- Payment Risks: Clients with deliverability issues may refuse to pay if expectations aren't met, so upfront payment is recommended.
- Engagement Matters: Focus on genuine engagement metrics like replies and forwards rather than solely relying on opens and clicks.
- Co-Registration Issues: Co-registration practices often lead to deliverability problems due to consent and list quality concerns.
- Old Addresses Harm: Sending to old and unengaged addresses negatively impacts deliverability due to spam traps and low engagement.
Key considerations
- Client Viability: Evaluate whether the client is genuinely willing to change their practices and invest in ethical solutions.
- Offer Quality: Assess the offers being sent, as uncompelling or scammy offers can undermine deliverability efforts.
- Engagement Strategy: Develop a strategy to encourage genuine engagement with subscribers, such as providing valuable content and fostering two-way communication.
- Acquisition Practices: Transition to transparent opt-in methods for acquiring subscribers and ensure clear consent is obtained.
- Data Hygiene: Establish and enforce a policy for removing old and unengaged addresses from the mailing list.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks advises getting paid upfront, noting that clients with deliverability problems often refuse to pay if the advice isn't followed or if results aren't immediately seen. She highlights that the underlying problem is often uncompelling or scammy offers, and that a poor subscription process is less relevant if the offers were good.
16 Apr 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise highlights the common deliverability problems stemming from co-registration practices. They advise moving away from co-registration due to issues with consent and list quality. A focus on acquiring subscribers through transparent opt-in methods is recommended.
17 Sep 2024 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Improving email deliverability for clients with poor sender reputation requires a multifaceted approach focusing on authentication, list hygiene, and reputation monitoring. Using tools like Google Postmaster Tools is essential for tracking metrics. Maintaining a clean email list through regular removal of inactive subscribers and implementing double opt-in are crucial. Proper authentication using SPF and DMARC records is necessary to prevent spoofing. When using new IPs, IP warming is recommended to establish trust with ISPs.
Key findings
- Reputation Monitoring: Google Postmaster Tools allows tracking spam rates, domain reputation, and authentication, crucial for identifying deliverability issues.
- List Hygiene: Maintaining a clean email list by removing inactive subscribers improves deliverability.
- Double Opt-In: Implementing double opt-in ensures subscribers genuinely want to receive emails, reducing spam complaints.
- SPF Records: SPF records authorize sending mail servers and prevent spoofing, verifying the sender's identity.
- IP Warming: Gradually increasing email volume from new IPs helps establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs.
- DMARC Implementation: DMARC builds upon SPF and DKIM to provide a policy for handling unauthenticated emails, reducing spoofing.
Key considerations
- Consistent Monitoring: Regularly monitor sender reputation metrics using Google Postmaster Tools and other similar services.
- Automated List Cleaning: Implement automated processes to regularly remove inactive or unsubscribed email addresses.
- Strict Authentication: Ensure proper implementation and configuration of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
- Warming Schedule: Follow a gradual IP warming schedule when using new IP addresses to avoid triggering spam filters.
- Compliance: Adhere to email marketing best practices and comply with relevant regulations, such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM.
Technical article
Documentation from Google explains using Postmaster Tools to monitor sender reputation by tracking spam rates, domain reputation, and authentication. Consistently high spam rates negatively impact deliverability.
29 Jan 2024 - Google
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft explains the importance of maintaining a clean email list. Regularly remove inactive subscribers and those who have unsubscribed. Implement a double opt-in process to ensure subscribers genuinely want to receive emails.
2 Jun 2023 - Microsoft
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