Summary
Determining a safe email delivery rate threshold is complex and multifaceted. While aiming for a delivery rate above 90-95% is often suggested, it is crucial to understand that this is only one piece of the puzzle. Experts and marketers emphasize the importance of monitoring various factors, including sender reputation, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), list hygiene (regularly cleaning and validating lists), bounce rates (hard bounces below 2-3%, with an ideal target of below 0.5%), spam complaints (below 0.1%), inbox placement, and engagement metrics (opens, clicks). Furthermore, relying solely on the delivery rate can be misleading, particularly with Gmail-heavy lists where spam complaint rates can be skewed. Other considerations include defining metrics for your organization, reviewing bounce error logs, and understanding the impact of business strategy and international opt-in laws. It's important to avoid spam traps, monitor trends specific to your sending profile, and ensure that your email validation is up-to-date. Ultimately, focus on creating a healthy sending ecosystem with high engagement, positive sender reputation, and consistent adherence to best practices.
Key findings
- Holistic Approach: Deliverability isn't just about the rate; sender reputation, list hygiene, authentication, and engagement all play crucial roles.
- Target Delivery: While not the sole focus, aiming for a delivery rate of 90-95% or higher is generally recommended.
- Bounce Rate: Keep hard bounce rates below 2-3%, aiming for under 0.5%.
- Spam Complaints: Maintain spam complaint rates below 0.1%.
- Gmail Considerations: Be aware that Gmail's spam complaint calculations can be misleading, consider adjusting calculations.
Key considerations
- Sender Reputation: Prioritize building and maintaining a strong sender reputation.
- List Hygiene: Regularly clean and validate your email lists to remove invalid or unengaged subscribers.
- Authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your emails.
- Engagement: Encourage engagement (opens, clicks) and deliver valuable content to keep subscribers active.
- Monitor Trends: Monitor your metrics and adapt to changes in the email landscape.
- Legal Compliance: Be aware of international opt-in laws that vary by region.
- Define Metrics: Define delivery, complaint and bounce metrics for your organization, and monitor over time.
What email marketers say
15 marketer opinions
Determining a safe email delivery rate involves more than just a single percentage. While some sources suggest aiming for 90-99% delivery, the consensus is that focusing solely on this metric is misleading. Factors such as sender reputation, bounce rates (hard bounces ideally under 2-3%, aiming for 0-0.5%), spam complaints (below 0.1%), and overall engagement (opens, clicks) are crucial. Best practices include list segmentation, regular cleaning, double opt-in, email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), avoiding spam trigger words, and monitoring trends specific to your sending profile. Ultimately, maintaining a healthy list and good sender reputation are key to achieving optimal email deliverability.
Key opinions
- No Single Metric: Relying solely on delivery rate is flawed; multiple factors impact deliverability.
- Acceptable Delivery Rate: A good email deliverability rate is generally considered to be above 95%, while aiming for 90-99% should be a goal.
- Hard Bounce Threshold: The hard bounce rate should ideally stay below 2-3%, some even suggest aiming for below 0.5%.
- Spam Complaint Rate: Spam complaints should be kept below 0.1%.
- Importance of List Hygiene: Regular list cleaning and validation are crucial for maintaining a healthy list.
Key considerations
- Sender Reputation: Maintaining a good sender reputation is paramount for high deliverability.
- Engagement Metrics: Open rates and click-through rates are important engagement metrics that impact deliverability.
- Industry Benchmarks: Benchmarks can vary by industry, so monitor trends specific to your sending profile.
- Business Strategy: Business strategies (quality vs. quantity) can impact deliverability rates.
- Authentication Protocols: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for email authentication.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests reviewing bounce error logs for solvable issues and states spam complaints are from users clicking the spam button with mailbox providers with FBLs. Complaints should be lower than 0.1%.
8 Dec 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Neil Patel shares that improving email deliverability involves list segmentation, personalization, and avoiding spam trigger words. Regularly cleaning your email list and removing inactive subscribers is also crucial. Patel doesn't provide a specific rate but emphasizes consistent list maintenance and engagement.
9 Dec 2023 - Neil Patel
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
A safe email delivery rate cannot be determined by a single threshold, but by monitoring a multitude of factors. Very low spam complaint rates can be misleading, particularly with Gmail-heavy lists due to skewed calculations. Removing Gmail addresses can help improve complaint rate approximation. Sender reputation, authentication, list hygiene, content quality, inbox placement, engagement metrics (opens, clicks), and reputation metrics (complaints, spam traps) should all be monitored to gauge true deliverability success. Success is achieving high delivery while avoiding the spam folder and ensuring high engagement.
Key opinions
- Misleading Spam Rates: Very low spam complaint rates can be misleading, especially with Gmail-heavy lists.
- Improve Complaint Approximation: Removing Gmail addresses from complaint rate calculations can improve accuracy.
- Multiple Factors Matter: Sender reputation, authentication, list hygiene, and content quality all affect deliverability.
- Beyond Delivery Rate: Focusing solely on delivery rates is misleading; inbox placement and engagement metrics are crucial.
Key considerations
- Gmail Skew: Be aware that Gmail complaint rate calculations can skew results.
- Comprehensive Monitoring: Monitor a range of metrics beyond delivery rates to assess true deliverability.
- Holistic Approach: Consider sender reputation, authentication, list hygiene, and content quality as interconnected elements.
- Engagement is Key: Aim for high delivery rates, but also prioritize avoiding the spam folder and achieving high engagement.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that focusing solely on delivery rates is misleading. They emphasize monitoring inbox placement, engagement metrics (opens, clicks), and reputation metrics (complaints, spam traps) to gauge true deliverability success. Aiming for high delivery, avoiding the spam folder and high engagement are key
23 Sep 2021 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks cautions that very low spam complaint rates can be misleading, especially with Gmail-heavy lists, as Gmail's complaint rate calculations can skew the results or if mail is going to bulk.
30 Oct 2022 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Email deliverability is complex and not solely determined by a specific delivery rate. Documentation from SendGrid, Mailchimp, Google Postmaster Tools and SparkPost all emphasize the importance of sender reputation, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), list hygiene (regularly removing unengaged subscribers and validating email addresses), and content quality. Maintaining low bounce rates (under 2%) and keeping spam complaints below 0.1% are also crucial. The overall message is to focus on maintaining positive metrics and a healthy sender reputation, rather than fixating on a single delivery rate threshold.
Key findings
- Sender Reputation: A good sender reputation is crucial for optimal deliverability.
- Authentication: Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is a key factor in deliverability.
- List Hygiene: Maintaining a clean list by removing unengaged subscribers and validating email addresses is essential.
- Metrics to Monitor: Bounce rates and spam complaints are important metrics to monitor.
- No Specific Threshold: These resources do not define a single, safe delivery rate threshold.
Key considerations
- Positive Metrics: Focus on maintaining positive metrics and a healthy sender reputation.
- Proactive Approach: Take a proactive approach to list management and authentication.
- Google Postmaster Tools: Utilize Google Postmaster Tools to monitor your email deliverability to Gmail users.
- Engagement Matters: Engagement, along with reputation and authentication, play a critical role in deliverability.
Technical article
Documentation from SendGrid explains that a good sender reputation is crucial. They recommend monitoring sender score, maintaining low bounce rates (under 2%), and keeping spam complaints below 0.1% to ensure optimal deliverability. They do not specify a target delivery rate but emphasize maintaining positive metrics.
1 Dec 2023 - SendGrid
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost explains that deliverability depends on authentication (SPF, DKIM), engagement, and reputation. Maintaining a clean list, using double opt-in, and promptly processing unsubscribe requests are crucial. They also recommend closely monitoring bounce rates, and spam complaints.
9 Apr 2024 - SparkPost
Do unsubscribe links and rates affect email deliverability and spam filtering?
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What is an acceptable bounce rate threshold and how does it affect sender reputation?
