Summary
Building an effective email reputation database for an ESP requires a multi-faceted approach, encompassing technical, behavioral, and legal considerations. Key technical parameters involve authenticating emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, implementing IP warmup strategies, and ensuring accurate bounce processing. Behavioral factors include monitoring engagement metrics like open and click-through rates, minimizing spam complaints, and maintaining strict list hygiene. Legal compliance is crucial, particularly with CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and PCI DSS, which dictate requirements for data protection, privacy, and secure handling of credit card information. Proactive measures such as implementing Feedback Loops (FBLs), segmenting audiences, running re-engagement campaigns, and seeking legal counsel regarding PII are also vital for sustaining a positive sender reputation and ensuring optimal email deliverability.
Key findings
- Email Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are crucial for verifying sender identity and improving deliverability.
- Engagement and Complaints: Monitoring open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints is vital for assessing sender reputation.
- List Management: Regular list cleaning, permission practices, and proper handling of unsubscribes enhance deliverability and reputation.
- Legal Compliance: Adhering to CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and PCI DSS is essential to avoid legal repercussions.
- Feedback Loops: Implementing FBLs allows senders to identify and remove users who mark emails as spam.
- Proactive Measures: IP warmup, segmentation, and re-engagement campaigns improve sender reputation.
- Data Collection: Capturing billing and contact details help identify malicious users and require legal oversight.
Key considerations
- Technical Setup: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC and ensure proper bounce processing.
- Continuous Monitoring: Monitor engagement metrics and spam complaints regularly.
- List Hygiene: Clean email lists, obtain explicit consent, and suppress unsubscribes promptly.
- Legal Compliance: Adhere to CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and PCI DSS, and consult legal counsel regarding PII.
- Feedback Loops: Set up and actively manage FBLs.
- Proactive Strategy: Employ IP warmup, segment email lists, and implement re-engagement campaigns.
- PII Oversight: Seek legal advice when handling Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
What email marketers say
10 marketer opinions
Building an effective email reputation database for an ESP involves monitoring various technical and behavioral parameters, adhering to legal considerations, and implementing proactive measures to maintain a positive sender reputation. Technical parameters include SPF, DKIM, DMARC authentication, IP warmup, and handling bounces. Behavioral parameters consist of complaint rates, trap hits, engagement metrics (opens, clicks), and list hygiene. Legal considerations involve compliance with CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and other relevant privacy laws. Implementing Feedback Loops, segmentation strategies, and re-engagement campaigns are also crucial for improving deliverability and sender reputation.
Key opinions
- Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for authenticating sending domains and improving email deliverability.
- Engagement Metrics: Open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints are critical indicators of sender reputation.
- List Hygiene: Regularly cleaning email lists to remove inactive and invalid addresses is crucial for maintaining a good sender reputation.
- Legal Compliance: Compliance with CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and other relevant privacy laws is essential to avoid legal consequences.
- Feedback Loops: Feedback Loops (FBLs) are important for identifying and removing users who mark emails as spam.
- IP Warmup: Gradually increasing sending volume for new IPs helps establish a positive reputation with ISPs.
Key considerations
- Technical Setup: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication protocols to verify sender identity.
- Monitoring Metrics: Continuously monitor engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints.
- List Management: Maintain clean email lists by removing inactive, invalid, and spam trap addresses.
- Legal Adherence: Ensure compliance with CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and other relevant privacy laws to avoid legal issues.
- Feedback Implementation: Implement Feedback Loops (FBLs) to identify and remove users who mark emails as spam.
- Segmentation and Targeting: Use segmentation and targeting techniques to send relevant content to engaged subscribers.
- Re-engagement Campaigns: Implement re-engagement campaigns to identify and engage inactive subscribers.
Marketer view
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign advises that re-engagement campaigns can help maintain a clean email list by identifying and engaging inactive subscribers. By sending targeted emails to these users, it's possible to improve open rates, reduce bounces, and avoid being marked as spam.
9 Dec 2024 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor shares that using segmentation and targeting techniques can boost sender reputation. This is achieved by sending relevant content to engaged subscribers, which leads to improved open rates, click-through rates, and decreased spam complaints.
1 Jun 2025 - Campaign Monitor
What the experts say
6 expert opinions
Building an email reputation database requires capturing various data points, including billing and contact information to identify bad actors. Legal guidance is essential for handling Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Maintaining sender reputation also involves actively managing feedback loops, correctly processing bounces, ensuring proper permission practices, implementing list hygiene, and suppressing unsubscribes promptly to comply with regulations and maintain deliverability.
Key opinions
- Data Collection: Capturing billing and contact information aids in identifying potentially malicious actors.
- Legal Consultation: Seeking legal advice is crucial when dealing with PII to ensure compliance.
- Complaint Feedback Loops: Complaint Feedback Loops (FBLs) provide valuable insights into spam complaints and help improve deliverability.
- Bounce Processing: Correctly processing bounces is essential to avoid damaging sender reputation.
- Permission Practices: Obtaining explicit consent and maintaining list hygiene are critical for a positive reputation.
- Unsubscribe Management: Promptly suppressing unsubscribes is vital for compliance and reputation.
Key considerations
- PII Handling: Consult with legal counsel before capturing and processing PII to comply with data protection laws.
- Abuse Desk: Invest in a responsive abuse desk to address and mitigate potential issues.
- FBL Implementation: Set up and actively manage Complaint Feedback Loops to monitor and address spam complaints.
- Bounce Management: Ensure proper bounce processing to remove invalid addresses and maintain list health.
- Permission and Hygiene: Implement strict permission practices and regularly clean email lists to remove inactive subscribers.
- Unsubscribe Process: Ensure a prompt and efficient unsubscribe process to comply with regulations and prevent future issues.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that good permission practices and list hygiene are essential for building a positive sending reputation. They recommend obtaining explicit consent from subscribers, regularly cleaning email lists to remove inactive or invalid addresses, and providing easy opt-out options to avoid being marked as spam.
6 Nov 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains the importance of suppressing unsubscribes. You must remove unsubscribed users from your list promptly. Not doing so is both a violation of anti-spam laws and harmful to your reputation.
24 Jun 2023 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Building an email reputation database necessitates adherence to technical authentication standards like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, as well as compliance with legal frameworks such as GDPR and PCI DSS. Guidelines from Google and Microsoft emphasize the importance of maintaining low spam complaint rates, providing easy unsubscribe options, and ensuring list hygiene. Legal considerations include data protection, privacy, and secure handling of credit card information. These technical and legal elements are vital for improving email deliverability and safeguarding user data.
Key findings
- SPF Records: SPF records are essential for authenticating sending domains and preventing email spoofing.
- DMARC/DKIM Authentication: DMARC and DKIM authentication are recommended for enhanced email security and deliverability.
- Bulk Sender Guidelines: Following bulk sender guidelines helps ensure messages reach intended recipients, especially for Gmail users.
- Junk Email Policies: Email providers filter messages based on sender authentication, list hygiene, and reputation metrics.
- GDPR Compliance: GDPR enforces strict data protection and privacy rules, including consent requirements and the right to be forgotten.
- PCI DSS Compliance: PCI DSS sets standards for securely handling credit card information, which is critical for data security.
Key considerations
- Authentication Implementation: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate sending domains.
- Compliance with Guidelines: Adhere to bulk sender guidelines from email providers like Google and Microsoft.
- Data Protection: Ensure compliance with GDPR for handling personal data of EU residents.
- Credit Card Security: Comply with PCI DSS standards when processing or storing credit card information.
- List Hygiene Practices: Maintain good list hygiene to improve deliverability and sender reputation.
- Spam Complaint Management: Minimize spam complaint rates to improve deliverability.
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft outlines that junk email policies take into account sender authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), list hygiene, complaint rates, and sender reputation metrics to filter incoming messages and protect users from spam and phishing.
9 Nov 2021 - Microsoft
Technical article
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools outlines that bulk sender guidelines recommend authenticating email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, maintaining low spam complaint rates, and providing easy unsubscribe options to improve deliverability to Gmail users.
23 Feb 2024 - Google Postmaster Tools
Are abuse reports and feedback loops (FBLs) still useful in email marketing, and how do they work with different email clients?
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