How does email deliverability work in the current email marketing landscape?

Key findings

• Evolving filters: Filtering technology has significantly changed over the past two years, making traditional deliverability models less effective and requiring continuous adaptation.
• Beyond the moment: Deliverability is not a snapshot but a continuous process that works over time, emphasizing sustained good practices rather than isolated efforts.
• Engagement focus: Engagement is increasingly central to inbox placement, though its definition is constantly evolving. ISPs prioritize emails that recipients actively interact with.
• Sender reputation: A strong sender reputation, built on consistent positive engagement and minimal complaints, is critical. This is influenced by many factors that influence email deliverability.

Key considerations

• Holistic view: It is an oversimplification to blame any single factor for poor email deliverability; instead, a combination of issues typically contributes to problems.
• Continuous learning: Due to the evolving nature of filters and engagement metrics, marketers must continually educate themselves on the latest best practices.
• User-centric approach: Treating subscribers as valuable individuals, rather than just recipients for mass marketing, is fundamental for achieving long-term inbox placement and success. Marketers should focus on what they need to know about deliverability.
• Proactive diagnosis: Regularly diagnosing potential email deliverability issues and understanding why emails might be going to spam is crucial for maintaining effective campaigns.

Key opinions

• Long-term approach: Deliverability is a process that unfolds over time, not an instant fix.
• Engagement is key: The simplest explanation for how deliverability works now is engagement, even though the definition of engagement is constantly evolving.
• Human-centric sending: Considering subscribers as human beings rather than just 'cows to milk' significantly improves deliverability outcomes.
• Quality over quantity: Targeted, relevant emails (like a 'cruise missile') are far more effective than mass, untargeted sends ('carpet bombing').

Key considerations

• Subscriber perception: A negative attitude towards subscribers, even internally, can manifest in email practices and be perceived by customers, harming deliverability.
• Continuous education: Many marketers, especially small business owners, are not yet fully aware of the critical role engagement plays in deliverability, highlighting the need for ongoing learning.
• Avoiding 'blast' mentality: The term 'blast' for email campaigns reflects an outdated attitude that negatively impacts deliverability, often leading to emails being flagged as spam. Understanding why emails go to spam is key.
• Measure deliverability: Your email deliverability rate measures how many of your messages are actually delivered to your members, compared to how many you sent.

Key opinions

• Filtering evolution: Current filtering technology has evolved significantly in recent years, confounding older models and requiring constant fine-tuning.
• No single blame: Poor deliverability is a result of multiple factors, and it's a gross oversimplification to attribute it to any one issue.
• Reputation building: Sender reputation is built over time through consistent good practices and is heavily influenced by how recipients interact with your emails.
• Authentication is vital: Protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are fundamental in verifying email legitimacy and preventing spoofing, playing a direct role in advanced email authentication.

Key considerations

• Ongoing fine-tuning: The email ecosystem will likely require more time for filters to stabilize enough for accurate deliverability modeling.
• Avoiding spam traps: It is paramount for maintaining good deliverability, as hitting these can severely damage sender reputation and lead to blocklisting.
• ISP-specific algorithms: Understanding and adapting to the varied filtering algorithms of different Internet Service Providers is crucial, as a universal approach is often ineffective.
• Technical foundation: Proper configuration of SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and infrastructure stability are as important as content for consistent email delivery. Consider the evolution of email deliverability in this context.

Key findings

• Authentication requirements: Modern email deliverability mandates robust authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify sender identity and combat abuse.
• Sender reputation impact: Successful email delivery is heavily dependent on a strong sender reputation, which is influenced by factors such as bounce rates, spam complaints, and positive engagement signals.
• Engagement metrics: User interactions, including opens and clicks, directly affect inbox placement; positive actions improve it, while negative actions like spam reports severely harm it.
• Content and frequency: The quality of email content and the frequency of sending significantly influence deliverability; low-quality or overly repetitive content can trigger spam filters.

Key considerations

• Comprehensive approach: Deliverability is not merely about server delivery but ensuring emails land directly in the recipient's primary inbox for true marketing effectiveness.
• Compliance is foundational: Adherence to anti-spam laws and regulations, coupled with transparent opt-in processes, is fundamental for legal compliance and sustaining high deliverability rates. A guide to Outlook's new sender requirements is essential.
• List hygiene: Maintaining a clean email list and segmenting audiences are critical practices for ensuring emails are sent to engaged recipients, as outlined by email deliverability best practices.
• Technical standards: A proper understanding and implementation of email authentication protocols is critical. Learn more about a simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.