Are COVID-19 related emails causing deliverability issues?

Key findings

• Content Neutrality: Emails containing COVID-19 or Coronavirus terms were not inherently blocked by spam filters. Filters rely on broader sender reputation and engagement signals, not just single keywords. This is often an area of confusion for email senders. Find out if specific spam words still affect email deliverability.
• Volume Surges: The overall increase in email volume during the pandemic put a strain on Mailbox Providers, leading to potential delays but not direct content-based blocklisting. Learn more about how email volume spikes can affect deliverability.
• List Hygiene: The biggest deliverability issues arose from senders reactivating old, unengaged, or opted-out email lists, which resulted in higher spam complaints and bounces. This practice can lead to hitting spam traps, significantly harming your sender reputation.
• Reputation Focus: Mailbox providers continued to prioritize sender reputation, IP, domain, and authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) when evaluating emails, rather than specific crisis-related keywords.

Key considerations

• Audience Engagement: Prioritize sending to engaged recipients. Avoid reactivating dormant or unconfirmed lists, as this can severely harm sender reputation and lead to blacklisting. See how you can maintain high deliverability even when sending COVID-19 communications.
• Authentication: Ensure proper email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are in place. These foundational elements are crucial for establishing trust with Mailbox Providers.
• Monitoring: Regularly monitor your sender reputation and deliverability metrics, including bounce rates and spam complaint rates, to quickly identify and address issues.
• Content Relevance: Even with crisis-related emails, ensure content remains relevant and provides clear value to the recipient to maintain engagement and avoid spam complaints.

Key opinions

• Unexpected Drops: Some marketers experienced sudden drops in inbox placement for emails containing COVID-19 messaging, despite previously good sender reputation. This can occur for many reasons, including a sudden drop in domain reputation.
• UTM Concerns: There were isolated reports of issues with Microsoft filtering emails that contained COVID-related terms in UTM parameters. This is rare and typically not the direct cause of deliverability issues.
• Spam Button Risk: Marketers worried that recipients marking irrelevant COVID-19 emails as spam could inadvertently "train" spam filters to associate the topic with unwanted mail, leading to a high spam rate.
• ML Intelligence: Questions arose about the intelligence of machine learning algorithms in discerning legitimate COVID-19 communication from spam, particularly amidst high bounce rates from old lists.

Key considerations

• List Quality: Re-engaging old, opted-out, or non-existent email addresses for critical updates can severely damage your sender reputation. Focus on clean, engaged lists to maintain good deliverability.
• Content Monitoring: While not the sole factor, be mindful of how certain keywords, especially when combined with poor sending practices, might contribute to perceived "spamminess" and prompt recipient complaints.
• User Feedback: Pay close attention to spam complaints and unsubscribe rates, as these are strong signals to Mailbox Providers about the quality and relevance of your mail. Understanding how to maintain high email deliverability is vital.
• ISP Capacity: Acknowledge that Internet Service Providers and Email Service Providers might be under increased load during crises, which could affect delivery times or processing of emails.

Key opinions

• No Direct Blocking: Experts found no evidence of COVID-related content directly causing email blocks. Mailbox providers did not implement blanket blocks on emails mentioning the virus.
• Old List Impact: Issues primarily arose from companies reactivating aged or opted-out email addresses, leading to high complaint rates and poor engagement. This practice can significantly impact deliverability and sender reputation.
• ML Sophistication: Mailbox provider machine learning (ML) algorithms are too advanced to broadly filter based on a single word or phrase (like COVID-19), especially when that term is common in both legitimate and illegitimate mail.
• Fundamental Metrics: Spam filters prioritize sender reputation, IP address, domain, authentication, and overall message stream rather than specific content terms when making filtering decisions. This comprehensive approach minimizes false positives.
• ISP Coping: Major Email Service Providers (ESPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were primarily focused on managing the immense increase in email volume, indicating a systemic pressure rather than content-specific filtering.

Key considerations

• List Hygiene is Paramount: Continuously clean and segment your email lists to avoid sending to dormant or invalid addresses. Spam traps lurking in old lists are particularly damaging and contribute to deliverability issues.
• Reputation Management: Focus on maintaining a strong sender reputation through consistent engagement, low complaint rates, and proper authentication. This forms the bedrock of good inbox placement. Discover how email sending was affected by COVID.
• Authenticity over Keywords: Content filters are designed to identify malicious patterns and deceptive practices, not to block emails about a globally relevant topic simply because a keyword is present.
• Provider Behavior: Understand that most providers reject hard bounces (to non-existent addresses) before processing message content, reinforcing the importance of list quality over content for initial delivery decisions. This is key to getting your messages to the inbox.

Key findings

• Holistic Filtering: Mailbox providers use a wide range of signals (sender reputation, IP history, domain health, authentication) to filter email, not just keywords or content. This sophisticated approach ensures accuracy.
• User Engagement is Key: High spam complaint rates and low engagement are strong negative signals that can trigger filtering, regardless of the message's topic. Monitoring these metrics is crucial.
• List Validation: Documentation emphasizes the critical importance of sending only to confirmed opt-in recipients and regularly validating email lists to avoid bounces and spam traps. This practice protects your sender reputation.
• Authentication Standards: Adherence to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is consistently highlighted as crucial for establishing sender legitimacy and improving deliverability across all email types. A simple guide to email authentication can help.

Key considerations

• Do not abuse urgency: Avoid using crisis-related content as an excuse to send to unengaged or questionable lists. This will backfire and severely harm your deliverability, regardless of the message's importance.
• Monitor Feedback Loops: Pay attention to feedback from Mailbox Providers regarding spam complaints and bounces to adapt your sending strategy. These signals are direct indicators of recipient dissatisfaction.
• Transparent Messaging: Even with critical information, emails should be clear, concise, and provide value to the recipient to maintain trust and engagement. Avoid sensationalism or misleading subject lines.
• Technical Compliance: Ensure your email infrastructure and sending practices comply with technical standards to avoid basic filtering hurdles. Strong technical setup reinforces sender legitimacy with MBPs. Ongage provides further information on improving email deliverability during a crisis.