How accurate are SNDS colors in reflecting email delivery performance?

Key findings

• Content-based evaluation: SNDS colors are primarily intended to represent how recipients react to your email content, not necessarily overall inbox placement.
• Volume dependency: The accuracy of SNDS colors is often tied to sending volume. Low volumes can lead to disproportionately skewed color readings due to small numbers of complaints or spam traps.
• Discrepancy with metrics: It is possible for SNDS colors to contradict other metrics, such as a high complaint rate occurring alongside a 'green' filter result. For more insights on this, read about why SNDS reports all green IPs with no uplift.
• Historical inconsistency: Past observations suggest that SNDS colors have appeared random or inconsistent, leading some to disregard them as unreliable indicators.
• Lag in reporting: SNDS data, including color codes, may not always reflect real-time behavior. This delay can obscure immediate deliverability issues.

Key considerations

• Holistic view: Do not rely on SNDS colors as the sole determinant of your email delivery performance. Combine this data with other metrics, such as complaint rates from your ESP, engagement data, and seed list testing.
• Threshold awareness: Understand the thresholds for each color (e.g., green for >90% inbox). Small fluctuations in low-volume sending can drastically change the color.
• Contextual analysis: Investigate underlying factors if colors seem contradictory, such as recent promotional sends or sudden increases in complaint rates. A 0.5% complaint rate is notably high, even if it doesn't immediately turn SNDS red. More detail on this can be found in this comprehensive guide to Microsoft SNDS.
• Volume requirements: For more reliable data from Microsoft, ensure you are sending a sufficient volume of emails. Consistency in sending volume and pattern also contributes to more stable reputation metrics.

Key opinions

• Unreliable indicators: Many marketers express that SNDS colors are unreliable and can even appear random, making them difficult to trust for precise deliverability assessments.
• Content focus: The consensus is that the colors primarily reflect user reactions to content, rather than comprehensive inbox placement.
• Volume sensitivity: For low sending volumes, the colors are considered particularly untrustworthy, as even minor issues can disproportionately skew the results. This aligns with discussions on SNDS data contradictions during IP warming.
• Inconsistent reporting: Marketers observe that identical metrics (e.g., volume, complaint rate) can yield different SNDS color results on different days, highlighting a lack of consistent correlation.
• General indication: While not precise, some marketers believe that with consistent sending behavior and sufficient volume, the colors can generally reflect a sender's overall profile. This perspective is echoed in broader conversations about email marketing automation and deliverability.

Key considerations

• Beyond colors: Marketers should focus on core metrics like complaint rates, bounce rates, and engagement data over the subjective color indications.
• Complaint rate importance: A 0.5% complaint rate is considered high by many and should trigger an investigation into list hygiene or content relevance, regardless of the SNDS color.
• Spam trap monitoring: Even if SNDS shows zero trap hits, marketers should actively monitor for spam traps through other means.
• Volume impact: Recognize that low volumes make SNDS colors less reliable and focus on building consistent sending reputation over time.

Key opinions

• Content-based signals: Experts agree that SNDS colors are designed to reflect how users react to the message content, emphasizing content quality over other sending factors.
• Volume limitations: A critical point raised by experts is that SNDS data, especially the color coding, becomes less trustworthy at low sending volumes. Microsoft may struggle to build a reliable reputation profile under such conditions. For more on this, see why Outlook.com deliverability is inconsistent.
• Discrepancy with delivery: Some experts state explicitly that SNDS colors do not reliably indicate where mail is being delivered (inbox vs. spam folder).
• High complaint rate impact: A 0.5% complaint rate is widely considered high, and experts anticipate delivery problems with such rates, even if SNDS reports a favorable color. This aligns with advice on improving deliverability practices.
• Credibility with certification: For senders with Validity Certification and high daily volumes (thousands), experts observe that the SNDS color often aligns well with the reported spam percentage, suggesting better accuracy under specific conditions.

Key considerations

• Data point, not definitive: View SNDS colors as one data point among many, rather than a definitive statement on deliverability.
• Contextual analysis: Always consider the sending volume when interpreting SNDS colors. Low volumes are prone to random or misleading indications.
• Investigate high complaints: Prioritize investigating and resolving high complaint rates (e.g., 0.5%) as they are a strong indicator of deliverability issues, irrespective of the SNDS color. For issues with Microsoft, explore what a red filter means in SNDS.
• Broader monitoring: Supplement SNDS data with other reputation tools and engagement metrics to gain a more complete and accurate picture of email performance, as discussed by industry experts at WordtotheWise.

Key findings

• Spam filtering results: SNDS colors are primarily a visual aggregation of spam filtering results, categorizing the percentage of emails marked as spam.
• Color thresholds: Documentation defines specific thresholds for each color, for example, green often means more than 90% inbox placement, while red indicates less than 10%.
• Holistic insights: SNDS offers in-depth insights into email deliverability and sender behaviors, which extend beyond just the color-coded summary. These include more detailed metrics that can provide a clearer picture.
• Sender reputation tool: SNDS is positioned as a powerful tool for understanding sender reputation, indicating that the colors are a component of a larger reputation analysis system. You can also explore SNDS and Google Postmaster Tools reputation data accuracy.

Key considerations

• Complementary data: Documentation implies that the color-coded graphs should be used in conjunction with other SNDS data, such as complaint rates and spam trap information, for a more complete assessment.
• Contextual understanding: While colors provide a quick glance, a deeper understanding requires analyzing the underlying percentages and metrics provided by SNDS.
• Proactive monitoring: The existence of these tools encourages senders to proactively monitor their reputation and respond to changes in their filtering results.
• Integration with strategies: SNDS data should be integrated into broader email deliverability strategies to improve inbox placement and sender reputation. Mailgun provides a guide on understanding sender reputation with Microsoft SNDS.