Summary
Effectively managing email deliverability in business partnerships hinges on safeguarding shared IP and domain reputation through a unified commitment to best practices. This involves strategically delegating distinct subdomains to external sending entities to isolate potential issues and protect the root domain. All partners must rigorously adhere to foundational email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, maintain meticulous list hygiene, and consistently send relevant, desired content. Close monitoring of engagement metrics and prompt removal of unengaged subscribers or bounced addresses are crucial. By establishing clear communication, shared responsibilities, and a collective focus on delivering valuable email, partners can jointly uphold a strong sender reputation and ensure messages reach the inbox reliably.
Key findings
- Subdomain Isolation: Utilizing subdomains, such as email.brand.com, is a standard and effective practice for delegating sending to an ESP, as it prevents the root domain from being negatively impacted if deliverability issues arise on the subdomain.
- Shared Reputation: In business partnerships, IP and domain reputation are collective assets. Factors like sending volume, spam complaints, bounce rates, and user engagement from any sending party can significantly influence this shared reputation.
- Authentication Imperative: Robust email authentication protocols, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, are fundamental for protecting domain reputation, verifying legitimate sending sources, preventing spoofing, and informing mailbox providers on handling unauthenticated emails.
- Consistent Best Practices: Maintaining a strong sender reputation across a partnership requires consistent adherence to best practices by all parties, including sending only to engaged recipients, promptly removing invalid addresses, and ensuring content relevance.
- Risks of Shared Resources: Lending IP space or domains for short-term use to another entity carries significant risks, as poor sending practices by the partner can quickly and severely damage the established reputation of your IP and domain.
- Brand Accountability: Ultimately, the brand whose name is on the email holds the primary responsibility for the sending reputation, even when other entities are sending on their behalf, emphasizing the need for diligent oversight of partner practices.
Key considerations
- Subdomain Delegation: Delegate distinct subdomains, such as esp1.domain and esp2.domain, to different Email Service Providers or partners for proper email management and to compartmentalize potential reputation issues.
- Partner Oversight: Establish clear sending guidelines, regularly audit partner sending behavior, and ensure all contributing parties adhere to best practices like list hygiene, consent management, and continuous engagement monitoring.
- IP and Subdomain Warming: When utilizing new IPs or subdomains, warm them up gradually to establish consistent frequency, volume, and content patterns with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), thereby mitigating initial deliverability risks.
- Communication and Collaboration: Foster clear communication channels, define shared responsibilities, and encourage collaborative troubleshooting among partners to ensure consistent adherence to sending policies and swift resolution of any deliverability issues.
- Content Quality and Engagement: All partners must prioritize sending relevant, desired emails, avoiding spammy language, and providing clear unsubscribe options, as high-quality content directly impacts user engagement and sender reputation.
- IP Choice for Control: Carefully choose between shared and dedicated IPs; while shared IPs can benefit from others' good reputation, dedicated IPs offer more control over reputation, ideal for high-volume or critical email streams.
What email marketers say
12 marketer opinions
Successful email deliverability in collaborative business ventures demands a proactive approach to managing sender reputation, particularly across shared domains and IPs. It is essential for all parties to commit to rigorous email authentication, maintain pristine subscriber lists, and prioritize sending valuable, engaging content. Strategic use of subdomains can help isolate any potential reputation issues, while careful selection of IP types, whether shared or dedicated, plays a significant role. Partners must establish clear guidelines, share responsibilities, and continuously monitor performance to jointly uphold a strong sending reputation and ensure messages consistently reach the inbox.
Key opinions
- Subdomain Shielding: Using distinct subdomains is a key strategy to protect the primary domain from negative reputation fallout caused by deliverability issues or partner sending activities.
- Collective Reputation Impact: The sending practices of any partner, including their list quality, engagement metrics, and complaint rates, directly influence the collective reputation of shared IPs and domains, impacting all involved parties.
- Authentication's Role: Robust email authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are fundamental for verifying sender legitimacy and are critical for maintaining trust with mailbox providers, especially in multi-party sending scenarios.
- List Hygiene Imperative: Maintaining exceptionally clean email lists, by consistently removing invalid or unengaged addresses and honoring unsubscribe requests, is paramount to preventing bounces and spam complaints that degrade sender reputation.
- IP Strategy Significance: The choice between shared and dedicated IPs is crucial for partnerships; dedicated IPs offer greater control over reputation, while shared IPs mean collective responsibility for the actions of all senders on that IP.
- Shared Responsibility for Practices: All entities involved in sending emails under a shared domain or IP must uniformly adhere to best practices to protect the collective sender reputation and ensure deliverability across the partnership.
Key considerations
- Clear Domain Delegation: Establish explicit policies for domain delegation, ideally using separate subdomains for partner-specific sending to isolate potential reputation issues.
- Joint Practice Adherence: Ensure all partners commit to and consistently implement core best practices, including robust authentication, stringent list hygiene, and diligent monitoring of engagement metrics.
- Strategic IP Selection: Carefully evaluate whether shared or dedicated IPs are more suitable for the partnership's sending volume and critical nature of emails, prioritizing control for high-stakes communications.
- Proactive Reputation Monitoring: Continuously monitor key deliverability metrics, blacklist status, and partner sending behavior to swiftly identify and address any issues that could negatively impact shared IP and domain reputation.
- IP and Subdomain Onboarding: When introducing new IPs or subdomains, undertake a gradual warming process to build a positive sending history and establish trust with Internet Service Providers.
- Unified Communication Strategy: Foster open communication and define clear responsibilities among partners to ensure consistent adherence to sending policies, resolve deliverability challenges collaboratively, and manage consent effectively.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that the purpose of using a subdomain like email.brand.com is to prevent the root domain from being negatively affected if deliverability issues arise, making subdomain delegation to an ESP a standard practice. They also advise against allowing another company to send on your IP unless it's a shared ESP environment, suggesting they get their own or a clean, warmed IP.
2 Nov 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that top-level domains might affect subdomain performance and deliverability, citing personal experience with SPF failures related to root domain IP listings. They recommend using a separate subdomain for transactional emails and warming the new IP to establish frequency, volume, and content patterns with ISPs, thereby mitigating risks.
18 Jun 2022 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Maintaining strong email deliverability within business partnerships requires a collective approach to managing sender reputation, particularly across shared domains and IP addresses. It's crucial for the brand to strategically delegate distinct subdomains to various sending entities, such as ESPs or affiliates, to help isolate any potential negative impacts on deliverability. While all parties share responsibility for sending practices, the brand whose identity is associated with the email bears the ultimate accountability. Therefore, diligent oversight, adherence to best practices, and a clear understanding of the risks involved in lending sending infrastructure are paramount to preserving a healthy sender reputation.
Key opinions
- Subdomain Independence: SPF records for a subdomain operate independently of the root domain, meaning delegating a subdomain to an Email Service Provider for sending is a standard practice that should not negatively affect the ESP's or root domain's reputation.
- Ultimate Brand Accountability: While partners share responsibility for sending practices, the brand name on the email ultimately holds the greatest responsibility for its sending reputation, necessitating careful oversight of all third-party sending.
- Risks of Shared Sending Infrastructure: Lending your IP space or domains, even for short-term use, to a business partner can severely and quickly damage your established sender reputation if the partner engages in poor sending practices.
- Complexities in Affiliate Models: Managing email reputation in models like affiliate marketing is particularly challenging due to the diverse sending methods affiliates may employ, requiring brands to actively monitor and ensure good practices to protect their deliverability.
- Necessity for Distinct Subdomains: When multiple entities send emails on behalf of the same brand, using distinct subdomains for each sender- such as esp1.domain and esp2.domain- is recommended for proper email management and to compartmentalize potential reputation issues.
Key considerations
- Strategic Subdomain Allocation: Assign distinct subdomains to each external entity or ESP sending on your brand's behalf, like esp1.domain or partner.domain, to maintain clear control and isolate any potential reputation issues.
- Rigorous Partner Oversight: Implement robust monitoring and clear guidelines for all partners, especially in complex models like affiliate marketing, to ensure they adhere to best sending practices and protect your brand's deliverability.
- Caution with Infrastructure Sharing: Exercise extreme caution when considering lending your established IP space or domains to partners, as their poor sending practices can swiftly and severely degrade your sender reputation.
- Shared Responsibility Framework: Establish a clear framework where both the brand and its sending partners understand their shared responsibility for maintaining a positive sender reputation through consistent adherence to deliverability best practices.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks clarifies that SPF on a subdomain should not be impacted by the root domain's SPF. They confirm that assigning a subdomain to an ESP is a completely normal and standard configuration that should not affect the ESP's reputation. They also recommend that if multiple entities are sending emails for the same brand, they should use distinct subdomains, such as esp1.domain and esp2.domain, for proper email management.
26 Mar 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that managing email reputation in affiliate marketing-a form of business partnership-is challenging because affiliates often use various sending methods, potentially damaging the brand's sending reputation. It's crucial for the brand to monitor and ensure affiliates maintain good sending practices to protect their own deliverability.
24 Sep 2022 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Effective email deliverability within business partnerships depends on a collective commitment to maintaining excellent IP and domain reputation. This means all entities sending on behalf of a shared domain or IP address must consistently adhere to best practices. Foundational elements include robust email authentication through SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, coupled with vigilant monitoring of key reputation metrics. By prioritizing relevant content, managing subscriber engagement, and meticulously cleaning lists, partners can jointly safeguard their shared sending infrastructure and ensure messages consistently reach the inbox.
Key findings
- Shared Reputational Impact: In business partnerships, the actions of any entity sending emails, including factors like sending volume, spam complaints, bounce rates, and user engagement, directly influence the collective IP and domain reputation.
- Authentication as Foundation: Robust email authentication, specifically SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, is a foundational best practice for protecting domain reputation, verifying legitimate sending sources, and preventing spoofing, especially when multiple parties send on a shared domain.
- Reputation Metrics Significance: Sender reputation is determined by various critical factors, including consistent sending practices, low complaint rates, avoidance of invalid addresses and spam traps, and proper authentication status.
- Consistency in Practices: Maintaining a strong sender reputation requires all parties to consistently send desired emails, use valid reverse DNS records, and quickly remove bounced or unengaged addresses.
- Collective Responsibility: For shared sending infrastructure, all partners' actions contribute to the collective reputation, underscoring the need for collaborative adherence to best practices to maintain trust with recipient mail servers.
Key considerations
- Unified Practice Adherence: All parties involved in sending emails on behalf of a shared domain or IP must strictly adhere to consistent best practices, including maintaining low complaint rates, avoiding suspicious sending patterns, and ensuring proper email authentication.
- Comprehensive Authentication: Implement and enforce robust email authentication protocols, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, across all sending entities to verify legitimacy and preserve domain trustworthiness.
- Diligent List Management: Prioritize sending only to engaged recipients, quickly removing bounced or unengaged addresses, and providing clear unsubscribe options to maintain a healthy sender reputation and avoid spam complaints.
- Ongoing Reputation Monitoring: Regularly monitor key deliverability metrics, such as sending volume, complaint rates, bounce rates, and user engagement, using tools like Google Postmaster Tools or Microsoft Exchange Online Protection, to proactively identify and address potential issues.
- Content Quality Focus: Ensure all sent content is relevant, desired, and not flagged as spam, as content quality directly impacts user engagement and overall sender reputation.
Technical article
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help explains that a sender's IP and domain reputation are crucial for email deliverability, influenced by factors like sending volume, spam complaints, bounce rates, and user engagement. Maintaining a good reputation requires consistent sending practices, avoiding sending to invalid addresses, and ensuring content is relevant and not flagged as spam, which is critical when multiple parties or partners are sending from shared infrastructure or domains.
5 Apr 2023 - Google Postmaster Tools Help
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft Learn shares that maintaining a good sender reputation in Exchange Online Protection involves consistently sending desired email, using a valid reverse DNS record, avoiding sending to bad addresses, and using good sender authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). For business partnerships, this implies that all parties sending on behalf of the domain or IP must adhere to these practices to prevent negative impact on the shared reputation.
11 Dec 2022 - Microsoft Learn
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