Summary
The quest for the email marketing platform with the best email deliverability is a common challenge for marketers. While platform choice plays a role, it's often secondary to your own sending practices, data quality, and authentication setup. Many factors, including how you manage your lists, the content you send, and your engagement rates, heavily influence whether your emails reach the inbox. A platform can provide the infrastructure, but the ultimate success of your email program rests on your shoulders.
Key findings
- Primary influence: Your own practices, data quality, and marketing strategy are the most significant determinants of email deliverability, not solely the platform itself.
- Platform's role: An email service provider (ESP) provides the foundation, but its impact is mainly limited to whether it adheres to industry standards or harbors spammers. It can worsen deliverability but cannot inherently make it better than your deserved reputation.
- Authentication basics: Proper configuration of technical aspects like SPF, DMARC, and DKIM is fundamental for any platform.
- Dedicated IPs: Using a dedicated IP can significantly reduce the impact of other senders on a shared network, putting more control and responsibility on your own sending reputation.
- Shared domains: Even with dedicated IPs, reputation can be influenced by shared domains in DKIMs and tracking links, underscoring the need for aligned domains.
Key considerations
- Evaluate your needs: Before selecting a platform, understand your sending volume, list quality, and compliance requirements to determine if a shared or dedicated IP environment is best. Consider platforms with robust reporting.
- Invest in list hygiene: Maintaining a clean, engaged email list is paramount. High bounce rates, spam complaints, and low engagement will negatively impact your sender reputation, regardless of the platform.
- Focus on content and relevance: Deliverability is not just technical, it's about sending desired content to engaged recipients. Irrelevant or unwanted emails will lead to poor inbox placement.
- Review platform policies: Ensure the ESP's policies align with industry best practices and allow for your specific sending needs, particularly if considering a dedicated IP. For an overview of how deliverability operates, see how email deliverability works.
- Understand dedicated IP requirements: Some platforms, like Amazon, require a /24 subnet for bring-your-own-IP (BYO IP), not just a single IP address. This implies a need for higher sending volumes to justify and warm up such an IP range effectively. You can learn more about general deliverability test results and benchmarks from EmailTooltester's deliverability tests.
What email marketers say
Email marketers often seek the 'best' platform for deliverability, but many come to realize that their own sending practices and list quality are far more influential than the platform itself. While certain platforms may offer robust features, the consensus among marketers is that a platform cannot magically fix underlying issues with sender reputation or engagement. Marketers frequently share experiences and recommendations based on their direct interactions with various ESPs and the challenges they face in ensuring inbox placement.
Key opinions
- Self-responsibility: Many marketers acknowledge that an ESP cannot improve deliverability beyond what your own sending habits dictate, though a poor ESP can certainly degrade it.
- Dedicated IP control: Marketers find that using a dedicated IP can largely mitigate the negative effects of a platform with less reputable users.
- Platform selection: The key is to select an ESP that meets minimum industry standards and then focus on your own sending reputation to achieve optimal deliverability.
- Beyond IPs: Shared domains in DKIMs and tracking links are also significant sources of shared reputation, not just shared IPs, requiring marketers to ensure full domain alignment.
Key considerations
- Technical alignment: To minimize platform impact, marketers should ensure their own aligned domains are used in envelopes, DKIM, and tracking. Exploring tools for tracking overall deliverability is advised.
- Resource availability: A good ESP should offer valuable technical resources, like tools and knowledge bases, to help marketers improve their sophistication, not just increase volume.
- Human support: Look for platforms with responsive support staff who can react quickly to issues and guide you in becoming a better marketer. However, understand that even experts don't have a 'magic button' for instant fixes, and resolution times can vary.
- Choosing a platform: Focus on a platform that offers the best blend of features and support relevant to your specific marketing needs, rather than chasing a mythical 'best deliverability' button. For more on common issues, see email deliverability issues. One perspective on which providers have strong reputations is provided by Audience Point.
Email marketer from Email Geeks indicates that they are uncertain which platforms readily allow users to bring their own dedicated IP addresses, implying this can be a key feature for some senders.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that Brevo is an example of an email marketing platform that does allow clients to use their own dedicated IP addresses, highlighting this as a specific feature some users might seek.
What the experts say
Deliverability experts consistently underscore that while an email marketing platform provides crucial infrastructure, it is ultimately the sender's practices that govern inbox placement. Experts often caution against the misconception that a platform can somehow override poor sending habits or inadequate technical configurations. They highlight the nuances of sender reputation, the importance of maintaining compliance, and the critical role of engagement in achieving optimal deliverability, regardless of the ESP in use.
Key opinions
- Sender's responsibility: Experts agree that an ESP cannot inherently improve delivery beyond a sender's own deserved reputation. The platform can, however, degrade it if it fails to maintain standards or allows abusive users.
- Dedicated IP advantage: Using a dedicated IP significantly insulates a sender from the negative reputation of other users on the platform, assuming the sender maintains good practices.
- Comprehensive reputation: Reputation is not just about IPs; shared domains in DKIM and tracking links also contribute. Proper domain alignment across all sending elements is key.
- No magic button: There is no single platform with an automatic 'green button' for perfect deliverability. Success stems from consistent good practices and strategic choices.
- Beyond basics: While authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is essential, ongoing monitoring of domain reputation is equally critical for long-term inbox success. Check out understanding your email domain reputation.
Key considerations
- Platform standards: Choose an ESP that maintains high industry standards and has a clear anti-spam policy. While this doesn't guarantee deliverability, it prevents the platform from being a detriment.
- IP subnet requirements: For BYO IP, be aware that many providers, such as Amazon, require a /24 subnet for routing, meaning a larger block of IPs than just a single one.
- Focus on data and strategy: Prioritize high-quality data and a solid marketing strategy, as these are the most impactful factors for deliverability, far outweighing the inherent 'goodness' of any platform. If your emails are failing to deliver, this is a good starting point.
- Continuous effort: Deliverability is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and adaptation to evolving ISP rules. No single platform or setup guarantees lasting success without consistent effort. Leading deliverability expert, Spam Resource, consistently highlights this need for continuous engagement with evolving best practices.
Deliverability expert from Email Geeks states that the service provider's impact on deliverability is minimal, unless they fail to meet industry standards or host many spammers. Ultimately, data quality and marketing strategy are the primary drivers.
Deliverability expert from Email Geeks suggests that an ESP cannot improve delivery beyond what a sender's own practices warrant, but they can indeed make it worse. This emphasizes the sender's fundamental role.
What the documentation says
Technical documentation and industry reports often provide data-driven insights into email deliverability, emphasizing both platform capabilities and critical sender responsibilities. These sources typically detail the features platforms offer to aid deliverability, such as authentication support, blacklist monitoring, and warm-up features. However, they also implicitly, or explicitly, highlight that the ultimate success metrics, like inbox placement rates, are influenced heavily by the sender's adherence to best practices, list quality, and overall sender reputation.
Key findings
- Performance benchmarks: Industry tests often reveal specific deliverability rates for various platforms, indicating their baseline performance under controlled conditions.
- Feature emphasis: Documentation frequently showcases platform features designed to enhance deliverability, such as DMARC monitoring, blacklist (or blocklist) tracking, and email warm-up tools.
- Holistic tools: Beyond sending, many platforms integrate or recommend tools for deliverability testing, sender score checks, spam trap detection, and email tracking, which contribute to overall success.
- Delivery rate targets: A good email delivery rate is generally considered to be above 95%, with top-tier platforms sometimes reporting even higher averages.
Key considerations
- Reporting capabilities: Platforms that offer detailed deliverability reporting are invaluable for diagnosing issues and tracking performance, allowing marketers to understand their exact percentages and troubleshoot effectively. Our guide on deliverability features and reporting provides more detail.
- Integrated tools: While some platforms excel in deliverability, others might require integration with external tools for comprehensive testing and monitoring. Consider how a platform's built-in features compare to your needs for understanding blacklists.
- Budget and features: Certain platforms, like Brevo, are noted for being budget-friendly while combining various marketing functionalities. This highlights that high deliverability does not always equate to the highest cost, but rather the right feature set for your budget. ActiveCampaign's blog on email deliverability also reinforces the importance of using robust platforms for tracking.
Technical report from EmailTooltester.com states that ActiveCampaign has once again secured the top position in their email deliverability tests, achieving an impressive deliverability rate of 94.2% and earning their recognition for best performance.
Documentation from EmailTooltester.com recommends Glock Apps for email deliverability testing, noting it as an affordable and user-friendly toolset that effectively aids in enhancing email deliverability.
