Summary
Assessing the deliverability health of prospective email marketing clients is a critical step before engaging in a partnership. It helps identify potential red flags and understand the scope of work required. This assessment often combines technical checks with a deeper dive into a client's historical email practices and list management strategies.
Key findings
- Comprehensive assessment: A thorough deliverability health check typically involves both technical analysis and qualitative inquiries into a client's email practices. This comprehensive approach uncovers issues that simple tool checks might miss.
- Paid tools are valuable: While some preliminary checks can be done with free resources, advanced insights often require investing in specialized deliverability platforms. These tools provide deeper analytics into inbox placement, reputation, and authentication.
- Beyond technical: Many deliverability problems stem from non-technical, systemic issues such as poor list acquisition, incorrect segmentation, or a lack of engagement monitoring. Identifying these operational flaws is crucial for long-term success.
- Pre-engagement research: Before formal engagement, it is advisable to conduct preliminary research by subscribing to their newsletters, checking their email headers, and reviewing their sender domain reputation using tools like MxToolbox.
Key considerations
- Charge for discovery: Given the depth of investigation required, defining deliverability health can be a chargeable service, even if it's just for initial review and data analysis.
- Initial screening questions: Ask prospective clients about their email acquisition methods, frequency, content strategy, and any past deliverability challenges. This direct approach can quickly reveal potential red flags.
- Authentication checks: Verify the proper setup of key email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These are foundational for good deliverability and can be checked using free tools like the Word to the Wise authentication tool. Learn more about DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.
- Holistic view: Combine technical findings with an understanding of their business processes. This holistic view helps in accurately diagnosing issues and proposing effective solutions, rather than just treating symptoms.
What email marketers say
Email marketers often approach prospective client deliverability health with a blend of direct questioning, manual observation, and a keen eye for operational practices. They emphasize that while tools provide data, understanding the client's internal processes and historical behavior is paramount to identifying the root causes of deliverability challenges.
Key opinions
- Direct engagement is key: Many marketers find success by directly asking prospective clients about their email sending practices, including how they acquire lists and what problems they've encountered. This provides invaluable qualitative data.
- Manual checks: Subscribing to a client's newsletters and manually inspecting email headers is a common practice to gain initial insights into their sending setup and authentication.
- Focus on systemic issues: Beyond technical configurations, marketers emphasize the importance of identifying systemic issues such as poor list management, uninvited emails, or re-subscribing previously opted-out contacts. These are often the true culprits behind poor deliverability. Our guide on diagnosing deliverability issues elaborates on this.
- Intuition matters: Some seasoned marketers rely on their intuition, advising against ignoring gut feelings when a prospect seems questionable, even if initial data looks acceptable.
Key considerations
- Performance metrics request: Requesting typical performance metrics from clients can reveal a lot about their current deliverability health and email engagement.
- Website and signup review: Investigate their website for signup forms and workflows to understand their list collection practices. Hidden or unclear signup processes can indicate future problems.
- Billing for discovery: It is often suggested that any initial deliverability discovery work should be billed, as it requires significant effort and expertise to uncover potential issues.
- Leverage paid tools for depth: While free tools provide a surface-level view, tools like EDS, Inboxable, or Validity (email deliverability services) offer much deeper insights into deliverability health and are often considered worthwhile investments. For more on essential deliverability tools, check our resources.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that discovering the true deliverability health of a client is not a simple task and should often be considered a chargeable service. The effort involved in a thorough assessment goes beyond quick checks, necessitating deep investigation and analysis that justifies a fee.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks recommends subscribing to a prospective client's emails yourself to see what is under the hood directly. This hands-on approach allows for a direct observation of their email practices, content, and the actual inbox placement without relying solely on reported data.
What the experts say
Email deliverability experts emphasize a holistic view when assessing client health, moving beyond mere technical checks to uncover underlying systemic issues that often plague email programs. They advocate for a strategic approach, focusing on the processes and behaviors that dictate long-term deliverability performance.
Key opinions
- Systemic issues are primary: Experts consistently point out that many deliverability problems are not solely technical but are deeply rooted in a business's operational processes, such as poor list hygiene, sending unsolicited emails, or issues with re-subscriptions. Our guide on why emails go to spam delves into this.
- Value in diagnosis and recovery: The real value an expert provides lies in their ability to not only identify these underlying systemic causes but also to clearly communicate a viable path to recovery and sustained deliverability improvement.
- Proactive questioning: Successful assessment involves asking probing questions about a client's sending history, list collection practices, and their strategic goals. This helps in preemptively identifying potential pitfalls.
- Reputation is dynamic: Sender reputation is a critical, dynamic factor in deliverability, influenced by consistent sending patterns, engagement metrics, and complaint rates. Experts focus on strategies to improve and maintain a positive sender reputation.
Key considerations
- Technical audit: Conducting a comprehensive technical audit of a client's email infrastructure, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, is a foundational step. Ensure proper alignment and absence of common errors. Our guide on improving IP and domain reputation provides a detailed audit checklist.
- Engagement analysis: Analyze historical engagement data, including open rates, click-through rates, and complaint rates, to identify trends and potential issues with list quality or content relevance.
- Blacklist monitoring: Check for presence on significant blacklists (or blocklists) as this directly impacts deliverability. Understanding the cause of a blacklist listing is crucial for removal and preventing recurrence. Our blocklist checker can assist with this.
- ISP feedback loops: Verify if the client is utilizing ISP feedback loops to receive complaints, as this is vital for prompt list cleaning and reputation management.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that the core of deliverability issues often lies not in simple technical misconfigurations, but in deeply entrenched systemic problems within a client's email sending operations. These operational flaws, such as improper list acquisition or sending practices, require a more comprehensive diagnostic approach than just checking DNS records.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks emphasizes that identifying the root causes of deliverability problems, especially those stemming from non-technical factors, is crucial. The true value to a client comes from not just pointing out issues but also clearly outlining a path to recovery and long-term improvement.
What the documentation says
Official documentation and industry best practices highlight key technical and content-related factors crucial for email deliverability. They often emphasize the foundational role of email authentication, responsible sending practices, and consistent monitoring of performance metrics to ensure emails reliably reach the inbox.
Key findings
- Authentication is mandatory: Major ISPs and email platforms (e.g., Google, Yahoo) increasingly require robust email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for senders to ensure messages are delivered to the inbox and not marked as spam. Without proper setup, deliverability is severely hindered.
- Sender reputation is paramount: Documentation consistently states that sender reputation is a primary factor in deliverability. It is built on a history of positive sending behavior, low complaint rates, and high engagement from recipients. Our guide on Google Postmaster Tools explains how to monitor this.
- List hygiene is critical: Maintaining a clean and engaged email list is repeatedly emphasized. High bounce rates, especially hard bounces, and sending to spam traps or unengaged users significantly degrade deliverability and reputation.
- Engagement signals matter: Positive engagement (opens, clicks, replies, moving to inbox from spam) boosts sender reputation, while negative engagement (complaints, deletes without opening) signals poor sender quality to ISPs.
Key considerations
- Monitor performance metrics: Regularly track key metrics such as delivery rates, bounce rates, complaint rates, and inbox placement rates. These indicators provide a snapshot of deliverability health. For a proven checklist, see how to run an email deliverability test.
- Adherence to best practices: Comply with industry best practices for list acquisition (e.g., double opt-in), content quality, email frequency, and easy unsubscribe options. These practices directly impact recipient engagement and ISP trust.
- Content relevance: Ensure email content is relevant and valuable to subscribers. Generic or overly promotional content can lead to low engagement and higher spam complaints, affecting overall deliverability.
- Manage unengaged subscribers: Documentation suggests strategies for re-engaging or removing inactive subscribers from lists to prevent them from negatively impacting deliverability metrics and sender reputation.
Technical article
Documentation from Klaviyo Help Center outlines that deliverability performance can be evaluated using key metrics found in campaign trend reports, such as bounce rate, complaint rate, and email delivery rate. These provide quantitative insights into email success.
Technical article
Documentation from Salesforce emphasizes that the primary goal of good email deliverability is to ensure emails reach the inbox by minimizing spam flags, effectively managing complaints, and reducing bounce rates. This requires a comprehensive strategy covering all aspects of email sending.
Related resources
15 resources
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Related pages
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What are the essential tools and practices for email deliverability?
How to improve email IP and domain reputation and what to audit for deliverability?
How to run an email deliverability test: a proven checklist
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Google Postmaster Tools domain reputation: the ultimate guide for email marketers
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