Summary
Auditing email performance and identifying expert assistance are critical steps for any sender aiming to maintain high inbox placement. This requires looking beyond the basic reporting provided by email service providers (ESPs) and delving into technical configurations, sender reputation, and ongoing monitoring.
Key findings
- Limited ESP visibility: Many ESPs offer basic reporting, but a comprehensive audit often requires third-party tools and expert insights to uncover hidden issues like blocklist listings or specific inbox placement challenges.
- Importance of specialists: Deliverability experts can provide deep analysis, troubleshoot complex problems, and guide senders through necessary technical adjustments, such as improving IP and domain reputation.
- Ongoing monitoring: While an audit is a snapshot, continuous monitoring with specialized tools is crucial for long-term deliverability health and proactive issue detection, including blocklist monitoring.
- Transactional email impact: Issues with deliverability can severely affect critical transactional messages, such as billing notifications, leading to significant business consequences.
Key considerations
- Scope of audit: Determine if you need a one-time audit or ongoing support, and whether the focus is on specific email types (e.g., transactional) or overall email program health. For more detail, read Mailgun's guide on how to conduct a comprehensive email deliverability audit.
- Expert vs. tools: Consider whether your needs are best met by direct consulting with an expert, by implementing a third-party deliverability tool, or a combination of both.
- Provider capabilities: If using multiple ESPs, ensure that any chosen expert or tool can provide a holistic view across all sending platforms.
- Data integration: Evaluate how easily external tools or consultants can integrate with your existing email infrastructure and provide actionable insights from their data.
What email marketers say
Email marketers frequently encounter situations where their internal ESP reporting falls short, especially when dealing with multiple sending providers or urgent transactional emails. They often seek external perspectives and tools to gain deeper insights and effectively troubleshoot issues affecting their inbox placement.
Key opinions
- Beyond basic UI: Many marketers find that the standard UI reports from their ESPs do not provide sufficient detail to understand why emails are not reaching the inbox or if IPs are blacklisted.
- Need for third-party tools: There is a strong desire for third-party tools that can offer ongoing monitoring and alerting for issues like IP blocklisting and general inbox placement.
- Consultant value: Marketers value the guidance of deliverability experts for initial setup and in-depth troubleshooting, especially for complex email infrastructures.
- Impact on critical emails: Concerns are frequently raised about deliverability problems affecting transactional messages, which can have immediate negative business impacts.
Key considerations
- Holistic view: When using multiple email providers, marketers need solutions that offer a unified view of deliverability across all platforms. More information about finding deliverability expert and vendor recommendations can be found here.
- Proactive vs. reactive: Beyond fixing existing problems, marketers should prioritize tools and services that enable proactive monitoring to prevent future issues. Explore tools for tracking all-round email deliverability.
- Cost-effectiveness: Evaluating the return on investment for both expert consulting fees and recurring tool subscriptions is essential for budget planning.
- Expert vs. DIY approach: While some companies prefer to handle audits internally, the complexity of deliverability often necessitates external expertise. Usebouncer discusses who an email deliverability consultant is.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that their team needs a deliverability expert to audit their various email streams, which are sent through different providers, beyond what they can see in the UI's reporting.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks highlights the desire to check if any of their IPs are blocked or if they have major issues reaching inboxes, noting that this seems to be affecting transactional messages, like billing.
What the experts say
Deliverability experts provide deep, technical insights that go beyond standard marketing metrics. They stress the importance of understanding the underlying infrastructure, reputation signals, and the constantly evolving rules of mailbox providers to ensure consistent inbox placement.
Key opinions
- Infrastructure is key: Experts consistently point to proper technical setup, including authentication protocols like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM, as foundational for good deliverability.
- Reputation is paramount: Sender reputation, encompassing IP, domain, and content, is a primary driver of inbox placement, requiring careful management and monitoring.
- Data-driven diagnosis: Relying on granular data from postmaster tools and third-party monitoring services is crucial for accurately diagnosing deliverability issues.
- Continuous adaptation: Mailbox provider algorithms and policies are always changing, so experts emphasize the need for ongoing vigilance and adaptation in email sending practices.
Key considerations
- Audit depth: An expert audit should cover everything from DNS records to content, list hygiene, and sending patterns. For more information, read our guide on finding a DMARC professional.
- Strategic guidance: Beyond identifying problems, a good expert provides actionable strategies for improvement and long-term deliverability health. You can also explore our expert guide to improve email deliverability.
- Vendor neutrality: Consider experts who are not tied to a specific ESP, as they can offer unbiased recommendations across different platforms.
- Long-term partnership: For complex senders, a continuous relationship with a deliverability expert can be more beneficial than one-off consultations, helping navigate evolving challenges. Visit SpamResource for more expert insights.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that a comprehensive audit should always begin with a thorough review of email authentication records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to ensure proper configuration and alignment.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks emphasizes the critical importance of understanding sender reputation metrics, not just at the domain level, but also for individual IP addresses and specific sending behaviors.
What the documentation says
Official documentation from major email service providers and industry bodies consistently highlights the importance of adhering to best practices, implementing email authentication, and leveraging available tools for monitoring and diagnosing deliverability issues. This guidance is crucial for understanding baseline requirements and advanced troubleshooting.
Key findings
- Authentication basics: Documentation frequently emphasizes the necessity of properly configured SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to prevent spoofing and ensure messages are authenticated by receiving servers.
- Monitoring tools: Many platforms provide or recommend tools, such as Google Postmaster Tools, for senders to monitor their domain reputation, spam rates, and delivery errors directly. For example, read our ultimate guide to Google Postmaster Tools V2.
- Content quality: Guidelines often touch upon the importance of relevant, engaging content and avoiding practices commonly associated with spam, which can trigger filters.
- Engagement metrics: Documentation suggests that positive engagement (opens, clicks) and low complaint rates are strong signals for good sender reputation, while the opposite can harm deliverability.
Key considerations
- Regular audits: Official advice often recommends periodic self-audits of sending practices against published best practices and compliance requirements. Learn more about an in-depth guide to email blocklists.
- Understanding guidelines: Senders should thoroughly understand and adhere to the specific postmaster guidelines and requirements of major mailbox providers (e.g., Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo).
- Utilizing feedback loops: Documentation often encourages senders to sign up for and use Complaint Feedback Loops (FBLs) provided by mailbox providers to quickly identify and address high complaint rates.
- Leveraging third-party tools: Many documentation sources acknowledge that third-party deliverability monitoring tools can complement native ESP reporting and Postmaster Tools for a more complete picture. Klaviyo's help center provides a reference for third-party deliverability monitoring tools.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailgun states that a comprehensive email deliverability audit should thoroughly review the sender's reputation, infrastructure, and campaign content to identify any potential issues affecting email delivery.
Technical article
Klaviyo documentation explains that continuous monitoring of email performance, often with the aid of third-party tools, is essential for both improving and consistently maintaining good email deliverability over time.
Related resources
15 resources
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