Summary
A decline in email sender score signals underlying deliverability issues, most commonly tied to a negative impact on sender reputation, low recipient engagement, and increased risk factors such as spam complaints or bounce rates. While some experts advise against overly focusing on proprietary 'sender score' metrics, recognizing that major providers often use broader reputation signals for filtering, the principles for improving a flagging score remain consistent. Troubleshooting necessitates a comprehensive strategy centered on robust email authentication, diligent list hygiene, fostering strong subscriber engagement, and meticulous content optimization to rebuild trust with mailbox providers and recipients.
Key findings
- Proprietary Metric vs. Reputation: While many discuss 'sender score,' the term often refers to proprietary metrics like ReturnPath's SenderScore, which some experts argue is not a primary filtering factor for major email providers. However, the broader concept of overall sender reputation, influenced by many factors, is universally critical to deliverability.
- Underlying Causes: A dropping sender score fundamentally indicates issues such as escalating spam complaints, high bounce rates, low user engagement, or hitting spam traps, all of which negatively impact IP and domain reputation.
- Three Pillars of Deliverability: Deliverability experts often categorize the core issues impacting sender score into the '3 Rs' of deliverability: Reputation, Recipient Engagement, and Risk, providing a holistic framework for understanding and addressing the problem.
Key considerations
- Implement Strong Authentication: Ensure all emails are properly authenticated using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify sender identity and prevent spoofing, which is a foundational element of good deliverability.
- Maintain Pristine List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists by removing unengaged or invalid addresses, avoid purchasing lists, and utilize double opt-in for new subscribers to ensure high list quality and reduce bounce rates.
- Prioritize Subscriber Engagement: Send valuable, relevant, and personalized content. Segment your audience to deliver targeted messages and closely monitor engagement metrics, such as open and click-through rates, as these signal subscriber interest.
- Minimize Negative Feedback: Actively manage and work to reduce bounce rates, spam complaints, and unsubscribe rates, as these negative signals severely damage sender reputation and impact sender score.
- Optimize Email Content: Craft compelling content that avoids spam trigger words and aligns with recipient expectations. Conduct A/B testing to refine your campaigns and ensure maximum engagement.
- Manage Sending Volume: Maintain consistent sending volumes and, when introducing new IPs, perform a proper IP warm-up process to gradually build a positive sending reputation with mailbox providers.
- Monitor Your Reputation: Routinely check for placement on major blocklists and leverage specialized tools to actively monitor your sender reputation, allowing for proactive intervention if issues arise.
- Facilitate Easy Unsubscription: Provide a clear, visible, and simple unsubscribe option in all emails. This allows disengaged subscribers to opt out gracefully, which is preferable to them marking your emails as spam.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
Addressing a falling email sender score necessitates a multi-pronged strategy, primarily focusing on improving list quality, enhancing subscriber engagement, and ensuring technical compliance to restore sender reputation. Experts advise a deep dive into recent sending activities, including volume changes and content adjustments, alongside running inboxing reports to diagnose the root cause. Key actions involve meticulous list hygiene, employing double opt-in for new subscribers, and segmenting audiences to ensure highly relevant and personalized content. Fundamental to recovery is robust domain authentication with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, along with the proactive management of negative feedback through clear unsubscribe options and consistent monitoring of engagement metrics and sender reputation tools.
Key opinions
- Immediate Diagnostics: When a sender score drops, the first step is often to run inboxing reports and review recent sending patterns for anomalies, such as sudden volume increases, sending to old lists, or new content that might trigger spam filters.
- Holistic Assessment: A dip in sender score frequently indicates a broader problem across list health, content relevance, or technical setup, requiring a comprehensive review rather than a single fix.
- Engagement as a Barometer: Consistent monitoring of engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and complaint rates is crucial, as these are direct signals to mailbox providers about email quality and recipient interest.
Key considerations
- Fortify List Hygiene: Implement rigorous list cleaning practices, utilize double opt-in for new subscribers, and proactively remove unengaged users to maintain a high-quality, consent-based list.
- Ensure Domain Authentication: Authenticate all sending domains with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to build trust with internet service providers and prevent email spoofing.
- Optimize Content for Engagement: Create personalized, relevant, and valuable email content that avoids spam trigger words, and segment audiences to deliver highly targeted messages. Consider A/B testing to refine content effectiveness.
- Manage Sending Behavior: Maintain consistent sending volumes and properly warm up any new IP addresses to gradually build a positive sending reputation, avoiding sudden spikes that can trigger filters.
- Facilitate Easy Opt-Out: Always provide a clear and easily accessible unsubscribe link to allow disengaged recipients to opt out gracefully, which is preferable to them marking emails as spam.
- Monitor Sender Reputation: Regularly use specialized tools to track sender reputation metrics and overall deliverability, enabling prompt identification and resolution of potential issues.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks asks if engagement is dropping on transactional emails or if there are other noticeable issues. He also suggests running an inboxing report to confirm deliverability when a sender score is tanking.
21 Mar 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog explains that to troubleshoot a dropping sender score, focus on consistent list hygiene, employing double opt-in, thorough audience segmentation, content personalization, avoiding trigger words, and regularly monitoring sender reputation with specialized tools.
19 Sep 2021 - ActiveCampaign Blog
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
A decline in email sender score signals crucial issues impacting your email deliverability, predominantly tied to negative shifts in sender reputation, recipient engagement, or increased sending risks. While some experts caution against overemphasizing specific proprietary 'sender score' metrics, recognizing that major email providers rely more on a comprehensive assessment of sender reputation for filtering, the methods for improving a flagging score remain consistent. Addressing such a drop involves a detailed investigation into factors like high bounce rates, increased spam complaints, and low subscriber interaction, along with implementing a robust strategy for list hygiene, content optimization, and ensuring strong email authentication.
Key opinions
- Sender Score Nuance: The term 'sender score' often refers to proprietary metrics that may not directly influence filtering decisions by major email providers; however, the underlying concept of overall sender reputation remains vital.
- Core Deliverability Pillars: A dropping score fundamentally indicates issues within the '3 Rs' of deliverability, namely Reputation, Recipient Engagement, and Risk, encompassing problems like high bounce rates, spam complaints, and low interaction.
- Diagnostic Focus: Troubleshooting demands a thorough examination of declining engagement, rising negative feedback, and potential spam trap hits to identify and address the root causes impacting sender standing.
Key considerations
- Prioritize List Quality: Regularly clean email lists to remove inactive or invalid addresses, reducing bounce rates and the likelihood of hitting spam traps.
- Optimize for Engagement: Craft highly relevant and personalized content to encourage opens and clicks, signaling positive recipient interaction to mailbox providers.
- Reinforce Authentication: Ensure all emails are correctly authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to build trust and verify sender identity, crucial for bypassing spam filters.
- Manage Negative Feedback: Implement strategies to minimize spam complaints and unsubscribes, as these directly harm your sender reputation and score.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that SenderScore is a proprietary metric created by ReturnPath to reflect delivery to domains sharing data with them. She advises against paying attention to it as a client metric, noting it is not used by major providers like Comcast or Roadrunner for filtering anymore, and she stopped referring to it during client audits years ago.
28 Mar 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource explains that a dropping email sender score indicates issues with one or more of the "3 Rs" of deliverability: Reputation, Recipient Engagement, and Risk. To troubleshoot, senders should investigate high bounce rates, increasing spam complaints, low open or click-through rates, and potential spam trap hits. Addressing these underlying issues, such as cleaning lists, improving content, and managing sending frequency, is crucial for improving sender score and overall deliverability.
30 Jul 2023 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
To effectively troubleshoot and reverse a declining email sender score, a comprehensive approach is required, focusing on both technical integrity and recipient engagement. This involves a diligent review of email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, coupled with rigorous list hygiene to minimize invalid addresses and spam traps. Marketers must consistently monitor key performance indicators such as bounce, spam complaint, and unsubscription rates, while also maintaining stable sending volumes and ensuring content remains highly relevant and anticipated by subscribers. Proactive vigilance, including regular checks against major blocklists, is essential for sustaining a healthy sender reputation.
Key findings
- Authentication & Reputation Core: Proper email authentication, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, alongside consistent sending behavior, forms the fundamental basis for building and maintaining a positive sender reputation.
- Negative Feedback as Indicators: Elevated bounce rates, increased spam complaints, and rising unsubscription rates serve as critical, actionable warning signs of a declining sender score, demanding immediate attention.
- List Quality & Engagement Link: A meticulously clean and engaged subscriber list, cultivated through diligent hygiene practices and the delivery of relevant content, directly supports a healthy sender score by minimizing risks such as spam traps and low user interaction.
Key considerations
- Audit Email Authentication: Systematically verify and optimize SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to establish sender trustworthiness and prevent spoofing, which is crucial for bypassing spam filters.
- Implement Robust List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists to remove inactive subscribers, invalid addresses, and known spam traps, thereby reducing bounce rates and improving list quality.
- Actively Monitor Key Metrics: Continuously track bounce rates, spam complaint rates, and unsubscription rates, responding promptly to any upward trends to mitigate negative impact on your sender score.
- Maintain Consistent Sending Patterns: Ensure stable sending volumes and properly warm up any new IP addresses to build a reliable sending history with mailbox providers.
- Optimize Content for Relevance: Segment recipient lists and tailor email content to be highly relevant and expected by subscribers, fostering positive engagement and reducing negative feedback.
- Regularly Check Blocklists: Proactively monitor major blocklists to ensure your IP or domain has not been listed, as this can severely impact deliverability.
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that a dropping sender score can be troubleshooted by ensuring proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintaining consistent sending volume, practicing good list hygiene, minimizing bounce and spam complaint rates, and avoiding spam traps.
14 Jun 2024 - Mailchimp
Technical article
Documentation from SendGrid shares that to troubleshoot a dropping sender score, marketers should closely monitor bounce, spam complaint, and unsubscription rates, regularly check major blocklists, verify correct email authentication, segment their recipient lists for targeted content, and perform proper IP warm-up if sending from new IPs.
12 Mar 2025 - SendGrid
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