subject: Email Newsletters Best Practices Equation [print this page] Email Newsletters Best Practices Equation
How to monitor message delivery and sender reputation
Check the delivery report
Delivery reports should be closely monitored for blocks and deferrals. All deliverability problems should be handled promptly by first correcting the mailing practice that caused the problem, and then contacting the ISP (internet service provider) or blocking organization to get the block lifted. More times than not, the contact method is included in the bounce reason.
Do an open rate by domain analysis
Take time to make sure that addresses in the top domains within your mailing list are actually opening your message. For example, if your mailing list is 15% yahoo.com addresses, but only 3% of your opens are from yahoo.com members, you may have messages bouncing or going to the bulk folder. Hotmail is notorious for filtering messages, meaning that they do not deliver the message to the recipient, but they do not bounce it back to the sender. An easy way to determine if this is happening is to look at the open report. If you don't see any opens, chances are the messages are not being delivered.
Delivery Resolution
Resolving issues with ISPs is generally not difficult. The first thing you should do is to make sure you're following all the best practices that we've outlined above.
Next, contact the ISP or blacklist causing the problems. There are different protocols for contacting these organizations, but generally it involves either filling out a web form, sending an email, or in some cases calling their abuse/email department. They then will either lift the block or provide further information on what needs to be done to resolve the problem.
Good Luck!
Knowing the challenges and following Industry best practices is no guarantee that inbox delivery will be successful. Email marketers must be diligent when monitoring delivery reports and open reports. List maintenance is more critical than ever. Working to improve recipient engagement will always pay dividends. Above all, remember that the ISPs are always will to help legitimate email marketers reach their opted-in list members.
