How can I increase the deliverability of my email campaigns? [Service wiki]

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====== How can I increase the deliverability of my email campaigns? ======

Promio.net uses or offers the following tools and techniques to improve deliverability: SPF, DKIM, DMARC, abuse@, and postmaster@ email addresses, DOI, the option
to unsubscribe, spam filter testing, inbox preview, feedback loops, etc.
 
We also constantly monitor the IP addresses that are used for distribution. This also means that emails are being sent from a different server if one of the IP 
addresses is blocked for a short amount of time. The emails are not sent via only one server either but are distributed over several servers. 


===== The deliverability of emails depends on different factors: =====

  * The reputation of the server or the IP address of the sender
  * The reputation of the sender domain
  * The quality of the database (contact list)
  * The design of the message and the structure of its content
  * The frequency of your messages and their relevance
  * A missing or incorrect DMARC entry

===== The quality of your target groups ======

The basis for good deliverability is maintaining the target groups. Writing to very old or inactive addresses results in reduced deliverability and more unsubscribes and complaints.

An indication that your target group contains too many inactive recipients or that an unsuitable domain is being used that can cause reputational damage is given by the following warning message in the quality control when setting up the campaign:

//quality-control: add warnings for too many inactive recipients in target group and for redirect domains in global popular block lists//

===== Optimization prior to creating a campaign ======

  * Use a company's own domain as sender domain (visible in the sender) as well as the redirect domain (visible in the tracking links). From address and links, it should allow a direct assignment to the imprint of the email.
  * You can use a regulation of how to handle soft bounces. A high soft bounce rate can lead to problems and blocks from some providers. We recommend establishing a soft bounce rule. The addresses will be marked with a quarantine flag and can be excluded from the delivery.
  * Many times the content and the subject are the reason for a bad performance. You should therefore avoid spam words. Terms like “free”, “no charge”, “cost-free”, “credit”, “loan”, “immediate loan”, “€”, “$” and similar others might lead to your mail ending up in the spam filter. 
  * Encourage your reader to ‘whitelist’ you: Ask your new subscribers to add you to their address book. 
  * Take your recipient seriously. Especially in the age of priority inboxes, it is important to know that you can only deliver emails that are wanted by the recipient. The content and the subject of every email prove that your information is important. 
  * Avoid phishing: Never use URLs as link captions in HTML emails. You should use a text/phrase instead, e.g., “homepage” or “imprint”, and turn this text into a link. At least this is a construct that is given a negative score by many spam filters. 
  * Check the DMARC entry for your delivery domain. The DMARC entry is optional, so it is possible to send with a missing entry. However, a correct DMARC entry has a positive effect on deliverability with some providers. You can find the entry expected by promio.connect under //Settings > Domains// by clicking on the corresponding domain and then on the DMARC tab. \\
  

<WRAP round info 70%> Soft bounce rule: All users who, during the past x days, received at least y mails, and all these mails produced a soft bounce, will be marked with a flag and can be excluded from the delivery manually or automatically.

If you are interested, please contact our support. </WRAP>

<WRAP round tip 90%> Try to keep the bounce rates in a range of 3-5% (B2C), as this is not critical for the reputation of the sending domains.

Remove addresses that have generated a soft bounce from the mailing list first. Then contact them specifically to see if they bounce again.
If this is not the case, the bounce status is automatically removed, and the address is removed from quarantine.
 </WRAP>

===== Optimization prior to the delivery ======

  * Create an alternative text version: With every email, you can send out an alternative text version of the mailing. Design it as similar to the HTML original as possible. 
  * Never deliver without an unsubscribe link and an imprint.
  * Use a spam score check: Additional quality checks are testing the risk of getting a spam filter classification due to wording or punctuation in the subject line etc. 
  * Check for completeness: Subject line, personalization, pictures, links, target group, header, footer, and so on. 
  * Analyze the probability of your campaign being seen as spam.
  * Run a test mailing to a chosen amount of test addresses. \\


<WRAP round tip 90%> We recommend the usage of our quality control as well as a test mailing before 
every delivery! \\ \\ The use of URL shorteners in emails is not recommended. URL shortener links are detected by anti-spam filters and, therefore, lead to emails being categorized as spam and a deterioration in reputation.</WRAP>

 Look at the integrated phishing check of links as well as the notifications and spam scores given by the spam assassin. Most emails will get a maximum spam score of 3 points. Use the integrated testing routine to check for completeness of your information: \\

{{:en:delivery_drafts_qualitycheck.png?nolink&300|}}

The inbox preview lets you see how the emails will look in different email clients: \\

{{:en:delivery_drafts_inboxpreview.png?nolink&300|}}

The pre-check via spam test within your email details will let you know which clients will probably rate your mailing as spam. \\

{{:en:delivery_drafts_spamtest.png?nolink&300|}}


===== Running optimization (learnings) ======

  * Keep a look at your bounce rates: If more and more emails are not getting through, your reputation will decrease. Clean your database to prevent negative effects.
  * Delivered does not equal delivered: Or do you know how many of your emails end up in the spam folder? Watch your opening and click rates. If they get clearly deteriorate, something is going wrong.
  * Check if the speed of delivery is changing when you send out a bigger amount of mailings. See the manual in the article //"[[en:how_to_set_maximum_delivery_speed]]"//.
  * Use the deliverability report of the top 20 domains for analysis, which is available for every campaign. Here you can see whether there are problems with certain providers. No openings and no soft bounces, for example, can indicate a complete block of the mailing.

<WRAP round tip 90%> You can improve the deliverability with better usability on mobile devices:
  * Write a short subject.
  * Use a simple email structure: headlines, bullet points, subheadlines, and space between lines.
  * Don’t put links too close to each other (because of touchscreens).
  * Link your pictures.
</WRAP>



{{tag>deliverability top_20_domains complaints spam_score spam_filter inbox_previews feedback_loops softbounce_rule}}
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