Reputation: It’s not just an excuse for us to make punny references to Taylor Swift songs. It’s also an important barometer for the health of an email marketing program. Even if mailbox providers like Gmail stop reporting on reputation data like they used to, a poor reputation as a whole is a sign that a brand is engaging in bad sending behaviors.
In today’s Ask Monstie, we discuss how to repair your reputation even when circumstances seem dire. If you can commit to email best practices, you’ll have a much better chance of taking your reputation from bad to Madison Square Garden-level great.
Struggling with an email issue of your own? Submit your question to us, and you may be featured in a future Ask Monstie feature.
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Let’s get started with today’s question:
Hello Monstie,
One of my friends has an email program that needs a lot of work…my question is: What are the things my friend needs to do to get from bad to good standing with Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo? How can my friend "rewarm" their program to have a fresh, new start? Maybe you can pick up your magic phone to make it all go away.
Looking for any recommendations, Asking for a Friend
We appreciate the question, Asking! Regardless of who this alleged friend is, it can feel overwhelming to get yourself out of a hole that’s been dug too deep.
We’re assuming that you and your friends’ hearts are in the right place, but before we proceed, we’d like to preface with a much-needed disclaimer.
A Quick Caveat on Cold Email
If your friend is actually sending cold email (otherwise known as spam), the odds of them improving their reputation are not in their favor. A good sender reputation requires that a sender be, in fact, good.
Spam filters are remarkably adept at their job, and we are not in the business of helping spammers. If you are indeed a spammer, then you will get the reputation you deserve.
But let’s say you’re an email marketer doing your best to get out of a gnarly mess. How should you proceed?
Why Re-Warming Isn’t the Solution
Re-warming a new IP address or domain while continuing bad practices will result in the same outcome. Not to mention, you’d end up wasting a lot of time and money in the process.
For your friend to truly improve their email program, they will need to identify what they are doing to irritate their subscribers and ISPs like Google and Yahoo, and then work diligently to correct it.
The honest truth? There is no magic phone or shortcut around this. It’s time to roll up your sleeves and turn around this unsavory situation the ethical way.
10 Questions to Ask Yourself to Repair Your Sender Reputation
Okay, so you (and your friends) are not spammers, and you’re willing to work hard to do right by your subscribers. To start improving your sender reputation, we recommend asking yourself the following questions:
- Is your DNS configured correctly? Yes, sometimes you need to go back to basics. A poorly configured DNS is a great way to get your emails blocked, so re-evaluate your setup in case of any snafus.
- Are emails fully authenticated and aligned? First impressions are everything when it comes to any reputation, email or otherwise. You need to introduce yourself properly so ISPs can trust you. If you’re still trying to wrap your brain around SPF, DKIM, DMARC and the like, we have a brief overview of how to authenticate and legitimize your email program in our Monster Guide to IP Warming.
- Do you have user consent to email? As we referenced in the section above on cold email, you need user consent—end of story. Without it, your email program will suffer. Concerned about inactive subscribers? Check out our Monster Guide to Re-Engagement.
- What are your data capture practices? How you attained an email address is just as important as receiving consent to send to it. Acquiring email addresses organically—through website pop-ups, newsletter signups, events, etc.—will give you much better results. Co-registration with third parties and buying lists, on the other hand, is a sure path to the spam folder. If your reputation is suffering, enacting a confirmed or double opt-in can be a great way to tighten up your audience quality. Only addresses that re-confirm their initial consent will be mailed. This ensures that the address is valid and that subscribers truly want your mail. Frankly, it’s a good idea regardless of your reputation.
- Are you regularly removing bounces and inactive emails from your active audience? Just because you have an email address doesn't mean you should keep mailing it. Establish a sunset policy by removing or suppressing bounces and addresses that no longer engage. Six to 12 months of inactivity is the typical threshold we recommend, but for high-volume brands, it might be 30 days without an open or click. List quality matters way more than quantity for your reputation, so make sure you’re regularly culling the dead weight.
- Are you generating too many user spam complaints? It’s easy to blame the ISPs for punishing a poor reputation, but they often take action based on user feedback. Remember: Your subscribers get a vote on whether your messages are valuable. If users are smashing that spam button, do your best to understand why and fix it.
- Are you sending too often or too quickly? Mailing too frequently causes subscribers to mark you as spam or to disengage. Mailing high volumes too quickly makes you look like a spammer. What’s the ideal cadence? That may look different for each person, so again, ask your subscribers. If you don’t have an email preference center, here’s your sign to make it a priority.
- Are you maintaining predictable sending patterns? Keep a send calendar, and make sure your volume isn't all over the map—especially during high-traffic times like the holiday season. ISPs appreciate predictability, so spread out those large-volume sends and pull back if needed.
- Are you compliant with all the requirements from the major mailbox providers? The biggest mailbox providers—namely Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo and Apple—expect you to follow their rules, or else. These rules are ever-evolving, which can make email testing difficult. That’s why Inbox Monster’s Custom QA includes ISP-specific rules, such as fallbacks and email clipping. You can download our email QA checklist for the top 30 rules every email marketer should check before hitting send.
- Are you sending emails that people truly want to receive? The biggest question of all requires you to be brutally honest with yourself: Do people really want your emails? High-performing emails should drive lots of user engagement, and the ISPs get suspicious when they don't see these positive signals. If your email infrastructure is set up properly and your acquisition practices are above board, but your performance is still lacking, then you should evaluate whether you’re delivering real value to the inbox. The more relevant your messages are, the higher your reputation will be.
Reputation Help When You Need It
By submitting your question, Asking, you’ve proven what we already know to be true: Email is easier when you do it with friends.
A qualified team makes all the difference in improving your deliverability. If you need someone to guide you in the right direction, Inbox Monster’s expert services can help.
Our deliverability consultants offer hands-on assistance with:
- DMARC and authentication
- IP warming
- Blocklist and spamtrap remediation
- Proactive monitoring
- Sending strategy
- Email engagement best practices
In addition to serving as an extension of your email team, Inbox Monster’s deliverability platform provides full visibility into inbox placement and performance. Because the best way to boost your reputation is by finding out how your emails will impact it—before you hit send.
Book a demo of Inbox Monster to see our email reputation management in action.
Got a question for the Inbox Monster team? Submit this form, and you may find it featured in a future Ask Monstie column!
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