Sender reputation is the way mailbox providers measure the trustworthiness of a sender’s email. It is based on a variety of metrics, including spam complaint rate, unknown user rate, volume, spam trap hits, and blocklistings. Achieving and maintaining a good sender reputation is key to consistently reach the inbox.
Best practice recommendations
Reduce complaints
- Ensure all IP addresses and domains are enrolled in all available complaint feedback loops.
- Add subscribers who complain to a suppression list as soon as you receive the complaint.
- Use your brand name in the friendly-from (display name) address so it is easier for subscribers to recognize your email.
- Ensure that you are sending relevant content to encourage engagement.
- Set expectations at the point of collection about what email a subscriber will receive and when they will receive it. Meet those expectations with the subscriber.
- Send consistent volume by establishing a regular sending cadence and avoid large sending volume spikes that may trigger a corresponding spike in complaints.
Manage bounces
- Add unknown users to your suppression list after one bounce.
- Determine and remedy the cause of a block using your bounce logs rather than continue sending to addresses that are blocked by a mailbox provider. Many mailbox providers include an error code and a website link in the bounce message you can use to get more information about a potential cause for the block.
- Avoid sending to spam traps.
- Engage in more aggressive list hygiene practices if you are hitting recycled spam traps.
- Investigate your list acquisition practices and sources if you are hitting pristine spam traps.
Implement a strategy for dealing with inactive subscribers
- Determine when you consider a subscriber inactive. This could be at one month, three months, six months, or beyond, depending on your business.
- Implement a win-back campaign to re-engage with inactive subscribers.
- Segment out or remove inactive subscribers who have not responded to your win-back campaign.
