If you send an email campaign to the Everest Seed List and it does not arrive at one or more seed addresses, it will be classified as Missing. Just like a high Spam %, you can also troubleshoot a high Missing %. Doing this can help you understand your deliverability, which can lead to improving your inbox placement.
Troubleshooting steps
We know there are a variety of reasons that can result in a high Missing %. We've created the guidelines below to cover some of the most common reasons that can cause Missing seeds.
Use the steps below to troubleshoot:
1. Ensure you're sending to the most recently updated Everest seed list.
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- Login to Everest
- Navigate to In-Flight>Inbox Placement>Manage Seed List
If a seed list change was made recently, a green notification bar will appear at the top of the page recommending that you update your seed list.
2. Verify that all seeds were included in your deployment.
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- If you do not send to certain seeds, they will appear as Missing and impact your Missing rate. View this article to make sure you're sending to the seed list properly. (Note: Steps to send to the seed List may differ depending on your ESP.)
- If you are doing A/B split testing, ensure that each split message being sent to your Everest account includes the full seed list. Ensure you are sending to the reference seeds which are highlighted in red within the Download Seed List section on the Manage Seed List page. If you split the seed list as part of your test, your Inbox Tests will show a high missing rate.
3. Verify that all seeds were marked as active in your database.
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- Your deployment provider may have suppressed seed addresses. If the same few seed addresses show as Missing, you should check your system for bounce codes to see if any of them were suppressed. If they were, make sure you mark them as active for your next campaign.
- Your deployment provider may have suppressed seed addresses. If the same few seed addresses show as Missing, you should check your system for bounce codes to see if any of them were suppressed. If they were, make sure you mark them as active for your next campaign.
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4. Ensure you have an Everest X-header.
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- An X-header is a unique identifier included in the header or body of your email and is used to track and report on your email in Everest.
- A working X-header makes it easier for Everest to identify your email and report accurate inbox placement results.
- Follow these instructions to implement an X-header if you don't have one.
5. Ensure that inactivity engagement rules were not applied to the seeds by your sending system.
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- Because seeds do not interact with email, it's important that you don't treat them the same with engagement rules as you should with your real subscribers. If your system is applying engagement rules to the seeds, remove them for your next campaign.
- Because seeds do not interact with email, it's important that you don't treat them the same with engagement rules as you should with your real subscribers. If your system is applying engagement rules to the seeds, remove them for your next campaign.
6. Check for mailbox provider delivery issues. It's possible a mailbox provider may be deferring or blocking your email. Common reasons for deferred or blocked messages can be identified through reviewing your SMTP logs or ESP reports. They include:
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- Mailbox full: This can happen due to how much volume seed accounts receive on a daily basis, especially during a holiday season. Contact your CSM or Validity support if you see Mailbox Full SMTP codes for email addresses on your seed list.
- IP or domain blocklisting: If your IP or domain appears on an important blocklist, the mailbox provider may defer or block your email. If your IP address or domain is listed, refer to the specific blocklist's listing criteria and fix the cause.
- View blocklisting data in Everest by navigating to Monitoring>Reputation and click View Report on the Blocklisted widget.
- Sending volume: If you send too much email too quickly, a mailbox provider may throttle or block your email as a precaution. Reduce your sending volume or spread it out over a longer period of time if this is identified as a cause.
- Check out this article for even more detailed information: Tips for troubleshooting mailbox provider deliverability problems.
