With email marketing directly into your mailbox - or not?
Whether or not an email marketing campaign is successful depends not only on its content and what is offered in it. However, if the mail cannot reach the recipient, the most beautiful content is of no use. After all, a recipient can only become a customer if he receives the offer at all. But that's where spam protection comes in: Only a part of the e-mails sent really ends up in the recipient's mailbox.
How does the test work?
If the mailing is sent on its way by the dispatch service provider or the e-mail marketer, it does not arrive directly at the recipient's address, but has to pass through several stages first. Only when the mailing has successfully passed all tests does it reach the recipient's inbox. However, each provider, such as gmx, gmail or web.de, filters according to its own criteria, so that the exact process is slightly different each time. Basically, every mailing is checked on both the server and the client side. The following checking methods are used:
Authentication of the sender and whitelist
In a first step, the sender is authenticated with different systems, such as Sender ID, Domainkeys Identified Mail (DKIM) or Sender Policy Framework (SPF), with which the domain of the bounce address is analyzed in the same way as the (sending) mail server. After identification, it is checked whether the sender is on a trustworthy whitelist and thus receives preferential treatment. Public whitelists such as Certified Senders Alliance (CSA), TrustedDialog and Return Path are often used by email providers for this purpose. If a sender wants to be included in a public whitelist, he must disclose best practice examples in addition to his authenticity. However, there are providers that do not work with whitelists, such as Yahoo, AOL or Hotmail. With these, the recipient can click on the spam button himself. This information reaches the sender directly via feedback loop mail and ensures that the recipient does not receive any further unwanted mail.
Blacklist
Blacklists, which can be used on the server side as well as on the client side, serve to filter unwanted mails. In such a blacklist are the addresses of the servers that have been classified as untrustworthy. If a mail comes from such a server, it is sorted out and rejected. Besides public blacklists, almost all mail providers have their own blacklists. If your own domain or IP gets on such a blacklist, you should act quickly. In most cases, the entry can be removed with a reason or against payment of a fee.
The good reputation
Whether a mail is delivered or Spam is identified depends on the reputation of the sender. This is determined via a "Sender Score", which serves as an indicator of the quality of the communication and evaluates, among other things, the probability of delivery. On a scale of 0 to 100, reputation is primarily assessed according to how many recipients have already classified these mailings as spam. If an e-mail address cannot be reached, this also has a negative impact on reputation. If a sender sends a mail to a so-called spam trap, (these are special mail addresses that serve as traps for spam mails), then the Sender Score also drops. If it is rather low, the mail may not be delivered. For example, a Sender Score of more than 80 points ensures that the mailings are delivered to at least 85 percent of the addressees. In addition, greylisting and throttling are used to determine the reputation. Throttling is used to limit the number of e-mails sent by a single sender on a daily basis or during any other specified period. If the limit is exceeded, the risk of the sender being classified as a spammer increases. The content of the mailing may also play a role in deliverability. If the checks on the server side are positive, the mail is delivered and can be retrieved by a client.
