Deliverability 101
Jeff Dellapina Deliverability and Provisioning Manager
Please Note: IBM s statements regarding its plans, directions, and intent are subject to change or withdrawal without notice at IBM s sole discretion. Information regarding potential future products is intended to outline our general product direction and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The information mentioned regarding potential future products is not a commitment, promise, or legal obligation to deliver any material, code or functionality. Information about potential future products may not be incorporated into any contract. The development, release, and timing of any future features or functionality described for our products remains at our sole discretion. Performance is based on measurements and projections using standard IBM benchmarks in a controlled environment. The actual throughput or performance that any user will experience will vary depending upon many factors, including considerations such as the amount of multiprogramming in the user s job stream, the I/O configuration, the storage configuration, and the workload processed. Therefore, no assurance can be given that an individual user will achieve results similar to those stated here. 2
Agenda Deliverability Terms Sends Email Authentication How Recipients Impact your Deliverability Improving Sender s Behavior Questions 3
Why is Deliverability Important? Increase Revenue Increase and protect Brand Recognition and Reputation Increase Automation Decrease Marketing Costs Reduce Risks Service Interruptions due to Blacklisting Phishing attempts that dilute brand trust Job Interruptions 4
Deliverability Terms 5
Bounce Categories Hard Bounce Permanent Failed Message Bad Mailbox Bad Domain Soft Bounce Temporary Failed Message Inactive Mailbox Everything else that is not a hard bounce. 6
Bounce Types In Stream Error messages provided by receiving server during the live mail transfer. Out of Stream Error messages provided by recipient server after message is successfully accepted. 7
Bulking, Blocking and Blacklisting Bulked - Message is delivered but sent to the Junk Folder Block - The destination email server is refusing to accept email due to ISP/Inbox Provider send practice violations Blacklist - List of IP addresses or domains that individuals or enterprises use to filter email due to send practice violations 8
Spamtraps Digital Venus Flytraps A spam trap is an email abandoned address that was shut down and after 6-12 months is re-activated Eliminate spam traps Inactive addresses older than 12 months should not be sent marketing mail Create Re-engagement mailing Segment inactive list by age Begin a re-engagement mailing Use a confirmed or double opt-in to prevent spamtraps Eliminate inactive addresses where you have no opt-in data for that address 9
IP Ramp-Up A process within the VMTA that limits the volume of email during initial sends to specific ISPs. This ramping of the IP will build the reputation with different ISPs Aol is limited to 1,200 Yahoo and Hotmail are set to send 5,000 on the first send. Segmenting your data into buckets Ramp up any domain that makes up a 10 % or more of your list Sending same volume for 30 days to turn off Auto Ramp-up 10
Feed Back Loops Certain ISPs send recipient abuse complaint details back to Silverpop. The abuse complaint is marked in the mailing reports The problem address is added to the Master Suppression List Abuse complaints can generate weeks, months, years after the initial send. These complaints from previous mailings impact today s mailings People that click abuse do so for 3 reasons: No memory Relevant Frequency 11
What happens when I hit send? 12
Engage Builds and Sends a Mailing The list and creative gets uploaded to Engage and you hit Send Engage begins Blocking which is the blending of list/content Engage checks addresses against the Master Suppression List Engage hands off the mailings to the sending server - your VMTA The VMTA is actually 3 sending servers that connect to all ISPs. Error messages provided by receiving server during the live mail transfer. Most common Connections are made to each ISP and corporate domain. During this connection bad addresses are returned Depending on send size, mail may exit 1 server or all 3 servers at once. 13
After the Send All the results of the mailings are picked up by a service called Response Master Response Master manages all opens/clicks, unsubscribes and bounces. That data gets pushed back into Engage for Reporting. Other deliverability data gets moved to Deliverability tables and accessed by my team. This data includes bounce and delivery logs. This data populates the Deliverability Dashboard within the Support portal Allows our team to answer client questions and possible delivery concerns. 14
What to Expect with a Large Send When clients send to larger lists we can expect to see the following metrics: A higher than normal number of suppressed addresses. Overall slower delivery of email depending on existing IP reputation. Greater risk of bouncing due to sending thresholds and complaints. Depending on the age/activity of the addresses, a higher than normal opt-out rate and abuse complaint rate. 15
Email Authentication 16
Email Authentication Sending authenticated email means making sure proper DNS records are in place on the from or sending domain used in the mailings. SPF Record DKIM Record DMARC Record 17
Email Authentication SPF Record / Sender ID Silverpop can send email on behalf of e.company.com e.company.com TXT v=spf1 ip4:208.85.1.0 all Actual Error message :: Hotmail - smtp;550 (COL0-MC4-F6) command rejected due to Sender ID test failing for IP 208.1.1.1. Please ensure this IP is authorized to send mail on behalf of [companyname.com]. 18
Email Authentication DKIM Record Original Message Sent was the Same Message Received Reduces Screen Scraping Used by Yahoo for Feed Back Loops to manage abuse processing spop1024._domainkey.e.example.com. IN TXT "k=rsa; p=mfwwdqyjkozihvcnaqebbqadswawsajbalrpcztsoe3y863bclav91ft XKrLUymFwH9nOxFkJmMKdCRdcQo3dcIKDPn1lZqdXVfa7TFVVQVs 19
Email Authentication DMARC Record Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance Text Record that monitors the listed domain against various Spoofing and Phishing attempts Implemented in Stages None Monitor Don t do anything but report what is happening Quarantine Push aside any message that fails DMARC Reject Delete any message from any source not listed within DMARC 20
Email Authentication DMARC Record _dmarc.silverpop.com TXT v=dmarc1;p=none;pct=100;rua=mailto:abuse@deliver.silverpop.com;ruf=ma ilto:abuse@deliver.silverpop.com What domain do we want to monitor? What do we do with failures? What percentage of mail do we want monitored? Where do we send these reports? 21
Email Authentication DMARC Record DMARC Report 22
Email Authentication DMARC Record - Agari The largest ISPs are now pushing next-gen authentication (DMARC) hard Google, Y!, Hotmail/Microsoft, AOL, etc have all adopted DMARC Over 2Bn mailboxes: 85% of US consumers and 70% International consumer are covered Better deliverability and classification by ISPs By authenticating email properly Get ahead of the curve authentication will be a de facto necessity soon Stop criminals from using your brand to abuse your consumers Achieve better tracking and visibility globally 23
Email Authentication DMARC Record - Agari Seeing Threats from Around the World 24
How Recipients Impact your Deliverability 25
Recipient Behavior IP Reputation Delivery Rate - Throttling Email Placement Bulk Folder or Inbox 26
Recipient Behavior IP Reputation Opens build the IP reputation Opens tell the ISP that the mailings are wanted Moving message from Bulk folder to Inbox Forwarding the message 27
Recipient Behavior - Throttling 3 Types of Throttling At the Engage Level At the VMTA Level At the ISP Level The first 2 listed are outbound throttling. The ISP is inbound throttling ISPs use Internal / External IP reputation scores to determine throughput This is very important for clients sending time sensitive mailings 28
Recipient Behavior Inbox Placement Positive Behavior = Inbox placement Opening email Moving from Bulk folder to Inbox Negative Behavior = Bulk folder or bounced Deleting without reading Clicking the Abuse Button Email Placement Bulk Folder or Inbox 29
Improving Sender s Behavior 30
Improving Sender Behavior Lead Source Frequency Send Time Optimization Call to Action 31
Improving Sender Behavior Lead Source Organic Double Opt-in Send Confirmation Emails No Pre-Populated Check Boxes Avoid List Purchases and Affiliate Marketing 32
Improving Sender Behavior - Frequency Set Expectations - At the time of sign-up Preference Center - Allow self management Snooze Feature Take a break Polling or Engagement Campaign Create Interest When in Doubt- Don t Send 33
Improving Sender Behavior Send Time Optimization Shortens Idle Time - Between Sends and Opens Conversation - The quick turnaround looks like a discussion Staggered Sends Throughout the day versus a blast Pavlov s Dog Mail is sent and mail is opened 34
Improving Sender Behavior Assorted Items Why Should I click Brand Development Subscribed/Unsubscribe Change up Mailings - A/B Subject Line and Content Testing Why Buy the Cow? - Preview Pane 35
HouseKeeping 36
Silverpop Engage Certification Self Improvement Add personal value / Job Search Product Knowledge/Features Currently Free to complete at your own pace Attend a 3 day dedicated boot-camp for faster certification 37
Links SPF DKIM DMARC http://www.openspf.org/ http://www.dkim.org/ http://dmarc.org/ Gmail Bulk Senders Guidelines https://support.google.com/mail/answer/81126?hl=en CASL - fightspam.gc.ca/eic/site/030.nsf/eng/home CAN-SPAM - http://www.fcc.gov/guides/spam-unwanted-text-messages-andemail 38
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Tell us what you think! Be on the lookout for a survey in the follow up email later this week. We appreciate your feedback! 40
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