Think You Know Everything About Deliverability?

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Laura Atkins Author, “Word to the Wise” Blog and Deliverability Expert Autumn Tyr-Salvia Director of Email Standards and Best Practices, Message Systems

Think you know everything about email deliverability?

September 23, 2014

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A link to the webinar replay will be provided via email following the presentation

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Word  to  the  Wise    |    September  2014  

Deliverability  Consistently  ge<ng  email  to  the  inbox  

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Laura  Tessmer  Atkins  Founding  Partner,  Word  to  the  Wise    Laura  has  more  than  13  years  of  experience  addressing  Internet  abuse  issues,  improving  email  deliverability  and  promoKng  email  markeKng  best  pracKces.  Before  founding  Word  to  the  Wise,  Laura  led  the  outsourced  abuse  desk  group  for  the  Mail  Abuse  PrevenKon  System  (the  industry's  first  anK-­‐spam  blacklist).      

Deliverability  

1.  Review:    What  everyone  thinks  they  know  

2.  Facts:    What  everyone  should  know.  

3.  Changes:    ProtecKng  deliverability  in  the  long  term  

Deliverability  review  

What  Everyone  “Knows”  

IP  ReputaKon  

• Usually  means  the  IP  connecKng  to  the  receiving  mail  server  

• Hard  for  senders  to  forge  

• First  real  blocking  of  spam  by  servers  done  by  IP  

• Not  parKcularly  precise  

Complaints  

• Acceptable  complaint  levels  <  0.3%  

• Levels  above  0.3%  correlate  with  delivery  problems  

• Lower  levels  always  be^er  

Spamtraps  

• Spamtraps  are  email  addresses  used  to  catch  senders  and  block  their  mail  

• One  spamtrap  can  cause  your  mail  to  be  blocked  

Bounces  

• Rates  <  5%  are  acceptable  

• Rates  >  10%  usually  lead  to  deliverability  problems  

• Only  “unknown  users”  are  counted,  not  any  spam  or  other  types  of  bounces  

What  Everyone  “Knows”  is  Wrong  

Deliverability  Facts  

IP  Rep:  Not  the  Sole  Factor  

• Domain  ReputaKon  

• Link  ReputaKon    

• Content  ReputaKon  

Domain  ReputaKon  

• Usually  talking  about  “From”  or  authenKcated  domains  

• Any  domain  present  in  an  email  can  trigger  filtering  

• Used  to  be^er  separate  out  mail  from  shared  IPs  

URL  /  Link  ReputaKon  

• For  IPs  that  have  “grey  area”  reputaKons,  URL  reputaKon  allows  for  more  precise  blocking  

• Used  to  block  malicious  mail  

• MenKoning  a  URL  with  a  bad  reputaKon  can  get  mail  blocked  or  filtered  

• Some  filters  look  at  the  website  IP  or  landing  page  

Content  ReputaKon  

• Spammers  started  “snowshoeing”  to  get  around  IP  reputaKon  filters  

•  ISPs  started  tracking  content  coming  from  mulKple  IP  addresses  

• Condense  content  down  to  a  “fingerprint”    • Block  based  on  the  fingerprint  

What  is  Measured  

•  ISPs  measure  many  things  about  every  email  

• Measurements  applied  to  IP,  URLs,  domains  and  content    

• Gmail  states  they  evaluate  more  than  100  different  variables  

Measurements  

Complaints  

• Measure  number  of  “this  is  spam”  hits  by  recipients  

• Only  mail  in  the  inbox  can  be  complained  about  

• Measure  how  “wanted”  an  email  is  

Bad  Addresses  

Recipient  Profile  

• Look  for  unusual  acKvity  among  recipients  

• Heavily  spammed  addresses  can  be  used  to  idenKfy  spam  

Malicious  Content  

• Phishing  mail  

• Virus  transmi<ng  mail  

• Known  bad  URLs  

• Content  coming  from  many,  many  IP  addresses  

Only  highlights  of  some  of  the  things  ISPs  measure    

New  Deliverability  Model  

But  Wait!    There’s  more  

Recipient-­‐Specific  Delivery  

New  Deliverability  Reality  

ReputaKon  in  the  future  

Deliverability  Changes  

•  ISPs  focusing  on  more  individualized  delivery  

•  ISPs  looking  more  at  “organizaKonal  reputaKon”  rather  than  just  email  or  IP  reputaKon  

• Seed  accounts  becoming  less  accurate  measures  of  delivery  

Individualized  Delivery  

• Change  from  a  numbers  game  to  a  targeKng  game  

• Engaged  recipients  will  receive  mail  in  their  inbox  

OrganizaKonal  ReputaKon  

• ALL  mail  streams  ma^er  

• Fewer  opportuniKes  for  3rd  party  mailers  

• Less  opportunity  to  moneKze  address  lists  

Seed  Lists    

• Seed  lists  have  “unusual”  recipient  profiles  • Major  mailbox  providers  have  stated  that  senders  should  not  rely  on  seed  lists  to  tell  them  about  delivery  

Future  Proofing  Deliverability    

Know  Your  Mailstream  

Know  Your  Providers  

Know  Your  Recipients  

Secret  to  Great  Deliverability  

Secret  to  Great  Deliverability  

Secret  to  Great  Deliverability  

Secret  to  Great  Deliverability  

Secret  to  Great  Deliverability  

Secret  to  Great  Deliverability  

Secret  to  Great  Deliverability  

Laura  Atkins  Word  to  the  Wise    

•  h^p://wordtothewise.com/blog  •  @wise_laura  

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Poll Question

A.  In-house MTA (e.g., Message Systems)

B.  ESP (e.g., ExactTarget)

C.  In-house/DIY (e.g., Postfix)

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Message Systems: The Leader in Messaging

20%

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Email / Marketing Services Providers

Social Networking

Daily Deals Telco Financial

Services Consumer

Technology Travel &

Hospitality Publishing

& Media Hosting & SaaS

Sampling of Key Customers by Vertical Markets

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Key Takeaways

§  Most marketers spend on email but don’t use it optimally

© 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

A better mix to optimize email spend?

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38%

99  %   EMAILS  DELIVERED  

22  %   OPT-­‐IN  EMAILS    NOT  GETTING  THRU  

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“Deliverability” is Key

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FTP ESP Report 99% Delivery

RP Report 78% Delivery

•  FTP Package of User and Content Data in ZIP file •  Log Into ESP System To Manage/Send Campaign •  ISP Filters Delivery To Inbox •  Delivery Data Reported to ESP •  Engagement Data Reported ESP •  Daily Data Bundle Downloaded

Your Company

Sending through an ESP

ESP ISP

Engagement Data

Delivery Data 24-72 Hour Delay

99  %   EMAILS  DELIVERED  

22  %   OPT-­‐IN  EMAILS    NOT  GETTING  THRU  

17  %  ESP                  DEDICATED  

INCREASED DELIVERY

“Deliverability” is Key

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•  Injects Events to Momentum •  Momentum Manages Delivery to ISP •  ISP Filters To Inbox •  Delivery and Engagement Data Feeds to Momentum in Real-Time Speed your engagement lifecycle and control your brand.

Sending with Momentum

ISP

Delivery Data

Engagement Data

Your Company

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Key Takeaways

§  Most marketers spend on email but don’t use it optimally

§  Moving from an ESP to a dedicated system improves deliverability by 17%

§  17% deliverability increase à 30% revenue increase

§  Automate processes to optimize deliverability through technology

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Adaptive Delivery with Momentum

Patented technology that auto-tunes outbound email delivery parameters in real time to optimize delivery and safeguard reputation.

•  Mail stream segregation •  Auto-tuned delivery parameters •  Real-time traffic shaping •  Real-time decision making, alerts and reports •  Live rule updates •  Configurable rules •  Full FBL capabilities

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Adaptive Delivery Results 10 point Deliverability Gain

FINANCIAL NEWSLETTER

Del

iver

abili

ty

April May June July August

0.85

0.90

0.95

AD Tuning Period

Source: Leading publisher/distributor of opt-in financial newsletters.

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Adaptive Delivery Results

INTERNATIONAL NEWSLETTER

Del

iver

abili

ty

April May June July August

0.85

0.90

0.95

•  Deliverability Stabilized •  Manual Effort Eliminated

AD Tuning Period

Source: Leading publisher/distributor of opt-in financial newsletters.

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Translates into Real Revenue Results

"When we have delivery and reputation issues, we know about them right away, and we can resolve problems proactively. Momentum with Adaptive Delivery has certainly had a positive impact on customer satisfaction…. We’ve been sending nearly 60 million messages a week at 99.15% deliverability. It was as high as 99.3% last week!” JAMES THOMPSON DIRECTOR OF EMAIL OPERATIONS, INFUSIONSOFT

INCREASED REVENUE WITHOUT MS WITH MS CHANGE

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Key Takeaways

§  Most marketers spend on email but don’t use it optimally

§  Moving from an ESP to a dedicated system improves deliverability by 17%

§  17% deliverability increase à 30% revenue increase

§  Automate processes to optimize deliverability through technology

§  Focus resources on improving the user experience

Thank you!

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