SharpSpring’s expert Email Deliverability and Abuse specialists look at a lot of email, every day. We’ve identified some common categories for diagnosing deliverability. We thought to ourselves, “Customers should have the same convenient guidelines that we have”, and so here it is.
The following is a typical process our deliverability specialists use with customer deliverability issues, summarized for your own convenience and use.
- Does the sender have permission to email recipients? How did they sign up? How was the list acquired?
- Does the sender have a permission reminder?
- Is the sender using a shared or dedicated IP? Customers by default use shared IPs; however you may optionally request from an Account Manager for a dedicated IP.
- If dedicated, it's probably the individual sender's fault
- If shared, it's still probably the individual sender's fault, but possible that other bad senders are affecting IP reputation
- Have you warmed up the IP properly, so that IP can support the full volume of your mail?
- Has the sender been able to send successfully in the past (if so, what changed)?
- Does the sender have SPF and DKIM setup?
- These optional email authentications broadcast to recipient Mail Transfer Agents (MTAs) that SharpSpring is permitted to send your mail, and aid deliverability
- How does the sender manage their list over time?
- Remove spam complaints, unsubscribes, bounces, unengaged (open/click)
- Does the sender have an engaging subject line that recipients want to OPEN
- Does the sender A/B test?
- Does the sender have engaging content that recipients want to CLICK
- Does the sender personalize their message (merge variables)?
- Is the sender testing the email beforehand?
- Are any links within the email blacklisted?
- Is the sender's sending IP or domain blocked/blacklisted
SharpSpring has a built-in Sender Scoring System to help show you how both you and your clients are sending so you can maintain a great status with us. This tool, along with the guidelines above, should help you be sure that your email is successfully delivering.