How email servers handle spam and traffic

Is your mail sliding into the spam folder? Has your reputation slipped to "low" in Google Postmaster Tools? Does Microsoft SNDS think you stink like a kid who just came in from recess? Well, I have good news and bad news. 🟢 Good first: Most major mailbox providers (MBPs) provide methods of contacting them! Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo, Comcast, Apple (and more!) all offer sender support forms or publish postmaster email addresses so that you can reach out directly when you're encountering an issue delivering mail to their users. 🔴 Now for the bad: These MBPs receive a ton of submissions, most of them from spammers. They already have information on your traffic, which is why you're blocked or bulked in the first place. They're not going to just fix whatever problem you're having because you asked nicely. They're definitely not going to fix it if you're being rude. They don't care about your business model, or your bottom line, or your legal requirements. What they care most about is their own customers. And if you're sending to the right people, then those people are also *your* customers, and you should care about them, too! So, even though it's an option to ask the MBP for help, it's probably not the first (or best) one, because all the evidence they have available so far indicates that your mail is potentially dangerous, and maybe you are too. Your job now is to demonstrate that they got it wrong, ideally using your actions and not just words. Before submitting that sender contact form, review the MBP's guidelines and your own practices. After all, their playground, their rules! Each MBP has its own quirks, but the basics tend to be the same. If you're not sure where to start, it's here! 🛝 Rule 1: Keep spam complaints as low as possible. The best way to do that? Get permission, always. Maintain a healthy list by removing bounces and sending to your most-engaged subscribers. Make it easy to unsubscribe, and honor unsubscribe requests when you get them. 🛝 Rule 2: Authenticate your mail. Use SPF, DKIM, and DMARC so you earn the deliverability you deserve (and don't forget to actually review your DMARC reports!). Authentication doesn't guarantee inbox placement, but you'll be left in the dust without it. 🛝 Rule 3: Be predictably yourself. MBPs and subscribers both reward consistency, and results tend to be stronger when everyone knows what to expect, when. Send similar volumes at similar times on similar days, ensuring increases are gradual to give the filters (and the audience) time to adjust. If you're ramping up and see increased delays, blocks, or complaints, or lower opens than expected, slow down and reassess. It's possible that the segment is no longer viable, or requires a different approach. If these bases are covered, THEN you can reach out. Include your name, your company, your domain & IP, the specific outcome you're having (including the bounce reason, if applicable), and what you've done to improve. And be nice!

Remember, emails don't just bounce because a contact is invalid... Your cold emails get blocked due to spam risk too... The top 5 issues that make this happen are: 1) Sender reputation. Your domain or account could have a lower sender reputation based on your sending activity and inbox placement. You can use an inbox placement tool like Allegrow to measure this accurately.  2) Content.  Your content may have been perceived as highly likely to be spam based on its structure and resemblance to past spam messages. 3) Manual spam reports.  If your approach to recipients is too aggressive, you may have had more manual spam reports, which means future messages you send can be blocked altogether. 4) Strict spam filters There are varying degrees of how strict companies' spam filters are. To the degree that some decision-makers will have filters that reject most messages being delivered to the inbox from senders that aren't already in their contact book. 5) Email provider throttling & authentication If you send too many emails in a short period of time or have flawed authentication (DKIM, SPF + DMARC) on your outgoing emails. Deliveries will be rejected by email providers as a security protocol (protecting against unauthorized activity). 

If you’re sending emails in bulk (>5000 emails/day), you need to know this. In a recent update, Google laid down a threshold of spam rate for bulk senders, which is less than 0.3%. This means two things: [1] You need to monitor the no. of spam complaints regularly - Spam complaints are NOT emails landing in your spam folder [2] You need to keep your spam complaints below 0.3% - Many of the companies I know have higher spam complaints First, start monitoring spam complaints by setting up Gmail Postmaster Tools for your domain. It’s a free tool by Google to check delivery errors, spam reports, domain reputation, and IP reputation. The more important question though is how to maintain spam complaint rates below 0.3%. The answer is simple - Be more relevant and valuable to users. For that, make sure to: [a] Segment your users (Use their activity, intent, and need to segment) [b] Understand what each of these segments want (Ask them questions) Send emails that are relevant to their needs. Don’t just sell but educate, entertain, and engage them [c] Bring novelty in each email. Don’t just keep sending the same sales-oriented email every day. If you don’t have any value to add, don’t send the email. There are other requirements for senders, too, like: [1] Authenticate outgoing emails by setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. DMARC may be set to p=none. [2] Enable one-click unsubscribe. And process unsubscription requests within two days. The deadline to set these up is February 1, 2024 - but they’re nudging senders to set them up already. In fact, setting these up earlier “may improve your email delivery”, the update said. For more details - read their email sender guidelines [link in comments]