53% of emails sent in March 2020 were marked as spam. The steps taken by Email Service Providers(ESPs) to protect their clients from spam can adversely affect organizations that send emails. ESPs filter emails to reduce clutter and guarantee that their users receive relevant content.
A score referred to as sender reputation determines whether an organization’s emails are rejected, sent to spam folders, or delivered. A high score is given when ESPs detect that emails are sent to valid email addresses whose owners have opted in to receive them and interact with campaigns, be it a single opt-in or double opt-in. A low score is given when most of a sender’s emails are sent to invalid addresses or unwilling recipients who mark them as spam.
Sender reputation matters because it determines the success of your email marketing efforts. A good reputation results in high email delivery rates; your message will reach the intended audience. A bad reputation results in most of your emails being marked as spam or blocked by ESPs.
Your sender reputation is determined by:
- the number of emails you send;
- the number of recipients who mark your emails as spam;
- the number of emails hitting the ESP’s spam traps;
- the presence of your address on blacklists
- the number of hard bounces;
- open and click-through rates;
- the number of users who unsubscribed.
There are several ways of increasing your sender reputation. A rule of thumb is that you must engage in acceptable email practices. Follow the tips below to improve your reputation.
- Track your email performance using postmasters. A postmaster is a tool offered by mailbox providers that allows you to track your email performance. It shows delivery errors, spam reports, and domain reputation. Keeping these figures in check is necessary to maintain a good reputation.
- Authenticate your emails. Let ESPs know that your email address is genuine. Create a Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) record, which accompanies each email as proof of originality. Include a Sender Policy Framework (SPF) signature that shows you which domains accept emails from your IP address.
- Warm-up a new IP address. Before sending out hundreds of emails, build a good sender score. Send out a few emails each day and scale your campaign gradually over 3 months. It gives ESPs enough time to collect information about you. If you avoid being blacklisted during the warming period, you will have a good sender reputation in time for your big campaign.
- Get users’ permission to send emails. Users who never opted in to receive your emails will mark them as spam. Require that users confirm their subscription to make sure they know what they are signing up for. Getting recipients’ consent reduces the likelihood of rejection and increases your reputation.
- Send relevant content. If your recipients don’t enjoy reading your emails, they will ignore your campaigns, delete them, or mark them as spam. Survey your subscribers to know what they want to hear from you. Send emails that get opened, read, and clicked through.
In addition to all these techniques, we recommend that you keep your mailing list healthy. Regularly check the addresses to make sure you don’t waste money on campaigns. For this purpose, you can use an email verifier.
How to Use an Email Verifier
When you send emails to invalid addresses, they bounce back with an error message. ESPs take note of this and use it to score your sender reputation. Verifying the status of addresses before sending emails is a great way to lower the rejection rate.
An email verifier keeps your mailing list clean. It checks for spam traps, invalid addresses, and typos to reduce your bounce rate. Using a verifier, you can create a list of genuine email addresses.
SendPulse offers an email verifier that lets you upload a list of emails to be checked automatically. A detailed report will show valid, invalid, and unconfirmed addresses. The verifier will also create a separate list of valid emails for you to use.
SendPulse email verifier comes with several benefits, it:
- reduces bounce rates by showing you valid addresses;
- identifies typos in email addresses that were added manually;
- improves delivery rates for your email campaigns;
Besides, you can check 100 email addresses each month for free.
How to Check Your Emails Using SendPulse
SendPulse allows you to check your mailing lists for valid addresses. To use the free option, follow the steps below:
- Go to the “Email Verification” tab.
- Click on “Verify” to check your emails.
- To check a single email address, select “Verify email”.
- To check a mailing list, select the “Verify mailing list.”
- To check a mailing list from a file on your device, select the “Upload mailing list.”
- For mailing lists in a file, you may create custom variables such as name, contacts, and age. These variables will be displayed along with the email address in the valid mailing list. To add variables, use the drop-down arrow.
- To recheck a mailing list, switch to the “My Verifications” tab on the left. Click “Re-verify address.”
By following these steps, you will ensure that you have a valid mailing list. The verification results are compiled separately for you to review. They are categorized into statuses, depending on whether they are valid or invalid. You may filter emails by status to pick which ones to use.
Your clean mailing list can either be exported or used directly from your SendPulse account. You may also upgrade your plan to get more features that improve your email campaigns. Are you ready to give it a try? Sign up now and get free email verification today!