If email is an important outreach channel for your business, then safeguarding a good sender reputation should be your top priority.
This blog post will discuss in greater detail what this metric is, why it’s so important, and how to improve it.
What Is an Email Sender Reputation?
Your sender reputation is a score assigned to you by Email Service Providers (ESPs) like Gmail, Outlook, and others. They use it to judge the trustworthiness of your emails. A good reputation signals that you’re a legitimate sender who plays by the rules and sends relevant content that recipients actually want. As a result, your emails reach recipients’ inboxes.
A bad reputation, however, raises red flags, indicating potential spam or questionable sending practices, ultimately consigning your emails to the junk folder, no matter how good your copy is.
While ESPs aren’t upfront about how their scoring algorithms work, they likely consider factors like engagement rates, spam complaints, and bounce rates. Tools like Google Postmaster Tools offer some insight into how Gmail, for example, views your sending practices.
What Factors Affect Your Sender Reputation?
Your sender reputation is built upon two pillars: your IP reputation (linked to the IP address you send email from) and your domain reputation (tied to your domain, like yourcompany.com).
Several factors influence these reputations:
- Email copy. Are you sending valuable, engaging content that your subscribers actually want? Spammy language, excessive images, too many links, or oversized files can trigger spam filters.
- Recipient engagement. The level of engagement your emails receive from recipients is a crucial indicator of your reputation. High open rates, click-through rates, reply rates, and the frequency with which emails are marked as important or removed from spam all contribute to a positive sender reputation.
- Bounce rate. This metric indicates the percentage of emails that failed to be delivered, and it can significantly impact your sender reputation. Hard bounces, caused by invalid email addresses, are particularly detrimental as they suggest poor list hygiene or that you don’t understand your audience well.
- Abuse complaints. Do people mark your emails as spam? High complaint rates damage your reputation as they indicate that your emails are unwanted and irrelevant.
- Email list quality. A clean list is essential. Invalid, incorrect, or inactive addresses, together with spam traps, lead to high bounce rates. Based on this, ESPs conclude your emails aren’t welcome.
- Sending history. Consistency matters, which means that sudden spikes in email volume after periods of low activity look suspicious.
Tips for Improving Your Sender Reputation
Now that we’ve explored the factors that shape your sender reputation let’s explore strategies to improve and boost your email deliverability.
1. Warm up your email accounts
Before you start with cold email outreach, it’s vital to warm up your email accounts. This process involves gradually building a positive sender reputation with email service providers by initially sending a small number of emails and gradually increasing the volume over time.
So, if your email account is new or if you haven’t used it for a while, make sure to implement a well-thought-out email warm-up process.
Think of it as establishing trust with your ESP. If you suddenly bombard them with thousands of emails from a new account, it raises red flags, increasing the chances of your messages being flagged as spam or your account being blocked.
To warm up your email accounts effectively, start by sending 30-50 cold emails per day and gradually increase this limit to 100-150 over several weeks. For large-scale outreach, consider distributing the sending volume across multiple accounts.
When crafting your cold emails during the warm-up phase, prioritize quality over quantity. Focus on writing personalized, concise, relevant, and short messages that provide value to your recipients. Avoid using spam trigger words and maintain a conversational tone to encourage engagement.
Initially, limit your outreach to recipients within your network who are more likely to interact with your emails. This positive engagement signals to email providers that your messages are welcome and relevant.
As you progress through the warm-up period, gradually increase your sending volume while maintaining a focus on quality and engagement.
Remember, warming up your email accounts is an ongoing process.
Continue to monitor your email metrics, maintain list hygiene, and prioritize valuable content to ensure your emails consistently reach the inbox and achieve your outreach goals.
2. Authenticate your domain
Domain authentication involves verifying that the emails you send are from a legitimate source. This is achieved by setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
These authentication protocols act as digital signatures for your emails, assuring ESPs of their authenticity. Simply put, the point is to prove that emails you send are genuinely from you and not from an imposter with a malicious intent.
By implementing domain authentication, you reduce the chances of your emails being marked as spam or not being delivered at all.
This is achieved by setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework) — Specifies which IP addresses are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) — Adds a digital signature to your emails, ensuring their integrity.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) — Ties SPF and DKIM together and tells ISPs how to handle emails that fail authentication.
Setting up these records might sound technical, but most ESPs provide user-friendly guides. Most email service providers offer straightforward tools to guide you through the process. It’s a small investment of time that can yield significant dividends in terms of improved deliverability and a stronger sender reputation.
3. Clean your email list
Your email list is a valuable asset.
However, like any asset, it requires regular maintenance to ensure its optimal performance. Maintaining a clean email list is essential for safeguarding your sender reputation and ensuring your messages reach their intended audience.
Inactive subscribers, those who haven’t engaged with your emails in a significant period, can negatively impact your sender reputation. They lower your overall engagement metrics, signaling to ISPs that your content isn’t resonating. Additionally, abandoned or invalid email addresses can lead to hard bounces, further harming your reputation.
Regularly cleaning your email list is crucial for improving your engagement rates, minimizing bounce rates, and reducing the risk of spam complaints. It’s about ensuring that your emails are reaching people who genuinely want to receive them.
Here are some effective strategies for maintaining a clean and healthy email list:
- Implement a re-engagement campaign. Before removing inactive subscribers, try to re-engage them with a targeted campaign. Offer exclusive content, discounts, or simply ask them to update their preferences to show their continued interest.
- Set up automated list cleaning. Many email service providers offer tools to automatically remove inactive subscribers based on predefined criteria, saving you time and effort.
- Monitor your email metrics. Regularly track key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates to identify trends and take corrective action if needed. This helps you stay on top of your list’s health and make informed decisions.
Also, for cold outreach, it’s essential to always verify your email list before sending any campaigns.
4. Avoid sending large volumes of emails all of a sudden
Sending more emails doesn’t mean better results.
When it comes to building and maintaining a good sender reputation, a more measured approach is key. Sending large volumes of emails too quickly can trigger spam filters and damage your reputation.
To avoid this, it’s crucial to limit your sending volume, especially during the initial stages of your cold outreach campaigns. A general rule is to start with no more than 150 cold emails per day per email address and ,ideally, per domain. This allows you to gradually build trust with email providers and establish yourself as a legitimate sender.
Gradually increasing your sending volume over time allows you to monitor deliverability rates, track engagement metrics, and make adjustments as needed. It also helps you avoid overwhelming recipients with too many emails at once, increasing the likelihood of them engaging with your messages.
Remember, the goal of cold outreach is not to send out as many emails as possible but to establish meaningful connections with potential customers. By limiting your sending volume and focusing on quality over quantity, you’ll improve your chances of landing in the inbox, building trust, and achieving your outreach goals.
5. Craft personalized and engaging emails
The key to a good sender reputation lies in crafting high-quality emails that captivate your recipients and offer value and relevance that compels them to engage rather than complain.
Personalization is the starting point. Generic, mass-produced emails are a relic of the past and they no longer work. Today’s savvy recipients expect messages that feel tailor-made for them. Addressing recipients by their name, referencing their company or industry, and demonstrating a genuine understanding of their pain points can significantly enhance engagement and reduce the likelihood of spam complaints.
Beyond personalization, focus on delivering value. Your emails should offer solutions, insights, or information that your recipients find genuinely useful. Avoid being overly salesy or pushy. Instead, adopt a helpful and consultative approach that fosters trust and builds relationships.
Pay attention to your tone and language and aaintain a friendly and professional demeanor. Finally, keep your emails concise and to the point, respecting your recipients’ time and attention.
To sum up, focus on creating high-quality content by:
- Avoiding clickbaity subject lines
- Paying attention to the email preview text
- Not overselling to your users
- Optimizing your email templates for mobile
- Avoiding spam words in your content
- Testing all your links
- Formatting your content for readability
6. Make it easy for your recipients to unsubscribe
People’s interests and needs change, and sometimes they no longer want to receive your emails.
Respecting their wishes and providing an easy way to unsubscribe is not only ethical but also essential for maintaining a good sender reputation. When subscribers can’t easily opt out, they’re more likely to resort to marking your emails as spam, which can severely damage your reputation.
That’s why you should include:
Visible unsubscribe link — Place the unsubscribe link prominently in every email.
One-click unsubscribe — Make the unsubscribe process simple and straightforward.
Preference management — Consider offering subscribers the option to manage their preferences (e.g., frequency, topics).
Double opt-in — Use double opt-in to ensure that subscribers genuinely want to receive your emails.
In Conclusion
Building a strong sender reputation doesn’t happen overnight. By understanding the factors that influence your sender reputation and proactively taking steps to improve it, you’re paving the way for successful email campaigns.
Remember, it’s not just about avoiding spam filters. The goal is to earn the trust of email providers and build genuine connections with your audience.
