Best Practices: Email Deliverability and Privacy Flashcards
According to the 2014 Email Deliverability 101 report, how many opt-in marketing emails never make it to the in-box?
Over 20%.
Where do emails that don’t make it to in-boxes end up?
In spam or junk folders, or are blocked by ISP-level filtering before even making it to the email address.
What region had the highest rate of commercial emails delivered to the in-box?
Europe.
Define email deliverability.
The process of putting your email marketing messages into the in-box of recipients.
One of the key factors to successful email deliverability is creating email campaigns that are __________
relevant to your audience.
Your ability to reach prospects’ in-box is tied to ___
deliverability and privacy.
You are responsible for developing a comprehensive ___
privacy policy.
You need to reduce the likelihood of _____, unsubscribes, bounces, and spam traps.
complaints
You need to reduce the likelihood of complaints, ____, bounces, and spam traps.
unsubscribes
You need to reduce the likelihood of complaints, unsubscribes, ___, and spam traps.
bounces
You need to reduce the likelihood of complaints, unsubscribes, bounces, and ____.
spam traps.
Your reputation as an _____ impacts your potential reach as a marketer.
email sender
To understand your email service provider’s capabilities, you should (1) _________; (2) get proper counsel; (3) attain third-party certification as a trusted sender.
know privacy laws where you do business
To understand your email service provider’s capabilities, you should (1) know privacy laws where you do business; (2) _____; (3) attain third-party certification as a trusted sender.
get proper counsel
To understand your email service provider’s capabilities, you should (1) know privacy laws where you do business; (2) get proper counsel; (3) ______.
attain third-party certification as a trusted sender.
Best practices for successful email deliverability: (1) ______, (2) Manage your email list, (3) Optimize your content.
Manage your reputation
Best practices for successful email deliverability: (1) Manage your reputation, (2) _____, (3) Optimize your content.
Manage your email list
Best practices for successful email deliverability: (1) Manage your reputation, (2) Manage your email list, (3) ______.
Optimize your content
____ is based on your behavior as an email sender.
Sender reputation
To manage your sender reputation, you need to know your __
Sender score
Spam filtering has made a shift from _______ to a reputation based system.
content scoring
To manage your email reputation, you need to control ______.
spam complaints.
To keep spam complaints down and comply with regulations, you should ______
obtain recipient permissions.
To see the data underlying your email sender score, you can _____
register at senderscore.org.
Sender scores use the following data: (1) _____, (2) complaint rates (3) unknown user rates (4) infrastructure (5) spam trap hits (6) content
send volume
Sender scores use the following data: (1) send volume, (2) _____ (3) unknown user rates (4) infrastructure (5) spam trap hits (6) content
complaint rates
Sender scores use the following data: (1) send volume, (2) complaint rates (3) ____ (4) infrastructure (5) spam trap hits (6) content
unknown user rates
Sender scores use the following data: (1) send volume, (2) complaint rates (3) unknown user rates (4) ___ (5) spam trap hits (6) content
infrastructure
Sender scores use the following data: (1) send volume, (2) complaint rates (3) unknown user rates (4) infrastructure (5) ___ (6) content
spam trap hits
Sender scores use the following data: (1) send volume, (2) complaint rates (3) unknown user rates (4) infrastructure (5) spam trap hits (6) _____
content
Sender scores are based on a scale of
0 to 100
If you would like to see your Sender Score, you must first know if…
you are using a Dedicated IP or a Shared IP
If you are on the Shared IP range, can one company’s bad behavior affect another company’s sender score?
Yes.
Besides senderscore.org, where can you find more statistical information on sender scores?
Eloqua Trust page.
What did a Return Path study learn about messages sent by senders with a sender score lower than 50?
Over 85% of them were classified as spam.
For webmail providers, a sender score of 90+ equals what average inbox rate?
84%
What is the #1 global deliverability organization?
ReturnPath
If your sender score is in the highest benchmark range of 90-100, what will your average deliverability rate be?
95%
Where do most legitimate businesses fall in terms of sender score, and what does this mean for their average deliverability rate?
Most fall in the range between 60 and 89, and end up with an average deliverabiity rate of 68%.
Sender Scores are based on what three key components?
Complaints, unknown users, and spam traps.
What is the “unknown users” component of sender score?
The percentage of emails sent from an IP address to nonexistent addresses - aka hard bouncebacks.
______ are dummy email addresses developed by ISP’s or anti-spam organizations to catch illegitimate emails.
Spam traps
If your email is caught in a Spam Trap, ISPs send out a _____ message.
5XX Unknown User SMTP error message
One Spam Trap can decrease your Sender Score and inbox placement rates by how much?
Your Sender Score can decrease by more than 20 points and your inbox placement rates can go to 81% and lower.
Spam Traps can cause your ____ to become blacklisted.
Mailing IP’s and/or domains
Membership in the ____ may be suspended for exceeding acceptable Span Trap thresholds.
Return Path Certification Program.
Because identifying Spam Traps can be time consuming, you should narrow in on …
suspicious segments.
For the most part, _____ are the primary source of Spam Trap addresses.
rented or purchased lists.
You can manage Spam Traps by using an _____ filter to…
using an inactivity-based filter to filter out inactive contacts from your list.
A ______ can check your lists against known spam trap addresses.
third-party service
If you need more help with spam traps, consider using a…
Delivery Program Assistance incident.
A Delivery Program Assistance incident is available as part of Eloqua’s…
Branding and Delivery Boost package.
To control complaints, (1) monitor complaint trends and (2)
Avoid getting on blacklists.
To control complaints, (1) ___ and (2) Avoid getting on blacklists.
monitor complaint trends
As a best practice, keep a close eye on your complaints. When should you benchmark?
Every few months and/or when you email in large batches.
A _____ is a list of IP addresses, URLs, or domain names that are to be avoided.
blacklist
Blacklists are chiefly used to publish…
lists of addresses linked to spamming.
tip 1 to remove yourself from a blacklist: (1) visit the link to the ______ that is included in the notification
blocking service
tip 2 to remove yourself from a blacklist: (2) If the link to the blocking service is not provided, search your ___
Bounceback History report
tip 3 to remove yourself from a blacklist: contact the _____ to discuss and identify the issue
ESP/ISP Postmaster
How can you find out if you’re on a blacklist?
Use an online tool
If you’ve been blocked via blacklist, you will typically…
receive a notification.
___ is an email validation system, allowing admins to specify which hosts are allowed to send email from a given domain.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
What does SPF stand for?
Sender Policy Framework
SPF creates a specific ______ in your DNS settings.
SPF or TXT record
When Eloqua is first installed, part of the implementation process involves setting your ____ to validate email spoofing.
SPF record details within the DNS settings on all sending domains.
A _____ is a list of approved IP addresses and senders.
whitelist
To get your IP address on a whitelist, you need to establish a track record as a ___
permission-based email marketer.
_____ provides the certification to whitelist your IP address.
Return Path
Does manually moving messages into the junk folder impact the complaint rate?
Not on a desktop client like Outlook, but it will on web clients like Gmail.
The rate of email complaints _____ as the sender score rises.
falls dramatically
To gain recipient permission, send emails only when ____
explicitly requested.
To gain recipient permission, _____ neutral contacts.
target neutral contacts in an attempt to get them to opt-in.
To gain recipient permission, ____ inactive contacts.
re-engage
To gain recipient permission, _______ active opt-in contacts
strengthen your relationship with active opt-in contacts.
To gain recipient permission, respect…
subscriber preferences about content and timing.
When someone submits an email address in a web form, then submits that address again on a second page, it is referred to as…
double opt-in.
When someone fills out a web form, then affirms their request again to be on your mailing list, it is referred to as…
confirmed opt-in.
Spammers use the term _______ to refer to a situation where the subscriber was opted in without their consent, then “opted in” a second time by failing to unsubscribe.
double opt-in
As a best practice, use the __ to increase the number of valid emails in your database.
Confirmed Opt-In
Is Confirmed Opt-In widely used? Why or why not?
It is used by very few clients because of its impact on the subscription rates.
To manage your email list, (1) ____, (2) perform IP warming, (3) process bouncebacks, (4) filter to find active contacts.
validate list sources.
To manage your email list, (1) validate list sources, (2) perform IP warming, (3) _____, (4) filter to find active contacts.
process bouncebacks
To manage your email list, (1) validate list sources, (2) perform IP warming, (3) process bouncebacks, (4) ___
filter to find active contacts.
To manage your email list, (1) validate list sources, (2) _____, (3) process bouncebacks, (4) filter to find active contacts.
perform IP warming
True or false: Best practice says do not buy or rent lists.
True.
If you buy lists, understand (1) _____ (2) age and last usage date (3) how they monitor and remove complainers (4) how they verify and maintain opt-in statuses
source of data
If you buy lists, understand (1) source of data (2) ________ (3) how they monitor and remove complainers (4) how they verify and maintain opt-in statuses
age and last usage date
If you buy lists, understand (1) source of data (2) age and last usage date (3) ______ (4) how they verify and maintain opt-in statuses
how they monitor and remove complainers
If you buy lists, understand (1) source of data (2) age and last usage date (3) how they monitor and remove complainers (4) ____
how they verify and maintain opt-in statuses
Use Case - Eloqua’s marketing IP had been blocked on ____
SpamHaus
Eloqua had to remove a purchased list from its database in its entirety, which meant…
they lost addresses they had paid for.
Out of the SpamHaus incident, Eloqua’s ___ document was born.
Outside List Acquisition Best Practices document
To perform IP warming, (1) send emails to all addresses in a phased manner and then remove hard bounces; (2) ______; (3) use recent contact info only; (4) use HTML with simple design; (4) review reports after each send.
confirm the list does not contain previously unsubscribed addresses
To perform IP warming, (1) ______ (2) confirm the list does not contain previously unsubscribed addresses; (3) use recent contact info only; (4) use HTML with simple design; (4) review reports after each send.
send emails to all addresses in a phased manner and then remove hard bounces;
To perform IP warming, (1) send emails to all addresses in a phased manner and then remove hard bounces; (2) confirm the list does not contain previously unsubscribed addresses; (3) use recent contact info only; (4) ______; (5) review reports after each send.
use HTML with simple design
To perform IP warming, (1) send emails to all addresses in a phased manner and then remove hard bounces; (2) confirm the list does not contain previously unsubscribed addresses; (3) use recent contact info only; (4) use HTML with simple design; (5) _____.
review reports after each send
To perform IP warming, (1) send emails to all addresses in a phased manner and then remove hard bounces; (2) confirm the list does not contain previously unsubscribed addresses; (3) _____; (4) use HTML with simple design; (4) review reports after each send.
use recent contact info only
__ is the process of slowly introducing your new sender IP address by gradually increasing the volume of emails sent from that IP over a period of time.
IP warning
Many companies skip the IP warming process. Why?
Because it may slow their sending for the first month.
In IP warming, the first step uses content that is…
not time sensitive.
3 good campaign types to use for IP warming are:
(1) a data harvest campaign, (2) a campaign to update subscription options, or (3) a simple newsletter campaign
Step 2 in IP warming is to build a list of contacts that…
have explicitly opted-in.
In the first week of IP warming, send the email to…
1% of your total list each day.
In the second week of IP warming, send the email to..
3% of the list each day
In the third week of IP warming, increase the email send to…
10% of the list each day.
During IP warming, monitor and remove contacts who…
bounceback, unsubscribe, or complain.
To manage lists successfully, (1) ____ (2) keep hard bouncebacks under 3% (3) monitor spam complaints and bounceback reports
remove hard bouncebacks from segment
To manage lists successfully, (1) remove hard bouncebacks from segment (2) _____ (3) monitor spam complaints and bounceback reports
keep hard bouncebacks under 3%
To manage lists successfully, (1) remove hard bouncebacks from segment (2) keep hard bouncebacks under 3% (3) ____
monitor spam complaints and bounceback reports
Eloqua by default auto-suppresses any sends to a Contact flagged as a…
hard bounceback
Not sending to hard bouncebacks supports…
reporting
What timeframe do most Eloqua clients use to weed out inactive contacts?
3 - 6 months
After __ unsuccessful attempts to engage contacts, it’s time to…
suppress them from future sends.
To manage your content, (1) ______, (2) optimize relevancy and frequency, (3) review and refine content.
reinforce email expectations
To manage your content, (1) reinforce email expectations, (2) ______, (3) review and refine content.
optimize relevancy and frequency
To manage your content, (1) reinforce email expectations, (2) optimize relevancy and frequency, (3) ______.
review and refine content
To reinforce email expectations, (1) ______, (2) send welcome messages, (3) check in with contacts periodically, (4) move subscription management options to upper half of your emails
communicate your privacy policy
To reinforce email expectations, (1) communicate your privacy policy, (2) send welcome messages, (3) _____, (4) move subscription management options to upper half of your emails
check in with contacts periodically
