#Email Deliverability Issues0 discussing

NEW VERSION AVAILABLE AS OF MARCH 2025: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/trailblazer-community/feed/0D5KX00000PW5Qo0AL

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You can find the details of how to utilize existing products inside @* Marketing Cloud Engagement * to build your own deliverability monitoring dashboard here.

Updates to this version include:

➡️ (User feature request) Bounce tracking tab. Track bounces over time by type. This helps give you better insight into your list hygiene and overall performance of your campaigns. Bounces can indicate a larger issue with your list, content or sender reputation. 

➡️ (User feature request) Improved query performance and reliability.

➡️ New architecture for easier implementation and future updates.

NEW in this version: Bounce Tracking Over Time (bounce categories in Marketing Cloud Engagement)

This dashboard functions on your own internal Cloud Page solution and utilizes reference Data Extensions populated by Query Activities in Automation Studio. The goal of the dashboard is to provide you with a powerful solution focused on maximizing longitudinal performance, yet remains c-suite friendly to show high-level trends/progress. Our color-coded solution makes it easy to see the things that are going great (green), the things to keep an eye on (yellow), and the things to take immediate action on (red).

*Keep in mind, this is not an official product offering of Salesforce. This is something we use and thought you might find it useful too. Rest assured though, as we enhance it, we'll be sure to keep you updated. The code being offered is a solution that your team can implement as-is if you deem it to be valuable.

#Marketing Cloud #Email Deliverability Issues

Deliverability Tips Series

The @* Marketing Cloud Engagement *  Deliverability team shares valuable insights to help you build and maintain a strong sending reputation. Today, we discuss the dangers of list purchasing and its impact on your sender reputation. While buying lists might seem like a quick way to grow your audience, it can lead to significant problems. Here's why:

The Hazards of List Purchasing in SFMC

1. Compliance and Legal Risks

Purchasing email lists often violates privacy laws like:

GDPR in the EU

CAN-SPAM Act in the U.S.

CCPA in California

Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and penalties.

1. Poor Data Quality: Purchased lists are often filled with outdated or inaccurate data, leading to high bounce rates and low engagement. This diminishes the effectiveness of campaigns and skews your analytics in SFMC.
2. Negative Impact on Deliverability: Recipients who didn’t opt-in are likely to unsubscribe or report your emails as spam, harming your sender reputation and decreasing deliverability rates.
3. Brand Reputation Risks: Sending unsolicited emails can damage your brand’s image. If your emails are seen as intrusive, it can foster negative perceptions that are hard to reverse.
4. Ineffective Segmentation: Purchased lists lack proper segmentation, making it difficult to deliver personalized content. SFMC's powerful segmentation tools work best with quality, permission-based data.
5. Resource Drain: The time spent fixing issues from poor-quality lists—such as handling compliance problems and cleaning data—can far exceed any short-term gains.
6. Missed Engagement Opportunities: Relying on purchased lists distracts from nurturing your existing, engaged audience, which could lead to deeper customer relationships and better long-term results.

Conclusion

While list purchasing may offer a quick audience boost, the risks outweigh the benefits. Building an organic, permission-based audience ensures compliance, protects your brand reputation, and leads to more effective marketing. In the long run, focusing on quality will drive better engagement and sustainable success.

Alternatives to List Purchasing in SFMC

To avoid the risks of list purchasing, focus on organic list-building strategies. Here are some effective alternatives:

1. Create Valuable Content: Offer free resources like eBooks or webinars to attract sign-ups from genuinely interested users.
2. Optimize Your Website: Use pop-ups, subscription forms, and lead magnets to encourage visitors to subscribe, offering incentives like discounts.
3. Leverage Social Media: Promote email sign-ups via contests or gated content on social platforms to grow an engaged list.

#Email Deliverability Issues  #Email Deliverbility  #Marketing Cloud

Deliverability Tips Series

The @Marketing Cloud Deliverability team brings you helpful tips and guidance to build and maintain a great sending reputation.

In this post we’ll talk about IP capacity.

Did you know that mailbox providers limit the amount of mail an IP address can send in a day? This is not a Marketing Cloud restriction but is tied closely to how mailbox providers view your reputation as a sender. Sending large amounts of mail through a single IP can appear as 'spammy' behavior to many mailbox providers. 

Where we start seeing deferrals from major mailbox providers occur is typically once a customer starts sending 2M+ emails per day through a single IP.

3 key points to keep in mind:

* 1 Dedicated IP can send a maximum of 2.5M million sends per day (24 hour window), once you reach 2M sends per day it's time to start adding IP capacity for your campaigns.

* Project ahead for growth; if you’re going to need more IP(s) to accommodate volume in the next 1-3 months, add them now. New IPs will require a IP warm-up plan.

* Mailbox providers are on high alert Oct. - Dec. as mail volume spikes due to the retail season (Cyber Week). Learn more about how Cyber Week volume impacts a sender's reputation in our latest blog.

Remember that deliverability success is reflective of sending practices. If you are sending more than the recommended volume and seeing a decrease in deliverability or an increase in deferrals, it may be time to review your email program and IP configuration.

#Marketing Cloud #Email Deliverability Issues #Email Deliverbility

Deliverability Tips Series

The @* Marketing Cloud Engagement * Deliverability team brings you helpful tips and guidance to build and maintain a great sending reputation.

In this post we’ll talk about Google's Postmaster Tools.

Did you know that Google/Gmail offer helpful insights into how your email campaigns are performing with their users? Following their enforcement of email sender guidelines earlier this year, the postmaster tools site has recently been updated to offer an easy view of where your complaint rates fall in relation to their published recommendation of 0.1% and never higher than 0.3% (which can result in blocking of your mail).

Other helpful dashboard views include domain and IP reputation as well as compliance status of your mail with the email sender guidelines requirements. There is also an authentication dashboard showing the percent of your email that passes SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication.

For steps on how to enroll your Marketing Cloud Engagement domain(s) on Google's Postmaster Tools site, please follow the steps outlined on this help page.

#Marketing Cloud  #Email Deliverability Issues

                                                             ❗️ATTENTION Email Marketers❗️Additional Bulk Sender enforcements are expected to begin next month, June 2024. Specifically, to comply with Gmail’s bulk sender guidelines, keep your user-reported spam (complaint) rate below 0.1% and prevent it from reaching 0.3% or higher.

• How do I check my Gmail spam rate?  

You must use Google Postmaster Tools enrollment for Marketing Cloud Account Engagement. Salesforce Support can't check this for you.

• What are the consequences of not meeting sender guidelines and spam rates?

Senders will receive progressive error codes, and as of April 2024, rejection of non-compliant emails. Additionally, per Google: "Beginning June 2024, bulk senders with a user-reported spam rate greater than 0.3% will be ineligible for mitigation.” … “Spam rates and other data points are calculated and updated daily in Postmaster Tools. Bulk senders will be eligible for mitigation when their spam rates remain below 0.3% for 7 consecutive days."

• What should I do next?

Our suggestion: Salesforce Marketing Cloud enables you to focus on engaged subscriber segments (avoiding subscribers who haven't opened/clicked in 6+ months) and relevant content to what subscribers have opted-in to receive. This will help keep complaints to a minimum and maximize your chances of reaching the subscriber inbox.

• Where can I learn more?

Read about managing deliverability, including SPAM rates, in our articles: 

• Account Engagement Spam Complaints FAQ
• Bulk Sender Guidelines for Marketing Cloud Account Engagement to prepare for 2024 email platform changes
• What Is Spam?
• Database Hygiene Tips
• Identify and Suppress Unengaged Prospects
• Our previous related post here

What’s your experience dealing with deliverability issues? Share your wisdom and valuable tips in the thread to help others! 💡

#Email Deliverability Issues #Email #Email Marketing #Google #Pardot #AccountEngagement

❗️ATTENTION Email Marketers❗️

Join us for Workshop Wednesday: Learn How To Improve Your Email Sender Reputation. 

This session at Connections was standing room only. In under an hour you’ll learn what an email sender reputation is, and get started on a strategy to manage and monitor it. Check out the LinkedIn announcement and click 'attend' to join us June 26th at 9 a.m. PT | 12 p.m. ET.

#Marketing Cloud #Email Deliverability Issues