Establishing a good reputation with ISPs improve e-mail deliverability
Establishing a good reputation with ISPs improve e-mail deliverability January
16, 2008 Most Internet service providers have systems in place to scan incoming
email messages individually for viruses and spam. The messages are then checked
against black lists and evaluated with other attributes. Reputation is a newer
criterion that ISPs are using to evaluate mail. A sender?s reputation is
determined when ISPs request the sender?s reputation score from a central,
third-party reputation database. This means that senders must be able to
implement a variety of specific sending rules to comply with each ISP?s
requirements and be able to facilitate header markups to incorporate third-party
accreditation solutions. Some email marketing solutions readily accept new
standards to adapt easily to changing ISP sending environments. Less flexible
solutions make it more difficult to comply with ISP requirements, which can
inadvertently damage a sender?s reputation if the company is using poor or
unchecked sending practices. Complying with individual ISP ?throttling?
requirements?the speed and volume at which an ISP will accept your e-mail?is a
key factor in maintaining a good reputation. As a marketer, you should know if
your e-mail platform (either in-house or through an e-mail service provider)
allows control over settings such as total outbound connections, total message
volume and volume ramping, and gives senders a way to match their sending
practices to each ISP?s requirements, which change on a regular basis. Senders
should also be aware that a vast database of reputation data based on the global
sending practices of thousands of companies was collected recently and published
by anti-spam and accreditation vendors. This report provides ISPs with another
way to filter e-mail by producing a ?gray list? of senders. ISPs will make
judgment calls based on the sending history published on this report to
determine whether to send or block e-mail from unknown gray-listed senders.
Establishing a good reputation with ISPs is vital to deliverability. To protect
your company?s reputation, consider doing the following: 1. Use throttling to
insure that you are not over burdening ISPs by sending too many messages too
fast. If you use an ESP, make sure they provide you with the reporting to
understand exactly how each ISP treats your mail. 2. Contract with a third-party
accreditation service that certifies sender policies and practices and makes
those certified lists available to the ISPs. 3. Depending on the type or volume
of mail you are sending, establishing an in-house ISP relations team can help
ensure that your mailing practices and reporting are contributing to maintaining
a good reputation and relationship with each ISP.