Introduction
Many ESP’s (Email Service Providers) want you to believe that running your own email marketing server is simply too difficult, casting the myth that they have “special working relationships” with many of the major ISP’s improving their delivery. This is simply untrue.
Email Service Providers make up stories as to how their IT teams exchange instant messenger debate with the Hotmail Postmasters and high five the dudes at Yahoo! Quite often even the Legal card is played, pretending that both sets of pin-stripe clad suits exchange constant correspondence in order that your mail can be delivered unhindered by spam filters or firewalls. Well guess what...It isn’t true! In fact quite often you will achieve better delivery yourself than with a low cost ESP.
Not all ESP’s are the same, typically the lower the cost, the higher they have to stack it to make it pay. To get the volume, often less scrutiny is placed on validating the opt-in status of lists and the likelihood of blacklisting increases. Running your own or email marketing server with a fixed IP and domain name are often less expensive, achieves better delivery and ensures better data than many outsource options.
If you feel that outsourcing your email broadcasting incurs too high a cost or that you want more control, then follow these 5 easy steps to ensure your server is whitelisted.
1. Set up your mail server with a fixed IP address, domain name and SPF record.
Sounds complicated, but it’s as easy as registering a domain name or hosting a web site. If you don’t want to set up and maintain your email
marketing server in your own data centre, you could buy a pre-installed, pre-configured server and have it hosted directly through ION Technologies or simply rent a server from a low cost third party host, such as EV1servers.net (USA) or 1and1.co.uk (UK).
By having your own server, you have a 100% guarantee that your data is safe and you have full control over your email marketing activity. Your customers and opt-in recipients will receive emails from the same server name, IP address and can choose to whitelist you without fear of an inundation of unwanted email from that same IP address. You have the added advantage of being able to send an email broadcast when YOU want it to go- not the Email Service Provider; and as long as you act ethically and follow good guidance in your marketing campaigns, you can be guaranteed that your server will not get blacklisted.
Setting up an SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is a simple process for anyone with experience in configuring domain names or managing a DNS. An SPF record is a text file used to describe who has permission to send emails using your domain. It prevents others claiming to be you and sending email in your name, a technique often used by spammers. To find out how to configure an SPF record, visit www.openspf.org.
2. Request Whitelist status from the major ISP’s
It is quite simple to do this but very important with as much as 50% of most consumer based lists being made up from the top 4 domains: AOL, Yahoo!, Hotmail and MSN. Informing these ISP giants of who you are and what you are doing is an essential start to successful Inbox delivery.
To accomplish Whitelist Status with the top 4 domains, follow the instructions with the following 4 links:
Yahoo!
http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/mail/cgi_bulkmail
AOL
http://postmaster.info.aol.com/whitelist/index.html
Juno (United on-line)
http://www.untd.com/postmaster/whitelisted.html
It may take a couple of hours, but it will be worthwhile setting up a
feedback loop and answering the questions asked. Getting whitelisted
will greatly enhance your delivery rates.
3. Ensure that your email lists are opt-in
Although most rental companies record the time, date and IP address of when the email recipient signed up, it is often unclear how someone opted in to receive email or got onto the mailing list. This means if you are the recipient and you get large volumes of unexpected email, it is difficult to track down the source reason for your Inbox deluge.
Most email recipients do not willingly give their consent to be on these lists; however the nature of the game is that many first time email marketers need to rent lists in order to gauge interest and gain further consent to keep mailing these users.
It is advisable, where possible, to use only OPT-IN methods of email marketing, as with the consent of those receiving your broadcasts, you will find that less users will report you for SPAM.
It is also highly advisable to ensure good email marketing practices are followed by showing transparency in your campaigns: offer telephone contact, postal address, opt out links and an ability to respond to emails. This will help to reduce your “SPAM footprint”.
4. Remove bounces as soon as they are validated as dead
Remove bounces as soon as possible. When you sign up for whitelisting, you will be asked how you intend to remove bounces, how often you clean your lists and what techniques you use to manage your lists. A clear and concise explanation of your legitimate and reliable practices will help your
application.
For example, if 20% of your email list is dead, you are using 20% of the remote mail server’s resources only for them to tell you that the person doesn’t exist. This creates a large unwanted overhead for the email provider and so they frown upon email marketing with unclean lists; repeat broadcasting of email in this way will also lead to blacklisting.
Hotmail and MSN ask that you do not resend bounced emails to them
containing the error 500 to 599. Subscribe adheres to this policy request ensuring your good name and whitelist status.
5. Ensure your HTML is W3C compliant
Depending on how your creating your HTML will affect the way in which different email clients will display your email. Hotmail for example is not particularly good as displaying style sheet HTML emails. Many email clients will not allow for the submission of forms and surveys from within the email. Many more do not support the displaying of flash or video from within the email.
The best rule when creating your HTML is to keep it simple and also to ensure that it validates with W3C compliance. The World Wide Web
Consortium provide tools to let you check out the validity of your HTML and ensure that your HTML will be universally accessible and acceptable.
I appreciate that many marketers simply don’t want the hassle of understanding any of the technology requirements behind email marketing, which is why we offer a fully managed digital marketing service. This ranges from strategy consultancy to creative design and delivery. If running your own email marketing campaigns is not your thing then let ION do it for you. |
