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DELIVERABILITY A Practical Guide to Protect Your Inbox Reputation and Support Your Ongoing Email Deliverability Goals Deliverability Declassified 1 For professionals in email marketing, achieving great deliverability begins with a solid understanding of email best practices. And with today’s constantly changing environment, it’s nearly impossible to keep up with current trends. At the foundation of this understanding are practices that align with legal and regulatory compliance requirements that protect consumer rights. The lens we must look through is always the customer’s. Federal and Global laws are only a small part of safely managing inbox reputation, however, and all email marketing professionals must understand the importance of complying with a set of best practices meant to protect reputation and ensure strong, unrestricted email deliverability. In this guide, SparkPost provides readers with an extensive introduction to these best practices. Once you’ve put these best practices into place, monitoring and measuring your deliverability will be crucial. An easy way to start is to visit sparkpost.com/deliveryindex, enter your mailing domain, and see a quick snapshot of your deliverability in 7 day increments. You’ll be able to check your inbox placement across all of the major inbox providers, as well as key areas impacting your inbox reputation (including blacklists, spam trap hits, and authentication elements). You can also check your competition’s sending domains to see how you measure up. It’s free to use, and a great way to understand your deliverability and identify possible ways to improve it. Deliverability Declassified 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS EMAIL MARKETING LAWS AND REGULATIONS......................................... 4 UNSUBSCRIBES, COMPLAINTS, AND FEEDBACK LOOPS ..................... 19 Unsubscribe/Opt-Out Process .....................................................................................19 THE CAN-SPAM ACT ................................................................................................................ 5 Opt-Out Should Be Clear ..................................................................................................19 Best Practices Go Far Beyond Legal Compliance ........................................... 5 The Opt-Out Process Should Be Easy ....................................................................19 The Basics ...................................................................................................................................... 6 Enable The List-Unsubscribe X-Header ...............................................................19 When Does CAN-SPAM Apply? ......................................................................................7 Email Address Changes ....................................................................................................20 CANADA’S ANTI-SPAM LEGISLATION (CASL) ................................................... 8 Complaint Tracking ..............................................................................................................20 What Is Considered a CEM ................................................................................................ 8 Feedback Loops .....................................................................................................................20 Implied vs. Expressed Consent ...................................................................................... 8 Outlook Postmaster Tools ..............................................................................................20 Content and Record-Keeping ......................................................................................... 9 Google Postmaster Tools .................................................................................................21 Unsubscribes ............................................................................................................................... 9 IP Address Warming ............................................................................................................22 GENERAL DATA PROTECTION REGULATION (GDPR) ............................. 10 Shared IP Addresses ...........................................................................................................22 Consent ......................................................................................................................................... 10 ESP AND IP REPUTATION ..................................................................................................22 Opt-Out Duration ................................................................................................................... 10 Multiple IP Addresses ........................................................................................................23 Penalties ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Pros of a Shared IP ...............................................................................................................23 Age Restrictions ..................................................................................................................... 10 Sender Policy Framework (SPF) ................................................................................24 ESSENTIAL BEST PRACTICES ...................................................................................... 11 Domain Keys (DKIM) ...........................................................................................................24 EMAIL SUBSCRIBER ACQUISITION.............................................................................12 AUTHENTICATION AND BRAND PROTECTION PRACTICES ...............24 Opt-In Best Practices ..........................................................................................................12 Domain-Based Message Authentication, Subscriber Acquisition Methods and Sources .................................................13 Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) ................................................................25 List Hygiene ...............................................................................................................................14 CASE CLOSED ...............................................................................................................................26 Spam Traps .................................................................................................................................14 FOUNDATIONAL BEST PRACTICES ..........................................................................27 LIST MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................... 14 SENDER REPUTATION ..........................................................................................................28 Pristine Traps ............................................................................................................................15 Recycled Traps .........................................................................................................................15 THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS .........................................................................................28 Engagement Screening ......................................................................................................16 CONGRATS, YOU MADE IT! ..............................................................................................28 Relevance .....................................................................................................................................16 Relevant email meets the following standards: ...............................................16 APPENDIX (HELPFUL LINKS) .......................................................................................29 EMAIL CONTENT AND STRATEGY ............................................................................ 16 Frequency Optimization ....................................................................................................17 Mobile Optimization .............................................................................................................17 Subject Lines and Content Filters .............................................................................17 Delivery Tracking ....................................................................................................................18 Deliverability Declassified 3 DELIVERABILITY EMAIL MARKETING LAWS AND REGULATIONS The Ins and Outs of Sending Emails Legally EMAIL MARKETING LAWS AND REGULATIONS THE CAN-SPAM ACT Introductory Note: This document is not intended as a source Preventing states from enacting stronger anti-spam of legal advice, therefore CAN-SPAM is not explained here in protection. detail. Prohibiting spam victims from suing spammers except In reference to this law, please remember that federal laws under laws not specific to email. concerning email marketing were only created to limit abusive The CAN-SPAM Act is critical in understanding email behaviors. Our professional perspective, and the widely deliverability compliance. According to the Federal Trade accepted standard, is that compliance with federal laws does Commission (FTC), the CAN-SPAM Act applies to all not even begin to cover the full extent of best practices that commercial messages, not only bulk emails. In the law, emails should be followed by email