Deliverability is the cornerstone of any email marketing strategy, as even the most compelling campaigns will have little impact if they don’t reach the intended inbox. Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) provides marketers with powerful tools to manage email delivery, but ensuring high deliverability requires more than just sending emails. It involves monitoring sender reputation, optimizing email content, and managing authentication protocols.
This article will explore how to identify and manage common deliverability issues, ensuring your emails get delivered to the right audience. We’ll also build on insights from Day 55: Monitoring Deliverability in SFMC and Day 89: Email Authentication Best Practices (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to provide a holistic approach to managing deliverability issues.
Understanding the Basics of Email Deliverability
Deliverability refers to the ability of an email to reach the recipient’s inbox. Unlike email delivery (which simply indicates that the message was handed off to the server), deliverability ensures that emails don’t get blocked, marked as spam, or filtered into the promotions tab. Poor deliverability can result from various factors such as bad sender reputation, poor content quality, or lack of authentication protocols.
In SFMC, high deliverability means more engagement, improved conversion rates, and better ROI. However, managing deliverability involves staying ahead of potential pitfalls.
Common Deliverability Issues in SFMC and How to Fix Them
1. Poor Sender Reputation and How to Improve It
One of the biggest challenges in email deliverability is maintaining a positive sender reputation. Email providers assign a reputation score to the IP addresses and domains you use to send emails. If your bounce rates, spam complaints, or unsubscribe rates are too high, your reputation can suffer.
Solution:
Use Dedicated IP Addresses: If you send a high volume of emails, switch to a dedicated IP address to isolate your sending behavior from others. We covered IP management strategies in Day 55: Monitoring Deliverability in SFMC.
Warm Up New IP Addresses: Gradually increase the email volume on a new IP over time to build a positive reputation.
Monitor Complaint Rates: If too many recipients mark your emails as spam, it can harm your sender score. Use feedback loops to identify and address these complaints.
2. Email Authentication Issues: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
Authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are critical for proving that your emails are legitimate. Many email providers block unauthenticated emails to prevent phishing and spam.
Solution:
Set Up SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Ensure that your email-sending IPs are listed in your domain’s SPF record. This prevents spoofing and builds trust with email providers.
Use DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): DKIM ensures that emails are not altered in transit. It signs outgoing messages with your domain’s digital signature.
Implement DMARC: DMARC policies instruct email providers on how to handle messages that fail SPF or DKIM checks. For more insights on these protocols, refer to Day 89: Email Authentication Best Practices.
3. High Bounce Rates: Managing Hard and Soft Bounces
Bounces occur when emails fail to reach recipients. Hard bounces happen when an email address is invalid or nonexistent, while soft bounces result from temporary issues like a full inbox.
Solution:
Remove Invalid Emails: Use list hygiene practices to remove invalid addresses before sending campaigns. This was also discussed on Day 90: Best Practices for Keeping Data Clean in SFMC.
Monitor Soft Bounces: If you encounter repeated soft bounces, pause sending to those addresses for a period to avoid harming your sender reputation.
Set Up Bounce Thresholds: In SFMC, configure automation rules to remove or flag emails after a certain number of bounces.
4. Spam Filters Blocking Emails
Spam filters scan emails for various criteria, including poor subject lines, overly promotional content, or suspicious links. If your emails get marked as spam frequently, your campaigns will lose effectiveness.
Solution:
Avoid Spammy Content: Use tools within SFMC to test your email content for spam-like words and phrases. Make sure subject lines are engaging yet neutral—not overly promotional.
Optimize HTML Code: Ensure your emails have well-structured HTML content, with both text and image components, as covered in Day 13: Best Practices for Email Marketing in SFMC.
Ask for Explicit Consent: Use double opt-in mechanisms to build high-quality lists with engaged recipients who expect your emails.
5. Deliverability Issues Across Different Email Providers
Each email provider (like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook) has its own filtering rules, meaning an email that reaches Gmail’s primary inbox might get diverted to the promotions tab or spam in Outlook.
Solution:
Test Emails Across Providers: Use email preview tools in SFMC to test how emails appear on different platforms.
Monitor Inbox Placement Rates: Identify which email providers have low inbox placement for your campaigns and make adjustments accordingly.
Encourage Engagement: Higher open rates improve your email placement. Encourage readers to move your emails to their primary inbox or mark them as “not spam.”
6. Blacklisting Issues: How to Avoid and Recover
If your sending domain or IP address is blacklisted, your emails won’t reach recipients. Blacklisting usually occurs due to spam complaints, high bounce rates, or bad sending practices.
Solution:
Monitor Blacklist Status: Use tools like Spamhaus or MXToolbox to check if your domain or IP has been blacklisted.
Contact ISPs for Removal: If you get blacklisted, work with the Internet Service Provider (ISP) to understand the reason and follow their instructions for removal.
Implement Better List Management Practices: Avoid buying lists and focus on building organic email lists through lead magnets and subscription forms.
7. Email Throttling and Its Impact on Deliverability
Some email providers throttle incoming emails to manage their network load. If you send too many emails too quickly, providers may temporarily block or delay your messages.
Solution:
Use Throttling Settings in SFMC: Configure SFMC to send emails gradually over time instead of all at once.
Segment Large Campaigns: Divide large campaigns into smaller segments to reduce the chance of throttling. This approach also allows for more targeted messaging, as discussed on Day 21: Segmentation Strategies in SFMC.
8. Poor Engagement Metrics and Their Effect on Deliverability
Low open rates, click-through rates, or high unsubscribe rates negatively affect deliverability. If recipients aren’t engaging with your emails, providers will assume they’re not relevant.
Solution:
Use Personalized Content: Personalization improves engagement. Refer to Day 58: Introduction to Personalization in SFMC for tips on crafting tailored messages.
Experiment with A/B Testing: Test subject lines, send times, and content variations to identify what resonates most with your audience.
Re-engagement Campaigns: Set up re-engagement journeys to win back inactive subscribers, as discussed in Day 32: Building a Welcome Journey in SFMC.
Conclusion: Deliverability Success in SFMC Is an Ongoing Process
Managing deliverability in Salesforce Marketing Cloud requires continuous monitoring, testing, and optimization. By implementing authentication protocols, monitoring bounce rates, optimizing content, and maintaining a good sender reputation, you can ensure that your emails consistently reach the intended audience.
Drawing from related topics like Email Authentication Best Practices (Day 89), Data Hygiene (Day 90), and Best Practices for Email Marketing (Day 13), you now have a well-rounded strategy to tackle deliverability challenges effectively.
In the next article, we’ll dive into email authentication in depth, covering the specific steps to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC within SFMC.