| Sustainable email sending programs in an inherently | | | | corporate and ESP data centers. Many ESP |
| hostile environment now require great care and | | | | operations are being pushed into unfamiliar |
| planning. Before considering technical complexities | | | | technical territory in an attempt to improve |
| and marketing tactics, email senders must adopt | | | | delivery performance. If you don't probe past the |
| this basic paradigm shift. | | | | comforting superficialities your outcomes may be |
| The five guidelines included in this series should | | | | diminished. |
| become watchwords for ezine emailers as they | | | | More information on email sender tools and tactics |
| incur the risk and responsibility of sending | | | | can be found in the Email PhD Sending Signature |
| newsletters or any other repetitive type of email. | | | | Management section. |
| Part 1 of 5: Treat Email as a True Risk and Cost | | | | Upgrade and modernize your systems - whether |
| Center | | | | internal or external |
| Part 2 of 5: Avoid Collateral Damage | | | | Delivery tactics, drop-box testing, high granularity |
| Part 3 of 5: Use the Available (Legitimate) Tools | | | | reporting, trends analysis all these are necessary |
| and Tactics (M2M) | | | | features for email program control. If you still |
| Part 4 of 5: Build Strong Relationships (H2H) | | | | think that there is something simply called a |
| Part 5 of 5: Continuously Evaluate | | | | "bounce" (as opposed to a "server level response |
| Part 3 of 5 | | | | message") then you may be lacking sufficient |
| Use the Available (Legitimate) Tools and Tactics | | | | data to influence your sending outcomes. There is |
| (M2M)within your email sending system | | | | a lot more to managing a successful sending |
| One of the most basic systematic distinctions | | | | process today than just pushing the "send" |
| influencing email performance is between those | | | | button. |
| barriers operating under human control, and those | | | | In line with these needs, new levels of control are |
| that are under machine control. Email senders | | | | now being built into many sending systems, from |
| today need to understand and work within this | | | | the MTA package through to the total messaging |
| dicotomy. Remember: | | | | system. These can allow managers to avoid |
| * Human solutions (such as ISP relations) tend to | | | | accidentally activating many routine volume and |
| work for human-run systems (H2H) | | | | rate blocking traps. And virtually all system |
| * Machine responses (such as sender | | | | developers are now providing improved reporting |
| authentication) tend to work for machine systems | | | | and data integration. The use of controlled sending |
| (M2M) | | | | policies and scheduling can reduce your sending |
| * Not understanding the differences between | | | | signature, and improve your reception and |
| these types of systems tends to create at lot of | | | | delivery at most major recipient ISPs. |
| frustration | | | | The same level of expertise should be expected |
| Most of the systems that stop your email are | | | | from external service providers. Presenting an |
| automated. This means machines, not people, | | | | easy to use interface, or good database |
| determine whether your email gets through. From | | | | integration features is important, but it is not |
| client-side boxed software packages to ISP email | | | | sufficient. Investment and effort to control and |
| profiling systems, it is usually the things that | | | | improve email results, from ISP relations to |
| machines can see and measure that count the | | | | technical delivery, is essential in a good ESP |
| most. | | | | partner. |
| Many ESPs rely almost exclusively on H2H "ISP | | | | Good decisions are based on data |
| relationships" at major recipient ISPs for delivery | | | | Senders have been subject to a litany of |
| improvement. Email managers need to remember | | | | aphorisms about how to improve delivery. A few |
| that only a few ISPs even offer such channels, | | | | of these suggestions are entirely useless, and |
| and that a large portion of their email list | | | | others may have only an extremely narrow field |
| addresses are at ISPs that don't. For those | | | | of effect. Effective email managers know that |
| destinations, and just as importantly, for all of the | | | | the only accurate way to tell what is really |
| outside monitoring systems that watch and | | | | happening to your sends is to test and to collect |
| record email flows, your technical (M2M) sending | | | | data. |
| behavior is the primary determinant of your | | | | Many online publishers have a key metric that |
| success. | | | | they like to use. Unfortunately, chances are that it |
| This section addresses the machine-to-machine | | | | has been corrupted by some type of sending |
| (M2M) communication universe - that strange | | | | barrier. Other senders still rely only on aggregate |
| virtual place where what people think and see | | | | indicators of sending success, or worse, indicators |
| counts for little, but where algorithms, rule sets, | | | | that can simply tell you if your campaign |
| and thresholds control everything. Of course, | | | | succeeded or failed according to a measure other |
| people usually set those rules and thresholds, but | | | | than delivery. This data, while better than nothing, |
| once in place the machines do the sorting, filtering, | | | | does not provide the diagnostics and granularity |
| and blocking. And they determine whether your | | | | needed to control and adapt your sending |
| recipients get your messages. | | | | strategies. To control an email program today it is |
| Email delivery and communications is your | | | | just as important to be able diagnose a problem |
| business, and your responsibility | | | | as it is to simply report a result. Data collection at |
| Successful email communications programs | | | | multiple levels is key to diagnosis. |
| actively use many types of M2M tools and tactics | | | | Complete reporting systems should provide: |
| to overcome delivery barriers and to improve the | | | | * detailed data from the Internet transmission |
| level of recipient response. In fact, at a point in | | | | level (server-to-server) |
| time where 22% of permission-based email from | | | | * data from monitored mailbox landing systems |
| a wide spectrum of sources is being erroneously | | | | (filter/junk-bin) |
| blocked, and with email response rates far below | | | | * data from email-based actions (opens, click |
| their historical highs, managers cannot afford to | | | | through) |
| just accept the status quo. From HTML checkers | | | | * results measuring value created (such as |
| to drop-box landing systems to sending profile | | | | purchases or requested recipient actions) |
| control systems, email managers already use a | | | | Each of these data sources addresses a portion |
| range of M2M tools and resources first to map | | | | of the delivery and response cycle, and only in |
| out their own email delivery situations, and then to | | | | aggregate can delivery and response problems be |
| take corrective action. Even at the most | | | | identified and addressed. Each measure also has |
| elementary level, investigation and remediation of | | | | characteristic sources of error (for example |
| sending errors or delivery failures can dramatically | | | | image blocking for opens rates), so it is the |
| turn around difficult situations. | | | | relationship between these data points that |
| Senders can effectively use either internal or | | | | provides the most information for sender control. |
| external solutions | | | | This data is almost always created from several |
| With the right controls in place, outbound email | | | | different sources, and senders may need to build |
| programs can effectively use either (or both) | | | | a customized system for integrating and displaying |
| internal or external sending resources. The goal is | | | | these results in a useful manner. |
| to cost-effectively access the expertise and | | | | Integrated reporting data recorded over time |
| capacity necessary to operate a sustainable | | | | allows senders to measure changes in system |
| system. To do this email managers first have to | | | | and recipient behavior, indicating at which level |
| realistically evaluate their internal capabilities as well | | | | problems (or improvements) may be occurring. |
| as the claims of potential Email Service Providers. | | | | Changes in the pattern of these behaviors is very |
| The key to this process is to ask the right | | | | informative to email managers seeking to control |
| questions! In an era dominated by delivery and | | | | their delivery profile. |
| sustainability problems, many managers still | | | | More information on email data collection and |
| evaluate systems only on the basis of | | | | analysis can be found in the Email PhD Data and |
| convenience or ease of use. Old "broadcast" email | | | | Tracking section. |
| systems that activate blocking and filtering | | | | Copyright © by Email Ph.D. |
| systems routinely run unquestioned at both | | | | |