Understanding email sending best practices:
Why is it important
As the email world evolves there is a big focus on protecting users from SPAM and various other security risks associated with communication over email.
As an example, Google's new policies are to keep spam complaint rates below 0.3% (the ideal is under 0.1% ) otherwise your domain may face some challenges.
It is therefore vitally important to protect domain health by following good sending practices.
Understand what emails you are sending
The best starting point is to map out and document all the email types that are being sent or planned to be sent from your company.
Below is a basic example of what this could look like:
Email Type | Platform |
General messaging | Gmail |
Outreach | SuperReach - via Gmail |
Notification: 60-day engagement | HubSpot |
Mass email: Industry News Update | SendGrid |
Define your sending domain
Once you understand what emails are being sent, you can now plan your email-sending domains and associated setups against each email type. This will ensure maximum deliverability with minimal impacts across the business.
The main objective here is to protect your primary domain reputation and use other domains you own for your more risky emailing efforts.
As an example, you may decide on the following as the best strategy:
Domain | Usages |
#company.com | ** (primary domain) Used for all general comms with engaged prospects |
#company-clients.com | Used for mass mailing clients |
#company-candidates.com | Used for mass mailing candidates |
#company-news.com | Used for mass mailing news updates to prospects |
Note: if your secondary domains do get a bad reputation for whatever reason it will have less impact across your business. You can switch to other secondary domains as required.
Email Authentication
If you want to have any chance of landing in your prospect's inbox, the email domains you have chosen to send email must be properly authenticated.
With the new Gmail and Yahoo updates in 2024, these SPF / DKIM / DMARC protocols must be implemented - it's a non-negotiable now!
See further instructions here.
Domain Reputation
It's essential to keep an eye on your domain's reputation and make changes to your email-sending patterns accordingly.
Use tools like the below to monitor your domain/IP reputation:
Note that Google Postmaster is only specific to your sending behavior to Gmail-based emails and requires a certain volume of emails being sent specifically to the to show data.
Email Content
You should the following tips to maximize your chances of deliverability:
Subject lines should be no more than 60 characters
Subject lines should be optimized and not include any spammy type words
Subject lines should reflect the content of the email
Personalize your email as much as possible
Keep content focused and do not mix different content in the same message
Keep paragraphs concise
Avoid using excessive links, attachments or images
Avoid spam-triggering words like ACT NOW!
Avoid adding too many tracking items to your emails
Avoid use of over-punctuation
Avoid use of special formatting on your text
Ensure no broken images or links in your emails
Keep email sizes under 100KB and attachments below 10MB
Include an unsubscribe link
There is no guarantee that your prospects are not going to mark you as spam unless you make your prospect lists more targeted or bring more value to your contacts when emailing them.
Email sending volumes
You should manage your sending volumes accordingly
Day-to-day inboxes:
Maintain a consistent email volume; sudden spikes can trigger spam filters
For new domains and mailboxes start slow and gradually increase your sending volume
SuperReach manages send volumes and delays between messages automatically for you to ensure you keep within the limits set by your provider.
High volume sending:
For new domains and mailboxes start slow and gradually increase your sending volume
Ensure you are using a IP address with a good reputation
For high volume sending we recommend using a different domain than your primary domain
Unsubscribe
It is important not to be flagged as a SPAMMING domain and one method of helping ensure prospects do not flag your emails as SPAM is by offering them a single-click unsubscribe link.
Please note if you are deemed as a bulk sender this is a mandatory requirement for Google.
Bounced
A low bounce rate is one of the key criteria to protect your domain's reputation and improve the quality of your communications with prospects.
SuperReach will automatically detect bounces and add these to the bounced list so no further emails will be sent.
Adhering to these guidelines will enhance the delivery and reputation of your emails and lead to more successful email results.
For further information refer to: