What is the sender score?

Sender Score is essentially a reputation score for an email sender's IP address. It's like a credit score for email marketers, indicating how trustworthy an email sender is. This score is calculated by Return Path (now part of Validity Inc.) and ranges from 0 to 100.

The higher the score, the more likely it is that an email will be delivered to the recipient's inbox and will have better deliverability.

Email marketers aim for a high Sender Score because it affects email deliverability. A low score can lead to emails being filtered as spam or blocked entirely, reducing the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns. Regular monitoring of the Sender Score helps in maintaining good email practices and adjusting strategies as needed.

How is the sender score calculated?

The calculation of a Sender Score is a complex process that involves analyzing various aspects of an email sender's behavior and reputation. Here's a more detailed look at the key factors considered:

1. Email Volume: This refers to the number of emails sent from an IP address. A sudden spike in email volume can be seen as spammy behavior, while a consistent volume over time helps establish credibility.
2. Complaint Rates: When recipients mark an email as spam, it counts as a complaint. High complaint rates negatively impact the Sender Score. The score considers both the volume and the rate of complaints in relation to the number of emails sent.
3. Spam Trap Hits: Spam traps are email addresses that are specifically set up to catch spammers. Sending emails to these addresses, especially repeatedly, is a sign of poor list management and can severely lower the Sender Score.
4. Unknown Users: Sending emails to a large number of non-existent email addresses (unknown users) can indicate poor list hygiene or aggressive acquisition tactics. This factor is closely monitored in the scoring process.
5. Rejection Rate: If a large percentage of emails from an IP address are rejected by receiving servers, it suggests poor list quality or other problematic practices. Rejections can occur for various reasons, including being marked as spam or sending to inactive addresses.
6. Engagement Metrics: This includes factors like how often emails are opened, clicked, and how long recipients spend reading them. Positive engagement behaviors can enhance the Sender Score.
7. Blacklists: Being listed on one or more email blacklists can significantly reduce the Sender Score. Blacklists are maintained by various organizations and list IP addresses known for sending spam.

The Sender Score is calculated based on a rolling 30-day average of these factors. This dynamic scoring means that changes in email practices can lead to fluctuations in the score over time. A high score (above 80) generally indicates good email practices, while a low score suggests issues that could affect email deliverability.

What factors influence the sender score?

There are a number of reasons that can influence a sender score, including the quality and reputation of the email server, the number of spam complaints, and the number of bounces. Sender score is also influenced by how often an email is sent, the content of the email, and how well your email is formatted.

How can I improve my sender score?

Here are a few things that you can do to improve your sender score and, as a result, the deliverability of your email marketing campaigns. Some of these tips are:

1. Use an email marketing service provider that has a good reputation and a high sender score. This will help to ensure that your campaigns reach their intended recipients' inboxes, instead of going to spam.
   
2. Make sure that your email content is relevant and interesting to your subscribers. If they perceive your emails as spammy or irrelevant, they are more likely to unsubscribe or report them as spam.
   
3. Avoid using spammy tactics like buying email lists or sending too many emails in a short period of time. These practices can damage your sender score and lead to fewer people receiving your emails. Collect leads organically through forms.
   
4. Monitor your open and click-through rates closely. If they are low, it could be an indication that your subscribers are not interested in your content. In this case, you may need to adjust your strategy or send frequency.
   
5. Make sure that your website and email design is optimised for mobile devices. A large percentage of people now access their email accounts via mobile devices, so it's important to ensure that your content looks good on all screen sizes, mobile or tablet.
   
6. Use reputable opt-in methods when collecting subscribers' contact information. This will help to ensure that you are only sending messages to people who have explicitly agreed to receive them.

Check out the full checklist of steps to take for improving email deliverability here.

What is the impact of the sender score on email deliverability?

The Sender Score has a significant impact on email deliverability, which refers to the likelihood of your emails successfully reaching the recipients' inboxes without being filtered out as spam or junk. Here's how the Sender Score influences this:

1. Inbox Placement vs. Spam Folder: A high Sender Score, generally above 80, suggests a good reputation and increases the chances that your emails will be delivered directly to recipients' inboxes. Conversely, a low score can lead to emails being directed to spam folders or not delivered at all.
2. Email Filtering Decisions: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and email services use Sender Score as one of the factors to determine how to handle incoming emails. A low score can trigger stricter filtering criteria, causing emails to be blocked or filtered.
3. Trust Among Recipients: A consistently high Sender Score helps in building trust with your audience. Recipients are more likely to engage with emails that consistently arrive in their inbox, as opposed to those that are intermittently marked as spam.
4. Rate of Delivery: The Sender Score affects the rate at which emails are accepted by ISPs. A lower score can lead to throttling, where ISPs limit the rate of email acceptance from an IP address due to concerns about spam.
5. Blacklisting Risk: A significantly low Sender Score increases the risk of being blacklisted by email monitoring organizations. Being on a blacklist can severely impact deliverability, as many ISPs and email services use these lists to filter incoming emails.

How can I track my sender score?

1. Use Sender Score Services: The most direct way to track your Sender Score is by using the service provided by Validity Inc., which acquired Return Path. You can visit the Sender Score website and sign up for their service. Once registered, you can enter your IP address to view your score. This service is often free and provides a detailed report of your score and the factors influencing it.
2. Regular Monitoring: It's advisable to check your Sender Score regularly. This is especially true if you're making changes to your email strategies, such as increasing email volume, changing your content, or acquiring new email lists.
3. Email Service Provider (ESP) Tools: Some Email Service Providers offer tools and analytics that include reputation monitoring. These tools might not provide a Sender Score directly, but they can offer insights into factors that influence your score, like delivery rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints.
4. Feedback Loops and Analytic Reports: Signing up for feedback loops with ISPs can help you track how often your emails are marked as spam, which affects your Sender Score. Analyzing these reports helps in identifying issues and taking corrective actions.
5. Third-Party Monitoring Tools: There are various third-party email analytics and monitoring tools available that can provide insights into your email deliverability and sender reputation. These tools often give a broader view by integrating data from multiple sources, including blacklists and ISP feedback.

You can also track your sender score through tools like MxToolBox. This tool will allow you to see your reputation score, as well as how it compares to other senders so that you can make the necessary changes.

What is the spam complaint rate?

The spam complaint rate is a metric used in email marketing to measure the percentage of your email recipients who mark your emails as spam or junk. It's calculated by dividing the number of spam complaints by the total number of emails delivered in a campaign, then multiplying by 100 to get a percentage.

For example, if you send out 10,000 emails and receive 10 spam complaints, your spam complaint rate would be (10 / 10,000) * 100 = 0.1%.

This rate is a crucial indicator of how well your emails are received by your audience. A high spam complaint rate can negatively impact your sender reputation, leading to email providers potentially blocking your emails or directing them to the spam folder, thus reducing their effectiveness.

As an email marketer, it's important to keep this rate as low as possible. Industry standards generally suggest that a healthy spam complaint rate should be below 0.1%. Staying below this threshold is essential for maintaining a good relationship with email service providers and ensuring your emails reach your subscribers' inboxes.

What factors influence the spam complaint rate?

There are many factors that can influence the spam complaint rate, including the content of the email, the frequency of the emails, the list of recipients, and how the email is coded.

One of the most important factors is the content of the email. If an email is perceived as being spammy, it is more likely to receive a spam complaint. This can be due to the subject line, the content of the email, or even the formatting of the email.

Another important factor is how often the recipient receives emails from the sender. If someone is receiving multiple emails from a sender in a short period of time, they are more likely to mark one of them as spam. This is especially true if the emails are not relevant to them or if they are being sent unsolicited.

The list of recipients can also influence the spam complaint rate. If a sender is emailing a large list of people who have not opted in to receive emails from them, they are more likely to receive spam complaints. This is because people are less likely to want to receive unsolicited emails from a large list of strangers.

How an email is coded can also influence the spam complaint rate. If an email is not coded correctly, it may be marked as spam by some email providers. This can be due to misspelled words, incorrect formatting, or incorrect links.

How can you reduce the spam complaint rate?

There are a few ways that you can reduce the spam complaint rate for your email marketing campaigns. One of the most important is to ensure that your subscribers have opted in to receive your emails. You should also make it easy for them to unsubscribe if they no longer want to receive your messages.

Ensure that your content is relevant and interesting to your subscribers. If they feel like you're just sending them spam, they're more likely to complain. Make sure to send quality content that is worth reading, and you'll see a decrease in complaints.

You can also improve deliverability rates by ensuring that your emails are properly formatted and that all of the links work properly. If your emails are consistently delivered to the spam folder, recipients are more likely to mark them as spam.

Use an email marketing service that helps to reduce the risk of spam complaints. Services like MailChimp have built-in filters that help to keep your messages out of the spam folder, and they also offer tools like unsubscribe links and preference centers that can help to reduce complaints.

What are the consequences of a high spam complaint rate?

A high spam complaint rate can have several negative consequences for email marketers, affecting both the effectiveness of their campaigns and their overall sender reputation. Here are some of the key implications:

1. Decreased Deliverability: Email service providers (ESPs) monitor spam complaint rates and may start filtering your emails into spam folders or block them entirely if the rate is too high. This means fewer of your emails will reach your intended recipients' inboxes.
2. Damaged Sender Reputation: A high spam complaint rate can harm your reputation with ESPs. This can have a long-term impact on your email campaigns, as ESPs may continue to treat your emails suspiciously even after you've addressed the issues causing the complaints.
3. ISP Blacklisting: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may blacklist your sending domain or IP address if you consistently have a high spam complaint rate, which can severely impact your ability to send emails in the future.
4. Lost Subscribers and Reduced Engagement: High spam rates may indicate that your content is not resonating with or is irrelevant to your audience, leading to reduced engagement and subscribers choosing to opt out of your communications.
5. Legal and Financial Repercussions: In some regions, such as those governed by laws like CAN-SPAM in the United States and GDPR in Europe, there are legal requirements for handling email communications. Violations due to high spam rates can lead to legal consequences and fines.

How can you measure the spam complaint rate?

Measuring the spam complaint rate is a key aspect of managing an email marketing campaign. To calculate it, you need to follow these steps:

1. Collect Data: You need the total number of spam complaints received and the total number of emails delivered for a given campaign. Most email marketing platforms automatically track these metrics.
2. Calculate the Rate: The spam complaint rate is calculated by dividing the number of spam complaints by the total number of emails delivered, and then multiplying the result by 100 to get a percentage.

Spam Complaint Rate=(Number of Spam ComplaintsTotal Emails Delivered)×100Spam Complaint Rate=(Total Emails DeliveredNumber of Spam Complaints​)×100

For example, if you sent out 20,000 emails and received 20 spam complaints, the calculation would be:

Spam Complaint Rate=(2020,000)×100=0.1%Spam Complaint Rate=(20,00020​)×100=0.1%

What are some best practices for reducing the spam complaint rate?

Email marketing best practices for reducing spam complaint rate typically include:

1. Segmenting your email list by interests or demographics.
2. Sending targeted content that is relevant to your subscribers.
3. Offering an easy way to unsubscribe from your list.
4. Testing different subject lines and email content to see what works best.
5. Sending emails at regular intervals, not too often or too infrequently.
6. Ensuring your email design is clean and easy to read.
7. Using a reputable email service provider that follows best practices for email marketing.

What is the spam rate?

The spam rate, in the context of email marketing, refers to the percentage of your emails that are being marked as spam by the recipients. It's a key metric that indicates how often your emails are considered unwanted or irrelevant by the people receiving them. To calculate it, you divide the number of emails that end up in the spam folder by the total number of emails sent, and then multiply that number by 100 to get a percentage.

For example, if you send out 1,000 emails and 10 of them are marked as spam, your spam rate would be (10/1000) * 100 = 1%.

A high spam rate is a warning sign for email marketers. It suggests that your audience is not engaging positively with your content, or that you may be reaching people who haven't consented to receive your emails. Keeping a low spam rate is crucial for maintaining a good sender reputation and ensuring your emails actually reach your subscribers' inboxes.

What factors influence the spam rate?

There are a variety of factors that influence the spam rate. The most significant factors are the sender's reputation and the content of the email.

Sender reputation is a measure of how likely it is that an email will be marked as spam. This is determined by a variety of factors, including the sender's history of sending spam, the number of complaints that have been received about the sender's emails, and the content of the email.

The content of an email can also influence the spam rate. Some types of content are more likely to be marked as spam than others. This includes emails with offers for free products or services, emails with sexually explicit content, and emails with malicious attachments.

What are the consequences of a high spam rate?

A high spam rate can have several serious consequences for email marketers, impacting both the effectiveness of their campaigns and their overall sender reputation. Here are some of the key implications:

1. Reduced Email Deliverability: When your emails frequently end up in spam folders, email service providers (ESPs) may start to flag your future emails as spam automatically. This reduces the likelihood that your emails will reach your subscribers' inboxes.
2. Damaged Sender Reputation: A high spam rate can harm your reputation with ESPs and Internet Service Providers (ISPs). They use complex algorithms to evaluate sender reputation, and a poor reputation can lead to your emails being blocked or filtered out.
3. Potential Blacklisting: In extreme cases, a consistently high spam rate may lead to your email domain or IP address being blacklisted by ESPs or ISPs. This means your emails could be blocked entirely, significantly hindering your email marketing efforts.
4. Loss of Subscriber Trust: Subscribers who find your emails in their spam folder may lose trust in your brand, especially if they didn't expect to receive your emails or find them irrelevant. This can lead to a decrease in engagement and customer loyalty.
5. Legal and Compliance Issues: High spam rates can lead to compliance issues, especially under regulations like CAN-SPAM in the U.S. or GDPR in Europe, which have strict rules regarding unsolicited emails. Non-compliance can result in hefty fines and legal actions.
6. Decreased Campaign Effectiveness: If your emails are frequently marked as spam, the effectiveness of your email campaigns will diminish. Your messages won't reach your audience, leading to lower open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement.

How can the spam rate be reduced?

Reducing the spam rate in email marketing requires a strategic approach focused on both the quality of your mailing list and the content of your emails.

Ensure that you're only sending emails to recipients who have explicitly opted in to receive them. This not only aligns with best practices and legal requirements but also ensures that your audience is genuinely interested in your content. Regularly cleaning your email list by removing inactive subscribers or those who haven't engaged with your emails over a certain period can also help in reducing the spam rate. Using double opt-in verification can help reduce the chances of spam complaints, as it ensures that only those who have actually subscribed to receive emails from the sender will be receiving them.

In terms of content, crafting emails that are relevant, valuable, and engaging to your audience is key. Personalizing emails based on the recipient's interests and previous interactions can significantly increase their relevance. It's also important to avoid using language or formatting that is typically associated with spam, such as overly promotional language, excessive use of capitals, or multiple exclamation marks.

Another critical aspect is to provide a clear and easy way for subscribers to opt out of receiving emails. This not only reduces the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam but also ensures compliance with email marketing regulations. Furthermore, paying attention to email sending frequency is crucial; bombarding subscribers with too many emails can lead to frustration and an increased likelihood of them marking emails as spam.

What is the best way to measure the spam rate?

There is no one definitive answer to this question. Different organizations may have different opinions on what the best way to measure spam rate is, depending on their specific needs and goals. However, some of the most common methods used to measure spam rate include:

• SpamAssassin score: This is a popular method of measuring spam rate, as it is widely used and considered to be fairly accurate. SpamAssassin assigns a score to each email based on a number of factors, including the likelihood that the email is spam. The higher the score, the more likely it is that the email is spam.
  
• Complaints: Another common way to measure spam rate is by tracking complaints. When an email is marked as spam by the recipient, this is counted as a complaint. This method can be less accurate than using SpamAssassin scores, as people may not always mark emails as spam if they are actually legitimate messages.
  
• Bounce rate: The bounce rate is another common way to measure spam rate. This measures how many emails are not delivered due to invalid addresses or other reasons. A high bounce rate can be an indication that an organization's email list may be full of invalid addresses, which could lead to a higher spam rate.

What are the challenges of reducing the spam rate?

Reducing the spam rate in email marketing presents several challenges, primarily due to the evolving nature of both email technology and user behavior.

One of the primary challenges is staying up-to-date with the constantly changing algorithms and rules of email service providers (ESPs). These providers frequently update their spam filters to combat new spamming techniques, meaning tactics that were once effective for ensuring email deliverability can suddenly become less effective or even counterproductive. This requires continuous monitoring and adaptation from email marketers.

Another challenge is maintaining a clean and engaged email list. As your list grows, it becomes more difficult to ensure that all recipients are still interested in and engaged with your content. Regularly cleaning your list of inactive subscribers and those who never interact with your emails can help reduce the spam rate, but this also means potentially reducing the size of your audience.

Balancing the frequency and relevance of emails is also tricky. Sending too many emails can annoy subscribers and lead to more spam complaints, but sending too few can result in reduced engagement and visibility. Finding the right balance requires a deep understanding of your audience’s preferences and behaviors.

Crafting content that resonates with a diverse audience without triggering spam filters is also a delicate art. You must avoid certain keywords and formatting choices that are commonly flagged as spam, yet still create engaging and compelling content that stands out in a crowded inbox.