Email Deliverability Tips

Why do emails “bounce back”?  

• Unknown Sender 
  • Recipient's server is not accepting e-mails from the sender's address. Can be caused by aggressive spam filtering software  
• Server Busy            
  • Server on the recipient's end is busy and cannot handle the request at that time 
• The Unknown Recipient    
  • Recipient's address does not exist on the mail server  (e.g. recipient closed account) 
• Non-existent Address 
  • Misspelled address 
• Not Enough Space 
  • Some mail servers place a limit on the size of an incoming email 

What makes an email address “invalid”? 

• Non-Standard Formatting – All email addresses have three things in common
  • Username (e.g. Jsmith, JohnSmith, John.Smith) containing: 
    • Uppercase and lowercase letters (case sensitive) 
    • The digits 0 through 9 
    • The characters (! # $ % * / ? | ^ { } ` ~ & ' + - = _ ) 
    • A period (.) provided that it is not the first or last character  
  • The @ symbol
  • Domain (e.g. yahoo.com, bellsouth.net, companyname.com, schoolname.edu)

Solution: Many invalid email addresses are the result of typos. Check your database’s “health” by periodically running a Level 3 Query on all profiles with emails addresses and reviewing the results. 

Why am I getting “opt outs”?  

• Too Often /Lack of Interest
  • Well targeted marketing offers the best results. CBMS will only send to a profile no more than every 7 days except for the week of the EZine (which goes to all leisure profiles). 
• Change of Address  
  • Multiple email addresses are the rage. Be flexible and keep the doors of communication open.  

Solution: Honor all opt-out requests by un-checking the box next to “Marketing Permission” in each profile. Don’t delete the email address unless the account has been closed.