The email sender score is a metric used to evaluate the email sender reputation. It is essential to email marketing as it helps email providers determine whether your marketing emails are legitimate or spammy. This article will dive deeper into the definition, use cases, types, and examples of email sender scores.
Definition of the email sender score
The email sender score is a metric most email service providers use to measure the email reputation of a sender's IP address and domain name. This score determines whether email messages will be delivered to a recipient's inbox, sent to the spam folder, or blocked entirely. The score is based on various factors, including the IP reputation score, domain reputation, the volume of emails sent, the quality of the email content, and the number of spam complaints and bounce rates received.
The email marketing strategy should always work on a good sender reputation.
Where is the email sender score used
Mailbox providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft use the email sender score to evaluate the overall sender reputation. Email marketers and organizations also use the score to monitor their email delivery rates and identify potential issues that could impact any email campaign.
How the email sender score is calculated
The score is determined by a number of characteristics relating to the sender's email-sending reputation and behavior regarding the sender's subscriber list, such as:
- the volume of emails sent from the IP addresses;
- the number of times a recipient marks the sender's email as spam;
- the percentage of emails returned as undeliverable;
- the percentage of email engagement: the frequency with which receivers open and interact with the sender's emails;
- the number of times an email fails spam filters or is delivered to an inactive email account.
These criteria are weighted and combined to get a score ranging from 0 to 100. A higher score indicates a stronger sender reputation and a higher probability that the sender's emails will be sent to recipients' inboxes rather than spam folders. A low sender score may result in unsuccessful email performance, even with great content and strong efforts.
It's worth noting that the specific formula for calculating the email sender score is proprietary and may differ significantly from one email service provider to another. However, the aforementioned elements are widely regarded as the most crucial in determining a sender's reputation.
How to maintain a good reputation score
Here are some best practices:
- Send messages with relevant content
Ensure your email content is appropriate and engaging for subscribers to avoid spam complaints and decrease the unsubscribe rate. - Email people who have opted-in
Always obtain permission from your subscribers before adding them to your email list. Sending emails to unknown users who have not explicitly opted-in is a surefire way to damage the email sender reputation score and email deliverability. - Monitor and manage your email list
Regularly review your email list and remove any inactive or invalid email addresses. This will help to reduce your bounce rates and keep your list clean. - Keep your email frequency consistent
Avoid sudden spikes or drops in your email volume, as this can be a red flag to mail servers that will cause a poor sender reputation. - Work with your IP reputation
Use authentication protocols such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify that the sending domain and IP addresses are legitimate and help prevent spoofing or phishing attempts.
Examples of applying the email sender score
Let's say you are an email marketer and send out a high volume of emails to your subscribers. If your emails are well-designed and contain valuable content, and if you have a low number of complaints and bounces, your email sender score will likely be high. This means your emails are more likely to be delivered to your subscribers' inboxes and less likely to be sent to the spam folder or blocked entirely.
On the other hand, if your emails contain spammy content or are sent to invalid email addresses, your email sender score will likely be low. This can result in your emails being sent to the spam folder or blocked entirely, negatively impacting your email marketing efforts.
Wrapping up
In conclusion, the email sender score is an important metric to measure the reputation of a sender's IP address and domain name. By monitoring this score and taking steps to improve it, email marketers and organizations can improve their email deliverability rates and ensure their emails reach their intended audience.
