What is Email deliverability testing, and how can it help?

Blog, Email Security

Frustrated with emails landing in spam? Learn how email deliverability testing helps you reach inboxes and boost campaign success.

by Ahona Rudra

Reading Time: 9 min
What is Email deliverability testing, and how can it help?
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According to research by Statista, the total number of emails sent in 2022 is around 333 billion. The question here is whether these emails end up landing in the recipient’s inbox or spam folder. Email marketing deliverability is an essential part of having a successful email campaign, helping your company’s reputation with customers.

The biggest issue faced by businesses in their email communication system lies in the deliverability of the email. “Email deliverability” differs from “email delivery”. Email delivery simply refers to whether an email was successfully delivered to the recipient’s mail server. It doesn’t guarantee that the email will land in the recipient’s inbox; it only means that the server accepted the email. Email deliverability refers to the likelihood of an email reaching the recipient’s inbox rather than being filtered into the spam folder or rejected altogether. It’s often expressed as a percentage of emails reaching the inbox out of the total sent. Of all the emails sent, only 81 out of 100 are estimated to land in the right place – someone’s inbox.

Unless problems with email deliverability are addressed appropriately, an organization’s reputation and credibility can take a hit. It can also lead to unsuccessful marketing campaigns, and email marketing investments going to waste. 

This article explains the need for email deliverability testing to maintain steady and consistent deliverability and its benefits in promoting an improved emailing experience.

Key Takeaways

  1. Email deliverability ensures emails land in the inbox (aiming for 85-95%), not just the server, impacting campaign success and sender reputation.
  2. Key factors affecting deliverability include sender reputation, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), content quality, and list hygiene.
  3. Regular testing and monitoring of metrics like open, click, and bounce rates help identify issues such as spam filtering, blocklisting, or bounces.
  4. Best practices include list segmentation, pruning inactive subscribers, personalization, responsive design, and optimizing sending frequency.
  5. Using deliverability tools and checking authentication, reputation, and blocklist status are essential steps to improve inbox placement.

What is Email Deliverability Testing?

Email deliverability testing involves identifying the various factors impacting the deliverability of sent emails. These factors must be identified to ensure the emails reach the correct receiver’s inbox.

As email has become an important part of digital communication for organizations, no one can afford to have their emails end up in spam folders or blocked out from inboxes. This has increased the need for email deliverability testing tools and methods.

What is a Good Email Marketing Deliverability Rate?

Deciding on a good email marketing deliverability rate is complex. Usually, aiming for a rate between 85% and 95% is smart for your marketing. But the exact number can differ based on your business and industry. It’s a good idea to look into your industry benchmarks to set a realistic goal for your team.

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How Does Email Deliverability Testing Work

Email deliverability testing measures the probability of your email getting delivered rather than being marked as spam. Email deliverability testing involves validating the authentic emails falling into the correct address. It is also used for spam mail testing.

Email deliverability testing is done based on various factors. One of which is the authorization of emails from the receiving server. The deliverability status is also influenced by its delivery to the spam folder, inbox, or anywhere else.

You may also like: How To Tell If An Email Is A Scam?

How to Test Email Deliverability?

1. Use Deliverability Testing Tools

These tools allow you to send a test email to multiple accounts across different email providers. They check for spam scores, authentication, and inbox placement.

2. Check Authentication Records

Using tools like PowerDMARC SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checker allows you to verify that your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up correctly. These are essential for authenticating your emails and improving deliverability. If you use a third-party service that sends emails on your behalf, ensure they are properly authorized in your SPF record to avoid authentication issues.

3. Monitor IP and Domain Reputation

IP reputation monitoring tools help you monitor the reputation of your sending IPs and domains. A poor reputation can lead to emails being blocked or marked as spam. Sender reputation refers to how well-known you are as an email sender among all major ISPs. In some cases, maintaining strong domain authority through ethical link building practices can also support your domain’s overall trustworthiness.

4. Check for Blacklisting

Tools like PowerDMARC’s blacklist monitoring tool can help you determine if your domain or IP is on any major IP or DNS blacklists (also known as blocklists), which can severely affect deliverability.

5. Engagement Metrics

Review metrics like open rates, click-through rates (CTR), delivery rate (the number of messages delivered out of all those sent), bounce rates, and unsubscribe rates. Low engagement can be an indicator of deliverability issues. Businesses in niche industries, such as automotive, can benefit from using automotive customer feedback tools to gauge how recipients interact with their messages and tailor future communications accordingly.

6. Review Email Headers

Use an email header analyzer tool to examine the headers of your sent emails to see how they were processed by different ISPs. This can provide clues about deliverability issues.

The Benefits of Testing Email Deliverability 

Email deliverability testing must be done to enhance the efficiency of emails. It provides various benefits, including:

1. Enhancing Email Engagement Levels

With regular deliverability testing, you can optimize various factors influencing email engagement. It allows testing the email subjects, the email content (including images and videos), and other details about that email. Tools like an AI email generator can help streamline the process.

The company can create more personalized and dynamic emails by knowing and controlling the factors that make the email fall into the receiver’s inboxes. This regular testing can prove to help improve email engagement metrics like open and click-through rates. This becomes even more critical during peak promotional periods like Black Friday email campaigns, when inboxes are flooded with offers and messages and here proactive testing ensures messages reach inboxes and drive higher engagement.

2. Improving Sender Reputation

Email Deliverability testing plays a vital role in maintaining the sender’s reputation. The regular testing of Email deliverability helps Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor the sender’s reputation. It lets them identify scammers.

Regular email deliverability testing helps you identify all those factors that could influence the sender’s reputation. The possible issues include spam complaints, blacklisting, or increased bounce rates. These issues need to be properly addressed to improve your sender’s reputation.

3. Boosting Return on Investment (ROI)

Effective email deliverability testing also effectively increases your email marketing ROI. It confirms the delivery of the email to the customer’s inboxes. It also lets you increase the revenue generation and likelihood of the conversations.

Regular email deliverability testing reduces the chance of your emails going into the spam folder. Other than this, it also lets you save the budget used on the different email marketing campaigns.

4. Build Trust and Credibility

If your emails end up in the recipient’s inboxes, your brand’s image increases. The customers know that the emails come from an authentic brand. It increases their trust as well as enhances the brand’s credibility.

Additionally, the increased reputation also increases the likelihood of our email getting opened and read. Therefore, email deliverability testing helps in increasing email engagement.

Common Issues in Email Deliverability 

Email Deliverability testing is not always right on point. If you are facing difficulties in carrying out the testing, here are some common issues in deliverability testing.

  • Spam Filters and Blacklisting

The spam filters are installed to prevent users from phishing emails. But they sometimes flag the authentic email mistakenly. Other than this, the blacklisted IP addresses also face the deliverability issue. Hence proper monitoring of the popular blacklists is essential to identify this issue.

  • Bounces

Bounces occur when an email server receives an invalid address from a recipient’s ISP (Internet service provider). High bounce rates negatively impact your sender reputation and deliverability. It’s crucial to remove bounced addresses from your lists promptly.

  • Content Triggers

Certain words, phrases, or formatting (like excessive capitalization or spammy links), even within standard email templates, can trigger spam filters. Test your content to ensure it doesn’t raise flags.

  • Inconsistent Testing Conditions

Sometimes, the testing conditions need to be more consistent. All the factors that affect the deliverability of the email are different for different email clients. Hence, one must adequately configure the testing conditions before carrying out the deliverability testing.

  • Lack of Tracking and Analytics

Properly tracking and analyzing the email aspects are essential for email deliverability testing. The deliverability tools provide a detailed metrics analysis to optimize the testing procedures.

  • Image Blocking

The default features can also affect the email deliverability testing. Many email clients have blocked the image by default. This reduces the visual display of your email. Therefore, it is essential to test the appearance of your email with these blocked images.

Crucial Steps for Conducting Email Deliverability Testing

Deliverability testing is essential to maintain the fluidity of your email communications. There are various essential steps to conduct email deliverability testing, some of which are mentioned below.

Email List Cleanup and Segmentation

You need to segment and clean up your email lists periodically to maintain good deliverability. Segment the list based on factors like demographic history, engagement level, and purchase history. Targeting specific audiences with personalized content can build trust and increase conversions. Pruning inactive subscribers (those who haven’t opened or clicked in over six months) saves money and improves overall list health.

Authenticating the Sender

Email deliverability can also be improved by the implementation of email authentication protocols including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. This helps protect your brand from phishing and ensures ISPs recognize your emails as legitimate.

Monitoring Key Deliverability Metrics

You must also keep a record of key metrics in deliverability. These include the open, bounce, click-through rates (CTR), delivery rates, and spam complaints. The key metrics are essential to consider while improving your email communications.

Implementing A/B Testing

It is a tuning test in email marketing that involves the comparison of the two different versions of an email. Both versions are slightly different and are sent to different recipients. 

This part of the testing includes the comparison of sender names, the email content, and the subject heading. It makes the senders understand which email has been better crafted and can engage the users. You can also test personalization elements, like adding the recipient’s name to the subject line (e.g., “Top 10 Tips for Jim Smith from ABC Company”).

Checking for Blocklist Status

You need to check popular IP and domain blocklists regularly, either manually or using a blocklist monitoring online tool. It gives you a heads-up of your blocklisted IPs. If your IP address has been added to a blocklist, it can severely affect your email deliverability.

Optimize Sending Frequency

Sending too many emails too often can lead to recipient fatigue and increase the likelihood of your messages being filtered as spam. Test different sending frequencies to find the optimal balance for your audience. Consider sending major newsletters perhaps weekly, and other messages less frequently.

Ensure Responsive Design

Given that more than half of all emails are opened on mobile devices, it’s crucial to use responsive HTML email designs. This ensures your emails adapt to different screen sizes and look great on any device, improving the user experience and engagement.

Top 5 Email Deliverability Testing Tools

Various online tools provide email deliverability testing to analyze the different aspects of your email. Some popular email deliverability testing tools include: 

  1. DMARC reporting tool: This tool provides email sending source analysis, aggregate and forensic report inspection, email header analysis, comprehensive PDF reports on deliverability metrics, as well as predictive threat intelligence analysis. 
  2. Snov.io: This tool provides a Deliverability Checker, Domain Health Checker, Email Placement Test, Spam Checker, and Deliverability Insights among other features. 
  3. Constant Contact: This tool provides Real-Time Account Reputation Monitor, Bounce Management, Spam Checking, and Feedback Analysis.
  4. Brevo: Offer email deliverability management, and email deliverability monitoring with API integration. 
  5. Omnisend: Offers email list cleaning, and supports implementation of SPF and DKIM authentication protocols. 

Conclusion

Email Deliverability testing is an important step in ensuring the success of your email marketing campaigns. It helps monitor the issues in the deliverability metrics and address them effectively. You must also incorporate best practices like maintaining list hygiene, authenticating your domain, optimizing content and frequency, and ensuring responsive design to enhance the performance of your emails to ensure you are not falling behind!

For businesses looking to improve their deliverability with email authentication, let us help you! Start a 15-day free trial and book a demo with our deliverability expert to get started.


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