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.

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. mail deliverability refers to the likelihood of an email reaching the recipient’s inbox rather than being filtered into the spam folder or rejected altogether.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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, which can affect deliverability.

5. Engagement Metrics

Review metrics like open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and unsubscribe rates. Low engagement can be an indicator of deliverability issues.

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, and other details about that email.

The company can create more personalized 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.

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.

• 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 in factors depending on the orders’ demographic history, engagement level, and purchase history. Doing this can increase user engagement with your clients and prevent them from being marked as spam.

Authenticating the Sender

Email deliverability can also be improved by the implementation of email authentication protocols including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

Monitoring Key Deliverability Metrics

You must also keep a record of key metrics in deliverability. These include the open, bounce, click-through rates (CTR), 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.

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.

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 report analyzer: 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 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.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from PowerDMARC authored by Ahona Rudra. Read the original post at: https://powerdmarc.com/email-deliverability-testing/