Addressing Email Deliverability Issues with Marketing Cloud

1) Email authentication

Set up email authentication methods for your domain (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC). 

• Please reference this knowledge article for additional information on authenticated emails for Marketing Cloud. At a high level, Marketing Cloud takes care of SPF/DKIM once your domain is authenticated, but you will need to configure their own DMARC record separately (Marketing Cloud provides a suggested DMARC record, but work with your IT team to determine the appropriate DMARC record for your organization).

• Failure to configure one or more of these would almost likely lead to deliverability issues. You can review email headers from a Marketing Cloud email to confirm all authentication methods pass (see instructions for retrieving email headers for various inbox providers). Alternatively, 3rd-party tools such as aboutmy.email or mail-tester.com can be used for analysis.

2) List hygiene

A healthy database contains a growing list of engaged recipients. When your database is clean, you can focus on marketing to the most qualified recipients.

• Ensure subscribers have opted-in and are engaging regularly. 

• Consider removing subscribers that have been inactive for over a year.

• When importing email addresses into Marketing Cloud Next from a different system, consider only importing email addresses that have never bounced/unsubscribed and have had meaningful interactions with your email in the past year. 

  • Sending to previously bounced email addresses will only harm your domain’s reputation and increase the likelihood of being blocked by inbox service providers (ISPs). Switching marketing platforms will not make these email addresses more deliverable. 

  • Sending to previously unsubscribed email addresses could increase the potential for spam complaints. 

• Set reminders to conduct a regular hygiene check-up to protect your sending reputation.

• Do not use email addresses from a purchased list. 

• Consider using a confirmed opt-in process for net new recipients/email addresses. 

• Reminder that harming your sending reputation will eventually impact even your most highly engaged/qualified recipients and potentially prevent you from landing email into their inboxes.

3) Sending Volume

To build a strong sender reputation and maintain reliable email delivery, gradually increase the volume and frequency of your email sends and avoid spikes in email volume. 

If you’re using a brand new domain or recently started using Marketing Cloud, your domain is not immediately recognized by inbox service providers (ISPs) and starts with a reputation of zero/unknown. ISPs are increasingly prioritizing domain reputation in addition to IP reputation. 

Warm up your domain by sending a small number of emails first to your most engaged subscribers. You can use the domain warming schedule outlined in this knowledge article. 

4) Content

• Include a prominent unsubscribe link that makes opting out easy. Avoid hiding unsubscribe functions behind a login.

• Mail testing tools (such as mail-tester.com) can give content optimization hints.

• Include a physical contact address to comply with the CAN-SPAM law.