Marketing Email: Frequently Asked Questions

What happens to my email after I click send?

When you send an email, Salesforce analyzes your email and builds its structure by using the subject line, preheader, body, and footer that you provided. If your message includes merge fields or dynamic content, we locate the necessary recipient details to populate those personalizations. After preparing all these components, Salesforce packages your content into complete HTML and TXT messages for delivery.

How often should I clean up my contact list?

Monitor how your emails are performing at least monthly, or even weekly. Remove any "hard bounced" or invalid email addresses immediately, and you archive contacts who haven't opened your emails or engaged with you in at least 6 months.

Do I need to authenticate my emails?

Yes. Authenticating your emails is like showing your ID to prove you’re who you say you are. Standard methods called SPF and DKIM help email providers like Gmail verify your identity so that your emails go to the inbox instead of the spam folder.

What is the difference between SPF, DKIM, and DMARC?

All three methods are used to authenticate your emails and prove to inbox providers that your messages come from a legitimate source. They each play a different role in the security process:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) acts like a guest list. It tells receiving servers that specific IP addresses have approval to send emails on behalf of your business.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your messages, and this proves that your email hasn’t been altered or tampered with while traveling to the recipient.
• DMARC tells the receiving server what to do if a message fails the SPF or DKIM security checks. It provides instructions on whether to deliver the unauthenticated email, send it to a spam folder, or block it completely.

What is an email bounce?

A bounce happens when the system can't deliver your email. There are soft bounces, which are temporary issues like an "out of office" reply. Hard-bounces mean that the email address is invalid or doesn't exist. Soft-bounced emails get re-sent automatically, but hard-bounced emails can’t ever be delivered.

When an email fails to deliver, the recipient's mail server returns a standardized error known as a bounce code. These codes are traditional and enhanced SMTP errors, such as 550 User's mailbox was unavailable or 452 insufficient system storage, which act as diagnostic signals for the system.

How does the system categorize bounce codes?

The system groups the specific bounce codes into two broader categories, based on severity:

• Hard Bounces (Permanent): These codes indicate that the address is completely invalid or no longer exists (for example, 5.1.1 Bad destination mailbox address).
• Soft Bounces (Temporary): These codes indicate a temporary delivery issue, such as a full inbox (for example, 5.2.2 Mailbox full) or a temporary server outage.

Are bounced email addresses suppressed?

The system acts automatically when a subscriber reaches a bounce threshold. If a subscriber registers a single hard bounce or hits the limit for repeated soft bounces, the system updates their status to "Bounced." The system then adds the subscriber to a suppression list, which stops future sends to that address and protects your overall sender reputation.

Can I send emails from a new IP address?

Not immediately. If you have a new sending address, slowly build a good reputation over about 30 days. Start by sending small batches of emails to your most engaged contacts, and gradually increase the number of emails you send over time. Sending a consistent amount every day is better than sending one massive batch one time per week.

How do I build a good sending reputation?

To build a good sending reputation, you need to show email providers that you’re a trustworthy sender by controlling how much you send and keeping your contact list clean.

For good data hygiene, prioritize consent and preferences by building your database with confirmed opt-in data and actively encouraging subscribers to update their preferences over time. Maintain list hygiene by processing unsubscribe requests and hard-bounced email addresses quickly to keep your data clean. Manage unengaged subscribers by establishing criteria for these users and archiving them at least every six months to prevent email service providers from penalizing your sender reputation.

For good content quality, segment your data to build highly specific audiences for your messages. Personalize subject lines and email body content with names, purchase history, or other available details to focus on what matters most to each customer. Use dynamic content and other advanced personalization tools to streamline how you build and deliver relevant content to your audience.

See Sending Reputation and Warming for more information.

Someone impersonated my brand. Does that impact my reputation?

Mailbox providers know that spoofing can happen to good senders. Having proper authentication on your domain ensures that MBPs don't hold spoofing cases against your reputation. Configuring a strong DMARC policy can direct receiving servers to block any non-authenticated messages that use your name.

Can I use a purchased list of email addresses?

No. Never use purchased lists. Sending to a purchased list also violates the Salesforce Email Abuse Policy. Plus, these lists often include invalid addresses or "spam traps" that ruin your sending reputation and can get you blocked by recipients or receiving mail servers. Only send to people who have asked to receive your emails.

Will a new IP address eliminate reputation issues?

No. Although starting over hides a bad history, it doesn't fix the underlying issues and it's time consuming to reestablish a reputation. The best course of action is to identify and address underlying reputation issues, such as stale data or oversaturation. Using a new IP address without fixing the underlying issues just creates another reputation problem.