You don’t have to be an email geek to send marketing emails, but you do have to be aware of your sender reputation. If you want your email marketing to be successful, then paying attention to how Internet Service Providers (ISPs) see you is essential. Today, we’re going to talk about why your sender reputation matters, and offer you five tips to improve it and get your emails in the inbox.

Even if you’ve never heard of such a thing as a “sender reputation,” you can probably guess what it means. In your professional life, your reputation is what determines people to trust you and do business with you. In email marketing, having a solid reputation determines ISPs to trust you as a sender and deliver your emails.
In more technical terms, an email sender reputation is a score that an ISP assigns to you or your company, based on several criteria. Work on maintaining a high score and your emails will reach your subscribers. Fail to follow email marketing best practices, and ISPs will send your emails to the Spam folder or not deliver them at all.

But how can you make sure you have a good sender reputation? There are a few guidelines that will help you every time you hit Send on your campaigns.

Keep an accurate email list

If you’re already using a bulk email validation service to verify your email list, you’re on the right path to great email deliverability. If not, take a second to check your most recent reports. How high is your bounce rate? How many people have labeled your campaigns as Spam? Are your open rates comparable to your industry’s standards? If the answers to these questions don’t make you happy, it’s time to check your email list.

Eliminating invalid, fake and unresponsive addresses is the first, and best, the thing you can do to improve your sender reputation. An email validation or email verification system can clean your list quickly and easily, and help you achieve higher email deliverability and better open rates.

Use the double opt-in subscription method

When you gather email addresses, make sure they belong to real people by asking your new subscribers to confirm their accounts. Using the double opt-in subscription model is a much safer way to build an email list. Also, you can install an email validation API to check emails in real time and ensure they are genuine and safe to use.

Not only will your sender reputation improve thanks to these measures, but your engagement will grow. When people make an effort to confirm their email address to join your mailing list, it means they are really interested in your content. As a result, they’re more likely to engage with it. Similarly, when you have an email verification API in place, you know there aren’t going to be any misspelled or temporary email addresses ruining your email hygiene.

Send your emails consistently

This is a very important aspect of email marketing, and being aware of it will take you five steps ahead of your competitors. Be consistent in your sending behavior. Once you’ve run a few A/B tests and know what the best day is for you to send out your emails, stick to that day. Furthermore, schedule your campaigns to go out at the same time.

This habit is going to help you in two ways:

1.  It maintains your IP warm. However, if you’re just starting to send out marketing emails, make sure you warm it up progressively, by sending one batch of emails at a time.
2. You will build a sense of expectation and trust within your community, as people will start to get used to receiving your emails on a certain day. Not showing up will be a disappointment for your subscribers, and some of them may label you as “Spam,” thus hurting your reputation. So keep a steady sending rhythm and deliver on your promises.

Taking care of your sender reputation is a key part of your email marketing strategy. ISPs appreciate senders that follow best practices and support them by delivering their emails to the inbox. So, even if it takes the effort to maintain a good score, that effort is a valuable investment in your business.