• by George Bilbrey , Op-Ed Contributor, February 1, 2006

Every company has an e-mail reputation, one that dictates if its messages reach the inbox, get junked or go missing. Lately, it seems everyone has a new, fast-track way to get a good e-mail reputation. As a marketer, it can be hard to figure out who to listen to and what you should care about.

Here is one simple rule to keep in mind: YOU control your e-mail reputation. Think of it as your credit score for e-mail--your past and present behaviors factor into your credit rating, and your future behaviors can make it better or worse. The same is true with e-mail.

There are no shortcuts. You can't just publish Sender Policy Framework records and stop. You can't just pay more to get unwelcome e-mail through (at least we hope things never get to that point, despite AOL's Goodmail announcement this week). You can't just send whatever you please, whenever you please, and expect your deliverability team to "make a call" and remove a block. However, following the best practices that build your reputation isn't hard, and it's likely what you want to be doing anyway to improve response rates and grow your file with active subscribers.

While there are thousands of data points factoring into a reputation, we see that there are three primary levers that most influence reputation and subsequent delivery:

1. Bounces: Too many bounces spells disaster in the eyes of ISPs. Removing bounces might be a hassle, but doing it regularly will have a dramatic effect on your e-mail delivery. ISPs use your unknown user rates and other bounce metrics when deciding whether to let your e-mail through.

2. Blacklists: Sure, you've heard about them, but does anyone really care about blacklists? The answer is yes--most e-mail receivers reference blacklists in order to filter unwanted e-mail. By finding out what blacklists you are on and doing everything possible to get removed, you will dramatically improve your e-mail deliverability.

3. Backlash: If you think that your customers clicking on the "This is Spam" button won't affect your e-mail reputation, you are mistaken. Complaints drive 70 percent of e-mail deliverability issues. By determining your complaint rates and sources, you can begin minimizing your complaint rates at ISPs and increasing your delivery rates.

Use whatever service you need to help get your reputation in order and to keep tabs on it, but the onus is on you to be vigilant about keeping it pristine. If you don't know what your reputation is with ISPs, find out. This will give you actionable data you can use to fix your reputation, get more e-mail delivered, and increase program response.