Again about reputation, or how not to become a mediator in spamming
We have already talked about the main components of a good reputation mailer. However, they did not mention the resources, which sometimes significantly simplify the work with the subscriber base. Yes, we are talking about the so-called ESP (from the English email service provider), which offer professional solutions for the implementation of email campaigns and, above all, servers for sending emails.
According to our observations, the number of ESPs on the Russian market is growing, and therefore Abuse Team Mail.Ru is increasingly confronted with the question of how to build relations between these companies and customers so that the former do not become intermediaries in spam mailings. This post is written primarily for ESP, but many tips will be useful and companies conducting the mailing on their own.
Why do you pay so much attention to customers and their reputation? The fact is that the reputation of ESP is the integral reputation of its customers. Each client that violates the rules for the design of Mail.Ru Mailings is a minus to the reputation of the service that provides the server for sending emails. A large number of offending clients may eventually lead to blocking of the entire ESP. And this means a drop in reputation not only in the Mail.Ru anti-spam system, but also in the eyes of current / potential customers of the mail provider - in other words, the risks to the ESP business itself. Why should companies pay their hard-earned money to a mailer who is not very reliable, which means that he cannot ensure the deliverability of letters?
')
To minimize the risks to your own business, you need to take measures to prevent spam at every stage of work with the senders of letters. Conventionally, the whole process of interaction with customers by ESP can be divided into three phases:
Let us dwell on each of the items in more detail.
Perhaps one of the most difficult phases is the first one. How to understand that the client you are planning to cooperate with is not a spammer?
1. The history of mailings
If you are dealing with clients that have been on the market for quite a long time, there is a non-zero chance of finding well-designed mailings in them, in particular, the DKIM signature. In this case, you can confirm the client's domain in our interface Postmaster.mail.ru (recall, articles: http://habrahabr.ru/company/mailru/blog/129797/ and http://habrahabr.ru/company/mailru/blog / 138107 / ) and see the statistics of deliverability (from the English deliverability - the percentage of delivered messages in relation to the volume of sent) mailings for the entire period when the client's messages had a DKIM signature).
The most important characteristics displayed in Postmaster are: current reputation, the percentage of delivered messages, and the presence of problems. These criteria most clearly reflect the status of the mailing and its dynamics, so you need to look at them first:
If the client has his own IP, it will also be useful to check it for availability in public blacklists (Spamhaus.org, Spamcop.net, etc.):
2. Base subscribers
As a rule, the mailer appeals to the company providing email marketing services, already having a certain amount of luggage in the form of a subscriber base and a certain scheme of work with them. How to check the quality of the database before you start working with the client and the first mailings from him? One of the easiest ways to check the database is to request the customer's subscription data from the client (how the recipient's email address was obtained, the date and time of the subscription, the IP address from which the user subscribed). Obviously, the absence of this information significantly increases the likelihood that the base was collected by methods typical of spammers.
You can also check the quality of the subscriber database by the number of service addresses (noc@example.com, support@example.com, info@example.com, etc.), automatically generated addresses (lkwfhmuie@example.com, oiyfmuiwgoiug @ example.com, etc.), spam traps, self-created and highlighted on the Internet.
Let us dwell in more detail on the traps. These are special email addresses that are not owned by live users. In general, spam traps are of two types: clean and transformed. Net spam traps (from the English. Pristine spam traps) - specially “illuminated” in the network address. To get them, they register a certain pool of email-addresses, and then spend their exposure on various resources - for example, forums, blogs, etc. Such addresses cannot confirm mailings using the double opt-in mechanism, which means that its use will definitely exclude the appearance of spam traps in the subscribers database. Transformed spam traps (from the English. Recycled spam traps) are mailboxes that once belonged to real people, but were abandoned long ago by the owners. Before using addresses as traps, email providers return an error with code 550 and the text that the destination address does not exist. In Mail.Ru, this period takes at least a year (when competently working with lists of subscribers from mailers, such addresses are removed from the database after receiving 1-3 non-delivery errors). Then the addresses can be activated, that is, mail delivery to them is resumed, and the postal address becomes a trap. To get the transformed spam traps from the ESP side into your arsenal is quite problematic. However, it is always possible to create your own clean trap boxes.
Each email marketing service provider somehow handles errors about non-delivery of mailings to customers, user complaints and other parameters. Based on these data, you can create your own lists: non-existent addresses, complainants (that is, addresses that actively complain about the mailings sent to them). A significant correlation of the client’s base with the listed lists is a reason to think about its quality.
We recommend to conduct an analysis of the quality of the database and customer dispatches throughout the entire period of working with it.
1. Sender Identification
Check each of the mailboxes your customers want to use in the From field (see our article “ Mailing Guide Technical Recommendations ”). Unfortunately, we have repeatedly encountered cases of fraud, when the sender’s address used a domain that does not belong to the desired client.
2. Base subscribers
Oddly enough, here we will talk about the base subscribers. Track bursts in the number of recipients in customer ezines. We all understand that the number of users of each project increases gradually. An unexpected increase in the number of subscribers by 2 times is a reason to be wary. Any increment in the customer's subscriber base should be checked by analogy with the new unknown databases. All resources are changing and improving. However, as you know, it is impossible to just improve something sharply: something else will break. The increase in the level of complaints about letters sent by customers is a reason to check mechanisms such as double opt-in and unsubscribe, even if they previously worked without failures.
3. Registration
Checking the mailings before sending them will allow you to promptly notify the client about the existing shortcomings and violations and to avoid further problems with message deliverability. For example, each of the mailings should contain information about when and how the user subscribed to the mailing list, as well as how to unsubscribe from it. For many ESPs, this information is automatically added to the text of the letters, thus avoiding problems with this item.
4. Sending letters
Follow the progress of the mailing, analyze the errors received (including temporary errors, with the 4xx code), if any. If problems with the delivery of messages are detected, it is better to pause the distribution in time and analyze the reasons that led to their appearance.
1. Analysis of indicators
Analyze and improve the performance of mailings after they are sent. Remove non-existent and blocked addresses from the subscriber database in a timely manner, process FBL reports (FeedBack Loop) ( see ).
Configure or help customize your DKIM signature and DMARC policy (see habrahabr.ru/company/mailru/blog/170957 ). Try to reduce the indicators as much as possible, and not just bring them closer to the existing limits. This will allow you to have a reserve for various experiments and innovations, without risking the deliverability of letters.
2. End of work with the client
Many clients have the ability to move from one ESP to another (or go into their own voyage). Return to customers who are leaving you already segmented base, in which they will either be absent, or the main lists / segments are clearly divided: users who have been unsubscribed from mailings; users who have not confirmed the subscription via the double opt-in mechanism, etc. At ESP email marketing conferences (as well as their clients) they often say that they strive to establish long-term relationships with users and uniquely choose “white” methods of work. But at the same time, the number of ESPs that return to their customers, in the event of their departure, a well developed, good base, is rather small. Let's follow the strategy of long-term relationships not only during presentations, but also in the process of real work with clients!
In this article, we have tried to give as many tips as possible to improve the quality of work of ESP, so that such services do not become platforms for spamming. Starting work with a client, check the history of his mailings via Postmaster.mail.ru, make sure that his own IP is not listed in the public blacklist and carefully check the subscriber base. Do not be lazy to constantly analyze the quality of the database and client's mailings, make sure that mailings are processed correctly, and the errors that occur are necessarily corrected. If we summarize, then perhaps the main advice is precisely the constant retention of control. By tracking the mailing process and customer service in general, you ensure the deliverability of letters.
According to our observations, the number of ESPs on the Russian market is growing, and therefore Abuse Team Mail.Ru is increasingly confronted with the question of how to build relations between these companies and customers so that the former do not become intermediaries in spam mailings. This post is written primarily for ESP, but many tips will be useful and companies conducting the mailing on their own.
This is business, baby!
Why do you pay so much attention to customers and their reputation? The fact is that the reputation of ESP is the integral reputation of its customers. Each client that violates the rules for the design of Mail.Ru Mailings is a minus to the reputation of the service that provides the server for sending emails. A large number of offending clients may eventually lead to blocking of the entire ESP. And this means a drop in reputation not only in the Mail.Ru anti-spam system, but also in the eyes of current / potential customers of the mail provider - in other words, the risks to the ESP business itself. Why should companies pay their hard-earned money to a mailer who is not very reliable, which means that he cannot ensure the deliverability of letters?
')
To minimize the risks to your own business, you need to take measures to prevent spam at every stage of work with the senders of letters. Conventionally, the whole process of interaction with customers by ESP can be divided into three phases:
- customer verification before starting work with him;
- analysis of the subscriber base and the content of mailings before they are held, tracking indicators for mailings in the process of their sending;
- analysis of mailing results, work on errors.
Let us dwell on each of the items in more detail.
Seeing your eyes spamming
Perhaps one of the most difficult phases is the first one. How to understand that the client you are planning to cooperate with is not a spammer?
1. The history of mailings
If you are dealing with clients that have been on the market for quite a long time, there is a non-zero chance of finding well-designed mailings in them, in particular, the DKIM signature. In this case, you can confirm the client's domain in our interface Postmaster.mail.ru (recall, articles: http://habrahabr.ru/company/mailru/blog/129797/ and http://habrahabr.ru/company/mailru/blog / 138107 / ) and see the statistics of deliverability (from the English deliverability - the percentage of delivered messages in relation to the volume of sent) mailings for the entire period when the client's messages had a DKIM signature).
The most important characteristics displayed in Postmaster are: current reputation, the percentage of delivered messages, and the presence of problems. These criteria most clearly reflect the status of the mailing and its dynamics, so you need to look at them first:
If the client has his own IP, it will also be useful to check it for availability in public blacklists (Spamhaus.org, Spamcop.net, etc.):
2. Base subscribers
As a rule, the mailer appeals to the company providing email marketing services, already having a certain amount of luggage in the form of a subscriber base and a certain scheme of work with them. How to check the quality of the database before you start working with the client and the first mailings from him? One of the easiest ways to check the database is to request the customer's subscription data from the client (how the recipient's email address was obtained, the date and time of the subscription, the IP address from which the user subscribed). Obviously, the absence of this information significantly increases the likelihood that the base was collected by methods typical of spammers.
You can also check the quality of the subscriber database by the number of service addresses (noc@example.com, support@example.com, info@example.com, etc.), automatically generated addresses (lkwfhmuie@example.com, oiyfmuiwgoiug @ example.com, etc.), spam traps, self-created and highlighted on the Internet.
Let us dwell in more detail on the traps. These are special email addresses that are not owned by live users. In general, spam traps are of two types: clean and transformed. Net spam traps (from the English. Pristine spam traps) - specially “illuminated” in the network address. To get them, they register a certain pool of email-addresses, and then spend their exposure on various resources - for example, forums, blogs, etc. Such addresses cannot confirm mailings using the double opt-in mechanism, which means that its use will definitely exclude the appearance of spam traps in the subscribers database. Transformed spam traps (from the English. Recycled spam traps) are mailboxes that once belonged to real people, but were abandoned long ago by the owners. Before using addresses as traps, email providers return an error with code 550 and the text that the destination address does not exist. In Mail.Ru, this period takes at least a year (when competently working with lists of subscribers from mailers, such addresses are removed from the database after receiving 1-3 non-delivery errors). Then the addresses can be activated, that is, mail delivery to them is resumed, and the postal address becomes a trap. To get the transformed spam traps from the ESP side into your arsenal is quite problematic. However, it is always possible to create your own clean trap boxes.
Each email marketing service provider somehow handles errors about non-delivery of mailings to customers, user complaints and other parameters. Based on these data, you can create your own lists: non-existent addresses, complainants (that is, addresses that actively complain about the mailings sent to them). A significant correlation of the client’s base with the listed lists is a reason to think about its quality.
Trust but check
We recommend to conduct an analysis of the quality of the database and customer dispatches throughout the entire period of working with it.
1. Sender Identification
Check each of the mailboxes your customers want to use in the From field (see our article “ Mailing Guide Technical Recommendations ”). Unfortunately, we have repeatedly encountered cases of fraud, when the sender’s address used a domain that does not belong to the desired client.
2. Base subscribers
Oddly enough, here we will talk about the base subscribers. Track bursts in the number of recipients in customer ezines. We all understand that the number of users of each project increases gradually. An unexpected increase in the number of subscribers by 2 times is a reason to be wary. Any increment in the customer's subscriber base should be checked by analogy with the new unknown databases. All resources are changing and improving. However, as you know, it is impossible to just improve something sharply: something else will break. The increase in the level of complaints about letters sent by customers is a reason to check mechanisms such as double opt-in and unsubscribe, even if they previously worked without failures.
3. Registration
Checking the mailings before sending them will allow you to promptly notify the client about the existing shortcomings and violations and to avoid further problems with message deliverability. For example, each of the mailings should contain information about when and how the user subscribed to the mailing list, as well as how to unsubscribe from it. For many ESPs, this information is automatically added to the text of the letters, thus avoiding problems with this item.
4. Sending letters
Follow the progress of the mailing, analyze the errors received (including temporary errors, with the 4xx code), if any. If problems with the delivery of messages are detected, it is better to pause the distribution in time and analyze the reasons that led to their appearance.
Bug work
1. Analysis of indicators
Analyze and improve the performance of mailings after they are sent. Remove non-existent and blocked addresses from the subscriber database in a timely manner, process FBL reports (FeedBack Loop) ( see ).
Configure or help customize your DKIM signature and DMARC policy (see habrahabr.ru/company/mailru/blog/170957 ). Try to reduce the indicators as much as possible, and not just bring them closer to the existing limits. This will allow you to have a reserve for various experiments and innovations, without risking the deliverability of letters.
2. End of work with the client
Many clients have the ability to move from one ESP to another (or go into their own voyage). Return to customers who are leaving you already segmented base, in which they will either be absent, or the main lists / segments are clearly divided: users who have been unsubscribed from mailings; users who have not confirmed the subscription via the double opt-in mechanism, etc. At ESP email marketing conferences (as well as their clients) they often say that they strive to establish long-term relationships with users and uniquely choose “white” methods of work. But at the same time, the number of ESPs that return to their customers, in the event of their departure, a well developed, good base, is rather small. Let's follow the strategy of long-term relationships not only during presentations, but also in the process of real work with clients!
TL; DR
In this article, we have tried to give as many tips as possible to improve the quality of work of ESP, so that such services do not become platforms for spamming. Starting work with a client, check the history of his mailings via Postmaster.mail.ru, make sure that his own IP is not listed in the public blacklist and carefully check the subscriber base. Do not be lazy to constantly analyze the quality of the database and client's mailings, make sure that mailings are processed correctly, and the errors that occur are necessarily corrected. If we summarize, then perhaps the main advice is precisely the constant retention of control. By tracking the mailing process and customer service in general, you ensure the deliverability of letters.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/255071/
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