Most companies use email for communicate with their customers, partners and suppliers. With 80% of the 30 billion daily emails estimated to be spam, ISPs, spam-filtering companies and email watchdog groups may be classifying your legitimate emails as spam and black-listing them…your emails are blocked from being received and your reputation tainted. And, you probably don’t know about it.
“Or you might simply notice your response rate plummeting. But it’s unlikely that the ISPs through which you send your messages will tell you why your e-mail isn’t being delivered”, says. Des Cahill is CEO of Habeas Inc., an email services company.
Cahill, suggests the following steps companies can rely on to preserve their good name as trusted e-mail senders.
· Get a full diagnostic of your e-mail reputation and sending practices. Have an impartial third party examine your e-mail streams (marketing, customer service, order confirmations, etc.) to determine any practices that could put you at risk of ending up on someone’s blacklist.
· Get your company on a “safelist” as a good e-mailer. We’re fast approaching the time when there are only two types of e-mail: accredited and non-accredited. If you’re an accredited sender — an organization whose e-mail is recognized as legitimate by the major ISPs and other volume receivers — your e-mail will be less likely to get mistakenly filtered or blocked. Getting on a safelist is a crucial step to take immediately.
· Set up an early warning system for delivery problems. This requires a third-party company that can benchmark your performance within the e-mail community and monitor blacklists to ensure you know right away if you’re marked anywhere as an unsafe sender.
· Get a good third-party expert to represent you in any disputes about your company’s reputation. If you’ve adopted the above steps and stay proactive in your practices, such instances likely will be rare.
