E-mail Marketing: Seven Ways to Get Whitelisted

As Internet service providers (ISPs) try to shield their customers from unwanted messages, oftentimes permission-based e-mail marketers are caught in the crosshairs. E-mail delivery firm Pivotal Veracity reports that one out of every five permission messages is filtered mistakenly as spam. Therefore, reaching the so-called “promise land” in the form of ISPs’ “whitelists” is the destination for all multichannel marketers.

Whitelists are designated lists of trusted senders. Getting on whitelists greatly improves the chances your message will get delivered. E-mail strategy, solutions and services provider Silverpop recently published the whitepaper, Unlocking the Secret World of Whitelist: Insight for Enterprise E-mail Marketers, to help e-mail marketers land on these coveted lists. Below are some of the techniques the whitepaper reveals.

1. Remain at the same address. Whitelists generally require you to send from the same Internet Protocol (IP) address for at least three to six months. Spammers typically jump from IP to IP to avoid detection, so make sure you e-mail from the same address for an extended period of time.

2. Quickly remove complainers from your list. ISPs take into account your complaint rate (i.e., recipients who hit the “this is spam” button). Remove these complainers immediately from your list, as you likely will be required to fall within established thresholds to get on a whitelist.

3. Change sending patterns slowly. In terms of volume, ISPs look for consistency. If you plan to change your e-mail volume or frequency, do so slowly and over an extended period of time. Any sudden break of pattern raises alarm bells for an ISP and can keep you off a whitelist.

4. Address hygiene. To be considered for whitelisting, you must maintain a low bounce rate. Accept inbound bounces quickly. Promptly remove bad addresses from your list. Many ISPs keep records of addresses that have bounced. If you continue to mail these addresses, you seriously risk your chances of being whitelisted.

5. Create reasonable mailing frequencies. Since spammers generally are marked by high-volume and irregular mailings, ISPs detect unwanted messages by examining the velocity and pattern of messages coming from a particular IP address or server. Establish a reasonable and regular send frequency that conforms to the ISP criteria. This may mean having to reduce e-mail volume for a period of time before reaching whitelist status — but don’t exceed the limit. Once you obtain whitelist status, you’ll be able to safely send larger e-mail volumes.

6. Set up authentication, reputation and certification schemes. To help ensure your messages make it to the inbox, authenticate them through one or more of the following standards: Sender Policy Framework, Sender ID and DomainKeys. Whitelists typically require a sender to be authenticated by one or more of these standards. It also helps to take advantage of reputation and accreditation services offered by such companies as Goodmail, Sender Score and Habeas. This only will enhance your profile for possible whitelisting.

7. Once you arrive, stay put. Missteps can result in an ISP dropping you from its whitelist. ISPs are under no obligation to inform or reinstate you. And if you’re dropped, it can take up to three to six months before you can reapply.