Microsoft Inboxes – Why So Picky About Deliverability?
Matt Ratliff
How are you determining if you're landing in the inbox with microsoft? Chances are you may be unaware of your performance and may even be more surprised that you're actually hitting the junk folder more often than not.
This MBP (mailbox provider) is the most difficult one to win over.
What I've seen over the years is that even Microsoft's own emails will appear in the junk folder. This is just one I was able to capture recently. Outlook automatically purges junk every 30 days otherwise I'd have a list of many other examples.
Even ESPs like Mailgun fall into the same bucket...
Even my own emails will occasionally land in the junk folder when I'm conducting tests, but not always.
Some of you on my list have told me this fact as well, but ultimately there's not a lot I can do...at least at the moment.
When I'm conducting tests I'll send it to my Outlook account and also to my O365 account - and 90% of the time those tests land in the primary inbox without any influence on my part. However, it's a big world out there and I can't assume this will be true for every Microsoft user email is sent to. I just hope for the best.
So, what can be done about it? Well, several things.
First, check your overall email volume over the past 90 days. Are you sending around 150K or more emails within a 30-day period? Ok good!
Next, how does your overall stats look across all providers? Meaning your opens are showing to be around 40% or higher. Bounce rate shows to be under 2%, spam complaints under 0.08%, and unsubscribes under 1%.
Now, go to GPT (Google Postmaster Tools) to check to see how Google is reporting your domain reputation. I'd want it to show High.
If you meet the criteria above then you'd be in a good spot to get a dedicated IP which only you'd be influencing once it has been properly warmed up.
...but what if you meet the criteria above, but fall short of the email volume needed? Well I'm also in your shoes. I can't get one yet. You and I are at the mercy of the ESP and how they maintain their IP health. Here's a tip - reach out to your ESP and show proof of your stats and mention that you are having trouble reaching the inbox with Microsoft (outlook, hotmail, msn, live etc). They likely have a higher tier of IPs they maintain and reserve for first class customers and may be willing to move you into that same bucket.
What I'm saying here is that the IP you're using is more than likely the issue. I've seen this over and over again and the data being captured by InboxIQ proves this point.
If you're cold emailing then nothing is going to help. Sorry. But if you have a list of contacts that have opted in, made a purchase, booked a call with you, etc. then you have a real chance.
No matter if you're able to get a dedicated IP or be moved to a better tier of IP you should still indicate to your audience how they can help your emails to land in their inbox...here's how:
Ask them to add you to their contact list.
Mark your emails as "Safe Sender".
Report messages as "Not Junk".
In the meantime, I'll be doing more tests and will definitely share with you. In fact, I'm currently building my own MTA (Mail Transfer Agent) - an email server and will have it on a dedicated IP. I'm curious of a few things on how Microsoft will react and ultimately decide to label my test emails, especially at a low volume.
Do you have questions about any of this? Reply back and let me know.
Oh and if you missed last weeks email about Manage Preferences then let me know. I'll send you that email. I would link it, but I'm working on a new method for that. I hope to have that completed this week. It will be posted to my my new blog - update on that coming as well.
Later!
-Matt
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