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Overview

This SOP covers the process of diagnosing whether a client is having deliverability issues, what the likely cause is, and next steps that should be taken.

Objective / Definition of Done

Issue a recommendation to the client about next steps - generally either adjusting their campaign strategy or sending practices, or setting up new accounts and/or domains.

Ensure that the correct parties are notified of any actions which need to be taken (IP rotation, blacklist delisting, etc).

Process

Step 1: Perform a campaign audit

Often, a client’s deliverability issues are simply due to poor campaigns. If we have access to the client’s campaigns, perform an audit like those we do for the weekly ListKit performance reporting.

If you need access and the client is using Smartlead: * Ask if they’re comfortable with creating a login for you to use. They can invite you as a team member at https://app.smartlead.ai/app/settings/team-members * Gather the recommendations from this step.

  • Make note of the overall reply rate:
    • If it’s below 1%, the client probably has a severe deliverability issue.
    • If it’s above 2%, they probably don’t.
    • If it’s above 3%, deliverability is almost certainly not the issue.
  • Check the client’s bounces:
    • If the bounces are above 2%, dig deeper:
      • If there are a lot of invalid addresses, the client needs better list verification.
      • If there are messages about blacklists or emails being blocked or suspected as spam, there’s a good chance that the domains are burned.
  • Check the campaign sequences and settings
    • Is the campaign using spintax?
    • Are the subject lines garbage?
    • Is it clear what is being offered? (Is there an offer at all?)
    • Is there a clear and compelling call to action?
    • Is the copy short? (< 75 words)
    • Are there grammatical, spelling, or spintax errors in the copy?
    • Are there spam words, dollar signs, etc in the copy?
    • Is there a phone number in the copy (including the signature)?
    • Is the campaign being sent using plaintext, or are there links, rich formatting, images, etc?
    • Is the campaign using tracking?
    • Is there a reasonable delay between messages? (At least 5-7 minutes)
  • Check the replies
    • Does it look like a lot of the leads being reached are not a good fit?
    • Are leads confused about what is being offered?

Step 2: Infrastructure Verification

  • Verify that the IP addresses are in good standing - exact instructions TBD
    • In practice, this is almost never the issue.
  • Verify that DNS is set up correctly for the client
    • View the DNS records page for the domain in Nellis
    • If the DNS is not set up correctly, don’t bother running a placement test until it’s fixe!

Step 3: Run some placement tests

If the client has a good reply rate and you’ve identified some issues with their campaigns, this step may not be necessary.

  • Test 2-3 of the client’s accounts.
    • If deliverability is good (all or almost all emails inbox), we conclude that there is no underlying issue.
    • If deliverability is poor (many emails land in spam), we conclude that the client’s domains are probably burned.

Step 4: Report findings and recommendations to the client.

  • If the campaign audit revealed issues, give the client advice based on the findings.
  • If the client has been heavily blacklisted, advise the client of this and let them know that we will attempt to resolve the issue. If we are unable to resolve the issue, they may need to set up new domains.
  • If the IP addresses are in trouble, let the client know that we’ve identified low-reputation sending IPs being used in their campaigns and that we are rotating them out in favor of healthy ones.
  • Report the results of the placement testing
    • If the results were good, advise the client that they do not have an underlying deliverability issue and their domains and accounts appear to be healthy
    • If the results were poor, advise the client that they appear to have sender reputation issues, and that we recommend they set up new domains and accounts.
  • Ensure that the correct parties are notified of any steps which need to be taken