{"id":162,"date":"2011-08-18T02:59:43","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T02:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/greatmail.com\/blog\/?p=162"},"modified":"2025-08-26T02:22:19","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T02:22:19","slug":"best-practices-for-bulk-email-senders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatmail.com\/blog\/bulk-email-hosting\/best-practices-for-bulk-email-senders\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Practices for Bulk Email Senders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you’re using a third party application or building your own bulk email system, there are\u00a0a few critical\u00a0list management\u00a0tasks your mailer\u00a0should be able to\u00a0handle.\u00a0\u00a0These best practices\u00a0will help\u00a0you maintain a\u00a0favorable\u00a0SMTP IP reputation\u00a0and ensure the best delivery rates possible for your campaigns.<\/p>\n

No matter how fresh or how clean you think your list is, sooner or later you’re going to\u00a0have some bounces, ie\u00a0addresses that reject your messages for one reason or another.\u00a0 Sending to addresses that bounce over and over is not good practice.\u00a0 In particular, ISPs take note of IP addresses that repetitively send to non-existent mailboxes and eventually throttle or block mail from those IPs.\u00a0 That’s where bounce management comes in. Simply put, bounces must be removed from your list(s). If you’re purchasing an application, look for one that automatically processes bounce removals on a regular schedule.<\/p>\n

Complaints from\u00a0recipients at major ISPs like AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail are a fact of life in email marketing.\u00a0 Even the tightest double opt-in list is going to have some spam complaints.\u00a0 In case you’re not aware of how the ISP complaint system works, each time a user at a major ISP clicks the ‘Spam’ button, a feedback report is generated and sent back to the email service provider or ESP\u00a0responsible for sending the email.\u00a0\u00a0 Addresses that report your messages as spam must be removed from your list(s). Similar to bounce processing, feedback report processing ensures that you’re not sending to recipients who don’t want to receive your messages.<\/p>\n

The law requires that you provide clear instructions for list recipients\u00a0to unsubscribe from your mailings.\u00a0 This means you could simply include a message at the bottom of your email asking unsubscribers to email you with a subject that includes the word ‘Unsubscribe’. However, best practice is to always include a one-click unsubscribe link somewhere in your email.\u00a0 One-click means exactly what it says.\u00a0 No additional checkboxes to select or buttons to click.\u00a0 After the link is clicked, a page should display in the user’s browser informing them that their email address has been unsubscribed.<\/p>\n

While this is just the tip of the iceberg in email marketing and deliverability, having these best practices in place in your email system from the get go will give you the solid foundation you need to reach the inbox. If you’re outsourcing the SMTP\u00a0component of your email application,\u00a0adhering to these best practices will help ensure a lasting relationship with your\u00a0SMTP hosting<\/a>\u00a0provider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whether you’re using a third party application or building your own bulk email system, there are\u00a0a few critical\u00a0list management\u00a0tasks your mailer\u00a0should be able to\u00a0handle.\u00a0\u00a0These best practices\u00a0will help\u00a0you maintain a\u00a0favorable\u00a0SMTP IP reputation\u00a0and ensure the best delivery rates possible for your campaigns. No matter how fresh or how clean you think your list is, sooner or later … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bulk-email-hosting","category-email-marketing"],"yoast_head":"\nBest Practices for Bulk Email Senders - Greatmail Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.greatmail.com\/blog\/bulk-email-hosting\/best-practices-for-bulk-email-senders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Best Practices for Bulk Email Senders - Greatmail Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether you’re using a third party application or building your own bulk email system, there are\u00a0a few critical\u00a0list management\u00a0tasks your mailer\u00a0should be able to\u00a0handle.\u00a0\u00a0These best practices\u00a0will help\u00a0you maintain a\u00a0favorable\u00a0SMTP IP reputation\u00a0and ensure the best delivery rates possible for your campaigns. 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