“Are Email Feedback Loops Driving You Nuts”

By Janet Walsh

As an email marketer, you are responsible for sending hundreds, or maybe even tens of thousands of emails to those subscribed to your list. These are email campaigns you’ve worked on for weeks; testing to verify your campaigns will send the right message at the right time and bring in that expected ROI. However, some of the most significant feedback you need to make your campaign successful, is what your recipients do with the emails you send them.

What your recipients do with your email once they receive it boils down to a few choices that include:

1. Open
2. Save for late
3. Share with a friend
4. Delete immediately
5. Mark as Junk/Spam Mail
6. Report you as a SPAMMER and complain to the ISP you’re hosting with.
   
   
   

   Black Walnuts

As a marketer, we try to avoid the later, but it does happen,  so don’t let Feedback Loops drive you nuts!

When the recipient marks your mail as spam and complains to the internet service provider (ISP) they usually notify the sender of the complaint. Once notified, you should have unsubscribed the complainant from the list. One way to do this efficiently, is the use of a feedback loop.

Feedback loops (FBL) are used by most ISP’s. Essentially, it’s a system that assists senders to keep their subscriber lists clean.  Some ESPs (Email Service Providers) set up FBLs for their customers, with those ISP’s that use them, Dundee is one of those providers.  A typical FBL format includes a button or link, which when clicked allows the email recipient to register a complaint about the received email.

(fig. 1). It is also advisable to ban the complainant’s email address so they cannot re-subscribe to the list and send another complaint.  This is important because an increase in spam complaintscan influence the senders’ reputation.

                                                                                                                                                          Fig. 1
Different ISP have their own feedback loops – some use the same provider – here

• • AOL
  • BlueTie – by Return Path
  • Comcast –by Return Path
  • Fastmail – by Return Path
  • Rackspace
  • Gmail
  • Time Warner Cable – by Return Path