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Search Articles by Topic "Deliverability"

  • How do I know if I’m writing a good subject line?

    The Subject Line Researcher Project The nerds in MailChimp Labs recently unveiled a new experiment called the Subject Line Researcher. It's kind of like Google's Keyword Tool, but for email marketing. And it's free for all MailChimp users. To test your subject line go to the Setup step of the…

    http://eepurl.com/hcPF

  • How Spam Filters Think

    How To Avoid Getting Your Campaigns Accidentally Junked If you send email campaigns long enough, you will inevitably run into spam filter issues. We've found that on average, you can expect 10-20% of your emails to just get lost in cyberspace, mostly due to overzealous spam filters. You don't even…

    http://eepurl.com/yuXF

  • How Legitimate Marketers Can Prevent Spam Complaints

    You don't have to be a spammer to be reported for spamming You don't have to be a spammer to get reported for spamming. If you're a legitimate marketer, and you send email newsletters and promotions long enough, you're going to get reported. It's just a matter of time. In…

    http://eepurl.com/ymf7

  • Avoiding the spam filters

    There's no sense spending a bunch of time designing, coding, and writing your email newsletters, only to get them trapped in your recipients' junk folders. That's like those salmon you see on TV. They make the long, once-in-a-lifetime journey from the ocean to return to their birthplace and spawn. They…

    http://eepurl.com/gO1u

  • How fast does MailChimp deliver email?

    The time it takes to deliver your campaign to your entire list depends on the size of your list, and on the current mail queue at MailChimp. Technically it could take us 45 minutes to send 1 million emails. Beyond this ISPs require messages be throttled to groups of 2,000…

    http://eepurl.com/hc1Z

  • What is Authentication and how do I set it up?

    What is Authentication? Authentication is sort of like a license plate for your email. It provides a trackable identifier which indicates you're a legit emailer. There are 4 different types of authentication you have to take into consideration when sending bulk email content: DKIM Domain Keys SenderID SPF Learn More…

    http://eepurl.com/hcpD

  • How do I get more people to join my list?

    The best way to grow an email list is to do so slowly and organically, so that the people on your list are really engaged and are the top notch followers of your business or organization. We'll help get you started. But, keeping sending awesome and relevant content and you'll…

    http://eepurl.com/EAW1

  • My emails are being delivered as broken HTML code or an attachment.

    One of the following situations could be occuring: When a message comes across as one of the following: garbled text, a mix of plain text and HTML code or just the plain text, you or your recipient's spam filter has flagged your email. The spam filter or email server scanning…

    http://eepurl.com/hczI

  • MailChimp Server Whitelisting Information, IP addresses and server names

    If you are trying to send emails to recipients inside a company, but the emails aren't getting through, it's probably an aggressive corporate email firewall holding your emails back. Don't take it personally. They just think that sending the same email to multiple people in their company looks like spam.…

    http://eepurl.com/hcKV

  • Why aren’t my subscribers receiving my campaigns?

    The most common reason subscribers don't see your email in their inboxes is because it's landing in spam folders. If your recipients have checked their spam or junk folders, though, there are a few more things to check: Is a particular subscriber not getting your emails? Ask them to add…

    http://eepurl.com/hcsy

  • My from name is changing with each send, causing the email to go into the junk folder.

    We do get this question from time to time, but really, send name and the junk folder don't have much to do with each other. This issue generally only comes up with Outlook. Let's look into why. We encourage all of our users to have authentication selected for their campaigns.…

    http://eepurl.com/hcyZ

  • How can I segment my list based on my subscribers’ locations?

    Using Geolocation Tracking in MailChimp, you can send to a segment of your list based on your subscribers' locations. On the Recipients step of the Campaign Builder, choose send to segment for the list you want to send a targeted email to. For your segmenting conditions, choose Location / is…

    http://eepurl.com/hz9h

  • How can I authenticate my campaigns?

    Authentication is turned on by default for all MailChimp campaigns. Authentication helps prove you're a legitimate sender, that your emails aren't forged and helps avoid spam filters. When you use MailChimp's authentication, campaigns will pass SenderID, SPF, DomainKeys, and DKIM checks. Since it's turned on by default you don't need…

    http://eepurl.com/hcuo

  • My campaigns are ending up in spam folders!

    First, you'll want to try and get an idea of why the campaign is ending up in their spam folder and how to avoid it. Generally with web based email services (like Gmail, Yahoo, or Hotmail), emails go to the spam folder if they're from known spammers. Or, if a…

    http://eepurl.com/mnzb

  • What is Time Warp and how do I use it?

    Time Warp is a campaign scheduling feature available for all paid accounts (monthly or pay as you go) that allows you to select a delivery time, and have your campaign delivered to recipients at that time, in their time zone. Instead of sending campaigns all at once, Time Warp delivers…

    http://eepurl.com/iAgs

  • Can MailChimp tell me what email programs or webmail service my subscribers are using?

    Yes! When people open your campaigns, we'll collect their user-agent information, if possible, in order to help you know what programs they're using. How to view this information Go to the Lists page in your account. Click view list for the list you want information about. Choose User Agents from…

    http://eepurl.com/HPfh

  • Why did my message show as broken code to people using Outlook?

    Outlook will almost always break your email message if the "To:" field is personalized using a merge tag and there's not a value for the recipient who is viewing in Outlook. If an email you've sent is showing up as broken code in Outlook check to see if the following…

    http://eepurl.com/hczQ

  • Why does my From name have all this extra information (authentication)?

    It's authentication that is making that change. Authentication is sort of like a license plate for your email. It provides a trackable identifier which indicates you're a legit emailer. For more information on how authentication works and why it's important: http://www.mailchimp.com/about/authentication/ Do keep in mind that authentication is becoming more…

    http://eepurl.com/hcpg

  • Can I set up my own Authentication?

    Yes, but we don't recommend it and we make it one click easy for each campaign. You can set up your own Authentication but it's NOT recommended as you can't cover all Authentication types outside of our service. In providing your own authentication you won't be able to enable DKIM…

    http://eepurl.com/hcGX

  • Avoiding Apple Mail’s Spam Filter

    Using MailChimp's Merge Tags To Avoid Junk Filters Apple Mail is the free email application that comes with every Apple. I use it on my Powerbook, and love it for its built-in spotlight search functionality. I can find messages I received months ago, by searching some of the most obscure…

    http://eepurl.com/yHmz

  • How Email Firewalls Work

    Spam filters need spam filters now! By now, most email marketers know you should avoid using "spammy" phrases like "FREE! CLICK NOW!" or the spam filters will trash your message. But did you know that before your email even gets to a spam filter, it has to get through a…

    http://eepurl.com/yBuL

  • What are MailChimp’s delivery rates?

    When looking at deliverability there are two things you have to consider: Our server reputation The content you are sending and who you are sending it to For the most up to date and official documentation on our deliverability, please visit our deliverability page The only thing an ESP can…

    http://eepurl.com/hcO8

  • Why weren’t opens reported on my campaign?

    When you see that you have zero opens for a campaign, first check and make sure that you have tracking selected for that campaign. Look on the report page for "tracking disabled" or "tracking enabled" noted by going to Reports > Subscriber Activity > Trends. In HTML campaigns, when you…

    http://eepurl.com/hcB_

  • I’m a daily sender. Should I be doing anything special for the best delivery?

    We recommend the following to daily senders: Keep your content especially clean and spam filter friendly. Your campaigns will pass through those more frequently and be under closer scrutiny than most. Avoiding the Spam Filters Send amazing and compelling content. ISP’s are creating tools that put more and more power…

    http://eepurl.com/gOPq

  • Does MailChimp use throttling when sending emails?

    Yes. Our goal is to deliver your emails as quickly as possible and technically we can deliver 1 million emails in 45 minutes, but major ISPs throttle the amount of email they'll accept as a means of preventing spam. They may limit emails to groups of 2,000 or less, spaced…

    http://eepurl.com/hcoG

  • What are blacklists?

    Some email servers and SPAM filters reference "Blackhole lists," which are lists of IP addresses of known spammers, or "spam friendly" servers. If an IP address is on the list, they won't let your email through. Anybody can setup a "blacklist" for their own email server. And they can post…

    http://eepurl.com/hcKd

  • How do I find my email headers?

    Sometimes our support team will ask you to send over your email headers. This helps us troubleshoot issues with delivery. The following links will help you find your header information in various email programs. Finding your headers in Outlook 2007: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/view-e-mail-message-headers-HA001230300.aspx Finding your headers in Outlook 2002 & 2003: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/view-e-mail-headers-HA001093707.aspx…

    http://eepurl.com/OPyl

  • Since I already have an SPF record, will this adversely affect mail sent through you?

    Your SPF won't affect your deliverability since MailChimp is the sender domain/IP with our own SPF record

    http://eepurl.com/iAgy

  • Is there any way of telling whether a campaign ended up in the inbox or the junk folder?

    Before you send out a campaign, you can use the Delivery Doctor to determine if you will be directly to the spam or junk folders of common spam filters and ISPs. This will help you understand where you can make changes on your campaign for higher delivery rates. After you…

    http://eepurl.com/hcNh

  • How accurate are Geolocation Tracking and time zones in MailChimp?

    Geolocation To determine the location of your subscribers, MailChimp gathers data from wireless router access points and other service providers. We will send the IP address information that we gather to a geolocation service provider to get an estimate of your recipients' locations. The accuracy of these locations can vary…

    http://eepurl.com/hAad

  • Can forwarded emails cause abuse complaints?

    If you or someone on your lists forwards a campaign to a friend or colleague, the forwarded email will not be able to register any abuse complaints in your MailChimp account. If someone were to hit the "report spam" button on a forwarded email, they would be reporting spam sent…

    http://eepurl.com/vH0P

  • I didn’t pass a Spam or Consumer ISP filter on the Delivery Doctor. What do I do now?

    We'll give you some tips in the Delivery Doctor area (the bottom of the last step of the Campaign Builder) on why your campaign didn't pass a Spam Filter or ISP filter. For instance in this case there's something up with your subject line. Standard Heading Style means that the…

    http://eepurl.com/hvOg

  • My recipients or I received multiple copies of the same campaign.

    Generally, when we see multiple copies of an email sent, your or their postmaster is delivering it several times. We only send out one copy on all campaigns. Things To Consider Did you see this issue? Or, are other people from your list reporting receiving multiple deliveries? If it's just…

    http://eepurl.com/vTel

  • Links in my emails are creating “possible fraud” alerts, why is this?

    Some spammers and scammers out there try to get you to click a link inside an email that looks trustworthy (like "www.ebay.com" or something) but the actual code in the link takes you to another website altogether. Lots of innocent people have been duped this way, so some people install…

    http://eepurl.com/ngl9

  • What are Challenge-Response Filters?

    The reply-to address you choose to add on your campaigns is extremely important. Whenever you send an email campaign to your list, some of your recipients will have "challenge-response" spam filters setup in their email applications. The picture below is a real example of a challenge you might receive. This…

    http://eepurl.com/hcJx

  • How do I know why my campaign failed Postini?

    Many filters and filtering companies are secretive about why they are blocking you. This is to keep spammers from going around their rules and getting junk mail through to you. What we DO know about Postini - some blog entries for your reading pleasure: Getting Blocked By Postini? Postini Likes DKIM Authentication More on our blog

    http://eepurl.com/gOOX

  • I sent a test email to myself from my own email account and it arrives fine, but tests from MC don’t

    There is a fundamental issue with testing this way. In order to properly test bulk multipart content, what we specifically send through our service, the message has to be sent through a bulk delivery tool. You otherwise aren't going to find a good one to one message testing tool since spam filters aren't aggressive towards that type of content.

    http://eepurl.com/hcwS

  • Where do I see the Time Warp reports and what do they mean?

    On the reports tab, click on the title of the campaign you sent out with the Time Warp scheduling option. You'll see the Time Warp header on this page (click to access the reports): When you TimeWarp your campaigns, you’ll want to remember that depending on how geographically widespread your…

    http://eepurl.com/hxQ5

  • The code for my links is showing up in the content for my recipients.

    What is happening here is that your recipient's spam filter is affecting the links and popping the "suspicious" redirect link code from our tracking up into the content itself. The way to test this is to send a copy of the campaign to this recipient with the tracking turned off…

    http://eepurl.com/hcHl

  • The code for my links is showing up in the content for my recipients.

    What is happening here is that your recipient's spam filter is affecting the links and popping the "suspicious" redirect link code from our tracking up into the content itself. The way to test this is to send a copy of the campaign to this recipient with the tracking turned off…

    http://eepurl.com/gW6N

  • I got a note in my Inbox Inspection that says a URL is on a greylist. What’s that about?

    The reason you are seeing this greylist notation is one of our sending domains was greylisted with a prominent spam filter service. This is pretty common and doesn't mean that your emails will necessarily be blocked. That of course all depends on how high or low the spam filters on…

    http://eepurl.com/hcAA

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