Data Insights: Using Sender Reputation Data for Better Inbox Placement

Sender Reputation Data (SRD) is a metric that is used by Microsoft in its proprietary spam filtering software called SmartScreen that determines if a message should be delivered to the inbox, spam folder or blocked. It consists of a panel of hundreds of thousands of users and these panelists are asked to determine if the filtering decision that Microsoft’s spam filter made was correct or not. This provides more accurate feedback since it’s nearly impossible for spammers to game this metric. Additionally, SRD minimizes the effect that subscriber complaints can have on one’s reputation and deliverability if subscribers are erroneously using the junk button, either marking an email as junk on accident or using the junk button to delete or unsubscribe from an email. In that sense, sender reputation data is not a complaint metric, but rather a feedback metric. In fact, at Return Path, we find the metric so useful that we also use it as part of our compliance efforts for Return Path Certification.

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Email + Social Marketer Spotlight: A Look at Pier 1 Imports

This month we wanted to feature one retail marketer who’s embracing social and integrating it with their email program. In January, Pier 1 Imports sent an email campaign dedicated to promoting their new daily deal on Facebook. One knock on …

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Case Study: IHG Optimizes and Secures Email Channel with Return Path

For the world’s largest and most valued brands email is both vital to success and also extremely complex.

Take, for example, our client IHG (Intercontinental Hotel Group). They are the world’s largest hotel group with more than 4,480 hotels and offering more than 658,000 guest rooms in 100 countries and territories. They manage a portfolio of seven hotel brands, as well as Priority Club Rewards, the world’s first and largest hotel loyalty program with over 63 million members around the globe.

Needless to say, they have a lot of email addresses. And email is fundamental to their marketing efforts.They use email to improve customer satisfaction and increase loyalty.

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The Online Trust Alliance Forum: The Training You Need to Bullet Proof Online Security and Trust Practices

Join us at the Online Trust Alliance’s 6th annual Online Trust Forum (with a special discount for Return Path readers)

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How Your Email Deliverability is Affecting Your Overall Revenue

In the perfect world, 100% of your emails would make it to your subscribers’ inboxes with no trouble at all. Your subscribers would receive your beautifully designed emails with all images and links enabled, and would spend all morning reading and clicking on your emails.

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How Email Marketers Can Start Preparing for Google+ Now

As an email marketer (or any marketer), you can’t seem to go anywhere without hearing about Google+. From how fast it has grown (25 million+) to what it is (a new way to share) and what it isn’t (a Facebook killer). Google+ is everywhere.

And yet, it can be difficult to determine if Google+ is the next big thing or just the newest social media kid on the block.

So, what does Google+ mean for email marketers? Should you care? While I can’t predict the future, here’s why email marketers should care and what they can start doing to prepare for Google+ or the next big thing.

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Webinar – Keep Pretenders Out! Strategies to Prevent Brand Messaging Abuse

Next week, Return Path’s Chief Security Officer Sam Masiello will be hosting a webinar for BrightTALK discussing how how to protect your company from criminals looking to exploit your brand for their own profit, using any means they can find.

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More Questions Around “Building Reputation and Spurring Engagement in the Age of Social and Mobile”

I recently presented a webinar for the AMA entitled “Building Reputation and Spurring Engagement in the Age of Social and Mobile.” You can listen to the recording. We had a great attendance, and didn’t have the opportunity to answer all of the audience questions. I promised the listeners I would follow-up in a blog post, so as promised; here are the answers to your questions.

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Email and Social Media: It’s more than Including an Icon

The marketing media is awash with talk of “integration” – in general, and specific to social media. But what does integration mean and what does it look like?

To answer that question, my colleague Stephanie Colleton and I couldn’t think of a better place than our very own inboxes. Over the course of a week, we looked at over 75 senders in our inboxes – publishers, retailers, B2B, hospitality, finance – and many more commercial email senders. While including social media calls to action may seem like a simple and logical first step toward integrating these two channels, our unofficial study reveals that marketers still have room for improvement.

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Webinar: Building Reputation and Spurring Email Engagement in the Age of Social and Mobile

Please join me on Thursday, June 9th, 2011 at 1:00PM EST for a discussion on how to use new inbox technologies, mobile and social to achieve higher engagement and deliverability rates.

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