HOW THROTTLING CAN HELP YOU TO PROTECT YOUR DOMAIN AUTHORITY

John O'Shea

Domain protection is vital, but often an overlooked aspect of email marketing. Without it, your emails risk being blocked or sent spiralling into the abyss of the spam folder. Data erosion is becoming an increasingly serious threat to marketers of all sizes.

Email marketers devote considerable resources on reaching contents and developing optimised content, but they often forget the importance of domain reputation. ISPs have developed numerous mechanisms to prevent messages which they feel may be spam.

One of these is throttling messages. If they see multiple messages coming from one IP. Each ISP may have its own approach and may well provide different limits on different IPs depending on a number of factors such as bounce rates, the number of abuse complaints, subscriber engagement, open rates, click troughs and the time people take viewing each email.

ISPs may also throttle the amount of mail coming from any new IP until they have an idea of the type volume and characteristics of the mail being sent and will also react to suspicious behaviour. For example, if they see a collection of bounces within a short time frame or a sudden surge in email volume, they will send a throttling message telling the server to slow down or stop sending for a time. If you then ignore that, they may go a stage further and blacklist your IP altogether.

The consequences of blacklisting can be profound. You’ll be unable to hit some of you warmest leads. Response rates will fall and your marketing efforts will start to feel like running in mud.

The impact on your domain reputation can turn into a snowball effect. As bounce rates build-up, other ISPs are more likely to impose throttling on your IP making it increasingly difficult to get your messages through.

Controlled throttling

As a lead generation company, therefore, we do more than just focus on contacts and optimised content; we also protect your domain reputation with controlled throttling and other specialised delivery methods.

Controlled throttling limits the amount of emails sent to one ISP or remote server at any one time.

The volume of data has exploded. Estimates suggest 90% of all data ever created came into being within the past few years, but that’s just a hint of what’s to come. IDC predicts the amount of data could increase tenfold between now and 2025 to an eye-watering 163 zettabytes.

The process involves a number of steps including:

Limiting the number of emails sent every minute of every hour.

Managing the number of SMTP connections per minute per hour.

Controlling the total number of emails sent by each connection.

Some email platforms allow you to configure the parameters yourself, but others may use default settings which you will not be able to optimise yourself. Parameters might be adjusted depending on certain sending conditions.

The end result though will be something which controls the amount of email sent over the individual ISPs, preventing you from triggering any of their throttling responses and preserving your domain reputation.

Why throttling can help

This might seem restrictive, especially if you’re a high-volume sender relying on fast delivery to maximise response, but it can create opportunities

Spreading out email delivery has benefits. You can regulate how many emails are delivered during times of high traffic; it can improve responses to your emails and help develop insights about trends which could aid future email campaigns.

You’ll also be able to use throttling to manage your responses. For example, if your campaign includes a call to action of a phone call, throttling staggers email communications and manages call centre traffic. You’ll avoid leaving potential customers waiting on hold, which can reduce sales perform and harm your reputation.

For those email providers who are time sensitive, of course, it can create problems. For example, if you’re a daily deals site, you’ll need a high number of messages to reach your subscribers straight away.

In all these situations though, much depends on your domain reputation. If it is high, ISPs will impose looser standards than those who they suspect of sending spam. To keep it high, you can follow best practices both in the development of content and controlled delivery strategies which stop you triggering the defences of ISPs, and help you build a positive brand reputation

This is why you need an experienced email marketing provider, one which provides a comprehensive suite of services encompassing not only content optimisation but also specialised approaches to delivery.

There are businesses just waiting to hear about your opportunity! Get in touch with our Team to throttle your campaign TODAY.