A newsletter goes out on Tuesday. The open rate is a little lower than last month, nobody replies, and no error is shown anywhere. Three months later someone notices that a large share of subscribers has not seen an email for weeks, because it was sorted into spam.
This article is for a marketing lead or the person who owns the newsletter. It describes a monthly routine of five checks that takes about an hour. It is general and does not depend on a particular sending tool. For the wider picture of how delivery problems cost money, see our article on how poor email deliverability quietly kills revenue; this one is the routine you run to prevent it.
Why a routine and not a one-time setup
Delivery is not something you set up once. Mailbox providers change their expectations, your list ages, and small changes elsewhere (a new tool that sends on your behalf, a changed website form) can break something without any visible error. A monthly check turns a silent problem into a short item on a list.
Decide three things first: who does the check, on which day of the month, and where the result is written. A simple table with the month, the five results and a short note is enough.
Check 1: sender authentication
Owner: whoever manages your domain or website, with the marketing lead receiving the result.
Your sending domain should prove to receiving servers that your messages are really yours. This is done with three records in the domain settings, commonly called SPF, DKIM and DMARC. You do not need to understand the details. You need to confirm, once a month, that they are still present and that your sending tool reports them as valid.
Ask for a yes or no on each of the three. If any answer changes from last month, find out what changed. The usual cause is a new service that sends email in your name, or a domain setting edited for another reason.
Check 2: the state of the list
Owner: the newsletter owner.
Look at three things in the list: how many people joined this month, how many left, and how many have not opened or clicked anything for a long period, for example six months. Decide a rule for that last group, such as one last "do you still want this?" message and removal if there is no answer.
Sending regularly to people who never engage tells mailbox providers that your messages are not wanted. A smaller, active list usually reaches more inboxes than a large, tired one.
Also check where addresses come from. Every sign-up form should be a clear choice made by the person. Addresses bought or copied from elsewhere are the fastest way to damage your reputation.
Check 3: bounces
Owner: the newsletter owner.
A bounce is a message that could not be delivered. Your sending tool shows two kinds. A hard bounce means the address does not exist or the mailbox is closed; those addresses should be removed automatically, and you should confirm that this is happening. A soft bounce is temporary, such as a full mailbox, and only matters if the same address keeps bouncing.
Write down the share of bounced messages for the last send and compare it with last month. A sudden rise usually points to an old list, a mistake in an import or a form that accepts typos.
Check 4: complaints and unsubscribes
Owner: the newsletter owner, with a second look from the person who answers customer email.
A complaint is when a reader marks your message as spam instead of unsubscribing. Some sending tools report these; others do not. Check what yours reports and read the number each month.
Then test the unsubscribe process yourself. Use a test address, click the link and confirm that it works in one step and that the address is not mailed again. A hidden or broken unsubscribe link turns unsubscribes into complaints, and complaints do more harm.
If complaints rise, read the last two or three newsletters as a stranger would. Was the subject honest? Was it clear why they receive it?
Check 5: frequency and the real inbox
Owner: the marketing lead.
First, look at how often you sent in the last month and whether it matches what you promised at sign-up. A change from monthly to weekly without telling readers is a common reason for complaints.
Second, do a small real test. Send the newsletter, or a short test message, to a few personal addresses at different providers, including one that you do not control if a colleague or friend can help. Look in which folder it lands and whether the sender name and subject look as intended. This takes ten minutes and shows what dashboards cannot.
Reading the results
One month on its own says little. What matters is the change from the previous month. Use a simple scheme:
- No change: write "ok" and move on.
- A small change in one check: note it and look at it again next month.
- A clear worsening, or any change in check 1: decide on an action and an owner that same day.
Keep the table. After six months it shows which checks ever change, and you can spend your attention there. If you want to put this check next to your other regular reviews, our article on a one-page monthly operations review shows how to keep a monthly review short.
What to avoid
- Checking only when something looks wrong. Delivery problems rarely announce themselves.
- Having no owner. If the check belongs to "marketing" in general, it will not be done.
- Judging by open rate alone. Opens are an unreliable measure, and a drop can have many causes.
- Fixing many things at once. Change one thing, then observe the next month.
What to do this week
Pick a day each month and put it in the calendar. Name an owner for each of the five checks. Create the results table and fill in the first row now, so that next month has something to compare against.
Sources
- Our related articles linked above.
- The routine is a general approach and does not describe a particular company, sending tool or supplier.
