Delivery to the inbox for most Internet service providers (ISPs) is primarily based on user feedback and your reputation as a sender. ISPs attempt to deliver messages their members want and reject those their members don't want – if they do a poor job of either, members stop using their service. This task becomes increasingly difficult for ISPs when considering mail from senders from which they have never seen email traffic. A common example of this is when a client is switching IPs or starting a new program using new IPs. Even though you may have established a positive reputation based on the previous sending IPs, the new IPs from the perspective of an ISP have no established sending history. It then becomes the sender's responsibility to build a positive reputation.

Almost all ISPs determine acceptance of a message and place in the inbox or bulk folder based on what their members tell them about messages from a specific sender. Typically, feedback or complaints about a message are received by the ISPs by a "report spam" button or submission of a message directly to the ISP's postmaster team. This feedback is used to establish a sender reputation on an IP basis and sometimes on a domain basis, as well. The key to consistent delivery is to create a relationship with members using regular messaging to all members while keeping complaint rates low so that a positive sender reputation can be created. There are many best practices recommended to enjoy consistent deliverability. For more information about your delivarbility, contact us today.