5 Steps for Addressing Deliverability Issues

The big problem with solving deliverability issues seems to be that most people do not know where to start. What you should do, first and foremost, is to start with a few tried and true steps to get an understanding of the delivery problem you need to fix. If you're still stuck trying to understand the problem you need to fix – then you may seek alternative methods. But start with these:
1. Read the Full Message

Always starting with reading the full bounce message. ISPs and their bounce messages should be your first source of information. Don't be lazy and dig deep: don't skip any of the information, follow the provided links, look out for contact forms you might need for further questions – they're supposed to be there and there's a reason for that. Companies usually are quite diligent in creating these pages, and they tend to cover most of the issues and how to fix them. Unless you're having to deal with a very specific, complicated issue, the chances of the solution being somewhere in the info provided by the company is quite large. You just need to pay attention to.

2. The form is there for you to use it!

If you're unlucky enough to be dealing with that specific complicated issue that's not covered by the bounce messages – use the contact form.

Keep in mind that contact forms tend to ask for a lot of detailed information. Sometimes it might seem weird to you, but remember that any detail that might seem unimportant to you now, might turn out to be the key to successful troubleshooting. So be diligent and careful while feeling them out, since this will significantly increase ISP's chances of resolving your deliverability issue.

3. Ask Others

If the previous steps failed (or maybe the company isn't willing to answer the questions), then you can move onto asking other people. Online spaces like slack channels and mailing lists might connect you to people who've experienced problems similar to yours and help you fix the issue you're struggling with.

4. Listen to others

Sometimes we do everything right – and guess what? We still fail. I get it, it's frustrating to spend so much time on something and not get the results we want.

But sometimes the problem is that people – either those who've sent the email or those who're managing the filters – don't listen and keep trying to squeeze into space that has been denied to them. Sure, sometimes it might be because there's a mistake that needs fixing – but sometimes it's because people have deliberately blocked those types of e-mails. And when that's the case – listen!

5. Action!

Acting upon the information you've gathered can be a challenge since the answer is never a specific step by step list of what exact changes you need to make.

The good news is that the internet has made information-sharing much easier and nowadays there are many sources you can gather information about fixing delivery problems.

Remember: deliveries fail because recipients do not want the messages. So fixing delivery problems means finding what kind of mail the recipients want to receive. That's the only real way to fix the long-term problem or ask bulk email store for help!

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