Email Delivery Management

An ecommerce company recently approached my team to do an email audit as they were facing challenges with low open and click-through rates. After analyzing their email account, here are our main recommendations to revive their email marketing channel: 1. Strategic Email Segmentation: Currently, your emails lack personal relevance due to a one-size-fits-all approach. This is a crucial area to address. Action Plan: Implement segmentation based on purchase history, engagement levels, browsing behavior, and demographic information. 2. Personalized Content Creation: Generic content won't cut it. Your audience needs to feel that each email is crafted for them. Action Plan: Develop emails specifically tailored to the different segments. This includes curated product recommendations, personalized offers, and content that aligns with their interests. 3. Subject Line A/B Testing: Your current subject lines aren't doing their job. You need to be implementing ongoing A/B subject line tests, as this is low-hanging fruit to improve your open rates. Action Plan: Regularly test different subject line styles and formats to identify what resonates best with each segment. Keep track of the metrics to inform future campaigns. 4. Mobile Optimization: A significant portion of your audience reads emails on mobile devices. Neglecting this is causing a decrease in your email engagement rates. Action Plan: Ensure all emails are responsive and visually appealing on various screen sizes. Test your emails on multiple devices before sending them out. Additional Campaign Strategies We Recommend: - Launch a Monthly Newsletter: This should include new arrivals, style guides, and user-generated content. It’s an excellent way to keep your brand in the minds of your customers. - Seasonal Campaign Integration: Tailor your campaigns to align with holidays and seasons. This approach can significantly boost engagement and sales during key periods. - Re-Engagement Campaigns: Specifically target subscribers who haven't interacted with your brand recently. Offer them unique incentives to rekindle their interest. Next steps: 1. If you found this helpful, please leave a comment and let me know. 2. If you own/run/work at an Ecommerce company doing at least $1 million in annual revenue, message me so my team can audit your email channel to see if there's a good fit for working together.

Let’s talk about Extended Message Trace. A few years ago, I posted a WhatsApp status that said, 'I don’t believe in anything but EMTs only.' Looking back, I still stand by it. EMTs are essentially the DNA of an email system. They track an email’s journey from the moment it's sent to its final destination, offering unmatched transparency and control. In this post, I’ll break down what EMTs are and why they’re a game-changer for anyone managing email systems. While a traditional message trace solves most issues, sometimes we need to dig deeper—and that’s where EMTs comes to the rescue. Let’s be honest, reviewing an EMT can be quite the adventure at work. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack—but there’s a unique satisfaction when you finally uncover the insights you’re looking for. Inside an EMT, you’ll find: Sender and recipient information: Who sent the email and who received it. Email routing: The exact path the email took across servers. Timestamps: When the email was sent, received, and processed at every step. Delivery status: Whether the email was delivered, delayed, or failed—and why. Actions applied: Any rules, filters, or policies (e.g., spam checks) that acted on the email. One of the most important pieces of information in an EMT is the custom_data field. Here, you'll find the transport rules processed on the email, anti-spam policies, and any content filtering applied. Key components in the custom_data field: Transport Rule Agent (TRA): ETRP: Transport rule processed but not applied. ETR: Transport rule applied. Details: Includes rule ID, last modified date, conditions, actions, and execution time. Content Filtering Agent (CFA) - AntiSpam Agent (AS): Spam Details: Spam verdict (sfv), risk level (rsk), spam confidence level (scl), bulk confidence level (bcl), phishing confidence level (pcl), and internal spam rules matched (sfs). Actions: di=sd: Email deleted. di=sq: Email quarantined. IP Analysis: CIP: Connecting IP address. IPV Verdicts: NLI: IP not on a reputation list. CAL: IP in the connection filter allow list. Advanced Spam Filtering (ASF): Indicates whether advanced filtering was applied. This structured logging provides detailed insights into email processing, including applied rules, labels, spam filters, and decisions made at various stages. Fun Fact: Not many people know this—an EMT should only be initiated at least four hours after an email is sent or received. If you run an EMT before the four-hour mark, it will return a "No message found" result. And yes, EMTs can take anywhere from 2 hours to 24 hours or more to generate results, depending on the complexity and size of the data being traced. PS: This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to EMTs—there’s so much more to explore. Feel free to drop any questions you might have in the comments. I’m happy to answer. #ExchangeOnline #MSFTAdvocate #Microsoft365

Email frequency matters more than most marketers assume. An analysis of 53,000 emails and 5,300 purchases across 200 customers revealed a clear pattern: the best results come when brands tailor frequency to buying behavior.  The optimal monthly cadence: ↳ 5-7 emails for frequent buyers ↳ 6-10 for medium buyers ↳ 12-14 for occasional buyers When customers aren’t segmented, 7 emails a month deliver the strongest performance. The highest open rates and most purchases over time. Sending only 4 emails reduces lifetime profit by 32%, while sending 10 cuts it by 16%. The reason is simple. Frequent buyers already know the brand, so too many emails create fatigue. Occasional buyers, on the other hand, read more when they’re still exploring and learning. This makes segmentation strategy the real growth lever. Instead of treating every subscriber the same, match communication frequency to purchase behavior. The balance is all about timing and relevance. The right message to the right segment builds stronger engagement, higher retention, and more revenue over time. How often do you adjust your email frequency based on buyer type?

POST-4/7👉 Email used to be a megaphone. In 2025, it’s a whisper in a very specific ear. Gone are the days when “blast to all” could pass as a strategy. In fact, that approach in 2025 is actively hurting your deliverability. Email Service Providers (ESPs) like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook are no longer just evaluating your IP health—they’re scoring your sender behavior at the recipient level. That means if 40% of your list is cold or disengaged, Gmail sees you as the problem—not just the user. ⚠️ Real Consequence: 1. We audited an ecommerce fashion brand with 220K contacts. Over 92K of them hadn’t clicked a single email in 90+ days. Gmail flagged them for bulk spam behavior, and inboxing fell from 78% to 46% overnight. 2. They were running promos weekly. Nothing was technically broken—but nothing was relevant. That’s what got them crushed. What Micro-Segmentation Solves in 2025: ✅ Reduces spam complaints ✅ Increases engagement velocity ✅ Signals positive intent to inbox providers ✅ Unlocks higher revenue per send with smaller cohorts Micro-Segmentation Tactics That Work Now: 1. Behavior-Based Journeys: Forget static tags. If someone viewed winter boots but didn’t buy, your next 3 emails better talk about warmth, snow, or style—not your general spring lookbook. ✅ Klaviyo + Shopify data lets you trigger flow branches based on: Last viewed product category Cart abandonment by SKU group Pages viewed in session (via UTMs or on-site behavior) Pro Tip: Use dynamic content blocks inside campaigns to adjust hero sections based on browse activity without cloning entire flows. 2. Lifecycle Automation by Spend Velocity This isn’t “new vs returning” logic anymore. In 2025, flows shift based on: Time since last order AOV trends SKU replenishment cycles Example: First-time customer who hasn’t returned in 30 days → “2nd purchase incentive” High-value buyer within 7 days → “VIP early access” Customer inactive 60+ days → Winback + dynamic offer block + channel sync suppression 3. AI-Supported Clustering Tools like RetentionX, Lexer, and even Klaviyo’s predictive analytics are now building multi-dimensional customer clusters using: Purchase frequency Channel source Time to second order Category loyalty It’s loyal mid-value buyers who shop monthly but only when free shipping is offered. ✅ What to do: Export these clusters to your ESP Build messaging that maps exactly to their past actions Suppress low responders from paid channels and warm email instead. Ready to Execute? Create 5 foundational micro-segments: 1. High spenders 2. First-time buyers 3. VIPs (CLV > 2.5x avg) 4. Dormant >90 days 5. Active clickers, no conversion Test 2 cadences per segment: VIPs: 4x/month + early access Dormant: 1x/month reactivation with content—not promos Use Recency, Frequency, and Monetary score buckets to tag customers and let your automations react to movement between them. #EmailMarketing #email

Every sales team doing outbound needs to know this about email deliverability in 2024: No EXCEPTIONS. Email deliverability is a “death by a thousands paper cuts” type of situation. Stop stacking paper cuts. ✅ Set up secondary domains. If you are still cold emailing off your primary email domain you may be in big trouble. The last thing you want (especially if you aren’t a reputable company) is to burn your primary domain. This doesn’t just affect your sales team. It affects everybody at your company. ✅ Set up your DNS (DMARC, SPF & DKIM) records for ALL of your secondary domains. ✅ Secondary domains should link to your primary. You want to make sure your prospects are being directed to your actual company domain if they are curious and click. ✅ Instantly.ai recommends limiting yourself to 3 email addresses per domain. ✅. Email Warmup - Domains should be “warmed up” for 14 days before cold emailing. Send at least 20-40 warm up emails per day per email account, with a 40% reply rate. This builds your domain reputation. NEVER switch off email warm-up. ✅ Email Volume - do NOT send more than 30 emails per day per email account. ✅ Keep your email signature plain text. No Links. AT ALL. Add your address in your signature and make sure you put a picture in your Outlook or Gmail profile. ✅ Vary your cold email copy. Sending the same template to every prospect signals that you are a spammer. Take the time to personalize emails. For emails further in your sequence, use Spintax. Use alternate phrases “Hi, Hey, Hello”. ✅ Understand that your domain gets TORCHED when people mark your email as spam. Good and relevant copy matter. Also, don’t run 7+ email step sequences. It’s okay to have sequences that are 15 steps. But make them multi-channel (Calls, LinkedIn, Email). ✅ Constantly monitor your email deliverability. Highly recommend using Instantly.ai to make this all easier. Maintaining good deliverability over time is key in the success of outbound. Curious - what else should I have mentioned here?

Most people jump to "better copy" when what they need is a better system (so their good emails actually get seen, delivered, and replied to). You've optimized the subject lines.  Tweaked the CTA.  Even A/B tested till your eyes hurt. But replies? Still dead quiet.  It's not the COPY. It's the SYSTEM. Here's a simple 6-step framework I use to turn outbound from guesswork into predictable meetings. 1️⃣ Map your target before you write a word Before sending a single email, get crystal clear on: → Who you're reaching: ICP, triggers, and actual buying intent  → Why now: the urgency or pain that makes your message relevant today  → What reply you actually want: meeting, intro, or insight Most people skip this and start writing emails without knowing what success even looks like. 2️⃣ Fix deliverability, or nothing else matters Your emails can't convert if they never land. → Verify domains and set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC properly  → Warm up gradually, not all at once  → Always run a 25-contact "canary" test to check deliverability and reply flow before scaling If your open rates are below 50%, stop everything and fix this first. 3️⃣ Build reusable copy blocks, not one-off emails Instead of rewriting the same email ten times, create a modular system: → Build blocks like trigger, value, proof, and CTA  → Mix and match depending on segment and persona  → Follow the 3x3 rule: three sentences max, three seconds to get the point It's faster to scale, easier to test, and keeps your tone consistent across campaigns. 4️⃣ Design reply paths, not just outreach steps Every reply deserves a clear next action: → Positive? Book the meeting  → Neutral? Nurture with value  → OOO? Resurface later with context Design your outreach as a flow, not a list. Seven to nine touchpoints over 18 to 24 days with varied angles beat one "clever" email every time. 5️⃣ Track smart metrics and iterate weekly Measure what actually moves the needle: → Reply quality: qualified, not now, wrong person, OOO  → Inbox rate, step level replies, and time to meeting Don't change your copy too soon. Test your targeting or sequence logic first. 6️⃣ Ship it in Saleshandy Once your system is ready, operationalize it with confidence: → Use Sequence Score to check performance before launch  → Monitor Inbox Radar for real-time deliverability health  → Scale safely with sender rotation, Unified Inbox, and Lead Finder with 700M+ verified contacts That's how you keep your engine humming without burning domains or sanity. No hacks. No magic first lines.  Just clarity, structure, and repetition powered by clean systems. Outbound doesn't need to be fancy. It just needs to be functional. Want to see how this framework performs in action? 👉 Try Saleshandy free for 7 days: https://lnkd.in/dtGtKYUR

 “Just send an email.” It looks like a one-liner: await sendEmail(to, subject, body); But in production, that line explodes into a full subsystem. Here’s what you actually end up building 👇 1. Reliability - never send inline Sending directly inside a request works… until latency spikes or the provider times out. You decouple it using a queue (Kafka, SQS, or RabbitMQ) -> a background worker processes sends. Each message gets a unique message_id for idempotency, retries use exponential backoff, and you persist status = pending/sent/failed. 2. Deliverability - “sent” != “delivered” Your API logs “200 OK,” but user didn't get it. You need webhooks from SES/SendGrid to capture delivered, bounced, or spam events. Those callbacks update your DB, mark bad addresses inactive, and feed a delivery analytics dashboard so you actually know what happened. 3 Spam filters & domain reputation You can write the best emails, and still end up in spam if you skip the basics: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Warm up new domains gradually (start with low send volume). Use a dedicated sending domain (e.g., mailer.myapp.com) and separate IPs for transactional vs marketing. Without this, your whole app’s communication pipeline can get blacklisted overnight. 4 Personalization at scale You’re not just sending static HTML. Each email has dynamic placeholders ({{user.name}}, {{order.id}}), localized text, and sometimes attachments. You pre-render templates (Liquid/MJML), cache HTML in Redis, and bulk fetch user data to avoid DB thrash. At high volume, even template rendering becomes a performance bottleneck. 5 Observability & throttling At scale, email providers rate-limit you. You’ll need token-bucket throttling, multiple provider fallbacks, and metrics (Prometheus/Grafana) for latency and bounce trends. When one region hits its SES quota, your system should automatically failover to another provider without losing events. That “forgot password” email that lands in 2 seconds? It’s backed by queues, workers, webhooks, templates, cryptographic signatures, and deliverability tuning.

Lifecycle context is everything. When I opened this trial-ending email, my first thought was: “Wait, is this part of a sequence?” Because if this is the only reminder I’m getting, it’s underpowered. Lifecycle isn’t a one-shot deal—it’s a conversation. Here’s what’s missing—and what a high-performing lifecycle email should include: ❌ No customer success recap ✅ Show me what I’ve accomplished. "You created 4 boards, invited 3 teammates, and completed 12 tasks." → That’s how you show tangible progress. That’s value in motion. ❌ No soft downgrade or flexible options ✅ There should have been an “Extend your trial”,“Get personalized plan advice”, or “Need help choosing?” These options lower friction and keep me in the product. → Good bones, but where’s the retention strategy? Give me a reason to stay.. The subject line: “Your trial ends tomorrow.” ❌ A missed personalization opportunity. ✅Even a simple “Roshni, your trial ends tomorrow” hits harder. → In a world of goldfish attention spans, say my name so I flip my hair, turn around, and see what you got! Pro Tip: ❌No usage-driven plan recommendation was found in the email ✅ If I used automation and team collaboration, tell me. What exact features will I lose? What magic will vanish? Suggest the plan that fits. Don’t make me figure it out. → Add more conversion clarity. Be specific. Say something… Then I go, maybe they said something in the email before this, I scour open the email to expect asks and reminders like: 1. Your trial ends in two days… 2. Do you need more support? 3. Checking in - Do you have different requirements? But I found a “One more week to go! ⌛” email that was sent 6 days before this one. → If retention is the goal, this email needs to do more than inform—it needs to guide. This is the moment to reaffirm value, personalize the experience, and offer flexible next steps. Coming back…Here’s the CTA: ❌ “Choose a plan”. It’s a decision-heavy ask. Instead: ✅“Compare plans” ✅“Extend your trial” ✅“Book a 15-min call to find your fit” can open a path forward instead of slumping your free trial conversion rate. A high-performing trial-end email would ideally include: → A recap of key milestones: What the user has done during the trial, with palpable metrics and proof of progress. → Tailored plan suggestions based on usage data: “Since you used automation features and team collaboration tools, the Basic plan might be perfect for you.” → A low-friction CTA: not just “Choose a plan” but options like “Get personalized plan advice”, or “Chat with our product expert” can lower the decision barrier. This makes the value jump off the screen. Trial-ending emails shouldn’t be a door closing—they should be a path forward. Personalize it, prove value, and make the next step feel like a win, not a wall. I’m on the hunt for great lifecycle emails...got a favorite? Share it below. #saasemailmarketing #lifecyclemarketing #onboardingemails #productmarketing

Most brands study when people buy again. I started studying when people emotionally replace meaning. A product half life is the moment it goes from: “Shiny new purchase energy” to “Just part of my life now” When that switch happens, your email job shifts too: You stop convincing. You start being useful to the identity they already gave you a seat in. To map half life, collect: the day reviews stop saying “just got this!” the week social posts switch from excitement → casual everyday use when customer support questions change from product basics → tiny usage hacks Then build a half life retention email sequence like: Week 1: usage quick start Week 3: “here’s a tiny unexpected way this product helps people who think differently” Week 7: the moment it becomes a silent sidekick (offer deeper hacks) Week 10+: culture moments, stories, sentiment, community, micro meaning add ons Retention dies when brands don’t adjust to half life tone.

Most brands are leaving millions in email revenue on the table because they don’t have the right flows set up. After running these for 100s of brands, here are the 15 go-to flows that drive the most sales: 1/ Welcome – First impressions matter. Send a welcome email with a discount (if applicable), follow up with what makes your brand different, and share valuable content. 2/ Abandoned Checkout – If someone starts checkout but doesn’t buy, send a reminder, follow up with social proof, offer a last-chance discount, & address any objections with a “How can we help?” email. 3/ Abandoned Cart – They added to cart but didn’t start checkout, so remind them, use testimonials for trust, & instead of a direct discount, try “Your cart price just dropped” to grab attention. 4/ Abandoned Browse – If someone viewed a product but didn’t add to cart, nudge them back with a “Still thinking about it?” email, highlight what makes your product better, & offer an exclusive incentive if needed. 5/ Abandoned Site – If they browsed but didn’t engage, send them helpful content, social proof, or a small incentive to get them deeper into your funnel. 6/ Cross-Sell Flow – After purchase, recommend a complementary product, educate them on how to maximize their purchase, & position the next buy as the natural next step. 7/ Back-in-Stock Flow – Capture emails for sold-out products, offer alternatives while they wait, & when the item is restocked, create urgency by reminding them it sold out before. 8/ Post-Purchase Flow – Thank them for buying, send setup guides or product tips, follow up with a note from the founder, & open a direct line for support to build trust for repeat sales. 9/ Replenishment Flow – If you sell consumables, remind customers when they’re running low, offer a subscription for convenience, & make reordering a one-click process. 10/ Winback Flow – If someone hasn’t purchased in 90+ days, remind them of what they’re missing, update them on new products, & offer a one-time incentive to bring them back. 11/ Sunset Flow – For inactive subscribers, send a “We miss you” email, show them what’s new, & ask if they still want to hear from you before removing them. 12/ Review Request Flow – Ask for a review 30 days after purchase, offer an incentive like store credit or a discount, & follow up if they don’t respond. 13/ First Purchase Anniversary – Celebrate their 1-year mark with a thank-you email, a small gift or discount, & an opportunity to re-engage. 14/ Subscription Upsell Flow – Encourage customers to subscribe by highlighting convenience, cost savings, & making the upgrade process seamless. 15/ Predicted Next Purchase Flow – Use data to predict when someone is likely to buy again, send a reminder at the right time, & make the purchase as effortless as possible. Most brands focus only on campaigns & maybe some of the basic flows, but these flows generate the real money. Watch the full breakdown in the video below & leave your thoughts!