Why is my Sender Score low?

Reasons for a low Sender Score (poor IP Reputation)

If you have a new IP address, please refer to our overview of Sender Score to learn more.

The most common reasons for a low sender score:

• Spam Complaints: Check your campaigns and see if you have a high rate of user complaints. While the number may not seem high to you, keep in mind an important rule. Spam complain rates are based on individual ISPs, not on all of your subscribers. A complaint rate higher than 0.2% will start to cause delivery issues with most ISPs.

Here's an example calculation: You sent a campaign to 5,000 subscribers, 200 of which were to AOL. 5 of those 200 AOL subscribers clicks "Spam". Your Spam rate for AOL is 2.5%, which is very high. Your complaint rate is NOT 5 out 5,000, or 0.1%.

• Unknown User Rates: High bounces are an indicator for ISPs that you are using an old or bad list. If you have too many email addresses that do not exist anymore, you are telling the ISP that you are not very good at list hygiene. Often, the cause of high bounce rates is purchased lists, old lists, rented lists, etc. You are not allowed to send to subscribers from purchased or rented lists at Newsberry, because it is detrimental to IP reputations. They will block your IP if you have very high bounce rates.

• Authentication: Many ISPs look that you have setup Domain Keys and SPF records. Newsberry supports both of these, and we highly encourage you to set them up.

If you feel like there could be other reasons for a low Sender Score, or you have some questions and need help, please feel free to contact us.