Email data solutions provider Return Path has published its 2016 Sender Score Benchmark Report. Using data from Sender Score and Return Path’s Reputation Network, the new report analyses a sample of more than four trillion email messages sent last year to investigate and measure the impact of reputation on inbox placement.
The 2016 Sender Score Benchmark Report reveals that only highly reputable email marketers are able to consistently reach their intended audiences. For example, senders scoring 99-100 (the best possible reputation score) saw only two per cent of their messages being blocked or sent to spam. This figure jumped to ten per cent for senders scoring 81-90, and to 24 per cent for senders scoring 71-80. For senders scoring 70 or below, only a small fraction of messages were actually delivered.
Legitimate email marketing
Commenting for Return Path, Scott Roth said: “We know that very little legitimate email comes from senders with a Sender Score below 71. But simply having a ‘good’ sender reputation is no longer enough – it has to be outstanding.
“Marketers need to know that when they send a message to customers, it’s going to land in the inbox. Even the difference between 90 and 98 per cent delivery is huge. This is precisely why monitoring your reputation and maintaining it at the highest level possible is critical to successful email marketing.”
Spammers’ effect on delivered emails
Spam complaints send a strong signal to mailbox providers that messages are unwanted and they also have a significant impact on the sender’s reputation. Senders scoring 91-100 had an average complaint rate of just 0.17 per cent, according to Return Path’s report. By contrast, senders scoring 71-80 saw complaint rates of 2.29 per cent – nearly 14 times higher than the best senders.
The report shows that, while overall spam volume is declining, more than half of all sent email is still spam. Of the more than four trillion messages analysed in Return Path’s study, 52 per cent came from senders scoring 70 or below – down from 71 per cent the year prior. The good news for marketers: mailbox providers divert the vast majority of spam before it even has the chance to reach consumers’ inboxes, blocking 56 per cent of all messages sent.
Return Path’s complete 2016 Sender Score Benchmark Report can be viewed here.