Giving your email sending a health checkup using Gmail Postmaster Tools

A few months ago the company that sends my marketing emails ran into some major problems. One of the core problems was with their deliverability. In non-jargon terms that meant they had issues sending and getting my email into the subscribers inbox.

At the time I was using about half a dozen different tools to troubleshoot and identify the core issues. But most of the tools were IT-level tools that even I had trouble using (I've run servers and done IT stuff since at least 2005 so things like SMTP, Spamhaus, and DKIM didn't scare me away).

Recently I heard about one of Google's less-well know tool called Postmaster Tools.

This tool is similar to Google's Webmaster Tools (the older name for Search Console) but it's designed for email instead of websites.

Basically, it gives you information on how Gmail is treating your emails. It's reports include:

• Number of spam reports.
• IP reputation of the servers sending your email (e.g. Drip, Mailchimp, Convert Kit, Shopify).
• Reputation of your sending domain, e.g. your business reputation.
• Delivery errors.
• and some other more complex measures.

Though it only reports on Gmail, it gives a very easy to use picture of how your email marketing is getting treated by Gmail. Since Gmail is so popular, it's a good proxy for everyone else.

Using Postmaster Tools, it was as clear as day that my prior email sender started to have difficulties as far back as January of this year which matches my own experience.

I'd highly recommend creating a Postmaster Tools account if you send your customers marketing, abandoned cart, or any other types of emails (and you should be emailing).

Once you've reviewed your email senders to make sure everything is healthy, you should send your customers more emails.

If you want to prioritize your effort, start by sending more emails to your best customers. Send them advice, product offers, or just try to connect to them as a person.

If you want to find out who your best customers are, you'll want to look at Repeat Customer Insights and its customer analysis. It auto-segments customers for you based on their behavior so you can focus on the ones who are most receptive to your emails.

Eric Davis