Email Marketing

E-IMPACT
2023

I- Introduction to email marketing :

A-Definition

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that uses electronic mail as a means of
communicating commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. It involves sending
targeted, personalized messages to a specific group of individuals, usually customers or
subscribers, in order to promote a product or service, build brand awareness, or drive
website traffic. Email marketing can be an effective tool for businesses of all sizes and
industries, as it allows for personalization, automation, and cost-effectiveness. To get
started with email marketing, you will need a mailing list, an email service provider, and a
strategy for creating and sending emails.

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B- LOI CAN SPAM ACT

The CAN-SPAM Act is a law passed by the United States Congress in 2003 that regulates
commercial email messages. It sets certain requirements for commercial emails, gives recipients
the right to opt out of future emails, and establishes penalties for those who violate the law.

Here are 5 key points of the CAN-SPAM Act:

- The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
- The sender's physical mailing address must be included in the message.
- The message must include a clear and conspicuous opt-out mechanism.
- The message must not be misleading in any way.
- The message must include a clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an
advertisement or solicitation.

It's important to note that the CAN-SPAM Act applies to all commercial emails, including
B2B and B2C communications. It is also important to remember that the law also applies to
organizations sending email on behalf of others, such as email marketers and affiliate marketers.

Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire
another company to handle your email marketing, you can't contract away your legal
responsibility to comply with the law.

Violations of the CAN-SPAM Act can result in penalties of up to $43,280 per violation, so
it is important for businesses to ensure that they are in compliance with the law when
sending commercial emails.

ِC - How to succeed in an email marketing campaign ?

To succeed in an email marketing campaign, it is important to answer the

following four basic questions:

1. Who is your target audience? Understanding your target audience is crucial in

order to tailor your messaging and content to their interests and needs.
2. What is the goal of your campaign? Clearly defining your campaign's objective,
such as increasing sales or growing your email list, can help guide your strategy
and measure success.

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 3. How will you measure success? Setting up key performance indicators (KPIs)
such as open rate, click-through rate, and conversion rate can help you track the
progress of your campaign and make adjustments as needed.
4. What is your call-to-action? A clear and compelling call-to-action (CTA) can
encourage recipients to take the desired action, whether it's making a purchase,
signing up for a newsletter, or visiting your website.

Additionally, it is important to:

● Build a quality email list

● Personalize your emails
● Test subject lines and sending times
● Optimize your emails for mobile devices
● Follow email marketing best practices to avoid spam filters
● Continuously monitor and analyze your campaign's performance and make
adjustments as needed.

D - What is the Subject Line and From email ?

● The subject line and from email are two important components of an email
marketing message.
● The subject line is the brief text that appears in the recipient's inbox,
indicating the topic or purpose of the email. It is important to make the subject
line engaging and relevant to the recipient to increase the chances of the email
being opened.
● The from email, also known as the sender email or reply-to email, is the email
address that the email is sent from. This is typically the email address that the
recipient will see in their inbox and can use to reply to the message. It is
important to use a recognizable and consistent from email address to build trust
with the recipient and make it easier for them to identify and respond to your
emails.
● Both Subject and From email addresses are important in the email deliverability,
and the recipient's inbox provider will use these addresses to check the
sender's reputation and decide if the email is spam or not.

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E - What is OPT IN and OPT OUT ?

● OPT-IN and OPT-OUT are terms used to describe the process of subscribing or
unsubscribing to an email list or marketing campaign.
● OPT-IN refers to the process of actively giving permission for a company or
organization to send you emails. This typically involves filling out a form or
checking a box indicating that you would like to receive emails from them. Opt-in
is often required by law for companies that engage in email marketing, and it
helps ensure that only people who are interested in receiving emails are added to
the email list.
● OPT-OUT refers to the process of unsubscribing or asking to be removed from
an email list. This can typically be done by clicking on a link at the bottom of an
email, or by sending an email to the company requesting to be removed from the
list. This process is also required by law and it helps to keep the email list clean
and avoid sending unwanted emails to recipients.
● The best practice for email marketing is to implement a double opt-in, which
means that the recipients must confirm their subscription by clicking a link in a
confirmation email sent after they sign up. This ensures that the email address
provided is valid, and that the recipient wants to receive emails from the
sender.

II- Spam filters

As the amount of unwanted emails, also known as spam, in our inboxes continues to
increase, it's becoming more important to have effective spam filters in place. In 1995,
only 5% of emails circulating were classified as spam, but by 2015 that number had risen
to over 95%. To combat this problem, spam filters are used to determine the legitimacy
of an email and ensure that it is coming from a reputable sender and is relevant to the
recipient. The fight against spam includes a combination of technical, legal, and
behavioral measures to combat unwanted commercial emails.

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A- How the SPAM filter works ?

Spam filters work by analyzing various characteristics of an email and

determining the likelihood that it is spam. There are several different techniques that

spam filters use to identify and block unwanted messages. Some common methods

include:

1. Content analysis: Spam filters will analyze the content of an email to identify
certain keywords, phrases, or patterns that are commonly associated with spam.
They also look for certain types of content such as executable files, images, or
links that are often used in spam messages.
2. Reputation-based filtering: Spam filters will also look at the sender's reputation
to determine if they have a history of sending spam. Reputation can be based on
factors such as the IP address, domain name, or email address of the sender.
3. Blacklists: Spam filters will check to see if the sender's IP address or domain
name is listed on a blacklist, which is a database of known spam sources.
4. Challenge-response systems: Some spam filters use a challenge-response
system, where the recipient's email server will send a challenge message to the
sender's email server to confirm that the email is legitimate.
5. Bayesian filtering: This is a method of statistical analysis that uses a
mathematical formula to determine the probability that a message is spam.
6. Machine Learning: Spam filters can use machine learning algorithms to learn
from the examples of the emails that were marked as spam by the users and try
to identify the pattern to be able to classify new emails as spam or not.

These methods can be used alone or in combination, to help identify and block

spam messages before they reach the recipient's inbox. Spam filters also need to be

updated regularly to keep up with new spamming techniques and changing trends.

B- Reputation of an IP address

An IP address can have a reputation that is based on its past behavior. This

reputation can be determined by analyzing factors such as the IP address's history of

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 sending spam or participating in malicious activities. IP address reputation is used by

email and network security systems to help determine the legitimacy of incoming

traffic and identify potential threats. A good IP address reputation is an indicator of a

low likelihood of spam or malicious behavior, while a poor reputation may indicate that

the IP address has been associated with spam or other unwanted traffic in the past.

C- Types of spam filters

1- CloudMark: CloudMark is a commercial spam filtering service that uses a

combination of content-based, sender-based, and reputation-based filtering techniques.

It uses a global threat network of over 100 million users to identify and block spam and

other unwanted email messages.

2- Abaca: Abaca is another commercial spam filtering service that uses

advanced machine learning techniques to identify and block spam. It uses a combination

of natural language processing and statistical analysis to analyze the content of email

messages and determine if they are spam.

3- SpamAssassin: SpamAssassin is an open-source spam filtering software that

uses a combination of content-based, sender-based, and reputation-based filtering

techniques. It uses a set of rules and heuristics to identify and flag potential spam

messages.

4- McAfee Email Gateway: McAfee Email Gateway is a commercial spam filtering

solution that uses advanced machine learning and big data analytics to identify and

block spam. It offers a multi-layered approach to detect and block spam, malware, and

other unwanted email messages.

5- Barracuda Email Security: Barracuda Email Security is a commercial spam

filtering solution that uses a combination of content-based, sender-based, and

reputation-based filtering techniques. It uses machine learning and threat intelligence

to detect and block spam and other unwanted email messages.

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 6- Cisco IronPort Email Security Appliance: Cisco IronPort Email Security

Appliance is a commercial spam filtering solution that uses a combination of

content-based, sender-based, and reputation-based filtering techniques. It uses a

unique approach that integrates reputation-based filtering and advanced malware

detection capabilities.

7- Spamhaus : Spamhaus is a non-profit organization that tracks spam and other

forms of email abuse. They maintain a number of databases that list known spam

sources, such as IP addresses and domain names, as well as email addresses and

domains that are known to be used for phishing and other malicious activities. These

databases are used by email administrators and security professionals to block

unwanted or potentially dangerous email traffic before it reaches their networks.

Spamhaus operates on a global scale, and provides a number of services to help combat

spam and email abuse, including:

● The Spamhaus Block List (SBL), which lists IP addresses and domain names that

are known to be used for spamming or other forms of email abuse.

● The Exploits Block List (XBL), which lists IP addresses that are known to be

used for malware and other malicious activities.

● The Policy Block List (PBL), which lists IP addresses that should not be sending

email directly to recipients.

Spamhaus also provides a number of tools and resources to help email administrators

and security professionals manage their email traffic and protect their networks from

spam and other forms of email abuse.

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Overall, Spamhaus is widely used by email providers and enterprises globally to block

unwanted traffic, and it's a valuable resource for email administrators and security

professionals to protect their networks from spam and other forms of email abuse.

8- Symantec Email Security.cloud: Symantec Email Security.cloud is a

commercial spam filtering solution that uses a combination of content-based,

sender-based, and reputation-based filtering techniques. It uses machine learning and

big data analytics to detect and block spam, malware, and other unwanted email

messages.

These are just a few examples, there are many other spam filters available in

the market, both commercial and open-source. The choice of a spam filter depends on

the specific requirements of an organization, as well as its budget and technical

capabilities.

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D- Filtering spam solutions

There are several different ways to filter spam, including:

1. Content-based filtering: This method uses the content of the email message, such as

keywords and phrases, to determine if it is spam. It works by comparing the message

against a list of known spam keywords and phrases.

2. Sender-based filtering: This method uses the sender's IP address, email address, and

domain name to determine if an email message is spam. It works by comparing the

sender's information against a list of known spammers.

3. Challenge-response filtering: This method requires the sender to verify that they are a real

person before their email message is delivered. It works by sending a verification

message to the sender, and only allowing the email to be delivered if the sender responds

correctly.

4. Bayesian filtering: This method uses statistical analysis to determine the likelihood that

an email message is spam. It works by analyzing the text of the message and comparing

it to a database of known spam and non-spam messages.

5. Machine learning filtering: This method uses artificial intelligence to learn from the

emails it marked as spam and non-spam to improve its filtering accuracy over time.

6. Reputation-based filtering: This method uses the reputation of the sender's IP address,

email address, and domain name to determine if an email message is spam. It compares

the sender's information against a list of known spammers or a 3rd party reputation

service.

Most spam filtering solutions use a combination of these methods to improve their accuracy and

effectiveness. It's important to note that no single method is perfect and spam filters will always

have some level of false positives and false negatives.

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Here are some examples of specific words you want to be cautious of
using:

E- What is SpamTraps

A spam trap is an email address that is used to identify and catch spam. Spam

traps are typically set up by email providers and anti-spam organizations to identify and

block unwanted email messages. They are often created by using a domain that is no

longer in use, or by using a domain that is similar to a legitimate domain but with slight

variations. Spammers may inadvertently send messages to these addresses, and if they

do, it is a strong indication that their email lists are not legitimate and that their

messages are unsolicited.

III- Email Derivability

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 Email deliverability can be understood as a likelihood that your email will be

delivered to the inbox of your recipient. There are many aspects that influence

whether the email will be delivered or not.

Email deliverability is closely connected to the sender reputation. If your sender

behavior is in accordance with the general rules and you have proper infrastructure,

your sender score will be high and your deliverability will thrive.

A- It’s all about sender reputation

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 When it comes to email deliverability, it all revolves around the sender

reputation. Let’s take a look at what it is, how it influences your deliverability and most

importantly, what to do to keep it at a satisfactory level.

The internet service providers (ISPs – in the context of this guide, we mean

email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) collect data about your sending

behavior and process them to assign you with a so-called sender score, also known as

sender reputation.

There are two main basic types of a sender reputation:

- IP reputation

- domain reputation

The main difference between these two is that the former depends on your

sending IP address, while the latter is bound to your sending domain.

B - IP reputation

The “Internet Protocol” address is a string of numbers that is a unique

identifier for the device you use to send email. Internet service providers supply one to

every device on their network in order to accurately route user requests.

There are two basic types: shared IP address or dedicated IP address.

A shared IP address simply means that more companies use the same IP address, so

your reputation depends also on the behavior of other users.

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C - Domain reputation

Domain reputation is becoming a more and more popular way of establishing the

sender score. It doesn’t depend solely on the IP address, but it considers the domain

too.

This means that the reputation is bound to your brand and stays with you even if

you change the IP address. It is a great thing if you have a good reputation (you don’t

have to rebuild your reputation from scratch) but it also means that it is much harder

to get rid of a bad sender reputation.

There are numerous factors that influence your reputation. As an email

marketer, it’s your job to understand the different elements ISPs use to calculate your

sender score and recognize if and when your organization suffers the effects of a poor

email reputation.

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 Infrastructure
Without proper infrastructure, your email marketing will fail no matter how

great a campaign you have prepared. In the following tips, we cover the essential best

practices when it comes to the infrastructure and authentication of your emails.

Although the technical aspects of email delivery may seem complicated at first, most

of the settings need to be done only once. Also, some aspects are probably already

covered by your email delivery service.

1. Use dedicated IP address

Always keep in mind that if you share the sending IP address with the others,

their behavior may influence your deliverability too.

If you do not send thousands of emails monthly, it is not a big deal if you use a

shared IP address, as it is much less expensive. If, however, you rely on email

marketing heavily, you should invest in a dedicated IP address to make sure there are

no other users who could negatively influence your reputation.

2. Don’t change your IP address

If you have deliverability issues, the first thing that probably comes to your

mind is to change the sending IP address to start again with a clean slate.

However, it may not be a good idea – this kind of behavior is very suspicious and

it may not solve your problem at all. Since switching IPs is a common tactic used by

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spammers, new IPs are always treated with caution. Spam filters always consider the

age of the IP as well as the sending permanence.

3. Warm-up your IP address

If you need to change your IP address (or you start with a new one), make sure

to warm it up first. This means that you don’t start sending large volumes of emails

from the start. Instead, you gradually increase the number of emails in order to

establish the initial reputation.

4. Secure your servers with TLS

Transport Layer Security is a type of encryption that is applied to the email to

protect it from being read by an unwanted party during the process of sending (from

the moment it leaves the sender until it is received).

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 Some email servers may prefer the TLS-encrypted emails, so it is always good to

have this protocol enabled in order to maximize your deliverability.

5. Authenticate your email

Email authentication is a process of improving the delivery and proving the

credibility of emails by implementing protocols that verify the identity of the sending

domain.

There are three fundamental protocols that serve to determine who you are –

SPF, DKIM, DMARC. They function as gatekeepers who identify you and decide

whether you are a legitimate sender.

Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a DNS record that informs the provider

which IP addresses are allowed to send from your domain.

Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an encryption method ensuring that the

sent and received message is the same, thus preventing the stealing of the identity.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC)

record indicates the presence of SPF and DKIM protocols and tells the recipient what

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to do if these two authentication methods fails. It reduces the exposure to harmful an

fraudulent messages.

6. Set up postmaster@ and abuse@ addresses

Having these two role accounts is a best practice and a requirement by some internet

service providers. They are used to receive abuse complaints so you should check them

regularly and resolve all the issues as soon as possible.

7 . Use domain that is able to receive email

Your sending domain should be able to receive emails, otherwise, the ISP may

automatically block your email. Therefore, don’t forget to have a valid MX record

associated with the domain.

Anybody getting an email from you should be able to reply to the same email

address. Besides, having a “no-reply” address may evoke an arrogant attitude – “We

want you to hear from us, but we don’t want to hear from you”.

8. Don’t be afraid of unsubscribes

As we mentioned in the previous point, quality is much more important than

quantity when it comes to mailing lists. If someone doesn’t want to receive your emails

anymore, make it as easy as possible for them to unsubscribe – otherwise, they will use

other options (junk, spam folder).

9. Keep the bounce rates low

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 An email bounce happens when an email can’t be delivered to an email address.

A hard bounce is a permanent error, meaning that email is not good for the

indefinite future. You should remove hard bounce email from your list immediately.

A soft bounce is a temporary error. Some of these can be saved and re-added to

your campaign. However, don’t resend to soft bounces immediately. Wait for one or two

days until those full mailboxes are cleaned and those faulty servers are repaired.

If an email soft bounces too many times, you should treat it as a hard bounce and

delete it from your active list.

10. Keep an eye on the engagement

The engagement level of your email campaigns plays a role in your reputation as well.

ISPs want to see proof that the messages you send are enjoyed by the people receiving

them.

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To do this effectively, you must have a deep understanding of your list and what

they’re looking to get out of your emails. You also must do your best to provide

personalized experience for each of your subscribers.

A poor reputation most noticeably manifests itself in low open rates. Take some time

and analyze your email data.

If your open rate is significantly below the general average of (usually around

20% – 25%) or steadily declining over your last few campaigns, there’s a good chance

your sender score has been damaged and you need to change your sending practices.

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IV- Criteria affecting deliverability

A- How to View Hotmail Email Header

To view the full email header in Window Live Hotmail, need to know email header

forensics allow accessing the following actions:

● On the Webpage, sign in the user's Hotmail account and also, open a message

list.

● Double click on Message and then, choose "View Message Source" option from

the menu bar.

The screen shot of email message can be represented like as:

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B- How to Analyze Hotmail Email Header

When the header information for an email is opened, Hotmail displays the information as:

Here is a list of some of the headers that are typically included in an email sent via Hotmail:

From: This header displays the email address of the sender.

To: This header displays the email address of the primary recipient of the message.

Subject: This header displays the subject of the message.

Date: This header displays the date and time that the message was sent.

X-Originating-IP: This header displays the IP address of the computer that sent the

message.

Message-ID: This header is a unique identifier for the message.

MIME-Version: This header indicates the version of the Multipurpose Internet Mail

Extensions (MIME) used in the message.

Content-Type: This header indicates the type of content in the message, such as text,

HTML, or a file attachment.

Reply-To: This header displays the email address to which replies should be sent.

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Cc: This header displays any additional recipients of the message.

Bcc: This header displays any recipients who have been blind copied on the message.

X-MS-Exchange-Organization-AuthAs: This header displays the type of authentication

used for the message.

X-MS-Exchange-Organization-AuthSource: This header displays the source of the

authentication for the message.

X-MS-Exchange-Organization-AuthMechanism: This header displays the mechanism used

for the authentication for the message.

Received: This header displays the path that the message took as it was delivered to the

recipient.

X-MS-Exchange-Organization-SCL: This header displays the spam confidence level (SCL) of

the message, which is a numerical value used to indicate how likely the message is to be

spam.

X-MS-Exchange-Organization-PCL: This header displays the phishing confidence level (PCL)

of the message, which is a numerical value used to indicate how likely the message is to be a

phishing attempt.

X-MS-Exchange-Organization-Antispam-Report: This header displays a detailed report of

the results of Hotmail's antispam and antivirus checks on the message.

X-MS-Exchange-Organization-AVStamp-Mailbox: This header displays the results of the

antivirus scan of the message.

Content-Disposition: This header displays the intended display mode for the message, such

as inline or as an attachment.

Content-Transfer-Encoding: This header displays the method used to encode the message,

such as 7-bit or base64.

X-MS-Exchange-Organization-Network-Message-Id: This header is the message identifier

generated by the sending server.

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 Note that headers are mainly used by mail servers, they can be added or removed and

also could be modified by any mail server along the path of the email,

so it's important to consider that the headers you see on a received email might not match

exactly with the original email,

but the core fields are usually preserved like From, To, Subject, Date.

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