Optimise your mailing deliverability with your domain name

With 4 billion users, email is the most widely used communication channel and therefore the most targeted by unwanted advertising and viruses (source: Monde du mail). Email providers are forced to rely on numerous criteria to separate emails that land in the inbox from those sent to spam.

Among these criteria, one of the most important is your domain name and its reputation.

We asked Béranger Mercier, our Deliverability Manager, to explain how to connect a domain name to your mailing campaigns. But first, let’s take a moment to understand why this matters.

Why is it important to properly configure your domain name

Getting past spam filters

Email deliverability means that the email sent reaches the recipient’s inbox. This is a major challenge at a time when more and more emails end up in spam folders. This trend has been steadily rising for years, and the introduction of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in 2018 has accelerated it dramatically.

Email providers are increasingly vigilant about their users’ privacy. Gmail, Orange, Yahoo – all have automated spam filters in place.

Free email addresses provided by these same companies are often flagged as spam when used for mass mailings. Using an @gmail.com or @yahoo.fr address for your newsletters, thinking it makes your emails look reliable, is a very bad idea.

The best option is to use your own domain name to create a dedicated email address (contact@nom-entreprise.com, hello@nom-ecommerce.com, communication@nom-de-la-marque.fr, etc.).

Build trust with your customers

Getting past spam filters isn’t always enough. There’s another risk: being manually reported as spam by your own customers and prospects. 43% of recipients flag emails as spam based on the sender’s address (source: Plézi).

Sample address which can be flagged as spam

Manual spam reporting leads to automated spam. Once a certain number of reports is reached, email providers will assume your emails are indeed spam.

They may then block delivery to all of your recipients.

The threshold starts at around 0.1% spam rate for the strictest providers. This information can even be passed on to sending servers.

Spam rate = (number of emails reported as spam / number of emails sent) x 100

Using an address linked to your domain name helps your recipients verify that the email truly comes from you. Not only do you avoid looking fraudulent, you also gain credibility.

Building your reputation

Between spam filters and recipients’ scepticism, reaching the inbox might seem challenging. However, with a good reputation, these obstacles are easy to overcome.

 You simply need to follow some best practices from the outset and stick to them over time. This starts with linking your domain name to your mailings, as this configuration gives you access to the most reputable sending IPs.

We’ve now covered why linking your domain name to your mailings is vital for deliverability. Let’s now look at how you can put this into practice.

How to configure your domain name

Domain verification

This is a mandatory step. You will be asked to verify the domain that will be used to send your emails (example: nom-ecommerce.com) to ensure it exists and that you actually own it.

It is strongly recommended that the email address also exists (example: contact@nom-ecommerce.com) and that it has an associated inbox so you can receive any replies sent manually to this address.

Be sure to choose a consistent sender name and use it for every mailing:

• “Ecommerce Name” if you are sending emails from contact@nom-ecommerce.com
• “Louise from Brand Name” for an address like louise@nom-de-la-marque.fr

Authentication

Identity theft (spoofing) is a recurring threat used by spammers to steal sensitive information. As a result, some mail servers require the DKIM standard to combat this and verify incoming emails.

This authentication allows you to sign your email with your domain name and ensures the message has not been altered in transit.

DKIM authentication displays an encrypted signature in the header of every outgoing message. In addition, mail servers processing signed emails use DKIM to decrypt the message header and confirm that it hasn’t been modified during sending.

Emails sent from a non-authenticated domain are at risk of ending up in spam or junk folders.

Domain alignment

When sending an email, several domains are in use:

– The sending address domain (your domain)

– The return domain to receive bounces

– The domain for redirect links

To optimise your deliverability, we recommend aligning all three domains — that is, using the same root domain for each. You’ll be more trusted by filtering systems. You may also use a subdomain if you prefer.

Conclusion

These technical configurations help you follow email marketing best practice.

You maximise your chances of reaching your users’ inboxes, but your online reputation can’t rely on this alone.

You also need to monitor other key factors, such as mailing frequency, the content of your emails, or the presence of spam traps in your lists.

To learn more, read our article: “Spamtraps: the number one threat to your deliverability”

The author

Deliverability Manager at ShopiMind, Béranger has a background in web development. He started as an email developer and quickly specialised in deliverability.

For the past 8 years, he’s honed his expertise, gaining in-depth insight into the rules governing email marketing filters.

His two main missions are to guide you on email marketing best practice and to optimise technical infrastructure to ensure the highest possible deliverability.