Email Service Providers work hard to get email delivered. There is more to it than just software and flashy GUI’s to make users happy. Servers must be maintained, software must be kept up to date, and reputations must be earned.
The real trick is maintaining a healthy IP reputation. This is by far the most significant reason to use an ESP. ESP’s maintain white lists with major ISP’s like Comcast, Verizon, Yahoo, AOL, etc. Companies like yahoo and hotmail all filter based on the IP range’s reputation and the content in the email. Here’s my visualization of how it works:
Two body guards are standing in front of the CEO’s office. You watch as several employees approach, and are turned away. You approach, and with a simple wave of your ID badge, you are through. This is just like yahoo or hotmail monitoring your IP range. A good IP reputation makes entry easy.
Next, you have to get past the CEO’s executive assistant. At this point, you put on a good show for the executive assistant, show her some fancy brochures and she lets you in. This is usually where content filtering comes into play, so you still have to word your mail correctly or you’ll be sent to SPAM folders.
In the end, the mail to your subscriber base has a better chance of getting delivered if you use an ESP rather than an in house solution. Spend your marketing time right, and don’t end up as SPAM.
Justin Lavino is an Account Executive for Net Atlantic. Net Atlantic provides email newsletter hosting, discussion group hosting, and web hosting.
