If you’re new to the world of email marketing, then there’s one thing you need to learn in a hurry: When it comes to Google, you’d better be prepared to take note of every little move this industry leader makes. Whether it’s a shift in spam policy or a new feature, like the recently released Postmaster Tools, Google can radically change what works and what doesn’t in terms of email marketing operations – all in the blink of an eye. With this in mind, let’s take a minute or two to break down exactly what the new Postmaster Tools system means for brands like your own moving forward.
The Skinny on the Postmaster Tools
So what exactly falls under this new offering? According to the team behind Business Standard, Google Postmaster Tools is a new analysis platform that allows qualified high-volume senders to delve into viewership data that relates to email deliverability. More specifically, this tool helps pinpoint your brand’s reputation among consumers by analyzing how recipients sort and assimilate incoming messages.Aside from tracking how many messages end up in the spam folder, Postmaster Tools also aims to clean up things on the end-user side of the equation. This “behind-the-scenes” update for members of the Gmail community offers enhanced spam filtration and detection, as well as improvements to the platform’s overall phishing protection. To put it simply, this new addition to the Google email portfolio is all about boosting both message quality from sending brands and user safety.
How It Works
In terms of functionality, Business 2 Community’s Collin Smith explains that Postmaster Tools uses a responsive and predictive system to better understand what end-users consider to be spam. With every report and filtration trigger, Google’s new offering will gather another crucial piece of email data that could help refine the parameters of acceptable mass email marketing.When it comes to what you’ll see on your Postmaster Tools account, Smith provides a seven point breakdown of the defining metrics of the system:
- Spam Rate Dashboard – This calculation shows the volume of reported messages in a side-by-side comparison versus total emails sent to the inbox in question.
- Domain Reputation Dashboard – Provides information relating to whether or not the chosen domain is likely to end up tagged by Gmail’s spam filtration system.
- IP Reputation Dashboard – Much like the Domain Reputation Dashboard, this metric represents the likelihood of a particular IP to trigger a spam response.
- Feedback Loop – If your brand signed up for the Gmail Spam Feedback Loop (FBL), then this portion of the program will integrate relevant graphical information from that tool.
- Authentication Dashboard – Shows inbox traffic that has passed SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentications.
- Encryption Dashboard – Charts traffic in a comparison between transport layer security (TLS) encrypted traffic and all mail received from a target domain.
- Delivery Errors Dashboard – Smith notes that this tool, which covers rejected/temporarily failed traffic and all authenticated traffic, is a particularly useful addition to the portfolio of any brand that’s serious about email marketing.
Gauging Its Impact on the World of Email Marketing
Needless to say, even though Google didn’t exactly roll out the red carpet and announce the arrival of Postmaster Tools to the world with a ton of fanfare and excitement, this new platform is going to have quite the impact on the world of email marketing. In fact, Stephanie Mlot of PC magazine notes that this offering could stand as a vital tool in both the fight against spam and the desire to enhance the connection between brands and interested consumers.Essentially, even though Mlot reports that only about .05 percent of wanted mail accidentally ends up in the spam folder, Google still feels that there is room for improvement on this front. Adding in the fact that punishing actual spammers with stricter regulations and filtration is also a part of the process doesn’t hurt either.
Keeping Your Brand on the Right Side of the Postmaster Divide
As with any update from Google, it’s always a good idea to give your operations a once over to ensure that you’re on the right side of this divide. Applying for access to the Postmaster Tools platform is a good start, but enlisting the help of a trusted team of email marketing experts can ensure that you understand and apply the information held within this tool. From here, you can move forward knowing that your content has the best chance possible to reach its desired target, all while playing by the latest set of rules that come out of Mountain View, California.
