Ivana Simovic outlines strategies for addressing email deliverability issues and avoiding spam classification, focusing on the processes of triaging, pausing, and activating email campaigns. Key challenges discussed include improper IP warming, dirty data, and overly promotional email practices during the holiday season. The speaker emphasizes the importance of clean data, engagement-based segmentation, and adapting strategies to recover from blacklisting and improve sender reputation.

1. @isimma
#LitmusLive
WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY DON’T LIKE SPAM?!

2. IVANA SIMOVIC
@isimma
(on all the things)
Leading Email Marketing at Demac Media, I’ve earned the role of the
Carrie Bradshaw of email. I’ve got a swear jar on my desk for every time
someone says “eblast” & plan to spend it all on Black Friday. Lover of
coffee, bikes and beer miles.
HI THERE!

3. WE HELP MERCHANTS
BUILD AND GROW
ECOMMERCE BUSINESSES
@isimma
#LitmusLive

4. PEOPLE WE WORK WITH
EXPERIENCE

5. MY LAST YEAR IN EMAIL
385
MILLION
13
CLIENTS
OVER
$4 MILLION
5
DIFFERENT
ESPSEmails Sent
1 YEAR
July ‘15-July ‘16
Dollars
EXPERIENCE
@isimma
#LitmusLive

6. What do you mean they don’t
like spam?!
@isimma
#LitmusLive

7. “I once had a nightmare that I had a blacklisted
client. Truth was, it wasn’t a nightmare, it was a
living nightmare. One that brought a lot of
opportunity for change.
IVANA SIMOVIC, EMAIL GEEK, NIGHTMARE HAVER, REGULAR PERSON
@isimma
#LitmusLive

8. FOR THE
NEXT 30
MINUTES.
Guide you through the
blacklisted process.1
2
3
How to get your sender
reputation back to normal.
How to prevent a block.
@isimma
#LitmusLive

9. IMPROPER IP WARMING
@isimma
#LitmusLive

10. THE PROBLEM
● 4 weeks to complete IP warming (by Black Friday)
● When reviewing results, revenue was lower than
expected
● Deliverability rate had dropped - significantly
@isimma
#LitmusLive

11. LET ME SHARE
Deliverability had dropped to 60%
@isimma
#LitmusLive

12. SOLVING THE PROBLEM
TRIAGE PAUSE ACTIVATE LESSONS
1 2 3 4
@isimma
#LitmusLive

13. IP WARMING
THE FIX
1. TRIAGE
● Cancel pending sends
● Contact your ESP
● ESP will connect with ISP
2. PAUSE
● All soft and hard bounces
● All subscribers from
blocked domain (even if
they did not bounce)
@isimma
#LitmusLive

14. IP WARMING
THE FIX
3. ACTIVATE
● Go back to old ESP
● Send emails for blocked
domains from there
● Include EVERYONE from
blocked domain
4. LESSONS
● Follow your ESPs timing
rules when warming IP
● No platform changes
during your busy season
@isimma
#LitmusLive

15. DIRTY DATA
@isimma
#LitmusLive

16. THE PROBLEM
● Data living in various warehouses, not
communicating with the ESP
● Duplicate records
● Point of sale data not being verified
@isimma
#LitmusLive

17. Duplicate records and fake emails and
just so many issues.
@isimma
#LitmusLive

18. SOLVING THE PROBLEM
TRIAGE PAUSE ACTIVATE LESSONS
1 2 3 4
@isimma
#LitmusLive

19. DATA
THE FIX
1. TRIAGE
● Cancel pending sends
● Contact your ESP
● ESP will connect with ISP
2. PAUSE
● Stop all campaigns
● Clean data
● Sync all data points, no
more manual work
@isimma
#LitmusLive

20. DATA
3. ACTIVATE
● Update process for POS
data imports
● Monitor deliverability
4. LESSONS
● Keep data clean
● POS data needs to be
verified and put through
double opt-in campaigns
● Opt-ins and unsubscribes
should sync with ESP.
THE FIX
@isimma
#LitmusLive

21. BEHAVING LIKE A
SPAMMER
@isimma
#LitmusLive

22. We get it, the holidays are exciting.
@isimma
#LitmusLive

23. THE PROBLEM
● Highly promotional time of year
● Repeatedly sharing offers with every
single subscriber
● Hitting the panic button to meet targets
@isimma
#LitmusLive

24. Literally me when I looked at
their deliverability.
@isimma
#LitmusLive

25. SOLVING THE PROBLEM
TRIAGE PAUSE ACTIVATE LESSONS
1 2 3 4
@isimma
#LitmusLive

26. SPAM
THE FIX
1. TRIAGE
● Cancel pending sends
● Contact your ESP
● ESP will connect with ISP
2. PAUSE
● All soft and hard bounces
● All subscribers from
blocked domain (even if
they did not bounce)
@isimma
#LitmusLive

27. SPAM
THE FIX
3. ACTIVATE
● Segment suppressions by
engagement
● Monitor deliverability
4. LESSONS
● Don’t be a stage 5 clinger
● Throttle sends
● Work on plan to start
segmenting database
@isimma
#LitmusLive

28. SEGMENTING BY ENGAGEMENT
GROUP A
Active, No Bounce
GROUP C
Bounced & Opened
GROUP D
Bounced & Unengaged
GROUP B
Bounced & Clicked
@isimma
#LitmusLive

29. MAKING A CASE FOR SEGMENTATION
START SMALL
Build segments
that won’t change
process (ex. time
zone)
GO BIGGER
Find the obvious
data you’ve already
got (ex. gender)
BE SMARTER
Build out models to
determine who is
more likely to
purchase what (ex.
RFM)
@isimma
#LitmusLive

30. SOME FINAL
THOUGHTS.
Add the deliverability metric to
your ESPs dashboard.
If you do get blacklisted, use it as
an opportunity to change the
way things are done.
Set timing for delivery attempts.
1
2
3@isimma
#LitmusLive

31. IVANA SIMOVIC
@isimma
isimovic@demacmedia.com
THANKS! ✌
#LitmusLive

32. Toll Free: 888-860-0374 | hello@demacmedia.com
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