1. Best Practices for
Data Collection &
Managing Your Email Lists
Craig Swerdloff, CEO, LeadSpend

2. Data collection & hygiene best practices
 The old saying that double opt-in is best may be true for
some, but for others it can be harmful to growth.
 This presentation will feature choices for data collection
and data hygiene best practices.
 You will gain a better understanding of the companies
and technologies that can help, and the role of your ESP
in your…..

3. Collecting Data
 List acquisition
 List barter
 List rental
 Call Center
 Retail
 Promotions/Sweepstakes
 Buying leads
 Site traffic

4. Why do I care about data quality?
 Inbox Placement Rate (IPR) is the rate at which the
ISP’s deliver the mail received from you to their
customers’ mailboxes.
 IPR is determined by your sender reputation
 Sender reputation =
(engagement) – (complaints + bounces + spam trap hits)

5. How do you maximize list growth &
quality at the same time?

6. What is a bounce?
 Hard bounce: an unknown user at the ISP
 Soft bounce:

7. Are bounced records really bounced?
 Do you have confidence that you (or your ESP) are
removing bounces properly?
 Find out what the various bounce codes mean and how
you should handle them.
 Bonus: Did you know that you can avoid most bounces
before they happen? Find out how.

8. Why do bounces matter?
Bounces mean XYZ for your list.
You need to make sure…XYZ.
Keep in mind…
The three metrics that are most likely to reduce your IPR:
 Complaint rate
 Spam trap hit rate
 Unknown user rate

9. According to Return Path
 Senders with better reputation metrics have cleaner lists.
Unknown user rates above 1% for legitimate email is
considered problematic and you should address quickly.
The Sender Reputation Report, 2011

10. How do you address Unknown User
Rate?
 Incorporate some form of validation on new data
collection.
 Remove unknown users (hard bounces) when you see
them.
 Mail at regular intervals or perform list hygiene before
you mail.

11. Validate new data
 Confirm email field
 Confirmation email
 Email Validation Service Provider (EvSP)

12. Remove hard bounces &
handle soft bounces
 Are you confident that you, or your ESP knows the
difference between a hard and a soft bounce?
 What is the policy for handling soft bounces?
 What is the policy for handling hard bounces?
 In a recent discussion of deliverability experts and
consultants, confusion reigned on the differences and
policy for handling.

13. Bounce code confusion
 4xx codes are supposed to represent a soft bounce
 5xx codes are supposed to represent a hard bounce
Not all ISPs classify them correctly and not all ESPs
process them properly.
The Email Experience Council (emailexperience.org) has a
bounce code directory from the major ISPs:
http://getsatisfaction.com/deliverability/tags/bounce_codes

14. Yahoo! Bounce Codes
 554 - Message not allowed: DK Email not accepted
because it failed authentication against your sending
domain’s DomainKey policy
 421 – IP reputation based temporary block
 451 - A substantial amount of inactive or invalid
recipients.
 553 5.7.1 – Spamhaus listing
 554 5.7.1 – Content based

15. AOL Bounce Codes
 552 Mailbox full
 552 Message exceeds maximum fixed size
 550 Mailbox not found
 550 Access denied
 554 RTR:BL - Permanent block due to poor IP reputation
 554 HVU – Complaints
 554 or 421 DNS – DNS errors
 554 CON - The IP address has been blocked due to
unfavorable e-mail statistics

16. Cox Bounce Codes
 Sender based
– (452, 421, 554)
 Message based
– 552 - [$(_id) attachment extension is forbidden]
 Recipient based
– 550 - [recipient rejected]
 Oops
– 421 - [ESMTP server temporarily not available]
 Blacklists
– Spamhaus, SURBL and URIBL

17. Hotmail Bounce Codes
 550 OU - Related to spam-like content or IP reputation,
or for external IP blocking technologies. Examples:
Spamhaus XBL/SBL & BM.
 550 SC – Spam complaints
 421 RP – Reputation or rate limiting

18. Key Takeaways
 Bounce removal/handling
 List hygiene
 Communication with your ESP
 Etc.
 Etc.

19. More Resources
 LeadSpend.com
 Deliverability.com
 emailexperience.org

20. Thank You!
Craig Swerdloff
cswerdloff@leadspend.com
917.648.6838