Having the most up-to-date security settings on your email server is important not only for security reasons, but also for increasing the effectiveness of your online marketing campaigns. Many services your customers or clients use to receive email filter the messages people receive before they ever hit their inboxes to try and stop malicious phishing attacks from hackers. However, these filters cast a wide net and if your settings are not up-to-date, legitimate emails from your company could be diverted to customers’ spam folders and left unread.

There are three main techniques that can be used to make sure that your e-mail is not marked by servers as being spam.

1. Sender ID
Marketers that have adopted Sender ID have, in some instances, seen 85% fewer emails mistakenly marked as spam by email servers.

2. DKIM – DomainKeys Identified Mail
Gmail, the world’s most popular email service, actually requires 1024-bit DKIM identification in order for messages to be delivered. If you use an outside service such as MailChimp or Constant Contact for email campaigns, they may already be doing this. But if you are having problems with email delivery, it’s worth making sure that the messages you are sending are compliant with the latest security standards.

3. SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
SPF verifies that the ISP address sending the emails is correct.

The good news is that email companies will usually work with legitimate businesses to try and make sure their content is being delivered. Microsoft has been particularly vocal about pushing other companies to adopt these security standards, and explains in great detail on their website what businesses must do for their content to reach consumers. If you work with a third party email marketing tool, they will usually assist you in modifying these settings. It is worth it to take the time to understand the security issues that impact email delivery to make sure that your business is reaching its intended audience.

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