Understand the difference between transactional and marketing emails. Learn why separating them matters for deliverability and how to use each type effectively.

Transactional vs Marketing Email: Key Differences Explained

We're thrilled to announce **AI Mode** — a powerful new way to create, edit, and refine your emails and automations with the help of Tanuki AI, your intelligent assistant built right into Bento.

## What is AI Mode?

AI Mode is a conversational interface that lets you describe what you want, and watch it come to life in real-time. Whether you're building a complex automation workflow from scratch or fine-tuning the copy in an email, Tanuki AI understands your intent and executes changes instantly.

No more context-switching between documentation and your editor. No more hunting for the right setting. Just tell Tanuki what you need.

## AI Mode for Workflows

The workflow builder now features **Tanuki AI** — a conversational interface for building entire automation flows.

**Just describe what you want to automate:**
- *"Create onboarding, dunning, and win-back flows based on my existing Stripe events"*
- *"Send a thank you email and tag people that buy X but not Y"
- *"Build a welcome series for new sign ups"*
- *"Set up abandoned cart recovery emails"*
- *"Increase all delays to 10 days"

Tanuki asks clarifying questions, then builds the complete workflow — triggers, delays, conditions, and all. And it's not just creating new automations, it can also patch and make fast edits often quicker than doing it yourself.

## AI Mode for Email Editors

### Visual Editor (Stripo)
We shipped a way to talk to your Stripo templates and make design and content edits easily. Click the **AI Mode** toggle in your email editor header to enter a split-screen experience: your live email preview on the left, Tanuki AI chat on the right. 

**What you can do:**
- Click any element in the preview to select it, then ask Tanuki to modify it
- Double-click text to edit it directly in the preview
- Ask Tanuki to change colors, swap images, rewrite copy, or restructure sections
- Watch changes appear instantly in the live preview
- Save when you're happy, or discard and return to the visual editor

### Plain Text Editor (Shoji)
The AI sidebar slides in alongside your writing canvas. Ask Tanuki to help you:
- Craft compelling subject lines
- Punch up your copy
- Add personalization with Liquid tags
- Restructure your message for better flow
- Brainstorm hooks and sales pitches
- Design custom components 

### Raw HTML Editor
For developers who prefer working in code, AI Mode gives you a three-panel workspace:
- Monaco code editor with syntax highlighting
- Live preview with click-to-select elements
- Tanuki AI chat for intelligent code generation

Select an element in the preview, and Tanuki knows exactly which HTML you're referring to.

### Smart Features

**Ask vs YOLO Mode:** Choose whether Tanuki asks for confirmation before applying changes, or goes full YOLO and builds immediately.

**Undo Support:** Made a mistake? Every AI action can be instantly rolled back with one click.

**Multi-Flow Awareness:** Tanuki understands when your workflow has multiple paths and shows you exactly what's being created.

**Next Steps Checklist:** After building your workflow, Tanuki provides actionable next steps — like configuring specific nodes or setting up sequences — with checkboxes to track your progress.

## How to Access AI Mode

AI Mode is available now for all Bento users:

1. **Email Editors:** Look for the "AI Mode" toggle with the Tanuki icon in the editor header
2. **Workflow Builder:** Click "Plan with Tanuki AI" at the bottom of the canvas, or use the example prompts to get started

## What's Next

This is just the beginning. We're actively improving Tanuki's capabilities based on your feedback. Have ideas for what AI Mode should do next? We'd love to hear from you.

---

*AI Mode is powered by Tanuki AI, Bento's intelligent assistant. Your data stays secure and is never used to train external models.*

We're thrilled to announce **AI Mode** — a powerful new way to create, edit, and refine your emails and automations with the help of Tanuki AI, your intelligent assistant built right into Bento.

Introducing AI Mode: Your New Creative Agent in Bento

Compare the best email marketing services and choose the right ESP. Find platforms that deliver real results, not just impressive feature lists.

Best Email Marketing Services: Choose the Right ESP for Your Business

Best Email Marketing Services: Choosing the Right ESP for Your Business


Imagine this: a customer resets their password and the confirmation email hits their inbox before they can tab back to the app. Meanwhile, your newsletter from hours ago is still crawling through delivery. 

This is normal and actually what you want. 

Inbox providers (who you send to) and email platforms (who you send from) run two completely different playbooks for transactional versus bulk email, and the only way to keep both streams healthy is to learn the rules that govern both of them. 

Here’s the short version: transactional email is lightening fast when you follow best practices and marketing email is often a little slower either due to throttling by ISPs and/or throttling by the ESP you are sending through. Keep both streams separate to ensure your most critical emails don't suffer and flood your support inbox. 

## Intent, Not Volume, Defines the Stream

Transactional email exists because a person or system just did something that demands a response right away—login codes, shipping notices, outage alerts. These messages are expected, time-sensitive, and usually critical to the experience. 

Bulk email follows your calendar instead of the user’s actions. You decide it’s time for a promo, product update, or nurture sequence, and you hit send. Even if that campaign targets a single person, it’s still bulk because the recipient wasn’t waiting on it.

## Why Password Resets Own the Fast Lane

(We believe that) inbox providers have built an express lane for transactional traffic. When SPF, DKIM, and DMARC align, transactional mail slips right through. It seems to us that ISPs keep **filters intentionally light** because false positives here create support tickets and angry customers. If a transactional template ever lags, check authentication failures or infrastructure hiccups first.

We also recommend making sure that your content is minimal (like, literally no content) and your emails are light on the HTML code. Too much code and markup can make an innocent password reset come across as a promotional email to the ISPs and be handled differently. 

## Your Newsletters Don't Need To Be Send Fast

Bulk email has to earn the right to land in the inbox. Once you cross the bulk sender threshold providers treat it as suspicious until reputation proves otherwise. **Domain and IP health** are the first handshake; shaky scores trigger throttling or junking before the content is even scanned. When the scan happens, **URLs, copy, images (YES! even images) and the code get dissected** for spam indicators and patterns. Then engagement history weighs in. Low opens or a spike in complaints tell the ISP that subscribers don’t want the message, so they tighten the tap.

Delivery timing is where the slowdowns show up. Some ISPs park marketing campaigns in a queue, releasing them gradually to watch engagement in real time. We see this a lot during holiday seasons like Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend. 

ESPs, the platforms you're sending from, layer on their own controls: if your send risks crowding the pipes for higher-priority mail, they’ll **throttle or stagger delivery** behind the scenes to keep transactional or automation streams flowing. 

High-volume campaigns can also hit ISP rate limits that trigger intelligent back-off. The result? A newsletter can be delayed because the ISP is still evaluating it, because the ESP is pacing it, or both.

(Fun little aside: a platform like Bento always prioritizes transactional sends over our marketing emails. In fact, the priority is: transactional > automations > broadcasts in that order).

## Keep the Lanes Separate on Purpose

Letting transactional and bulk traffic share the same IPs or domains is like putting ambulances and parade floats on the same street. 

One bad marketing campaign can drag your reputation down and strand critical notifications in spam. Split the streams and you protect your most important messages while giving yourself room to tune each channel independently.

Separation also keeps compliance clean. Regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR treat operational and promotional mail differently. Distinct infrastructure simplifies opt-in flows, unsubscribes, and reporting so you can pinpoint which stream needs attention when deliverability dips.

An easy way to keep things separate is to use different platforms for each, or use a platform where the separation is native like in Bento. 

## Transactional Email Tune-Up

Transactional deliverability is all about reliability. Run this checklist on repeat:

**Authenticate every send.** Publish precise SPF records, rotate DKIM keys, and set a DMARC policy that enforces alignment.  
**Dedicate the infrastructure.** Use a transactional ESP or isolate IPs and subdomains so reputation splashback never touches these messages.  
**Monitor relentlessly.** Alert on delivery latency, bounce patterns, and authentication failures for each template.  
**Keep the content lean.** Strip these emails to the most simplest design you can think of. 
**Do not use marketing heads.** Skip the bulk: precedence header and other similar ones in your transactional emails. 

## Bulk Email Reputation Playbook

Marketing campaigns live or die on trust signals. Keep them healthy with a rhythm like this:

**Warm up deliberately.** Ramp new domains and IPs using your most engaged segment before you push real volume.  
**Obsess over engagement.** Segment by behavior, prune inactive subscribers, and send content worth opening.  
**Clean the list constantly.** Remove hard bounces immediately, suppress dormant contacts, and skip purchased lists.  
**Stay ahead of complaints.** Prominent unsubscribe links and instant opt-outs keep complaint rates under 0.1%.  
**Test in cycles.** Experiment with timing, subject lines, and creative, then watch engagement and throttling logs to see what resonates

## Where Bento Fits in

Bento separates transactional and bulk streams out of the box. Password resets and order receipts live on protected infrastructure, so they keep moving even if a marketing campaign stumbles. The platform handles authentication tooling, pacing controls, and reputation monitoring automatically, which means you’ll see whether an ISP is queuing your marketing traffic or the ESP is throttling it—and you’ll still meet those real-time expectations for operational mail.

## Bottom Line

Treat transactional and bulk email like siblings, not twins. Give transactional messages their own authenticated lane so they always arrive on time. Build bulk campaigns around reputation, engagement, and intelligent pacing, and remember the delay might come from the ISP or from your ESP’s safeguards. Keep the streams separated, watch the data, and your deliverability stays predictable—even on the busiest send days.


Learn the differences between transactional and bulk email delivery. Understand how ISPs treat different email types and how to optimize delivery for each.

Transactional vs Bulk Email: Delivery Differences Explained

I get this question a lot: "Jesse, why doesn't Bento have a free plan?"

Sometimes it comes from people comparing us to other platforms. Sometimes from folks just starting out who are watching every dollar. And honestly? I get it. When you're building a business, $30 can feel like real money.

But our starting price of $30 is our secret weapon.

## A Story About Bad Neighbors

Let me tell you what happened when I first started sending email for my businesses.

I was using one of those platforms with a generous free tier. Great, right? Save money while you're starting out. Except my welcome emails started landing in spam. My carefully crafted onboarding sequences? Right into the naughty folder with a warning on the top :(

I spent hours tweaking subject lines, rewriting copy, removing "trigger words." Nothing worked.

Then I dug into the technical side. Turns out, I was sharing IP addresses with thousands of other "free" users on this platform. And some of them were... not great at email marketing. Bought lists, spam content, ignoring unsubscribes. The works.

Apparently, the IP I was sending on landed on a popular blocklist and all my emails went straight to spam across the major providers (most bouncing actually). 

I raised a ticket with my email provider and they just ignored it so I was forced to switch platform just so my customers could hear from me again. 

When your neighbors are trashing the neighborhood, everyone's mail gets treated like junk.

That's when I learned: in email, you really do get what you pay for.

## Why We Chose $30

When I started Bento, I had a choice.

I could do what everyone else does. Raise venture capital. Offer a free tier. Try to get 100,000 users. Hope 2% convert. Play the volume game.

Or I could do something different.

I chose different.

Here's why:

**Free users aren't free.**

They cost money. Support tickets. Infrastructure. Development time. But they don't pay anything. So you need thousands of them to make the math work.

**Volume creates problems.**

When you need 100,000 users to make 2,000 customers work, you can't be picky. You take everyone. The good senders. The bad senders. The spammers. Everyone shares the same infrastructure.

**$30 is a filter.**

Not everyone will pay $30 for email. And that's the point.

The people who won't pay $30? They're probably not ready for serious email marketing anyway. They're testing. Experimenting. Playing around.

The people who will pay $30? They have skin in the game. They have customers. They have revenue. They care about deliverability.

$30 is the minimum amount that lets us:
- Maintain clean IP pools with only serious senders
- Provide real human support (not chatbots or canned responses)
- Include deliverability infrastructure that others charge extra for
- Build features for operators, not just beginners

When everyone on your platform is paying, you build for paying customers. You don't spend half your time building "upgrade nudges" or limiting features to push conversions. You just build good software.

## The Support Math Nobody Talks About

Let's do some quick math.

Platform A has 100,000 free users and 2,000 paid users at $50/month. That's $100,000 in monthly revenue supporting 102,000 users. Each support ticket costs them money they might never recoup. Your ticket gets lost in the noise.

Bento has 3,000 customers at an average of $45/month (hypothetical). That's $135,000 per month to support 3,000 users. Every single person contacting support is helping pay the bills and we have the budget to serve them. 

Guess who gets better support?

It's not even close.

When you email us, you're a customer. Not a user. Not a lead. A customer.

That changes everything.

## The People You Want as Neighbors

Here's who's using Bento right now:

SaaS founders. Ecommerce stores. Newsletter writers. Course creators. Agencies.

Real businesses. With real customers. And real revenue.

You know what these people have in common?

They can't afford to have their emails land in spam. They need their onboarding emails to reach trial users. Their revenue depends on cart recovery emails getting delivered. Their reputation relies on their newsletters hitting inboxes.

These are the neighbors you want. 

People who follow best practices because their business depends on it.

## What If $30 Feels Like Too Much?

If $30 per month feels like a big investment, you're probably not ready for Bento.

And that's okay.

Maybe you're still figuring things out. Maybe email isn't important to your business yet. Maybe you're just starting.

Use something else. Learn. Grow. Come back when you're ready.

We'll be here.

But if you're thinking "$30? That's nothing for good email infrastructure"...

Then you get it.

You understand that email is an investment, not an expense. You know that deliverability matters. You've felt the pain of bad infrastructure.

Welcome. You're exactly who we built Bento for.

## The Truth About "Free"

Nothing is actually free.

Free platforms make money somehow.

They limit features. They sell your data. They show ads. They charge crazy rates once you grow.

Or worst: they burn through venture capital and disappear. With your data.

Bento's model is simple.

You pay us. We provide infrastructure and support. No tricks. No games. No "contact sales for enterprise features."

Just honest business.

## What Your $30 Actually Buys

People think they're paying for software.

They're not.

You're paying for:
- IP addresses that aren't blacklisted
- Neighbors who don't spam
- Support from humans who care
- Infrastructure that works
- A business model that makes sense

You're also NOT paying for:
- World class support
- Deliverability tools (they're included, not add-ons)
- API access (unlimited, no extra fees)
- Advanced features (everything's included from day one)

Most platforms nickel and dime you for these things. Or don't offer them at all.

We just include them. Because they're not optional. They're the whole point.

## An Invitation

Here's the deal.

If you're serious about email marketing, if you understand that infrastructure matters, if you want support that actually helps—try Bento.

We have a 30-day free trial. Send some campaigns, set up automation, see what quality infrastructure feels like.

If it's not worth $30 to you after that, no hard feelings. At least you'll know what you're missing.

But if you see your emails landing in inboxes...

If you appreciate getting real answers to support questions...

If you like knowing your neighbors aren't destroying your reputation...

Then welcome to Bento.

We built it for people who take email seriously.

The $30 price tag ensures everyone here does.

That's not a bug. It's the whole point.

Bento's $30 starting price protects deliverability and ensures every customer gets the support they deserve.

Why Bento Starts at $30 (and Isn't Free)

If you ask me what the best “all-in-one” marketing software is, my answer is “it depends.” 

Are you a SaaS company? An eCommerce brand? A professional services agency? An education business? A media company? 

And how do you sell? Direct to checkout? Phone sales? Demos?

The best marketing software *for you* will depend on what you sell and how you sell it. And also how much control you're willing to give up, for the sake of convenience.

We're going to help you think through that decision. We won't pretend to be impartial, because Bento **IS the best** all-in-one marketing software for *almost* every business model and sales process. And you're on OUR blog.

## TL;DR: Quick Picks by Niche/Business Type

Here are the mental “shorlists” people choose their email marketing service from, based on niche/business type:

  - B2B (consulting, services): Bento, Hubspot, ActiveCampaign, GoHighLevel
  - eCommerce: Bento, Klaviyo, Omnisend, Privy, Mailchimp
  - Online education (courses, coaching): Bento, Kit, ActiveCampaign, GoHighLevel
  - SaaS: Bento, Loops.so, Customer.io, Hubspot, Brevo
  - Affiliate & direct response marketing: Campaign Refinery, ActiveCampaign, GoHighLevel
  - Content creators: Kit, Substack, beehiiv 

This type of categorization makes sense. If you're a B2B that needs CRM and sales pipeline features, Hubspot is a better choice than Klaviyo. If you're a newsletter business that sells ads placements, beehiiv is a better choice than ActiveCampaign. Different email marketing services excel in different areas.

So why is **Bento** in every shortlist except Affiliate & Direct Response? That's easy. Because we're the only full-stack marketing platform with the necessary tools for every niche and business model. More on that in a minute.

![bento](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/UkmTILUGISwVjk5ISQmdH/07c24a1df56806a53574e959142956e4/bento.png)

So why we don't allow affiliate marketers and direct response companies on our platform? It's is because they tend to be extremely aggressive marketeers and they also tend to sell slop. And by slop I mean low-quality products or outright scams. That eventually leads to a poor email engagement and lot of spam complaints, which negatively effects deliverability for all our customers. 

And who wants that hassle, am I right?

## Why Marketing Software Choice Matters in 2026

### Convenience vs Control

Before you choose your marketing software you have to make a decision. Do you want convenience or do you want control?

MOST people prefer convenience because, let's face it, no one loves building, maintaining or scaling Frankenstein's ~~monster~~ tech stack. And marketing teams have more important things to do than waste time jumping between 15 different tools.

The thing is, though, all-in-one marketing platforms know this. And they charge accordingly. So, if you really want convenience, get comfortable with the idea of paying $7,500/month (or more, at scale) to send some emails, manage your sales pipeline, and schedule social media posts. *(Unless you're smart enough to use Bento.)*

On the other end of the spectrum are the tech-comfortable and tech-curious marketers. They want the control. Because they want to use the best tool for the job. And they don't mind getting their hands dirty and jury-rigging integrations to get the tools in their tech stack to play nice together.

These marketeers enjoy far lower technology costs and as a result, lower CPCs (cost per click) and CACs (cost to acquire a customer). But that comes at an additional cost (and operational load) of maintaining a cobbled-together system which can, and does, break often.

### Bad deliverability kills revenue

Email marketing is our specialty, so we're admittedly biased. But no matter what marketing software you use, your number one concern ought to be email deliverability. Your emails need to reach the inbox. Simple as that. If 10% more emails reach the inbox, you make 10% more from every campaign or book 10% more sales calls.

With many all-in-one marketing platforms, deliverability is an afterthought. Even if they pay lip-service to it in their marketing material. Hubspot, GoHighLevel, ActiveCampaign: 3 of the most popular all-in-one marketing software and all 3 notorious for poor email deliverability.

Not only that, many of these platforms don't offer built-in deliverability management tools. You're expected to manage that on your own, separately. This is fine if you're an email marketing expert and know what you're doing. But what about for everyone else who just want to email their list and make sure it gets to their contacts' inboxes?

*(FYI, Bento comes with several deliverability tools and guardrails out-of-the-box.)*

## Core Evaluation Criteria

### Deliverability infrastructure

You need SPF, DKIM, and DMARC set up from day one. Your provider should help you monitor reputation, control send speed, catch bad addresses. Bento includes all this stuff. No extra charges for basic inbox placement tools.

### Automation depth vs. usability

Complex workflows are great if someone can actually build them. You want branching logic, behavior triggers, personalization. But you also want to ship campaigns this week, not next quarter. Find platforms with visual builders and templates you can actually use.

Bento's new [AI-mode](https://bentonow.com/posts/ai-mode) lets you chat your automations to life.

### Pricing that rewards clean lists

Most platforms charge by total contacts. Got 100,000 contacts but only email 30,000 active ones each month? Too bad. You still pay for all 100,000. That's $800 monthly for people who never open your emails.

Bento charges for what you send, not what you store. Email your engaged 30,000 subscribers, pay for 30,000. Save 70% while your deliverability improves because you're not blasting cold contacts.

### Data flexibility and CRM connections

Your marketing platform needs to talk to other tools. Good APIs matter. Webhooks matter. Can you get your data out if you need to switch? Some platforms make exports painful on purpose. Check before you commit.

Bento offers native integrations to many of the most popular software tools used by eCommerce, B2B, SaaS, content, and online education businesses. And if we don't have a native integration for a tool you use, you can simply use Zapier to get it to talk to Bento.

## Platform-by-Platform Breakdowns

### Bento: Deliverability-first all-in-one

![bento](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/owWYl4psczdBbWR2gLtKq/5677a499e07c920a30b615b93163208c/bento.png)

Bento puts marketing, product, and transactional email in one place. Deliverability tools come standard. Authentication setup, domain warming, send throttling, all included. You pay for what you send, not your total database size.

The automation builder handles onboarding sequences, drip campaigns, win-back flows. Real-time triggers fire based on what users actually do. Developers get solid APIs. Marketers get an interface that makes sense. Both can work without stepping on each other.

### ActiveCampaign: Marketing automation plus light CRM

![activecampaign](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/55qOD3pkBeAVTyn0vCxsbg/b742fa50babc0fd7cd83097c00d92aed/activecampaign.png)

ActiveCampaign mixes email automation with basic CRM features. Deal tracking, lead scoring, pipeline management. The workflow builder gets complex fast. You can build 5 or 6 levels deep with branching logic everywhere.

It takes time to learn. Most teams need 2 to 3 weeks before they're comfortable. Pricing starts at $145 monthly for 10,000 contacts, then jumps to $350. Deliverability tools exist but you'll configure them yourself. Pick ActiveCampaign if you need CRM features and have patience to learn the system.

### Klaviyo: Ecommerce powerhouse

![klaviyo](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3fQsSSd26utDPkgJ3J5MMG/4ee7901ddb9ba35cc6ad27416f4b55be/klaviyo.png)

Klaviyo owns the Shopify space. Over 40,000 stores use it. The platform predicts customer lifetime value pretty accurately after just three purchases. Cart abandonment flows typically save 10 to 15% of lost sales.

But it's expensive. At 50,000 contacts you're paying $1,250 monthly. Doesn't matter if half those contacts never buy. If you're not running an online store with real product data, you probably don't need Klaviyo's complexity.

### HubSpot Marketing Hub: All-in-one for HubSpot CRM users

![hubpot](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/10HCW7pMtqkD2xaXENvimj/73243e9b2771b9fd61f5cc07b68ee210/hubpot.png)

HubSpot makes sense if you already use their CRM. Marketing, sales, service teams all see the same data. Campaign automation, landing pages, reporting, it's all there. 

Pricing adds up fast though. Every add-on costs more. Deliverability features need manual setup. Still, if your whole company runs on HubSpot, the marketing hub fits naturally.

### MailerLite: Budget-friendly automation

![mailerlite](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/767Cc78oqaVwxKfnXsYAK4/79ae598097fab3ab1c7b50e5b5ce2f88/mailerlite.png)

MailerLite gives you a decent free tier. Basic automation, segmentation, drag-and-drop editor. Good for small businesses getting started. The workflows aren't as powerful as pricier options. You'll need separate tools for deliverability monitoring. But for simple email marketing that doesn't break the bank, it works.

### Brevo (Sendinblue): Unlimited contacts on the free plan

![brevo](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/16kg8VG3r4NeZGAXvYK9kk/aa72de609e4c2d4d3fbeb7e0726a4731/brevo.png)

Brevo limits daily sends, not contact count. Store a million contacts if you want. Just can't email them all at once. Good for businesses that email occasionally. Automation and transactional emails work fine. Deliverability help is mostly DIY. Pick Brevo if you send infrequently and want to avoid contact limits.

### ConvertKit (Kit): Creator-focused automation

![kit](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/Oo9cToXDJBtoNSfOMQQRB/27745d2cacb6bd441289e58d1969dca1/kit.png)

ConvertKit works for creators, course sellers, newsletter writers. The tagging system makes sense. Easy to segment subscribers based on what they've bought or clicked. Paid newsletter features built in. Product launch sequences ready to go.

The automation isn't as deep as enterprise tools. Deliverability support comes from the community, not dedicated help. Fine for creators who want simplicity. Teams needing serious automation should look elsewhere.

### Customer.io: Product-led engagement

![customer dot io](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/2vosiKYSk14BxZ3LNJBAgS/ac857d8650d75c659a8524fd6c0430c0/customer_dot_io.jpg)

Customer.io targets product teams at SaaS companies. Send emails, push notifications, in-app messages based on user behavior. Strong API for developers. 

You'll need engineers to set it up and maintain it. Pricing reflects that enterprise focus. Use Customer.io when you have technical resources and need messages across multiple channels.

### Other notable tools

Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Marketo, Oracle Eloqua. These serve huge companies with big budgets. Powerful? Yes. Six-month implementations? Also yes. Professional services bills? Definitely. 

Mid-market teams usually regret going enterprise too early. Start with something you can actually use today.

## Migration and Implementation Roadmap

### Audit your current workflows and deliverability health

List every automation you run. Every email list. Every transactional message. Check your deliverability scores in Google Postmaster Tools and Yahoo Postmaster. Know where you stand before you move anything. This baseline helps you prove the switch was worth it.

### Plan a phased rollout

Don't move everything at once. Start with your most important automations. Then regular campaigns. Save transactional emails for last since they're usually the most complex. 

Bento's send throttling helps warm up new sending domains without hurting delivery. Test everything before you switch completely. Set deadlines but be realistic.

### Train teams on the new process

Your team needs to know what's changing. Show operators the new workflow builder. Walk through the dashboards they'll monitor. Get developers involved early for API setup. Make sure sales knows how to access marketing data in their CRM. 

Write down the new processes. Record training videos if needed. A smooth switch depends on everyone knowing their part.

## Ready to Pick Your Marketing Platform?

Picking marketing software isn't about counting features. It's about emails reaching inboxes, automations that run themselves, teams that work together. All without burning cash on tools you barely use.

Bento includes deliverability infrastructure from the start. You pay for emails sent, not contacts stored. Everything works in one platform. [Book a walkthrough](https://bentonow.com/demo) or email sales@bentonow.com to see it in action.

For more comparisons, check out our guides on [best email marketing services](/posts/best-email-marketing-services), [email automation software](/posts/email-automation-software), and [Mailchimp alternatives](/posts/mailchimp-alternatives).

Discover marketing software that keeps deliverability, automation, and CRM in one operator-friendly stack so your team can move faster without risking inbox placement.

Best Marketing Software: One Platform for Email, Automation, and CRM


When teams look at delivery logs across various email sending platforms (ESP), they often see two numbers that appear interchangeable: accepted and delivered. On the surface they sound like synonyms, but anyone who has stared at a flatlined open rate after a “successful” send knows the difference matters.

An "accepted" status means a receiving server (often the server of the ESP) initially took the message from you. "Delivered" confirms that the message was successfully handed off to the recipient's mailbox. However, everything between those two checkpoints-filtering decisions, throttling, temporary deferrals-determines how many people actually see your email in their inbox.

This guide breaks down what those statuses really mean, why the distinction shows up in your performance metrics, and how to monitor them without getting lost in platform jargon.

## TL;DR: Accepted vs. Delivered

- **Accepted** = The ESP’s server said “sure, we’ll take it from here”.
- **Delivered** = The message was successfully transferred to the recipient's mailbox. This does *not* guarantee it landed in the inbox.
- A strong program tracks both so you can spot spam-filter detours or infrastructure issues quickly.

If you’re troubleshooting bigger delivery swings, bookmark [troubleshooting email delivery issues](/posts/troubleshooting-email-delivery-issues) and [monitoring email delivery and reputation](/posts/monitoring-email-delivery-reputation) for deeper dives.

## What Is Email Status?

Deliverability dashboards read like flight trackers: every status shows where a message is in transit. Providers name the steps differently, but the core milestones stay consistent. Messages sit in a send queue, move to “sent” once your platform hands them off, show up as “accepted” when the destination server takes responsibility, and ultimately land as “delivered” if nothing breaks along the way. 

Bounces and deferrals flag the exceptions-hard bounces for permanent failures, soft bounces or deferrals when the other side asks you to try again later. Knowing the vocabulary makes it easier to spot bottlenecks without guessing.

## Email Delivery Stages

Think of the journey in five beats. First, you hit your ESP with an API request to send an email. Second, it queues it to send from it's email servers. Third, the email server attempts to send the email. Fourth, the receiving server does its internal filtering and, assuming everything checks out, places the email in the inbox. 

If something goes wrong-bad address, policy violation, full mailbox-you’ll see a bounce instead. Mapping the flow like this keeps status reports from feeling abstract.

## Accepted vs Delivered

### Accepted

An accepted status is the ESP saying, “Got it, thanks.” That’s good news-your API keys work. It does not, however, promise the message reached someone’s inbox.

### Delivered

Delivered is the final handoff: the ESP placed the email in the recipient's mailbox. It's the last status an email provider can confirm. From this point on, mailbox providers like Gmail or Outlook can still filter the message to spam or other folders. If your accepted rate is strong but your open rates are lagging, you’re likely facing a filtering or engagement problem, not a transport issue.

## Other Email Statuses

### Bounced

Bounce events flag addresses you couldn’t reach. Hard bounces signal permanent issues-a non-existent mailbox or blocked domain-so suppress those contacts right away. Soft bounces point to temporary problems like a full inbox or a brief outage. Most providers will retry soft bounces automatically; keep an eye on repeated failures and clean them up if they persist.

For Bento, we'll automatically remove these from your list if the bounce indicates the email inbox no longer exists or is in operation. Reputation or network bounces we won't touch so you can try again.

### Deferred

Deferred messages sit in limbo because the receiving server asked you to slow down. Maybe you hit a rate limit, maybe they’re busy. Your provider will usually retry for a set window. If deferrals become a pattern, check your sending cadence-batching tools and better list hygiene often fix the bottleneck.

For Bento, we try extremely hard to avoid deferrals where we can but in instances we can't we'll continue to retry to get them into the inbox.

## How to Track Email Status

You don’t need a wall of dashboards to stay informed. Start with your provider’s analytics to understand accepted, delivered, and bounce trends. Layer in webhooks if you want delivery events piped into your own systems for alerts or custom reporting. Then review the outliers-campaigns with unusual gaps or spikes usually reveal authentication errors, list quality problems, or suddenly disengaged segments. Treat status data like an early-warning system rather than a vanity metric.

## Where Bento Helps

If you need a platform that takes status data seriously, Bento bakes the essentials in. Delivery logs show accepted, delivered, deferred, and bounced events in real time, and webhooks push those updates wherever your team wants them. More importantly, the infrastructure work that protects those numbers-SPF, DKIM, DMARC, reputation monitoring, batching controls-comes included. You can focus on the messages themselves instead of juggling tooling just to figure out where an email went.

## Next Steps

If accepted and delivered still feel interchangeable, start tracking them separately on your next send. Set a baseline for both metrics, wire up webhooks if you need faster alerts, and dig into any campaign where accepted outpaces delivered by a wide margin. Pair that with the resources below when you need deeper troubleshooting:

- [Troubleshooting email delivery issues](/posts/troubleshooting-email-delivery-issues)
- [Monitoring email delivery and reputation](/posts/monitoring-email-delivery-reputation)
- [Email bounces guide](/posts/email-bounces-guide)

The sooner you treat accepted vs. delivered as two distinct checkpoints, the easier it becomes to spot deliverability drift before revenue takes a hit.


Learn the difference between accepted and delivered email status. Understand email delivery stages, what each status means, and how to track email delivery.

Accepted vs Delivered: Understanding Email Status

Learn why your emails are going to spam and how to fix inbox placement. Understand spam filters, reputation issues, and deliverability best practices.

Why Are My Emails Going to Spam? 

Your email campaign just landed in spam. SPF looks good. DKIM is signing. DMARC passes. Something else is broken.

Finding that problem usually means hours of manual work. You check headers in one tool. Test authentication in another. Verify DNS somewhere else. Most email testing tools only do one thing, so you bounce between five different sites trying to figure out what went wrong.

AboutMyEmail changes that. Steve Atkins from Word to the Wise built this free tool that checks everything in one shot. Send an email to the unique address it gives you. Get back a report that covers authentication, headers, DNS, content, compliance, everything.

The timing is perfect. Yahoo and Google have started enforcing new sender requirements. One missing header or authentication issue can tank your deliverability. AboutMyEmail has a "Good Practice" section that specifically checks if you meet these new requirements. It catches problems before they hurt your campaigns.

## TL;DR: AboutMyEmail Quick Guide

**AboutMyEmail** is a free email testing tool from Word to the Wise that analyzes emails you send to a unique address. You get a comprehensive report covering authentication, headers, DNS, content, and compliance.

**What it checks:**
- **SPF, DKIM, DMARC**: Authentication pass rates and configuration
- **BIMI**: Logo verification and certificate details
- **Headers**: Both formatted and raw header analysis
- **DNS**: All relevant DNS queries for authentication
- **Content**: Links, images, MIME structure, HTML rendering
- **Compliance**: Yahoo and Gmail requirement checks
- **SMTP session**: Full delivery details including IP address and TLS

**How to use it:**
1. Go to aboutmy.email
2. Copy the unique email address it provides
3. Send your test email to that address
4. View the detailed report

**What to watch out for:** The reports are dense. If you're new to email headers or DNS records, the amount of data might feel overwhelming at first. But that detail is what makes it useful. You get the exact error, not just "something's wrong."

As a starting point, try to get to 9/9 for "Fully complies with Yahoo / Google requirements." (possible with Bento!).

![CleanShot 2025-11-10 at 16.04.40@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/7zuyU1zTi9dDhYMRWSaUbz/61bd00ceed0d0400bade458701fb4b15/CleanShot_2025-11-10_at_16.04.40_2x.png)

## What Is AboutMyEmail?

AboutMyEmail is a free testing tool Steve Atkins built at Word to the Wise. It works simply. The site gives you a unique email address. You send your test email there. You get back a complete analysis.

Most tools do one thing. MXToolbox checks your DNS. Mail-tester scores your spam likelihood. Header analyzers just show headers. You end up with tabs open everywhere trying to piece together what's happening. AboutMyEmail runs all these checks at once. Authentication, DNS, headers, content, images, links, compliance. One email, one report.

The tool gained popularity when Yahoo and Google announced their new sender requirements. Everyone scrambled to check if their emails were compliant. AboutMyEmail added a "Good Practice" section that runs through the entire checklist. Missing List-Unsubscribe header? It tells you. DMARC not set up? It flags that too.

This comprehensive checking matters because email deliverability has gotten complex. Your SPF might pass but your DKIM alignment could be wrong. Your authentication might be perfect but you're missing required headers. One small issue sends everything to spam. AboutMyEmail catches these problems before you send to real subscribers.

## What AboutMyEmail Checks

The tool runs over +30 different checks on your email. Some are basic (SPF pass/fail), others dig deep (image scaling warnings, MIME structure analysis). Here's what you get.

### Authentication Checks

Authentication gets the deepest treatment. The tool doesn't just tell you SPF passed. It shows the actual DNS lookup, what records it found, which IP it checked against, and the result. Same for DKIM. You see the selector, the public key, the signature verification, everything.

If you have BIMI set up (the logo that shows next to your email), it checks that too. Certificate valid? Image the right format? Most people don't even know BIMI exists, but if you have it configured wrong, AboutMyEmail tells you.

### Header Analysis

Email headers are like shipping labels on a package. They show where the email came from, how it traveled, and what's inside. Problem is, they're usually unreadable technical gibberish.

AboutMyEmail decodes them. You get both the pretty version (human readable) and the raw version (what actually got sent). It checks technical stuff like line length limits, character encoding, even whether you're using the right line endings. Small details that break emails when they're wrong.

### DNS Verification

DNS is where most email authentication lives. Your SPF record says which servers can send for you. Your DKIM selector points to your public key. Your DMARC policy tells receivers what to do with failed emails.

AboutMyEmail queries all these records and shows you exactly what it found. Not a summary, the actual DNS response. If your SPF record has "v=spfl" instead of "v=spf1" (common typo), you'll see it. If your DMARC record is on the wrong subdomain, you'll know.

### Content Analysis

Content analysis goes beyond just "here's your HTML." The tool extracts every link and tells you where it points. It finds every image, downloads it, checks the file size, measures the actual dimensions, then compares that to how you're displaying it. Loading a 2000x2000 image and scaling it to 200x200? That's wasting bandwidth and slowing load times.

You also get previews showing how your email looks on different screen sizes. What happens when images don't load? Does your alt text make sense? These previews catch problems that only show up in specific email clients.

### Compliance Checks

The "Good Practice" section is what everyone's using right now. Yahoo and Gmail published new requirements for bulk senders. You need proper authentication. You need one-click unsubscribe. You need to stay under spam rate thresholds.

AboutMyEmail runs through the checklist. Green checkmarks for what you're doing right. Red warnings for what needs fixing. It checks for List-Unsubscribe headers, List-Unsubscribe-Post support, proper From alignment, everything on the requirement list.

### SMTP Session Details

The SMTP session is the actual conversation between your email server and the test server. AboutMyEmail records the whole thing. Which IP sent the email? Was the connection encrypted? What commands were used?

This catches configuration issues. Maybe your emails claim to be from your domain but they're actually coming from your ESP's generic IP pool. Maybe TLS isn't working. The session log shows exactly what happened when your email was delivered. Plus you get the exact byte size of your email, which matters since Gmail clips messages over 102KB.

## How to Use AboutMyEmail

The process is dead simple. Go to aboutmy.email. The site generates a unique email address like test-abc123@aboutmy.email. Copy it. Send your test email to that address. Refresh the page. Your report appears.

Each test gets its own address, so you can run multiple tests without mixing results. Testing different subject lines? Different ESP settings? Send each version to a new test address.

Reports load directly on the webpage. No login, no download, just scroll through the results. The sections are clearly labeled: Authentication, Headers, Content, Compliance. Each section expands to show details. You can jump straight to problem areas or read through everything.

The amount of information can feel overwhelming at first. But when you're debugging a specific problem, that detail is invaluable. Instead of "authentication failed," you see "SPF failed because 192.168.1.1 is not in the include:sendgrid.net lookup." Exact problem, exact solution.

## Why AboutMyEmail Matters for Deliverability

Email deliverability is death by a thousand cuts. Your authentication passes but your IP reputation is low. Your reputation is fine but you're missing headers. Everything technical is perfect but your content triggers spam filters.

Most people find out about these problems after their campaign tanks. Open rates drop. Subscribers complain they're not getting emails. By then, the damage is done. Your sender reputation is hurt, and climbing back takes weeks.

AboutMyEmail lets you catch problems during testing. Run your email through before sending to your list. Fix the issues it finds. Then send with confidence.

The tool has become essential since Yahoo and Gmail tightened requirements. They want SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. They require one-click unsubscribe. Spam rates must stay below 0.3%. Miss any of these and your emails go straight to spam, or worse, get blocked entirely. AboutMyEmail's compliance section checks all these requirements at once.

## AboutMyEmail vs. Other Testing Tools

Mail-tester gives you a spam score. MXToolbox checks your blacklist status. Litmus shows rendering previews. Each tool does one thing well, but you need accounts everywhere and you're constantly switching between them.

AboutMyEmail does it all. One test gives you authentication results, header analysis, content review, compliance checking, rendering previews, the works. And unlike most comprehensive tools, it's completely free. No signup, no trial, no premium features hidden behind a paywall.

The depth of analysis sets it apart. When SPF fails, you don't just see "fail." You see the entire SPF record, the DNS lookups it triggered, which mechanism failed, and why. This level of detail used to require expensive enterprise tools or deep technical knowledge.

MailOps engineers love it because they get raw SMTP sessions and DNS queries. Marketers like it because the compliance section speaks their language: "Add List-Unsubscribe header to meet Gmail requirements." Both groups get what they need from the same report.

## Start Testing Your Emails Today

AboutMyEmail should be part of your pre-send checklist. Before any major campaign, before testing a new ESP, before changing your email templates, run a test through AboutMyEmail.

Head to aboutmy.email right now and send a test. Even if you think everything's working fine. You might be surprised what it finds. That newsletter you've been sending for years? It might be missing headers that Gmail now requires. Your transactional emails? They could have authentication issues you never noticed.

Start with the Authentication section when you get your report. If anything shows red there, fix it first. Authentication failures mean nothing else matters. Your emails won't even get a chance at the inbox. Next, check Compliance. The new Yahoo and Gmail requirements aren't suggestions. Miss one and your deliverability tanks. Then review Headers and Content for any warnings.

Make this a habit. Test before every campaign. Test when you change ESP settings. Test when you update DNS records. Small issues compound into big problems if you don't catch them early.

The tool costs nothing to use. Steve Atkins built it as a service to the email community. Word to the Wise has been helping people with deliverability for decades. This tool is their way of making expert-level diagnostics available to everyone.


Test email headers, authentication, and Yahoo/Gmail compliance with AboutMyEmail. Get detailed reports on SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI, and more from this free tool.

AboutMyEmail: Free Email Testing Tool for Headers and Compliance

The List-Unsubscribe header enables one-click unsubscribe from email clients.

When you include List-Unsubscribe headers in emails, email clients (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail) display unsubscribe buttons that let recipients unsubscribe with one click. This improves user experience and reduces spam complaints.

List-Unsubscribe headers aren't just nice-to-have features. They're required by Gmail and Yahoo for bulk senders (5,000+ emails/day), and they improve deliverability by reducing complaints. Understanding List-Unsubscribe helps you comply with requirements and improve inbox placement.

This guide will explain what List-Unsubscribe headers are, how they work, and how to implement them. We'll cover everything from header format to compliance requirements to deliverability benefits.

Let's implement List-Unsubscribe headers.

## TL;DR: List-Unsubscribe Header Basics

The List-Unsubscribe header enables one-click unsubscribe directly from email clients. When you include it, email clients like Gmail and Outlook display unsubscribe buttons that let recipients unsubscribe without even opening your email.

If you're sending 5,000 or more emails per day to Gmail or Yahoo addresses, List-Unsubscribe headers are required. You need to include both the List-Unsubscribe header and the List-Unsubscribe-Post header, and you should provide both HTTP and mailto unsubscribe URLs. Gmail also requires that you process unsubscribes within 2 days (meaning they literally do not want to see you email that user after 48 hours from clicking that button). 

The benefits are straightforward. Making it easy to unsubscribe reduces spam complaints, which improves your deliverability. Lower complaint rates mean better inbox placement. Plus, one-click unsubscribe is just better user experience. And if you're a bulk sender, it keeps you compliant with Gmail and Yahoo requirements.

The main thing to watch out for is making sure you include both HTTP and mailto URLs, process unsubscribes quickly, and test that your unsubscribe links actually work. If recipients can't unsubscribe easily, they'll mark you as spam instead.

## How List-Unsubscribe Headers Work

The process is straightforward. You include List-Unsubscribe headers in your email headers with your unsubscribe URLs. When the email arrives at the recipient's inbox, email clients like Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail detect the header automatically.

Once detected, the email client displays an unsubscribe button directly in the email interface. When recipients click that button, the email client sends an unsubscribe request to your unsubscribe URL. Your application then processes that request and removes the recipient from your list.

The whole flow happens without the recipient needing to open your email. They see the unsubscribe button right in their inbox, click it, and they're done. This makes unsubscribing much easier than hunting through your email for an unsubscribe link, which improves user experience and reduces spam complaints.

## List-Unsubscribe Header Format

The basic format includes both an HTTP URL and a mailto URL. Here's what it looks like:

```
List-Unsubscribe: <https://example.com/unsubscribe?token=abc123>, <mailto:unsubscribe@example.com>
```

The HTTP URL enables one-click unsubscribe via POST request. The mailto URL provides an email-based unsubscribe option for clients that prefer it. You should include both because different email clients handle them differently.

For better security, you can also include the List-Unsubscribe-Post header. This tells email clients to use POST requests instead of GET requests, which prevents unsubscribe tokens from appearing in URLs:

```
List-Unsubscribe: <https://example.com/unsubscribe?token=abc123>
List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click
```

The mailto URL is technically optional, but it's recommended because some email clients prefer email-based unsubscribe. Including both gives you the best compatibility across different email clients.

## Gmail and Yahoo Requirements

Both Gmail and Yahoo have the same requirements for bulk senders. If you're sending 5,000 or more emails per day to Gmail or Yahoo addresses, you must include List-Unsubscribe headers in your emails.

The requirements are straightforward. Recipients must be able to unsubscribe with one click, and you need to process unsubscribes within 2 days. You also need to include the List-Unsubscribe header in all your emails.

Even if you're below the 5,000 emails per day threshold, including List-Unsubscribe headers is still a good idea. They improve deliverability by making unsubscribing easier, which reduces spam complaints. Lower complaint rates mean better inbox placement, so it's worth including them regardless of your volume.

## List-Unsubscribe-Post Header

The List-Unsubscribe-Post header tells email clients to use POST requests for one-click unsubscribe instead of GET requests. This improves security because POST requests don't expose unsubscribe tokens in URLs.

Here's the format:

```
List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click
```

When email clients see this header, they send POST requests to your unsubscribe URLs instead of GET requests. This prevents unsubscribe tokens from appearing in URLs, which is more secure.

You should use the List-Unsubscribe-Post header alongside the List-Unsubscribe header. It's not required, but it's a best practice for security. If someone intercepts a GET request, they could see the unsubscribe token in the URL. POST requests keep that information in the request body instead.

## How to Implement List-Unsubscribe Headers

The implementation process involves a few steps. First, create HTTP unsubscribe endpoints that can process unsubscribe requests. Make sure to include secure tokens in your URLs for authentication, so people can't unsubscribe others without permission.

Next, add the List-Unsubscribe headers to your email headers. Include both HTTP and mailto unsubscribe URLs for the best compatibility. Then add the List-Unsubscribe-Post header for secure POST-based unsubscribe.

When unsubscribe requests come in from email clients, handle them immediately. Process the unsubscribes right away and remove recipients from your lists. Don't make people wait or require additional confirmation steps.

Finally, test your implementation with different email clients. Send test emails to Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail accounts and verify that unsubscribe buttons appear correctly. Make sure unsubscribe requests are processed properly when recipients click those buttons.

The good news is that most email services handle this automatically. If you're using an email service provider, you typically just need to configure List-Unsubscribe in your settings. They'll add the headers and handle the unsubscribe processing for you.

## List-Unsubscribe Best Practices

Effective List-Unsubscribe implementation comes down to a few key practices. Include both HTTP and mailto URLs in your headers. HTTP URLs enable one-click unsubscribe, while mailto URLs provide email-based unsubscribe options for clients that prefer them.

Use the List-Unsubscribe-Post header for secure POST-based unsubscribe. It's not required, but it's more secure than GET requests because it doesn't expose tokens in URLs.

Process unsubscribes immediately when requests come in. Remove recipients from your lists right away. Gmail requires processing within 2 days, but the faster you process them, the better. Don't make people wait or require additional confirmation steps.

Use secure tokens in your unsubscribe URLs for authentication. Make sure tokens are unique and time-limited so people can't unsubscribe others or use old unsubscribe links maliciously.

Test your List-Unsubscribe headers with different email clients. Send test emails to Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail accounts and verify that unsubscribe buttons appear correctly. Make sure the buttons actually work when clicked.

Monitor your unsubscribe rates over time. If you see high unsubscribe rates, it might indicate issues with your content or targeting. Use that data to optimize your email strategy.

The key is making unsubscribing easy, processing requests quickly, and ensuring everything works correctly. Following these practices improves both user experience and deliverability.

## Where Bento Fits: List-Unsubscribe Included

If you're implementing List-Unsubscribe headers, Bento handles it automatically. You don't need to configure headers manually or build unsubscribe endpoints yourself. Bento automatically includes List-Unsubscribe headers in all your emails.

Bento also provides one-click unsubscribe functionality that works with email clients. Recipients can unsubscribe with one click directly from their email interfaces, and Bento processes those unsubscribe requests automatically. Recipients are removed from your lists immediately when they unsubscribe.

Bento ensures that List-Unsubscribe headers meet Gmail and Yahoo requirements, so you comply with bulk sender requirements automatically. You don't have to worry about header formats or compliance details.

Bento makes sense if you're sending emails and want List-Unsubscribe headers, one-click unsubscribe, and automatic processing handled for you. If you care about compliance and deliverability, Bento ensures your emails meet requirements without extra configuration.

Specialized tools make sense if you need advanced unsubscribe management from dedicated unsubscribe platforms, detailed unsubscribe analytics from specialized analytics platforms, or highly customized unsubscribe flows that require custom development.

Bento isn't trying to replace specialized unsubscribe tools. If you need advanced management or detailed analytics, those tools excel. But if you want email sending with List-Unsubscribe headers and one-click unsubscribe included, Bento provides that combination.

## Ready to Implement List-Unsubscribe Headers?

List-Unsubscribe headers are essential for email compliance and deliverability. If you're building this yourself, start by creating HTTP unsubscribe endpoints that can process unsubscribe requests. Include secure tokens in your URLs for authentication.

Next, add List-Unsubscribe headers to your email headers with both HTTP and mailto unsubscribe URLs. Include the List-Unsubscribe-Post header for secure POST-based unsubscribe. When unsubscribe requests come in from email clients, process them immediately and remove recipients from your lists.

Test your implementation with different email clients to verify that unsubscribe buttons appear correctly and that unsubscribe requests are processed properly. Then monitor your unsubscribe rates over time and use that data to optimize your email strategy.

If you're using an email service provider, check if they handle List-Unsubscribe automatically. Most modern email services include List-Unsubscribe headers by default, so you might just need to enable it in your settings.


Learn what the List-Unsubscribe header is and how to implement it. Understand email compliance requirements and how List-Unsubscribe improves deliverability.

List-Unsubscribe Header: Email Compliance Best Practices

Compare email outreach tools for cold sales vs marketing campaigns. Find platforms that actually deliver emails to inboxes with proven deliverability.

Best Email Outreach Tools: Cold Email vs Marketing Email Platforms

Good transactional emails are key to many businesses, making the difference between confused customers and happy ones. 

But what are transactional emails anyway? 

You certainly had experience with them - those are the order confirmations that actually tell you when your package arrives, the password reset that works on your phone, the receipt you can find later. What makes all these emails work is that they're clear, they load fast on mobile, and they give you exactly what you need.

Most people copy templates for transactional emails without understanding why they work. But you really need to understand the patterns first to make it work. Only then you can create emails that actually fit your business.

This guide breaks down real transactional email examples and shows you what makes them tick. You'll see order confirmations, password resets, receipts, and more. Plus you'll learn how to build your own.

## TL;DR: Transactional Email Examples
__The most important transactional emails:__

- __Order confirmations__: Show order details, payment info, tracking links
- __Password resets__: Include secure tokens, clear instructions, security warnings
- __Welcome emails__: Confirm signup, set expectations, show next steps
- __Receipts:__ Provide complete details, clean layout, PDF attachments
- __Shipping notifications__: Give tracking info, delivery dates, action links

__What makes them work:__

- Clear content that tells users what to do next
- Mobile-friendly design (most people read email on phones)
- Your brand colors and fonts throughout
- Fast delivery (within seconds of the trigger)
- Clean, professional layouts

__What to watch out for:__ Don't just copy templates blindly. Study why they work, then adapt them to your brand. Focus on making emails clear, mobile-friendly, and useful.

## What Makes Effective Transactional Emails?

The best transactional emails share a few key traits. First, they're crystal clear: when someone opens your order confirmation, they should instantly see their order number, what they bought, and when it arrives. No hunting around.

Second, they work on phones. Over 60% of emails get opened on mobile devices now. If your email breaks on a phone screen, you've lost your customer. Single-column layouts, big buttons, readable fonts - simple stuff that works.

Third, they arrive fast. When someone resets their password, they want that email now, not in 10 minutes. Speed builds trust, delays create support tickets.

Fourth, they give users something to do. Every transactional email needs a clear next step - track your package, reset your password, download your receipt. 

Finally, they match your brand: your transactional emails shouldn't look like they came from a different company. Same colors, same fonts, same feel. Customers notice when things look off.

###  Order Confirmation Email Examples

![CleanShot 2025-11-18 at 13.23.42@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/7JzxirJpX2aKVLork1gEF7/a9330ecd7eae0a6c1de95abcd8d2475d/CleanShot_2025-11-18_at_13.23.42_2x.png)

Order confirmations are probably the most (and fastest) opened transactional emails. People want details of their orders, such as if their order went through and when stuff arrives. People often don't trust web interfaces so will go to their inbox for proof.

A good order confirmation starts with the order number right at the top, big and bold. Then it should show what they bought in a clean table format with product names, quantities, prices.  

Next come payment details. Show the payment method (last 4 digits of the card is enough), the total amount, and any tax or shipping charges. Shipping information goes below that. Include the shipping address so they can double-check it's right. Remember to also add the estimated delivery date. If you have a tracking number already, include it with a big "Track Package" button.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Some brands EXCLUDE shipping information as a best practice to ensure that no PII ever leaks. You'll see large companies like Amazon, Walmart, etc do this. Customers can misspell their domain (gail instead of gmail) and that information can end up in the wrong hands.

The best order confirmations also include helpful links such as those that help customers view the order online, start a return or contact support. Put these in buttons, not just buried in text.

Like Uber, you can also include a main CTA to get value from the product you just charged them to help reduce churn.

Subject line tip: Keep it simple. Something like "Order #12345 confirmed" or "Uber Subcription Renewed" works better than clever copy. People search their email for order numbers later.

### Password Reset Email Examples

![CleanShot 2025-11-18 at 13.29.53@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/53Q2HLIu1EDKF46XSQNgds/bf810cb3b33ed908c89a9b26a5312349/CleanShot_2025-11-18_at_13.29.53_2x.png)

Password reset emails need to do two things: be secure and be fast. People locked out of their accounts don't have patience for confusion.

Start with a security warning right at the top. "If you didn't request this password reset, you can ignore this email." This prevents panic if someone gets the email by mistake.

Then get straight to the point: "Click the button below to reset your password." No long explanations needed. Put a big, obvious "Reset Password" button right there. Make it a button, not a text link especially as buttons work better on mobile.

You should always include an expiration time with lines such as "This link expires in 15 minutes" or "This link expires in 1 hour." Put this near the button so people see it. Nothing worse than clicking an expired link.

Add the reset link as plain text too, below the button. Some email clients block buttons, and people might need to copy-paste the link.

Subject line should be clear: "Reset your password for [Your App Name]". Skip the fancy stuff. Someone trying to get back into their account wants clarity, not creativity.

We also recommend including one or two interesting pieces of information in the email you're sending so that the user knows you are reaching out to them and they aren't subject to a phishing attempt. We've seen brands like LinkedIn do this often in their footers.

![CleanShot 2025-11-18 at 13.31.49@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/77Y3VUQY1b2FQ1MLDP8RkH/d562f14e23977c5b0c5104e7310401ef/CleanShot_2025-11-18_at_13.31.49_2x.png)

### Welcome Email Examples

![CleanShot 2025-11-18 at 13.33.57@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/iVE0YdOqF8wC7ftwlERyq/0161366d91714b36bd833357254edcdb/CleanShot_2025-11-18_at_13.33.57_2x.png)

Welcome emails set the tone for your whole relationship. Get it right and you've got an engaged user; mess it up and they might never come back.

Start with a warm greeting using their name if you have it. "Welcome to [Product], Sarah!" feels better than generic greetings. Then confirm what just happened: "Thanks for signing up."

You should set expectations early. Tell them what kinds of emails you'll send and how often. Weekly newsletters? Product updates? Special offers? Be honest. If they know what's coming, they're less likely to unsubscribe later.

Show them one clear next step. Not five things, not ten features, but only one thing. Maybe it's completing their profile, maybe it's browsing products, maybe it's reading your most popular content - pick the action that creates the most value fastest.

If your product has key features or benefits, highlight 2-3 of them, possibly with images or icons if they help. But don't overwhelm readers and save the full tour for later emails.

Finally, put some helpful links such as FAQ, support and quick start guide. Put these in the footer where they're available, but not distracting.

Subject line: "Welcome to [Product]!" still works best. People expect it and look for it.

Also, don't feel the need to go crazy with the content. You can keep it simple, like the team at Turbopuffer do: 

![CleanShot 2025-11-18 at 13.35.05@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/wMa8wIwseKoxSfXFnhEef/e5aae061e142fd90b9f268a96433f2a9/CleanShot_2025-11-18_at_13.35.05_2x.png)

### Receipt Email Examples

![chewy-email-receipt-e1540988386206](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/7jRKFxB7mnByeiYGrXWoLq/dd58e06e455379ccb6cd64b679dae768/chewy-email-receipt-e1540988386206.png)

Receipts are boring but important. People need them for expense reports, taxes, and records. Therefore, you want to make them easy to find and use.

Put the receipt number and date right at the top. Use a clear format like "Receipt #R-2024-12345" and "December 15, 2024" that will help with searching later.

Show what they paid for in a clean table that includes item names, quantities, individual prices, subtotal, tax and total. Include also full payment details which means payment method, last 4 digits if it's a card, transaction ID and payment date. These are important as some companies need this for accounting. Use the same format every time as consistency matters for financial documents.

Always offer a PDF version. You can either attach it to the email or include a download link. PDFs are easier to save and forward than HTML emails and many accounting systems prefer them.

At the end, add your business details too such as company name, address and tax ID if applicable. This stuff matters for business customers claiming expenses.

Subject line should be searchable: "Receipt for order #12345" or "Your receipt from [Company] - December 15". People search for receipts months later.

### Shipping Notification Email Examples

![63e5dedfdb0855815710a083 gPcF4CB8eOe-e4BA7KQAJmo301rkVYY6SmmmS-Uwiq772Nn8FcIn4bqe 49UtCPSyw2fk4n5IQUGoKkORn9zDxsYQMhVRZgTNoO](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/2mbXA7hp0IE277yiriF5oj/09a3fd72011f7b680284f0ffdfb5e86d/63e5dedfdb0855815710a083_gPcF4CB8eOe-e4BA7KQAJmo301rkVYY6SmmmS-Uwiq772Nn8FcIn4bqe_49UtCPSyw2fk4n5IQUGoKkORn9zDxsYQMhVRZgTNoO.png)

Shipping notifications might be the most anticipated transactional emails as people want to know their stuff is on the way.

Lead with the good news: "Your order has been shipped!" and then immediately show the tracking number and carrier. Make the tracking number big and easy to copy, or better yet, make it a link that goes straight to the carrier's tracking page.

Next should be the estimated delivery date prominently. "Expected delivery: Tuesday, December 17" is what people care about most. If you have a delivery window ("between 2-6 PM"), include that too.

Confirm the shipping address - this prevents panic when someone suddenly wonders if they used the right address. Show it clearly but don't make it the focus.

It’s always good to include a brief reminder of what's coming. You don't need full order details (they have the confirmation for that), but "Your order of 2 items" or listing the main products helps people know which order shipped.

The focus should be a big "Track Package" button. Make this the primary action since it is something people will click on multiple times before delivery.

Subject line: "Your order #12345 has shipped" or "Your [Product Name] is on the way". Both work, but including the order number helps with multiple orders.

## Transactional Email Design Patterns

Good design isn't only about looking pretty, it's first and foremost about making emails that work. Here are the patterns that matter.

First, create a visual hierarchy. The most important stuff should be at the top. As we mentioned in the examples, these are things such as order number, tracking number and password reset button. Whatever the email is about goes first, big and bold, while less important stuff goes below, smaller and lighter.

Make content scannable keeping in mind people don't read emails word by word but skim through it, looking for what they need. Use short paragraphs (2-3 sentences max) and add spacing between these sections. Bullet points when listing things are very useful tool, and you should also bold important words like dates, amounts, and action items.

Buttons need to be obvious and tappable. Use contrasting colors that stand out and write clear button text: "Track Package" beats "Click Here" every time. On mobile, they will be minimum 44 pixels tall and you should test your buttons on an actual phone.

Keep your branding consistent, but subtle. Your logo at the top, your colors in the buttons and links - but don't go overboard. Transactional emails are about function, not marketing.

We mentioned that today over 60% of email opens happen on phones, which is essentially to design emails with mobile interface in mind. Use a single column layout, make text at least 14 pixels, put important info in the first 320 pixels (what shows in preview), make buttons big enoch and test everything on a real phone, not just your desktop browser's mobile view!

## Where Bento Fits: Transactional Email Templates

If you're building transactional emails, Bento gives you templates that actually work, plus the infrastructure to get them delivered.

You get pre-built templates for all the standard transactional emails: order confirmations, password resets, shipping notifications, receipts. They're already mobile-optimized and tested across email clients, you can just add your content and brand colors.

The templates are flexible, which means you can change colors, fonts, and layouts to match your brand and you can add custom fields for your specific data. You're not stuck with generic designs, but can use these templates as a basic start for designing your transactional emails.

Here's the real value: deliverability infrastructure comes built in. Authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), reputation monitoring, send rate controls. This stuff usually costs extra or requires separate tools, but with Bento it's just included.

Therefore, Bento makes sense when you want professional transactional emails without building everything from scratch - you get templates, customization, and deliverability in one package.

If you use some specialized tools, they still have their place. If you need pixel-perfect email design control, use a dedicated design platform or iIf you want deep analytics on every email element, specialized analytics tools do that better. But Bento gives you what you need to start and, most importantly, keeps your emails out of spam folders.

## Ready to Build Better Transactional Emails?

Now you've seen what works. Time to build your own!

Start by auditing your current transactional emails. Which ones confuse customers? Which ones generate support tickets? Fix those first. A clear order confirmation saves more support time than any fancy automation.

Pick one email type to improve. Maybe password resets if you get lots of "can't log in" tickets or maybe shipping notifications if customers keep asking where their orders are. Start with the email that causes the most problems.

Then this guide comes to play - use the patterns we have listed here! Make sure you go though all the important points: clear hierarchy, mobile-first design, obvious buttons, fast delivery and testing. 

Once you send your transactional emails into the wild, measure what matters. Open rates for transactional emails should be around 80%+. Click rates vary by email type, and password resets should see 40%+ clicks. If your numbers are way off, something's broken. Make sure also to watch support tickets for confusion patterns as small improvements add up.

Good transactional emails reduce support tickets, increase customer satisfaction, and build trust. Start with one email. Make it better. Then move to the next.


Learn from transactional email examples and best practices. Understand what makes effective transactional emails and how to design emails that engage users

Transactional Email Examples: Best Practices and Templates

Learn what DKIM is and how to set it up for email authentication. Understand DKIM signatures, DNS records, and how DKIM improves email deliverability.

DKIM: What It Is and How to Set It Up for Email

Discover the best MailChimp alternatives that fit your needs and budget. In this guide we will offer you comparison of platforms that scale without breaking the bank or limiting growth, and help you with steps for migration from MailChimp.

MailChimp Alternatives: Find the Right Email Platform

You're here because you searched for "bento email alternative" or "bento competitor" on the big G or on ChatGippity.

Maybe you're doing some due diligence on us before you make the switch. Maybe you heard about us from a friend or business partner.

However you found us, I want to talk about some of the other posts ranking in Google search for "bento alternative" and "bento reviews" currently.

## The "Alternative" Post Playbook

There's a specific kind of blog post that exists purely to leech traffic from other brands like ours. You've probably seen them. "Top 8 {brand} Alternatives for 2025!" They follow a predictable formula:

1. Write a post targeting "{competitor} alternative"
2. Invent some problems with that competitor
3. List yourself as the #1 solution
4. End every FAQ with "that's why you should use us instead"

We've counted at least three posts ranking for "Bento alternative" written by companies who have never signed up for Bento. 

Never sent an email through our platform. 

Never looked at our automation builder or tested our deliverability infrastructure.

They just... made stuff up. 

They are not properly reviews. 

They are lies.

One post claims Bento has "limited automation flexibility." Another says we have "weak personalization features." A third suggests our "pricing isn't always justifiable" and they're 3x our price.

These would be valid criticisms if they were true. 

But they're not. 

They're invented problems designed to make their product look like the solution. 

## The Tells

You can spot these posts from a mile away:

**They always list themselves first.** The company writing the "alternatives" post somehow always ends up as the #1 pick. What a coincidence.

**They publish across multiple domains.** One company we found is running the same "Bento alternatives" article across multiple web properties. Double the keyword coverage. Same recycled content.

**Every FAQ is a sales pitch.** "What's the best alternative to Bento?" Their answer: themselves. "Does Bento have better automation?" Their answer: no, use them instead. It's like asking a Ford dealer if you should buy a Toyota.

**The "problems" don't match reality.** They'll claim Bento lacks features we've had for years. They'll say we're expensive when our pricing is public, competitive (we price match), and we're often cheaper. They haven't done the homework because they don't need to. They just need to rank.

## What They Got Wrong

Let's get specific. Here are the posts and the claims they made:

### Encharge's Misleading Post

![CleanShot 2025-12-03 at 14.15.12@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/2BpvBY7QQDb5KEWXvIkm2r/d09228f1ca8f76df8f6b285a70c8e7e7/CleanShot_2025-12-03_at_14.15.12_2x.png)

Encharge, an objectively weaker competitor to Bento, has a post titled "Top 8 Bento Alternatives" which lists four reasons to leave Bento. Let's go through them:

**"Limited Automation Flexibility"** - Bento's automation builder handles all types of triggers, multi-step sequences, branching logic, custom events, multiple ways to trigger an automation, and dynamic personalization all throughout.

We built it specifically for operators who need real automation, not just scheduled newsletters. 

Our main feedback from customers is that our flow product is TOO POWERFUL.It's about as advanced as you can get without requiring a PhD in email marketing. 

The email nerds LOVE it. 

Encharge's team wouldn't know this because they've never used our platform or even created an account. 

**"Weak Personalization Features"** - We support dynamic content, Liquid, merge tags, conditional blocks, behavioral segmentation, and even have a load of AI features baked in. You can personalize based on what people actually do in your product, not just what form fields they filled out. 

Personalization gets richer and richer with the more integrations you add and the more data you have. 

Again, they wouldn't know this because they've never used Bento.

They just like writing lies. 

**"Pricing Isn't Always Justifiable"** - It took me awhile to get Encharge's pricing page and website to load, but when it did, it was clear they love to twist reality. 

As of December 3rd 2025 on Encharge's official pricing page they list $75/mo for 2,000 subscribers. 10,000 subscribers you're looking at $239 — and that's on their cheapest plan. "Talk to enterprise" if you have over 50k???? 50k isn't enterprise level! 

![CleanShot 2025-12-03 at 14.19.47@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/1nMBoscFX2CO2CvcSDC071/e423889c9af5d730f37c5b6d2889fabb/CleanShot_2025-12-03_at_14.19.47_2x.png)

You're looking at almost double that for "Premium".

Surely they're just mistaken and maybe it's Encharge's pricing that isn't justifiable? 

What a joke. 

**"Lacks Native Integrations"** - We have a public API, SDKs in every major language, Zapier, Make.com, SureTriggers, Segment, and native integrations with the tools SaaS and ecommerce businesses actually use. If you can send a webhook, you can integrate with Bento.

I searched for "encharge ruby sdk" they don't have it. Nor do they have a Python, Ruby, or other SDKs. Horrible choice for a SaaS company. It's 2025, you need to be able to integrate with your tools.

### Martechs Post

It seems that Encharge may have distributed the post across multiple websites to rank for the same phrases in Google or improve their existing post. 

We see multiple instances of their posts being reposted on this "marketing" website. 

![CleanShot 2025-12-03 at 14.27.28@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3Zom8mb8UiKxzABVp0qDe8/3b70327a68d4ae633bdda062f6c1f676/CleanShot_2025-12-03_at_14.27.28_2x.png)

Two domains, same content, double the keyword coverage. 

Classic SEO play.

![CleanShot 2025-12-03 at 14.47.11@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/QTLsgJmpqQiUUCTAWjkYh/bdce36f2735a53b1378271677cea35ad/CleanShot_2025-12-03_at_14.47.11_2x.png)

It's unlikely that this site just wrote this on their own accord and it was an SEO link campaign. 

### Userlist's Post

[Userlist's alternatives page](https://userlist.com/alternatives/bento/) takes a different approach. They've got a nice little feature comparison table with checkmarks and X marks. Very official looking.

Their conclusion? "Bento is a tool for anyone who wants to track their website visitors... Userlist is deeply focused on SaaS customers after they sign up, which makes it much easier to use."

Let's unpack that.

**"Bento isn't focused on SaaS"** - Bento was built from day one for SaaS companies and I'd estimate that the total revenue we earn from SaaS companies far exceeds their total revenue from all their customers. 

User onboarding sequences, product newsletters, churn prevention, subscription renewals. It's in our DNA. 

Sure, we also serve ecommerce and digital product creators, but SaaS is a core segment we dedicate a lot of resources to serving.

**"Userlist is easier to use"** - Based on what? 

They've never used Bento. 

Our visual automation builder is designed to be powerful without being overwhelming. 

It's a far cleaner UI and workflow builder than what they have.

**The Feature Table** - They've got this comparison grid implying Bento lacks certain features. The main thing that we miss is company profiles but from our experience no one uses or needs them, and we actually did have it at one point but deprecated it because it was a bad user experience/confusing. 

The other features like "In-app messages (web applications)" we leave to our integrations and partners to handle.

### GoCustomer's Post

GoCustomer published a post titled "Ditch Bento? These AI-Driven Email Marketing Alternatives Are Changing the Game" that lists six reasons to look beyond Bento.

Here's what's funny about this one: GoCustomer is a cold email outreach tool. It's designed for LinkedIn prospecting and sales outreach. Bento is a marketing automation platform for product, marketing, and transactional email.

They're not even in the same category. It's like a shoe company writing a "Why You Should Ditch Wearing Hats" post.

But let's go through their claims anyway:

**"Steep Learning Curve for Non-Technical Users"** - Our visual automation builder uses drag-and-drop. You can see your entire workflow visually. We've had customers with zero technical background building sophisticated automations within their first week.

Is there a learning curve? Sure, if you want to use advanced features. But the basics are straightforward. They wouldn't know this because they've never logged in.

**"Confusing Automation Features"** - Bento has one automation system. You create flows. Flows have triggers, actions, and conditions. That's it.

The fact that we support many types of triggers and actions doesn't make it "confusing and disorganized." It makes it flexible. Our customers love the power. The only confusion here is GoCustomer's understanding of our product.

**"Limited Built-in Integrations"** - We have SDKs in Ruby, Python, Node, Go, PHP, and more. We have Zapier, Make.com, SureTriggers, and Segment integrations. We have native integrations with Shopify, WordPress, and the tools our customers actually use.

GoCustomer? I checked. Their integrations page lists a handful of options. But sure, we're the ones with "limited" integrations.

**"Costly Pricing Structure"** - This one is rich. Our products aren't even comparable. 

**"Absence of a Forever Free Plan"** - This one is actually true. We don't have a forever-free plan.

Here's why: Because we don't want spammers on our platform. 

**"Occasional Bugs and Stability Issues"** - We have a 99.9%+ uptime track record. Our infrastructure handles millions of events daily. We have customers who've been with us for years sending at scale without issues.

Do bugs happen? In any software, yes. But "occasional bugs" as a reason to switch platforms? That's reaching.

The best part? GoCustomer lists themselves as the "#1 Author's Pick" alternative to Bento. A cold email prospecting tool as the top alternative to a marketing automation platform.

They've never used Bento. They don't compete with Bento. They just wanted to rank for "Bento alternative" and figured nobody would notice.

We noticed.

Oh and one last thing, they have a testimonial from Dolores. We're not sure that Dolores even exists (we searched our database and users around that time and couldn't find anything), and if that is true then did they write that review? 

## When You Should Use Bento

We're obviously biased. But here's an honest breakdown:

**Bento makes sense if you:**

- Care about deliverability and want infrastructure that helps you land in inboxes
- Need product, marketing, and transactional email in one platform
- Want behavioral automation without hiring a marketing ops team
- Like having direct access to the team building the product

**Bento is built for:**

- SaaS companies running user onboarding, product adoption, and retention campaigns
- Ecommerce businesses that want product-based automation (cart abandonment, browse behavior, post-purchase flows)
- Digital product creators who need more than basic newsletters
- Teams that take email seriously and want tools that match

## When You Might Actually Need Something Else

And here's the honest part those other posts skip: Bento isn't for everyone.

**You might need a different tool if:**

- You're testing email marketing for the first time and just need a landing page and newsletter (if that's the case pick Mailchimp or Convertkit, not the brands we mentioned earlier)
- You need a full CRM with sales pipeline management, not just email (we like Close.com for this)
- Your budget is extremely limited and you need a completely free option (Mailchimp or Klaviyo here)
- You need an all-in-one marketing suite that includes social media, paid ads, and everything else (don't pick a platform like this)

We don't pretend to be everything. We're an email marketing, marketing automation, and transactional email platform. We do those things well. If you need something we don't do, use a tool that does.

## The Irony Isn't Lost on Us

Yes, we're aware that this is Bento writing a "Bento alternative" post. 

The difference? We've actually used the product. We know what it does. We built it.

If you're going to write about Bento, at least sign up first. Send a few emails. Test the automation builder. Look at the analytics. Then tell people what you think. 

Until then, take those competitor comparison posts with a grain of salt. 

They're not reviews. 

They're SEO plays.

## Try It Yourself

You don't need to trust us. You don't need to trust those competitor posts either.

Sign up for Bento. Send some emails. See if the "problems" those posts describe actually exist, or if they were invented by marketing teams who needed content to rank.

We're confident in what we've built. And we'd rather you find out for yourself than take anyone's word for it.

---

*If you found this post while searching for a Bento alternative and you're genuinely evaluating tools, we respect that. Do your research. Test multiple platforms. Just know that not every comparison post is written in good faith. Some of them are just trying to steal traffic from brands they've never used.*

Most 'Bento alternative' posts are written by competitors who've never used us. Here's what they get wrong, and an honest take on when Bento is right for you.

Bento Alternative: The Truth About Other Review Posts

Even in today's world of various different platforms, newsletters still beat social feeds for building real relationships with readers. But nobody wants recycled blog posts or stale sales pitches in their inbox. People stick around when you deliver a strong point of view, useful insights, and a consistent experience. This guide shows you how to plan, write, design, automate, and grow a newsletter worth reading, and how Bento makes the whole process faster for your team.

## TL;DR: Newsletter Launch Checklist

**Start with positioning.** Figure out who is your audience and what do you want to say to them. Pick a format that works for both you and your readers.

**Build a system you can stick to.** Plan your sections, schedule, and who does what. Get this sorted before issue one.

**Design for people who scan through emails.** Most people quickly skim emails without reading it throughout. This is why you need to use clear headings, short paragraphs, and make the most important points stick out. Keep in mind to build mobile-friendly layouts.

**Automate the boring stuff.** Bento is great for automation and it can help you set up workflows for scheduling, personalization, and triggered follow-ups based on reader behavior.

**Track what actually matters.** Monitor growth, engagement, and revenue. Your newsletter needs to support real business goals.

## Step 1: Define Positioning and Purpose

Fuzzy positioning kills newsletters. You need clarity on three things.

First, who is this for? Go deeper than job titles and basic information. Think about what your readers’ desire and what keeps them up at night. What are they trying to achieve? What pressures are they under? For example, if you're targeting ecommerce managers, they probably care about conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and keeping up with platform changes, so this is something you want to refer to and offer them help with.

Second, what problem does it solve? This is where offering the help part comes in - your newsletter needs to help people do something better. Maybe you help them stay current on industry changes. Maybe you give them templates they can use right away. Or maybe you share tactics that actually work, not just theory.

Third, why should people read you instead of someone else? Create something that will make your newsletter stick out. You might have exclusive data nobody else shares. Or you might write from years of hands-on experience. Some newsletters win through curation, others through humor. Find what makes you different.

Write this down in one sentence. Here's an example: **"A weekly briefing for ecommerce operators who want proven retention tactics they can implement in under an hour."** That's clear. People know exactly what they're signing up for.

Your newsletter also needs to connect to business goals. Are you trying to get more product signups? Generate qualified leads? Keep customers engaged? Pick one main goal that is key for your business and growth. This is also something which will help you measure success later on.

## Step 2: Pick Your Format and Cadence
Consistency beats perfection. Pick something you can actually stick with.

**How often will you send?** Weekly works for most companies. Daily can work if you're aggregating news or have tons of content. Monthly is fine for deep analysis pieces. The key is setting clear expectations and meeting them. If you say weekly, send weekly. Missing issues breaks trust and can tank deliverability.

**How long should it be?** Short newsletters (500-800 words) work great for quick updates and curated links. Longer ones (1500+ words) work when you're teaching something or telling stories. Pick based on what your readers want, what suits your brand and what you can consistently produce.

**What sections will you include?** Repeatable sections save you time and help readers know what to expect. You might have a main story, three quick tips, and a resource of the week. Or maybe you lead with data, follow with analysis, and close with action items. Whatever you choose, stick with it.

**How will you write?** Decide on your voice early. Are you formal or casual? Do you use industry jargon or plain English? Write down examples of phrases you'd use and ones you'd avoid. This keeps your newsletter sounding consistent, even if multiple people write it.

Set up a template in Google Docs or Notion with your section headers already in place. You'll write faster when you're not starting from scratch every time.

## Step 3: Build Your Editorial Calendar
You don’t want to scramble your newsletter evening before sending, making it messy and unengaging. This is why you should always plan ahead.

Start by brainstorming topics for the next three months. Pull ideas from customer questions, support tickets, and keyword research. Look at your product roadmap for upcoming features to highlight. Check what competitors write about. Build a backlog organized by theme: how-to guides, case studies, product updates, customer stories.

Connect each topic to business goals. If you're launching a new feature next month, plan content that prepares people for it. If you're trying to reduce churn, focus on success stories and best practices. Every issue should serve a purpose beyond just filling inboxes. Keep also seasons and possible holidays in mind, as some of them may directly impact what you send and offer to readers.

If you have a team that deals with email marketing, make it clear who does what. Who writes the first draft? Who edits? Who approves? Who builds it in your email tool? When everyone knows their job, things move smoothly.

Work backward from your send date to set deadlines. Here's how the schedule of work on the newsletter should roughly look:

- **6 days before:** Topic approved, outline done
- **4 days before:** First draft complete
- **2 days before:** Edited and fact-checked
- **1 day before:** Built in Bento, images added
- **Send day:** Final review and hit send

Track everything in whatever tool your team already uses. Notion, Asana, Linear, even a spreadsheet works. Once your newsletter is live, use Bento's shared inbox to manage replies and collect feedback for future issues.

## Step 4: Write Value-Driven Content
Respect your readers' time. Give them something useful right away.

Your opening lines matter most. Skip the small talk. Tell readers what they'll learn and why it matters. If your newsletter is about email marketing, don't start with "Email marketing is important." Start with "Here's how Company X doubled their conversion rate with one simple email change."

Focus on one main idea per issue. You might touch on other topics, but everything should support your central point. This makes your newsletter easier to remember and act on.

Keep in mind that stories stick better than advice. Instead of saying "personalization improves open rates," share how a specific company personalized their emails and what happened. Use real numbers when you can, show screenshots and make it concrete.

It’s good also to give readers something they can use immediately, such as templates they can copy or step-by-step instructions. People subscribe to newsletters that make their job easier.

Link to helpful resources, but don't overdo it. Include links to your own content when it genuinely helps (like our guides on [email marketing funnels](/email-marketing-funnels) or [lead magnets](/lead-magnets)), but too many links make emails feel like ads and it can influence deliverability.

End with a clear next step. What do you want readers to do? Reply with feedback? Try a tactic? Book a demo? Pick one action and make it obvious.

## Step 5: Design for Readability and Brand Consistency
Email clients are weird and each is different. Gmail displays things differently than Outlook, dark mode can mess up design, and mobile layout can look completely different than desktop one. This is why you want your design to be simple and effective.

Stick to single-column layouts - they work better on phones, and most people read email on their phones. Two-column designs might look fancy, but they often break on small screens.

Fonts that you use must work for everyone. This means you want to use some of the system fonts, like Arial, Georgia, or Helvetica.  Custom fonts might not load, leaving your carefully designed email looking broken. Make sure there's enough contrast between text and background - light gray text on white backgrounds is hard to read.

Headings are really important as they not only help email look good, but make it more readable. As most of the readers scan emails for the important information, this will make it easier for them. Add white space between sections and include bullet points for lists. Drop in divider lines to separate topics. Make it easy for someone to skim and still get value.

Images should load fast, so compress them before uploading. Always add alt text that describes what the image shows as this helps when images don't load and makes your emails accessible to people using screen readers. Test how your email looks with images turned off, because some email clients block them by default.

Include your logo, use your brand colors, but don't sacrifice readability for style. A plain text email that's easy to read beats a beautiful one that's confusing. For those information that you put in all emails, Bento's editor lets you save content blocks you use often. Build your header once, save it, and reuse it every week. Same for footers, dividers, and any sections you repeat. This keeps your design consistent and saves time.

## Step 6: Set Up Bento Automations
Automation makes your newsletter reliable without extra work, so you definitely want to use this feature of Bento. You can start by building your newsletter template. We offer different tools for designing emails, so you can use the visual builder if you prefer drag-and-drop, or paste in HTML if you've coded a template. Add placeholders for any content that changes week to week.

Personalization goes beyond "Hi {{ visitor.first_name }}." Use merge tags to mention their company, reference their plan type, or include location-specific content. Set up conditional blocks to show different sections to different people. Customers might see advanced tips while trial users see upgrade prompts.

Segment your list to send the right version to the right people. For example, your paying customers probably want different content than your free users. New subscribers might need more context than longtime readers. Build these segments in Bento and send tailored versions automatically.

New subscribers will usually need special attention. Set up a welcome sequence that triggers when someone signs up. This should include your best past issues and explanation what to expect. Ask them to reply with what they want to learn about. Check out our [email sequence guide](/email-sequences) for templates.

Timing also matters for engagement. Some people read emails at 6 AM, others at lunch, others late at night. Bento can track when each subscriber engages and automatically send at their best time, simply pick a standard time based on your overall engagement data.

Don't let replies disappear into the void. Route them to your shared inbox so your team can respond. Reader replies are gold for understanding what resonates and what doesn't.

Compliance is also an important part, but this is covered by Bento! Our platform automatically includes unsubscribe links and manages preference centers. It syncs suppression lists across all your campaigns so you never accidentally email someone who opted out.

## Step 7: Launch and Grow Your Audience
If no one reads your newsletters, you might as well keep a diary - therefore, take some time to build your following and get subscribers. 

You want to have a dedicated landing page for signups. This is beside the form on the homepage, which is not enough. Create a page that explains exactly what subscribers get, show sample content and include testimonials from current readers. Make the value crystal clear.

In order to get people to subscribe, offer something valuable upfront. People need a reason to hand over their email address. For example, if you write about email marketing, you can offer an email template pack. Deliver it through Bento and mention your newsletter in the follow-up. Our [lead magnets guide](/lead-magnets) has more ideas.

The signup forms need to be somewhere where people will see them, such as your most popular blog posts and at the end of the relevant content. You also must share newsletter snippets on social media.  If you create carousel posts for Instagram, mention that there is more to be learned in the newsletter and explain where they can sign up. Don't give everything away on social media, or there's no reason to subscribe. When subscribers sign up, tag them based on where they signed up so you can send relevant content.

Partner with other newsletters in your space. Find ones with similar audiences but different angles. Recommend each other's newsletters and run cross-promotions. Sponsor relevant newsletters to get in front of their readers.

If people share your newsletter, reward them for it. This can be done through tricks such as exclusive content or early access for the referral. You can create a community for your most engaged readers as well.  This will make subscribers which you have share a newsletter and do marketing for you, additionally engaging with the content. 

Test paid ads if you have a budget. Target people interested in your topic and track performance by tagging subscribers with their source in Bento. However, make sure you are calculating the lifetime value to see if ads pay off in order not to waste money.

If you have a product, you must promote your newsletter there. This means adding a signup prompt to your app and including it in onboarding emails. Your existing users are often your best subscribers as they are already interested in your product.

## Step 8: Measure Performance and Iterate
Metrics are not the only goal you want to achieve - you need to measure business results as well.  This can be achieved by a few tactics. 

**Track growth beyond just total subscribers.** Where are people signing up? Which sources bring the most engaged readers? What's your landing page conversion rate? Understanding these patterns helps you focus on what works and develop it more.

**Engagement tells you if people actually read your content.** Open rates are a start, but click-through rates matter more. To track this, you need to look at which links people click and check how many people reply. You also need to follow how many subscribers become customers. See if newsletter readers have higher lifetime values and whether engaged readers renew more often. Bento's click maps show exactly where readers engage, and this features will help you to gather data that explains what works.

What also matters is if your readers forward emails - this means your content is share-worthy and that it had even bigger reach. Whatever you are doing, you are doing it well! These soft metrics often predict future growth.

**Watch quality indicators.** High unsubscribe rates mean something's wrong and spam complaints can hurt your deliverability. If these numbers spike, figure out why immediately, You can even ask support to help you out where things went wrong. Maybe you're sending too often or maybe your content shifted. Whatever it is, it indicates a problem that needs fixing. 

Set up a simple dashboard in Bento to track these numbers. Review growth and engagement weekly and do a deeper analysis monthly. You always need to look for trends, not just snapshots as it shows the wider picture. Keep also in mind that when you test something, you do it one thing at a time so you know what actually moves the needle.

## Step 9: Keep the Operation Tight
As you might realize by now, you want to stay organized when it comes to newsletters. In order to have a good overview of things, you need to document everything in a shared space your team can access. Write down your production workflow step by step, create a style guide with voice examples and list your QA checklist. This will ease the process for you and your team, but also help you a lot if someone new joins as they can pick up things quickly.

Good idea is to build a library of reusable assets. Save email templates for different types of content and keep a swipe file of great subject lines. Store design blocks for common sections. The more you can reuse, the faster you'll produce each issue.

There also needs to be a clear review process. Too many reviewers slows everything down.  Everyone needs to know exactly what they are supposed to do and no step should be skipped.Find the right balance for your team.

Always stay ahead of schedule. Good practice is to have two issues written before you need them. This buffer saves you when someone gets sick, holidays hit, or news breaks. You also want to double check facts, data, links and images you are using, as well as their sources, The mistakes happen, but they can damage trust and it is hard to rebuild. 

When you finish all and send out newsletter, you need also to keep in mind that responses of your readers matter This is why you also want to ask them what they think. Good practice is to send a survey every few months asking about topics, frequency, and format. Set up automated NPS surveys in Bento to track satisfaction over time and use this feedback to improve.

## Newsletter QA Checklist
Run through this before you hit send. Every time.

- [ ] Subject line matches the content (no bait and switch)
- [ ] Preview text adds value (not just repeating the subject)
- [ ] All links work and include tracking parameters
- [ ] Personalization has fallback values (no "Hi ," appearing)
- [ ] Images are compressed and include descriptive alt text
- [ ] Email looks good in dark mode
- [ ] Mobile preview looks right (most people read on phones)
- [ ] Desktop preview works in Outlook, Gmail, and Apple Mail
- [ ] Text has enough contrast to read easily
- [ ] Unsubscribe link works and is easy to find
- [ ] Physical address appears in footer (legally required)
- [ ] Key stakeholders have reviewed and approved
- [ ] Test email sent to your seed list
- [ ] Copy saved in your archive for future reference

## Ready to Ship Your Newsletter with Bento?
A good newsletter becomes your most reliable marketing channel. It works when you nail the positioning, respect readers' time, and keep making it better based on data.

Bento handles the technical side so you can focus on content. We give you the automation tools to send consistently, the segmentation features to personalize without extra work and the analytics to see what resonates. Most importantly, we have a high deliverability infrastructure that will make your emails actually reach inboxes.

You bring the ideas and voice and we'll handle the workflows that make it sustainable. [Start building your newsletter in Bento today](https://bentonow.com/signup), or [book a call](https://bentonow.com/demo) if you want help planning your newsletter strategy.


Plan, write, and ship a high-performing newsletter with Bento, covering strategy, content, design, automations, and growth.

How to Create a Newsletter That Readers Love

We're excited to announce that we have successfully achieved **SOC 2 Type II compliance**, demonstrating our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of security and data protection for our customers.

## What is SOC 2?

SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) is a compliance framework developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) that evaluates an organization's information systems relevant to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.

A SOC 2 Type II report specifically assesses the effectiveness of these controls over a defined period, providing assurance that our security practices are not just designed well, but are operating effectively.

## Our SOC 2 Journey with OneLeet

We partnered with [OneLeet](https://oneleet.com) to streamline our SOC 2 compliance journey. Their platform helped us implement robust security controls and prepare for the audit process efficiently.

Our SOC 2 Type II audit was successfully completed with **zero exceptions**, covering our systems and controls over a 12-month observation period.

## What This Means for You

This certification reinforces our commitment to:

- **Data Security**: Your data is protected by enterprise-grade security controls
- **Reliability**: Our systems are monitored and maintained to ensure consistent availability
- **Privacy**: We handle your information with the utmost care and in compliance with best practices
- **Transparency**: Our security practices are independently verified and documented

## Obtaining Our SOC 2 Report

Current and prospective customers can request a copy of our SOC 2 Type II report by contacting our security team. We're also happy to complete any security questionnaires you may have.

## Looking Forward

Achieving SOC 2 Type II compliance is not a destination but a continuous journey. We remain committed to maintaining and improving our security posture to earn and keep your trust.

As we continue to grow and serve more customers, security will remain at the core of everything we do. This certification is just one of many steps we're taking to ensure we can be your trusted partner for years to come.

---

**Have questions about our SOC 2 compliance or need to request our report?** Contact our security team at support@bentonow.com.

We're excited to announce that Bento has successfully completed a SOC 2 Type II audit to further demonstrate our commitment to security.

SOC-2

Bento is now SOC 2 Type II Compliant

SendGrid is the vanilla ice cream of email service providers. Fine, you'll have it for dessert if it's all that's being served. But it's not your favourite and given any other option you wouldn't bother. 

The good news is you have options: cheaper options, options with better transactional email deliverability, options that handle transactional and marketing emails in a better way. This guide breaks down the alternatives worth considering and helps you pick the right one.

## TL;DR: Quick Picks by Use Case

If you need to pick fast, here's what each service does best:

**Bento** - Good for apps that need deliverability tools built in. You get API access, SMTP, reputation monitoring, and batching controls. Usually costs less than SendGrid.

**Mailgun** - Built for sending lots of emails. Has tracking tools, SDKs for every language, and enterprise features. Costs about the same as SendGrid.

**Postmark** - When your transactional emails absolutely have to arrive fast. Emails land in seconds. Keeps marketing separate from transactional. Costs more but worth it for critical emails.

**Amazon SES** - Cheapest option if you're on AWS - pay 10 cents per 1,000 emails. Takes more work to set up but saves money at scale.

**Resend** - Clean, modern API that developers actually enjoy using. Great docs, easy integration. Newer service but growing fast.

**What to watch out for:** Some services only do transactional email (Postmark). Others do both marketing and transactional (Bento, Mailgun). SES saves money but needs more setup. Pick what fits your situation.

For more on transactional email, read our [best transactional email services](/posts/best-transactional-email-services) guide. To understand deliverability better, see [email deliverability tools](/posts/email-deliverability-tools).

## Why Look for SendGrid Alternatives?

SendGrid works, but it has issues. Here's why people switch:

**Price goes up fast.** SendGrid starts at $19.95/month for 50,000 emails. That jumps quickly as you grow. Amazon SES costs 75% less. Bento often beats SendGrid's pricing too.

**Emails land in spam.** SendGrid shares IP addresses between customers. If someone else sends spam, your reputation suffers. Services like Postmark and Bento handle deliverability better.

**Jack of all trades, master of none.** SendGrid does both transactional and marketing email. But it's not great at either. Postmark beats it for transactional. Marketing platforms beat it for campaigns.

**Developers don't love it.** The API works, but it's not fun to use. Documentation could be clearer. Services like Resend and Bento make integration easier.

SendGrid does the job. But you might find something that fits better. Price, deliverability, features, developer experience. Pick what matters most to you.

## How SendGrid Alternatives Compare

### Pricing

**Note on Bento:** Unlike the others, Bento charges by **contact (subscriber)**, not by the number of emails sent. You can send unlimited emails to your contacts. The price listed below assumes you have 3,000 contacts or fewer (the minimum tier).

| Provider | Free Tier (Monthly) | Starting Paid Plan | Cost for ~50,000 Emails | Best For |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Bento** | 30-day free trial | $30/mo (up to 3k contacts) | **$30.00*** | CRM & Automation |
| **Amazon SES** | 3,000 emails (for 12 mos) | Pay-as-you-go | **$5.00** | Lowest absolute price |
| **Resend** | 3,000 emails | $20/mo (includes 50k) | **$20.00** | Developer Experience (DX) |
| **Mailgun** | 5,000 emails (1 mo trial) | $15/mo | **$35.00** | High Volume & Analytics |
| **Postmark** | 100 emails (Developer) | $15/mo (10k emails) | **$55.00** | Speed & Deliverability |

### Bento: Email API with Deliverability Built In

![bento](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/UkmTILUGISwVjk5ISQmdH/07c24a1df56806a53574e959142956e4/bento.png)

**Who it's for:** Apps that need emails to actually reach the inbox.

**What makes it different:** Most email services just send your emails. You handle deliverability yourself. Bento includes the tools you need: authentication setup, reputation monitoring, batching controls. All in the base price.

The API works with all major languages. Transactional emails stay separate from marketing emails, so one doesn't hurt the other's reputation.

**Pricing:** You pay $0.01 for users/contacts you store, starting with $30.

**Pick Bento if:** You want deliverability tools included. You're tired of emails landing in spam. You want to pay less than SendGrid without sacrificing features.

**Stick with SendGrid if:** You're already deep into their platform. You need a specific SendGrid feature that Bento doesn't have.

### Mailgun: Built for Big Senders

![mailgun-by-sinch](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3Cncb1R8f2GX0hpnoMrXx4/44ffa67076392903deaff9800f139a6e/mailgun-by-sinch.png)

**Who it's for:** Companies sending millions of emails daily.

**What makes it different:** Mailgun handles massive volume without breaking a sweat. SDKs for every language (Node.js, PHP, Go, Java, Ruby). Tracking tells you everything: who opened, who clicked, what bounced.

The API handles errors well. Documentation actually helps. Analytics show exactly how your emails perform.

**Pricing:** About the same as SendGrid, it starts at $15/month for 10,000 emails to start. Since price is similar, pick based on features.

**Pick Mailgun if:** You send tons of email, you need detailed tracking, you want SDKs for multiple languages.

**Stick with SendGrid if:** You like SendGrid's interface better. The services are similar enough that switching might not be worth it.

### Postmark: When Speed Really Matters

![postmark-by-activecampaign](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/yOaVs2BuyI1HaHB2b3B3X/0b4e12fd1a9ce8aaadd246986eb7b451/postmark-by-activecampaign.png)

**Who it's for:** Apps where slow emails hurt the business.

**What makes it different:** Postmark only does transactional email. No marketing. This focus means emails arrive in seconds, not minutes. Uptime is incredible. Your password resets and order confirmations stay separate from marketing campaigns.

Clean API that works. Good docs. Libraries for Rails, Ruby, .NET, Java, PHP, and Node.js.

**Pricing:** Costs  $15/month for 10,000 emails. But remember, this is just for transactional - you'll need another service for marketing.

**Pick Postmark if:** Your transactional emails are critical - a delayed password reset means lost customers. The extra cost is worth the reliability.

**Stick with SendGrid if:** You want one service for everything. You can't justify the higher price for speed.

### Amazon SES: Cheap If You're Technical

![amazon-ses](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/q9JJNhn6ZZxvnabpZ7H9L/218f6cdd9b224eeb68e1e6c0f257d027/amazon-ses.png)

**Who it's for:** AWS users who can handle setup themselves.

**What makes it different:** SES costs way less than anything else. Ten cents per 1,000 emails. No monthly fees. First year gives you 3,000 free emails monthly.

If you use AWS already, SES fits right in. CloudWatch for monitoring. Lambda for automation. Everything connects.

**Pricing:** SendGrid charges $19.95 for 50,000 emails. That's 40 cents per 1,000. SES costs 10 cents per 1,000. Four times cheaper.

**Pick SES if:** You're on AWS. You know your way around infrastructure. You want the lowest price possible.

**Stick with SendGrid if:** AWS confuses you. You want someone else to handle the technical stuff. You need features SES doesn't have.

### Resend: Built for Developers

![resend](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/454lXLKBxSAN80lcutw82W/73f481177c8794f84510cd5316ffd209/resend.png)

**Who it's for:** Developers who care about good APIs.

**What makes it different:** Resend feels modern. The API makes sense. Documentation actually helps. Integration takes minutes, not hours.

You get templates, webhooks, and solid delivery. It's newer than the others, but developers like it.

**Pricing:** Similar to SendGrid. Free tier exists. Paid plans start around $20/month.

**Pick Resend if:** You want an API that's actually nice to use. You value developer experience over having every possible feature.

**Stick with SendGrid if:** You need specific enterprise features. You prefer established services with longer track records.

## Key Differences: SendGrid vs Alternatives

Here's how they stack up:

**Price:** Amazon SES costs 75% less at scale. Bento usually beats SendGrid too. Postmark and Mailgun cost about the same.

**Getting to the inbox:** Postmark wins for transactional email delivery. Bento includes tools to help. Mailgun does well. SendGrid is okay but nothing special.

**Features:** Mailgun has the most enterprise stuff. Postmark focuses only on transactional. Bento includes deliverability tools. SendGrid tries to do everything.

**Developer happiness:** Resend has the best API. Bento's docs are solid. Mailgun is powerful but complex. SendGrid works but feels dated.

Each service does something well. Pick based on what you need most.

## Migration Considerations

Switching from SendGrid? Here's what to expect:

**You'll need to update your code.** Every service has a different API. Plan a few days for updating and testing. Most services have migration guides to help.

**Not every feature will exist.** Check that your must-have SendGrid features exist in the new service before switching.

**Do the math first.** Pricing structures vary. Some charge per email, others per contact. Calculate your actual costs before committing.

**Your delivery might dip temporarily.** When you switch, email providers need time to learn your new sending patterns. Watch your metrics closely for the first few weeks.

Migration takes work but it's doable. Most companies can switch in a week or two with proper planning.

## Where Bento Fits: SendGrid Alternative with Deliverability Built In

Thinking about switching from SendGrid? Here's what Bento offers.

**Email API that works.** Send emails from your code with our REST API. Get webhooks for delivery events. SDKs for all major languages. Works just like SendGrid but often easier to implement.

**SMTP too.** Need SMTP? We have servers ready. Port 587 with STARTTLS. Authenticate with API keys. Drop it into your existing mail setup.

**Deliverability tools included.** Other services make you figure out deliverability yourself. We include authentication setup, reputation monitoring, and batching controls. No extra charges. No separate tools to buy.

**Better pricing for most.** You pay for emails sent, not contacts stored. As you grow, this saves money compared to SendGrid's model.

**Pick Bento if:** You want deliverability tools without extra cost. You're tired of emails landing in spam. You want to pay less than SendGrid.

**Stay with SendGrid if:** You need specific SendGrid features we don't have. You're too deep in their ecosystem to switch easily.

We're not trying to be SendGrid. If SendGrid works for you, great. But if you want better deliverability tools and pricing, we can help.

## Ready to Choose Your SendGrid Alternative?

First, figure out what matters most. Is it price? Getting emails delivered? Features? Developer experience? Once you know that, picking gets easier.

Run the numbers. Calculate what each service costs at your volume. SES wins on price. Bento often beats SendGrid. Postmark and Mailgun cost about the same.

Think about deliverability. Postmark is best for transactional. Bento includes the tools you need. Mailgun does well. SendGrid is average.

Check the features you actually use. Mailgun has enterprise features. Postmark only does transactional. Bento includes deliverability tools. SendGrid tries to do it all.

Try before you buy. Most services have free trials. Test the API. Send some emails. See what works.

**More guides:** Read our [best transactional email services](/posts/best-transactional-email-services) comparison. Learn about [email deliverability tools](/posts/email-deliverability-tools). Compare [SMTP email services](/posts/best-smtp-email-services).

The right SendGrid alternative depends on your needs. Consider price, deliverability, features, and developer experience. If you want to learn more about Bento, [reach out](https://bentonow.com).

Find SendGrid alternatives for email sending. Compare email API services, SMTP providers, and platforms that offer better pricing, features, or deliverability.

SendGrid Alternatives: Compare Email API Services

Data breach notification. Product recall. Legal notice. Sometimes you have to email everyone, including people who unsubscribed years ago.

You need to send these high-stakes, legally mandated emails without destroying your sender reputation. This guide follows [M3AAWG's industry best practices](https://www.m3aawg.org/SendingMandatedEmailsBP) to get you through it.

## Quick Summary: What You Need to Know

Mandated email essentials:
- Coordinate with your ESP before you send anything (that means us as Bento). 
- Use separate infrastructure that keeps risk away from production traffic.
- Authenticate every message with SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and TLS.
- Keep content short and free from marketing language.
- Never spin up a brand-new domain for this work.

Mandated emails break every email marketing rule. You have to send them by law, even to people who hate getting emails from you. Get this wrong and your reputation suffers for months. Get it right and you minimize the damage.

**The golden rule:** Treat mandated emails as emergency communications, not marketing opportunities.

## What Are Mandated Emails?

Mandated emails are messages you're legally required to send, even though they'll perform poorly. Think of them as emergency broadcasts for email.

### Common Types of Mandated Emails

Breach notifications with language such as "Your data may have been compromised". Product recalls sent as "Stop using this product immediately". Privacy policy changes that say "New legal requirements affect you". Health and safety notices that share important safety details. Account security alerts that warn about suspicious activity.

### When You Must Send to Everyone

These situations override normal email preferences. Data breaches that require notification by law. Product recalls affecting consumer safety. Court-ordered communications. Regulatory compliance notifications. Emergency safety alerts.

When Equifax was breached in 2017, they had to notify all affected customers, including those who had opted out of marketing emails years earlier. That's the reality of mandated emails.

## Why Mandated Emails Are Risky

These emails perform poorly for obvious reasons. Recipients don't recognize you anymore. The content sounds urgent or scary. You're emailing addresses that haven't been active in years. People panic and hit the spam button. Legal language confuses recipients.

The reputation damage compounds quickly. Gmail and Outlook see your volume spike suddenly. They notice you emailing users who previously reported you as spam or unsubscribed. High bounce rates signal poor list hygiene. Spam complaints hurt your future deliverability. Your regular marketing emails suffer for months afterward.

## Before You Send: Critical Preparation

### Step 1: Notify Mailbox Providers First

Contact ISPs before sending anything. Look at your email list and figure out which providers will get the most emails. Contact each one and tell them you're sending a mandated email. Ask them to whitelist your domain and IP for the campaign duration.

Contact these postmaster addresses:
- Gmail: `postmaster@gmail.com`
- Yahoo: `postmaster@yahoo.com`  
- Outlook: `postmaster@outlook.com`
- Major ESPs: Check their postmaster pages

Send them something like this:
```
Subject: Advance Notice: Mandated Email Communication - [Your Company]

Dear Postmaster Team,

[Your Company] is required to send a mandated email notification regarding [breach/recall/legal notice] to our entire user base on [date].

Details:
• Sending volume: [X emails over Y days]
• Sending infrastructure: [IP ranges/domains]
• Reason: [Legal requirement/safety notice]
• Content: [Brief description, sample attached]

We understand this may result in elevated complaints and bounces. We are following M3AAWG best practices for mandated communications.

Please let us know if you can whitelist our domain/IP for the duration of the email campaign.

Contact: [Your email and phone]
```

### Step 2: Set Up Dedicated Infrastructure

Never use your regular marketing setup for mandated emails. Create a new subdomain like `legal.yourcompany.com` or `security.yourcompany.com`. Talk to your ESP about using a separate IP pool if possible. Set up dedicated authentication with SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and TLS. Prepare for bounce rates that are much higher than normal. Most importantly, send as slowly as you possibly can.

Separate infrastructure matters because it isolates reputation damage from your regular sending. It makes tracking easier. It prevents cross-contamination between mandated and marketing emails. It signals to ISPs that this isn't regular marketing.

### Step 3: Configure Authentication (Essential)

Authentication is non-negotiable for mandated emails. Set up SPF to include your sending IPs. Sign all messages with DKIM. Set a strict DMARC policy. Enable TLS for security.

Your authentication might look like this:
```
notices.yourcompany.com:
SPF: "v=spf1 include:_spf.yourcompany.com ~all"
DKIM: Selector: mandated._domainkey
DMARC: "v=DMARC1; p=reject; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourcompany.com"
```

## Content Guidelines: Less Is More

### Subject Line Best Practices

Clear, honest subject lines work best. Try something like `Important Security Notice from [Company Name]` or `[Company Name]: Required Safety Information` or `Action Required: [Company Name] Account Security`.

Avoid subject lines that scream spam. Skip the all-caps `URGENT: IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!!!` approach. Don't write `You've Been Breached - Click Here Now`. Never use `Final Notice` when it's actually the first notice.

### Email Body Guidelines

Keep the email body minimal and factual:

```
From: Company Name Security Team <notices@company.com>
Subject: Important Security Notice from Company Name

Dear [Name/Customer],

We are required to notify you that [clear explanation of situation].

What happened: [Brief, factual description]
What we're doing: [Steps being taken]  
What you should do: [Clear instructions]

For more information, log into your account at company.com 
or call us at 1-800-XXX-XXXX.

Sincerely,
Company Name Security Team

This is a required notification. You are receiving this regardless
of your email preferences due to [legal requirement/safety concern].
```

Follow these content rules strictly. No marketing content whatsoever. Use minimal tracking pixels. Limit links to essential destinations only. Stick with plain text or simple HTML. Include a clear reason for sending the email.

## Sending Strategy: Slow and Steady

### Volume Management

Spread your sends over multiple days or even weeks. Start with the most engaged users on day one. Send to active subscribers on day two. Reach the rest of your valid addresses on day three. Hold previously bounced addresses until day four or later, and only email them if the law requires it.

If possible, spread the send over a month. This prevents volume spikes with any single ISP. When you must send quickly, prioritize engaged lists first. Then spread inactive lists over several weeks.

Slow sending works because it reduces ISP alarm bells. You have time to monitor and adjust. You can respond to issues as they arise. The reputation impact spreads out instead of hitting all at once.

### Audience Segmentation

Send to your audiences in this order. Start with current customers since they're most likely to expect emails from you. Move to active subscribers who have engaged recently. Then inactive subscribers with no recent engagement. Follow with unsubscribed users who opted out but still need notification. Finally, send to previously bounced addresses only if legally mandated.

## Managing the Aftermath

### Monitor Everything

Watch these key metrics closely. Expect bounce rates 10-30% higher than normal. Complaint rates might hit 2-5 times your usual rate. Track delivery rates by ISP. Monitor support ticket volume.

Set up alerts for critical thresholds. Alert when complaint rate exceeds 1%. Alert for bounce rates over 15%. Watch for delivery failures to major ISPs. Check for blacklist additions immediately.

### Damage Control

If things go wrong, follow this timeline. Stop additional sends within the first hour if you can. Contact the affected ISPs during hour two. Assess reputation damage on day one. Adjust future sending practices during week one. Resume normal sending gradually in month one.

Common issues have straightforward fixes. High bounce rates mean you need to clean your list for future sends. Spam complaints require clearer explanations in future emails. Blacklist issues need direct contact with operators. Most are reasonable about delisting when you explain the situation professionally. Delivery blocks require working with ISP postmaster teams.

## Real-World Examples

### ✅ Good: Financial Institution Breach Notice

```
From: "SecureBank Security Team" <security@securebank.com>
Subject: Important Security Update from SecureBank

Dear Account Holder,

We are required by law to notify you of a security incident 
that may have affected your account information.

What happened: On [date], we discovered unauthorized access 
to our customer database.

What was accessed: Names, email addresses, phone numbers. 
No financial information or account numbers were accessed.

What we're doing: We've secured the vulnerability, contacted 
law enforcement, and are providing free credit monitoring.

What you should do: 
1. Monitor your accounts for suspicious activity
2. Consider changing your online banking password
3. Call us at 1-800-XXX-XXXX with questions

Visit securebank.com/security-update for detailed information.

This notification is required by state and federal law. You are 
receiving this regardless of your communication preferences.
```

This works because it has clear sender identification. The tone is factual, not alarmist. It provides specific information. Next steps are clear. It explains why everyone received it.

### ❌ Bad: Tech Company "Emergency" Update

```
From: "TechCorp URGENT" <emergency@newdomain-tech.com>
Subject: CRITICAL: Your Account is at RISK!!!

ATTENTION ALL USERS!!!

YOUR ACCOUNT MAY BE COMPROMISED! CLICK HERE IMMEDIATELY 
to secure your information before it's too late!

We've discovered a MASSIVE security breach and need you 
to ACT NOW! Don't wait - CLICK THE LINK BELOW:

>>> SECURE MY ACCOUNT NOW <<<
(Goes to suspicious-looking domain)

This is an EMERGENCY communication! Forward to friends!
```

This fails spectacularly. It looks exactly like phishing or spam. The new domain raises immediate suspicion. All caps creates unnecessary panic. The links look suspicious. There's no clear company identification.

## Advanced Strategies for Large Organizations

### Multiple Communication Channels

Email shouldn't be your only channel for mandated communications. Use website banners prominently. Send SMS notifications to verified numbers. Mail postal letters for serious breaches. Post on social media channels. Work with traditional media for major recalls.

### Risk-Based Segmentation

Tailor your approach based on user risk level:

High-risk users are the people who have been active recently. Email them immediately with minimal content. Medium-risk users are inactive but still valid. Email them with added context and explanations. Low-risk users are long inactive or have bounced. Consider alternative communication methods for them.

### Legal Coordination

Your legal team needs to be involved throughout the process. They'll help with required language and disclaimers. They know timing requirements by jurisdiction. They'll ensure proper documentation for compliance. They can suggest alternative communication methods when appropriate.

## Tools and Resources

### Email Authentication Checkers
- [AboutMyEmail](https://aboutmy.email/): Complete email testing
- [MXToolbox](https://mxtoolbox.com/): DNS and blacklist checking
- [DMARC Analyzer](https://www.dmarcanalyzer.com/): Authentication monitoring

### M3AAWG Resources
- [M3AAWG Best Practices for Sending Mandated Emails](https://www.m3aawg.org/SendingMandatedEmailsBP)
- [M3AAWG Sender Best Common Practices](https://www.m3aawg.org/documents/en/m3aawg-sender-best-common-practices-version-30)
- [M3AAWG Email Authentication Best Practices](https://www.m3aawg.org/sites/default/files/m3aawg-email-authentication-recommended-best-practices-09-2020.pdf)

## Implementation Checklist

### ✅ Pre-Send Checklist

Technical setup needs to be perfect. Configure your dedicated subdomain. Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Enable TLS on sending servers. Arrange a separate IP pool if available.

Coordination prevents surprises. Consult your legal team early. Notify ISPs at least 48 hours ahead. Prepare your support team for inquiries. Have alternative communication channels ready.

Content must be clear and minimal. Write a factual subject line. Include only essential content. Remove all marketing or promotional content. Clearly explain why you're sending the email. Include multiple contact methods.

### ✅ During Send Checklist

Monitor everything in real-time. Watch delivery rates constantly. Set bounce and complaint rate alerts. Track support ticket volume. Check ISP delivery status frequently.

Manage volume carefully. Spread sending over multiple days. Send to priority audiences first. Keep pausing capability ready. Adjust throttling as needed.

### ✅ Post-Send Checklist

Assess the damage honestly. Analyze final delivery and bounce rates. Measure reputation impact across ISPs. Check blacklist status immediately. Maintain ISP relationships.

Plan your recovery strategy. Adjust regular sending schedule. Complete thorough list cleaning. Document lessons learned. Plan process improvements for next time.

## The Bottom Line

Mandated emails are necessary but painful. You can't avoid sending them. You can minimize damage by treating them as emergency communications, not marketing. Coordinate with ISPs before sending. Use separate infrastructure to isolate impact. Keep content minimal and factual. Monitor everything and respond quickly.

The goal isn't perfect deliverability. It's getting legally required information to people while minimizing long-term reputation damage.

When in doubt, choose transparency and simplicity. Your recipients' safety matters more than your open rates.

---

*Based on M3AAWG Best Practices for Sending Mandated Emails to Large Audiences. For the latest guidance, visit [www.m3aawg.org](https://www.m3aawg.org/SendingMandatedEmailsBP).*

Data breach? Product recall? Legal notice required? Sometimes you have no choice but to email everyone—including people who unsubscribed years ago. Here's how to send those high-stakes, legally mandated emails without tanking your sender reputation.

How to Send Mandated Emails Without Destroying Your Reputation

If you send bulk email to Outlook, Hotmail, or Live.com, Microsoft has new rules starting May 5, 2025. If you miss them, your emails will struggle to reach inboxes. Some may be rejected.

## Quick Summary: What's Happening?

Starting **May 5, 2025**, Microsoft will reject emails from bulk senders, 5,000 or more per day, that do not meet authentication requirements. This affects anyone sending to:
- @outlook.com
- @hotmail.com  
- @live.com

**The good news:** If you already comply with Gmail and Yahoo rules from 2024, you are close. Only a few Microsoft-specific tweaks are needed.

**The great news for Bento customers:** We already have this covered. Open the DNS dashboard and confirm your records are green.

## Why This Matters

Email authentication is like showing ID at a secure building. Without it, you do not get in. From May 5, Microsoft will enforce this strictly.

**If you ignore this:**
- Your emails get rejected with error: `550; 5.7.515 Access denied`
- Your customers don't receive important emails like password resets, order confirmations, or marketing emails
- Your email reputation suffers
- You lose revenue from failed email campaigns

## Who This Affects

You are a bulk sender if you send **5,000 or more emails per day** to Microsoft consumer domains. This includes:

- **All emails from your domain count together.** If marketing@company.com sends 3,000 and support@company.com sends 2,500, that is 5,500 total.
- **Bounced emails count too.** Failed deliveries still add to your total.
- **Business emails like company@microsoft365.com are not affected** yet.

### Real Example:
An e-commerce company with multiple departments:
- Marketing team: 2,000 emails/day
- Order confirmations: 1,500 emails/day  
- Customer support: 1,000 emails/day
- Abandoned cart reminders: 800 emails/day
**Total: 5,300 emails/day = bulk sender**

## The Requirements: Explained Simply

### 1. SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
**What it is:** A list of servers and IPs allowed to send email for your domain.

**Think of it like:** A guest list at an exclusive party. If Microsoft does not see your server on the list, you do not get in.

**What you need to do:** Update your SPF record to include every provider that sends email for you. 

**For Bento customers:** If you added your DNS records, this is already handled. Our setup will not clash with your existing SPF record.

### 2. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)  
**What it is:** A digital signature proving your email hasn't been tampered with.

**Think of it like:** A wax seal on a letter. If the seal is broken, someone tampered with it.

**What you need to do:** Set up signing keys in your DNS and configure your email system to sign messages.

**For Bento customers:** If you added your DNS records, this is already handled. 

### 3. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication)
**What it is:** Instructions telling Microsoft what to do if your email fails SPF or DKIM.

**Think of it like:** Instructions to the bouncer: "If someone claims to be from my company but isn't on the list, don't let them in."

**What you need to do:** Create a DMARC policy with at least p=quarantine that aligns with SPF or DKIM.

## Timeline: Mark Your Calendar

```
📅 May 5, 2025
├─ Authentication requirements enforced
├─ Non-compliant emails REJECTED (not just filtered)
└─ Error: 550; 5.7.515 Access denied

⏰ NOW
└─ Start preparing immediately
```

## Step-by-Step Compliance Checklist

### ✅ Step 1: Check Your Current Status
Use free tools to verify your authentication:
- [AboutMyEmail](https://aboutmy.email/)
- [DMARC Analyzer](https://www.dmarcanalyzer.com/)
- [MXToolbox](https://mxtoolbox.com/emailhealth.aspx)

### ✅ Step 2: Set Up SPF (not required for Bento customers)
1. List all services that send email for you (ESP, CRM, etc.)
2. Create SPF record: `v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all`
3. Add to your DNS as a TXT record
4. Test using: `nslookup -type=txt yourdomain.com`

### ✅ Step 3: Configure DKIM (not required for Bento customers)
1. Generate DKIM keys (your email provider usually helps)
2. Add public key to DNS
3. Enable DKIM signing in your email system
4. Verify signatures are working

### ✅ Step 4: Implement DMARC
1. Start with: `v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com`
2. Add as TXT record to `_dmarc.yourdomain.com`
3. Monitor reports to ensure alignment
4. Gradually increase to p=quarantine or p=reject

### ✅ Step 5: Additional Best Practices
- **Valid From and Reply-To addresses:** Avoid "noreply@". Use real, monitored addresses, and fix bounces quickly. This is important.
- **Easy unsubscribe:** Clear, visible unsubscribe links in every marketing email
- **List hygiene:** Remove bounced and inactive addresses regularly
- **Honest subject lines:** No clickbait or misleading headers

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

### ❌ "I'll just use noreply@ addresses"
Microsoft wants real addresses that can receive replies. Consider using
- `hello@company.com`
- `support@company.com`
- `feedback@company.com`

### ❌ "My ESP handles everything"
Even if you use Mailchimp or SendGrid, you must set up DMARC in your DNS.

### ❌ "I'll wait until May to start"
Authentication setup can take weeks to properly configure and test. Start now.

## What Happens If You Are Not Ready

Starting May 5, 2025, non-compliant emails will see:
```
550; 5.7.515 Access denied, sending domain [YourDomain.com] 
does not meet the required authentication level.
```

Your emails won't reach recipients. Period.

## Tools & Resources

### Testing Tools:
- **SPF Check:** [SPF Record Checker](https://mxtoolbox.com/spf.aspx)
- **DKIM Validator:** [DKIM Record Checker](https://mxtoolbox.com/dkim.aspx)
- **DMARC Tester:** [DMARC Record Checker](https://mxtoolbox.com/dmarc.aspx)

### Email Service Provider Guides:
- [SendGrid Authentication Guide](https://docs.sendgrid.com/ui/account-and-settings/how-to-set-up-domain-authentication)
- [Mailchimp Authentication Guide](https://mailchimp.com/help/set-up-custom-domain-authentication-dkim-and-spf/)
- [Amazon SES Authentication Guide](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ses/latest/dg/send-email-authentication.html)

If you are a Bento customer, open your dashboard and click "Sender Authentication" to follow the tailored guide.

## FAQs

### Q: Do these rules apply to transactional emails?
**A:** Yes, if you send 5,000 or more emails per day in total. One-click unsubscribe is required for marketing emails only. We still recommend adding it to all emails for safety.

### Q: What if I send less than 5,000 emails/day?
**A:** You are not required to comply, but these practices improve deliverability.

### Q: Can I get an extension past May 5?
**A:** No. Microsoft has been clear about the deadline.

### Q: Do subdomains count separately?
**A:** No. Email from news.company.com and support.company.com counts together toward the 5,000 limit.

## Quick Wins: Start Here

If you're overwhelmed, start with these three actions today:

1. **Check your current authentication across every provider you use** using AboutMyEmail.
2. **Contact your email service provider** about their Microsoft compliance.
3. **Set up DMARC monitoring** even at p=none to see who is sending as you. If you use a DNS provider like Cloudflare, this can be a one-click setup.

## The Bottom Line

Microsoft's new requirements are about making email safer for everyone. By implementing proper authentication, you avoid rejection, build trust with recipients, and protect your brand.

**Remember:** May 5, 2025 is a firm deadline. Start preparing now.

---

*Need help? Most email service providers offer authentication setup assistance. Do not wait until the last minute to ask for help. If you're a Bento customer, you can book a call anytime to step through it.* 

If you send bulk emails to Outlook, Hotmail, or Live.com addresses, Microsoft has new rules starting May 5, 2025. Miss these requirements, and your emails will struggle to reach your customers' inboxes (some may be rejected entirely).

Microsoft's New Email Rules for 2025: What You Need to Know (And Do)

Microsoft has new email rules starting May 5th

Google just updated their email guidelines with specific rules about display names. Get this wrong, and your emails may struggle to reach Gmail inboxes—even if everything else is perfect.

Here's what you need to know, explained simply.

## Quick Summary: What's Happening?

Google now enforces strict rules about email display names (the "From" name recipients see). Break these rules, and your deliverability suffers—especially for commercial and bulk emails.

**The key rule:** Your display name must identify WHO you are, not WHAT you're saying.

**The good news:** These changes are easy to implement—just update your email settings, especiall if you're a Bento customer.

## Why Should You Care?

Your display name is the first thing recipients see. Google's cracking down on senders who abuse this space to trick people into opening emails.

**What happens if you ignore this:**
- Lower deliverability to Gmail accounts
- Emails land in spam instead of inbox
- Damaged sender reputation
- Lost revenue from failed campaigns

## The Rules: What's Allowed vs. What's Not

### ✅ GOOD Display Names
These clearly identify the sender:
- `Acme Corporation`
- `Sarah from Acme`
- `Acme Support Team`
- `Acme Newsletter`

### ❌ BAD Display Names
These try to trick or mislead:
- `Important Update ---------- From Acme`
- `TIME IS RUNNING OUT (SALE)`
- `[Product/News] Alert`
- `URGENT REQUEST`
- `Last Chance`

## The Three Cardinal Sins

### 1. Don't Put Subject Lines in Display Names
**Why people do it:** To grab attention in crowded inboxes.
**Why it's bad:** It's deceptive and breaks Gmail's guidelines.

**Examples to avoid:**
- `FINAL NOTICE - Company Name`
- `50% OFF TODAY ONLY`
- `Action Required: Your Account`

**Do this instead:**
- Use your actual company/sender name
- Put urgent info in the subject line where it belongs

### 2. Don't Pretend It's a Personal Message
**Why people do it:** To increase open rates by faking familiarity.
**Why it's bad:** It's misleading and erodes trust.

**Examples to avoid:**
- `[recipient's first name] <info@company.com>`
- `User (2)` (implying multiple messages)
- `Re: Your Question` (when it's not a reply)

**Do this instead:**
- Use consistent sender names
- Build real relationships, not fake ones

### 3. Don't Use Weird Characters or Emojis
**Why people do it:** To stand out visually.
**Why it's bad:** It looks spammy and unprofessional.

**Examples to avoid:**
- `🔴 LATEST UPDATE`
- `★★★ Special Offer ★★★`
- `M̲A̲I̲L̲ M̲E̲` (underlined characters)
- `[1] New Message` (fake notification badges)

**Do this instead:**
- Use clean, professional display names
- Let your content quality drive engagement

## Real-World Examples: Before & After

### E-commerce Store
❌ **Before:** `🛍️ SALE ENDS TODAY - ShopName`
✅ **After:** `ShopName`

### SaaS Company
❌ **Before:** `[Action Required] BillingAlert`
✅ **After:** `Acme Billing Team`

### Newsletter
❌ **Before:** `📰 Daily News You Need`
✅ **After:** `TechNews Daily`

### Customer Support
❌ **Before:** `URGENT: Ticket #12345`
✅ **After:** `Acme Support`

## Implementation Checklist

### ✅ Step 1: Audit Your Current Display Names
Check all your email streams:
- Marketing campaigns
- Transactional emails
- Support messages
- Automated notifications

### ✅ Step 2: Update Non-Compliant Names
In your email service provider:
1. Go to sender settings
2. Update "From Name" field
3. Remove any subject-like content
4. Keep it simple and honest

### ✅ Step 3: Create Naming Standards
Document your approach:
- `[Company Name]` for general emails
- `[Name] from [Company]` for personal outreach
- `[Company] [Department]` for specific teams

### ✅ Step 4: Test Your Changes
Send test emails to:
- Your own Gmail account
- Team members
- Email testing tools

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

### ❌ "But my open rates will drop!"
Good display names build long-term trust. Tricks might boost short-term opens but damage your reputation.

### ❌ "Everyone else does it"
Google's actively enforcing these rules. What worked yesterday might fail tomorrow.

### ❌ "It's just marketing emails"
These rules apply to ALL emails—transactional, marketing, and support.

## Quick Wins: Fix These Today

1. **Remove ALL CAPS** from display names
2. **Delete emojis** and special characters
3. **Remove action words** like "URGENT" or "IMPORTANT"
4. **Standardize names** across all email types

## The Psychology Behind Good Display Names

**Build Trust:** `Acme Corporation` feels legitimate
**Set Expectations:** `Acme Newsletter` tells them what it is
**Create Recognition:** Consistent names build brand awareness

## Tools to Test Your Display Names

- Send test emails to Gmail and check how they appear
- Use AboutMy.email to check rendering of your email
- Monitor your sender reputation dashboards

## The Bottom Line

Google's display name guidelines aren't about limiting creativity—they're about honesty in email. By using clear, accurate display names, you're not just following rules; you're respecting your recipients and building a sustainable email program.

**Remember:** Your display name is your digital handshake. Make it firm, professional, and honest.

---

*Pro tip: When in doubt, ask yourself: "Does this display name honestly identify who I am?" If the answer is no, change it.* 

Google just updated their email guidelines with specific rules about display names. Get this wrong, and your emails may struggle to reach Gmail inboxes—even if everything else is perfect.

Google's New Email Display Name Rules: Don't Let Your Name Tank Your Deliverability

Google has new email display name rules

Starting with a new domain for email? Finally got the new .com? Planning to ramp up your email volume significantly? Then domain warming isn't optional—it's essential.


Domain Warming: The Complete Guide to Building Email Reputation (2025)

How to warm up a new domain

Learn transactional email best practices to improve deliverability and user experience. Understand what makes effective transactional emails and how to design them.

Transactional Email Best Practices: Complete Guide

You know those emails your app sends. Password resets. Order confirmations. Account alerts. If they don't reach your users, you get support tickets. One bad experience could be enough to lose you a customer.

Picking a transactional email provider isn't like choosing other tools. Price matters, sure. But if your emails don't reach inboxes, the cheapest provider becomes the most expensive one. You need to think about deliverability, API quality, and what happens when things break at 3 AM.

This guide walks through everything you need to consider when choosing a transactional email provider. We'll cover the technical stuff (APIs, deliverability), the business stuff (pricing, support), and help you compare the major players.

## TL;DR: Quick Picks by Use Case

**Key factors that actually matter:**
- **API quality**: You'll be coding against this API for years. Bad docs cost developer time.
- **Deliverability**: Authentication setup, reputation monitoring, inbox rates
- **Reliability**: What's their actual uptime? Not the marketing number.
- **Speed**: How fast emails hit inboxes (seconds matter for password resets)
- **Pricing**: Total cost including overage fees, not just the starting price
- **Support**: Can you reach a human when your emails stop sending?

**Quick provider recommendations:**
- **Postmark** — Speed matters more than price. Great for password resets.
- **SendGrid** — Need both transactional and marketing emails. Solid middle ground.
- **Mailgun** — High volume senders who need enterprise features
- **Amazon SES** — You're already deep in AWS. Cheapest option if you handle setup.
- **Bento** — Want deliverability tools included without extra fees

**What to watch out for:** The cheapest provider often ends up costing more. Bad deliverability means emails in spam. That means angry users, support tickets, and lost customers.

For comparing transactional email services, see our [best transactional email services](/posts/best-transactional-email-services) guide. For understanding email APIs, check [what is email API](/posts/what-is-email-api).

## What Actually Matters When Choosing a Provider

After helping dozens of companies pick providers, here's what actually moves the needle:

### API Quality

You're going to live with this API for years. A bad API costs developer time every single day.

Spend 30 minutes testing their API before committing. Send a test email. Check how they handle errors. Read their docs. If the getting started guide takes more than 10 minutes, that's a red flag.

The best APIs have SDKs in your language, clear error messages, and docs with actual code examples. Not marketing fluff. Real code you can copy and run.

Here's a quick test: Can you send your first email in under 5 minutes? If not, multiply that friction by every feature you'll build.

### Deliverability

Here's the truth: if your emails don't reach inboxes, nothing else matters.

Every provider claims "great deliverability." Most are lying. Or at least stretching the truth. Real deliverability means your provider handles SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup. They monitor your reputation. They throttle sends when needed. They have relationships with inbox providers.

Ask providers for their actual inbox placement rates. Not delivery rates (which just means the email left their servers). Inbox rates. If they won't share numbers, walk away.

Some providers include deliverability tools. Others charge extra. Factor that into your pricing comparisons.

### Reliability

When your transactional emails fail, users can't reset passwords. They don't get order confirmations. Your support team gets flooded.

Every provider promises 99.9% uptime. But check their actual status page. Look at the last 90 days. Count the incidents. Read the post-mortems. That tells you more than any SLA.

Also check what happens during an outage. Do they queue emails and retry? Or do emails just disappear? Some providers have automatic failover. Others don't. Know which one you're getting.

### Speed

Password reset emails that take 5 minutes feel broken. Users click "resend" multiple times. Your inbox gets flooded with duplicates.

Test actual delivery times yourself. Send emails to Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. Time them. Do this at different times of day. Peak hours matter.

Some providers optimize for speed (Postmark delivers in seconds). Others batch sends for efficiency (can take minutes). Know what you're getting. For password resets and order confirmations, seconds matter.

### Pricing

Most companies focus too much on per-email costs. The real cost includes overage fees, deliverability tools, dedicated IPs, and developer time.

Run the numbers at your current volume, 2x volume, and 10x volume. Pricing tiers can surprise you. That cheap starter plan might become expensive fast.

Watch for hidden costs. Some providers charge extra for link tracking, opens tracking, or webhook events. Others include everything. Add it all up before comparing.

**Note on Bento:** Unlike the others, Bento charges by **contact (subscriber)**, not by the number of emails sent. You can send unlimited emails to your contacts. The price listed below assumes you have 3,000 contacts or fewer (the minimum tier).

| Provider | Free Tier (Monthly) | Starting Paid Plan | Cost for ~50,000 Emails | Best For |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Amazon SES** | 3,000 emails (for 12 mos) | Pay-as-you-go | **$5.00** | Lowest absolute price |
| **Resend** | 3,000 emails | $20/mo (includes 50k) | **$20.00** | Developer Experience (DX) |
| **SendGrid** | 100 emails/day (~3k/mo) | ~$19.95/mo (includes 50k) | **$28.00** | Marketing + Transactional Mix |
| **Mailgun** | 5,000 emails (1 mo trial) | $35/mo (includes 50k) | **$35.00** | High Volume & Analytics |
| **Postmark** | 100 emails (Developer) | $15/mo (10k emails) | **$55.00** | Speed & Deliverability |
| **SparkPost** | 500 emails (Test account) | ~$20-$30/mo | **~$20.00** | Enterprise Compliance |
| **Bento** | 30-day free trial | $30/mo (up to 3k contacts) | **$30.00*** | CRM & Automation |

### Support

Your emails stop working on a Friday night, or during Black Friday, or right after a product launch. Can you reach someone who can actually help?

Test support before you need it. Send them a technical question. See how long it takes to get a real answer - not a canned response, a real solution.

Good providers have engineers on support. Bad ones have salespeople reading scripts. You'll know the difference immediately.

## How to Actually Compare Providers

Forget comparison matrices. Here's how to really evaluate providers:

**Step 1: Know your non-negotiables.** Start with deal-breakers. Need sub-second delivery? That eliminates half the field. Must have phone support? That's another filter. Already using AWS? Maybe SES makes sense.

**Step 2: Test with real emails.** Sign up for free trials, send actual transactional emails and time them. Check how they look in different clients. Test the edge cases. What happens with attachments? Unicode characters? High volume bursts?

**Step 3: Read the incident reports.** Go to their status page and read the last year of incidents - not just the count, but the details. How did they handle problems? How fast did they communicate? How often do the same issues repeat?

**Step 4: Talk to their support.** Before you have a problem, ask a technical question and see if you get an engineer or a salesperson. Check response times. This tells you what to expect when things break.

**Step 5: Calculate the real cost.** Include everything:  per-email costs, overage fees, deliverability tools, dedicated IPs, support tiers, developer time for integration. The cheapest sticker price rarely wins.

## The Major Players (and What They're Actually Good At)

After testing all the major providers, here's the real story:

### Postmark

![postmark-by-activecampaign](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/yOaVs2BuyI1HaHB2b3B3X/0b4e12fd1a9ce8aaadd246986eb7b451/postmark-by-activecampaign.png)

**Best for:** Companies where every second counts. SaaS apps with demanding users.

**The reality:** Postmark is the Ferrari of transactional email. Emails hit inboxes in 1-2 seconds. Their API is clean. Documentation is excellent. Support actually knows what they're talking about.

**The catch:** You'll pay for that speed. $15/month for 10,000 emails. No marketing features at all, just transactional.

**When to use:** Your users expect instant password resets. You can afford the premium. You don't need marketing emails.

### SendGrid

![sendgrid-by-twilio](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/01PmW3Gx01vaGf2HM8PPly/cdc72fbf85c6b07ff9667f88cd66fb53/sendgrid-by-twilio.png)

**Best for:** Startups that need both transactional and marketing email.

**The reality:** SendGrid tries to do everything and they mostly succeed. The API is solid. Deliverability is good (not great). You get both transactional and marketing features. It's the Honda Civic of email. Reliable, affordable, gets the job done.

**The catch:** Jack of all trades, master of none. Not the fastest, not the cheapest, not the best at anything specific.

**When to use:** You need one tool for all email. Budget matters but isn't critical. You're okay with "good enough."

### Mailgun

![mailgun-by-sinch](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3Cncb1R8f2GX0hpnoMrXx4/44ffa67076392903deaff9800f139a6e/mailgun-by-sinch.png)

**Best for:** Developers who want control. High-volume senders.

**The reality:** Mailgun is built for developers. Powerful API. Great routing features. Solid infrastructure. You can do almost anything. But you'll need to figure out how.

**The catch:** More complex than others. Documentation assumes you know what you're doing. Pricing gets expensive at scale.

**When to use:** You're sending millions of emails. You need advanced routing. Your developers want flexibility.

### Amazon SES

![amazon-ses](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/q9JJNhn6ZZxvnabpZ7H9L/218f6cdd9b224eeb68e1e6c0f257d027/amazon-ses.png)

**Best for:** Companies already deep in AWS. Cost-conscious high-volume senders.

**The reality:** SES is stupid cheap: $0.10 per 1,000 emails. If you're already using AWS, integration is straightforward. But you're on your own for everything else.

**The catch:** Bare bones. No fancy UI. Minimal support. You handle deliverability yourself. Getting off the sandbox takes time.

**When to use:** You're already in AWS. Price is everything. You have engineers who can handle the complexity.

### Bento

![bento](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/owWYl4psczdBbWR2gLtKq/5677a499e07c920a30b615b93163208c/bento.png)

**Best for:** Companies that want everything included and no surprise fees.

**The reality:** Bento includes what others charge extra for. Deliverability monitoring, reputation tools, batching controls - all in the base price. The API is clean. Documentation is solid.

**The catch:** Newer player. Not as many features as enterprise platforms. Fewer integrations.

**When to use:** You want predictable pricing. Deliverability matters. You're tired of add-on fees for basic features.

## Where Bento Fits in Shortlist

Here's our pitch, straight up.

Bento does transactional email. We also do marketing email, but that's another story. For transactional, we're different in one key way: deliverability tools are included: not an add-on, not a premium tier, just included.

Our API works like you'd expect. REST endpoints, webhooks for events, SDKs in the usual languages. Nothing fancy, it just works.

**When Bento makes sense:** You want deliverability handled for you. You're tired of surprise add-on fees. You like predictable pricing. You might want marketing emails later.

**When to pick someone else:** Need the absolute fastest delivery? Postmark. Absolutely must have the cheapest price? Amazon SES. Need every enterprise feature imaginable? Mailgun or SendGrid.

We're not trying to be everything to everyone. We're good at email deliverability, reasonable pricing, and not nickel-and-diming you for features that should be standard.

## Quick Integration Reality Check

Before you commit to a provider, know what you're getting into:

**DNS setup complexity.** You'll need to add SPF records, DKIM keys, and maybe DMARC policies. Some providers walk you through it, others hand you a text file and say \"good luck.\" If you don't control your DNS, this gets complicated fast.

**Template management.** Where do templates live? In your code? Their dashboard? Both? Figure out your workflow before you have 50 templates scattered everywhere.

**Testing in development.** Some providers have sandbox modes. Others don't. You might need a separate test account or you might accidentally email real users from your dev environment. Ask about this.

**Webhook handling.** Bounces, complaints, opens, clicks - you'll want these events. That means setting up webhook endpoints, handling retries and signature verification. It's more work than you think.

**Rate limiting reality.** Every provider has limits - 10 emails per second, 1,000 per hour, whatever. Know your limits. Know what happens when you hit them. Some queue nicely. Others just reject.

## Common Mistakes to Avoid

Before you make your final decision, watch out for these traps:

**Ignoring the sandbox period.** Many providers start you in a sandbox. Limited sending. Restricted features. Getting out can take days or weeks. If you need to send immediately, ask about this upfront.

**Not testing at scale.** That provider who handles 100 emails per day might choke at 10,000. Test at realistic volumes before committing.

**Forgetting about compliance.** GDPR, CAN-SPAM, CCPA. Some providers help with compliance. Others leave you on your own. Know which you're getting.

**Overlooking migration pain.** Switching providers means updating code, migrating templates, handling DNS changes. Factor in the switching cost before you pick the cheapest option.

**Believing the marketing.** Every provider claims 99% delivery rates. Most are measuring the wrong thing. Delivery means it left their server. Inbox placement means it reached the inbox. Big difference.

## Making the Actual Decision

Pick your deal-breakers first. Must have sub-second delivery? Must integrate with your stack? Must stay under a certain price? Start there.

Then test the survivors. Really test them. Send emails. Break things. Talk to support. Check their status pages. Calculate the real costs.

Don't overthink it. You can usually migrate later if needed. But switching providers is annoying, so do enough homework to get it right the first time.

**More guides that might help:** 
- Compare providers in detail: [best transactional email services](/posts/best-transactional-email-services)
- Understand the technical side: [what is email API](/posts/what-is-email-api)
- Fix delivery problems: [email deliverability tools](/posts/email-deliverability-tools)

If you want to test Bento, grab a free trial at [bentonow.com](https://bentonow.com). We'll help you send some test emails and see if we're a good fit.

Pick the wrong transactional email provider and watch support tickets pile up. Here's what actually matters: API quality, real deliverability, and honest pricing.

How to Choose a Transactional Email Provider: Complete Guide

The domain you send emails from determines whether you land in the inbox or spam folder. Most companies get this wrong. They create clever-sounding domains for campaigns or stick everything on one subdomain. Both approaches can hurt deliverability.

This guide walks you through organizing your sending domains properly, following M³AAWG guidelines that Gmail, Outlook, and other major providers use to evaluate your emails.

## TL;DR: Use Subdomains, Not Cousin Domains

If your company is example.com, send from news.example.com, offers.example.com, or support.example.com. Never create "cousin domains" like example-deals.com or get-example-offers.com. They look fake to spam filters and destroy your deliverability.

## Understanding Domain Trust

Email providers judge domains the same way people judge storefronts. A Louis Vuitton store in a luxury mall gets instant trust. A "Luis Vutton Deals" shop in a strip mall gets suspicious looks.

When recipients see offers.nike.com in their inbox, they recognize Nike immediately. Nike-super-deals.com triggers alarm bells. People make this judgment in under a second. Spam filters work exactly the same way.

The choice between using a subdomain of your main domain versus creating a separate "cousin" domain determines your email fate. One builds trust. The other destroys it.

## Cousin Domains Kill Deliverability

Cousin domains are separate domains that try to look related to your brand. Summer-deals-at-example.com. Shop-example-now.com. Example-exclusive-offers.net. Companies register these thinking they're being creative with campaign names.

Recipients and spam filters can't verify these domains belong to you. They match exactly what phishing attacks look like. Most companies forget to redirect these domains to their main site. Someone clicks through and hits a dead page. Everything about it screams scam.

You don't need special domains for seasonal campaigns or promotions. Summer.example.com works better than summer-deals-at-example.com. Shop.example.com beats shop-example-now.com every time. Subdomains give you campaign flexibility without sacrificing trust.

## Subdomains: The Professional Approach

Subdomains keep all your email under one trusted umbrella while letting you segment different types of communication. Every successful email program uses this structure.

Marketing emails go through descriptive subdomains: offers.example.com for promotions, news.example.com for newsletters, updates.example.com for product updates. Transactional emails that customers expect use info.example.com for general notifications, orders.example.com for purchase confirmations, account.example.com for password resets.

Regional operations get their own subdomains too. UK.example.com for British customers, eu.example.com for European Union, asia.example.com for Asian markets. Different departments use support.example.com for customer service, sales.example.com for outreach, hr.example.com for internal communications.

Recipients instantly recognize anything ending in example.com as legitimate. Your subdomains inherit trust from your main domain's reputation. You manage everything under one domain registration. Each subdomain builds its own reputation for different content types. The whole system looks professional to everyone involved.

## Planning Your Subdomain Structure

Most companies send more types of email than they realize. Take inventory of everything you send. Marketing campaigns including newsletters, promotions, and product launches. Transactional emails covering order confirmations, shipping notifications, and receipts. Account emails for password resets, welcome messages, and profile updates. Support emails containing ticket responses, help articles, and status updates. Don't forget internal communications if you email employees.

Map each email type to a clear subdomain. Keep names short and obvious. News.example.com beats x7news.example.com. Offers.example.com wins over DEALS.example.com. Orders.example.com crushes trans_01.example.com. Help.example.com works better than noreply.example.com, especially since Outlook started penalizing no-reply addresses in 2024.

## Email Header Alignment Matters

Your email headers work like business cards. When all your contact information matches across cards, website, and emails, people trust you more. Email authentication works the same way.

Using a subdomain like news.example.com means aligning everything. Your Return-Path shows bounce@news.example.com. The From address displays hello@news.example.com. DKIM Signature contains d=news.example.com. Reply-To directs to feedback@news.example.com. Everything points to the same subdomain, creating perfect alignment that authentication systems love.

You can also keep your main domain in the From address while maintaining organizational alignment. Return-Path uses bounce@bounce.example.com. From displays hello@example.com. DKIM Signature shows d=example.com. Reply-To goes to support@example.com. Everything stays under the example.com umbrella, preserving trust while giving you flexibility.

## DNS Configuration Options

Three main approaches exist for setting up subdomain DNS records. Each offers different trade-offs between control and convenience.

Direct setup works when you manage your own DNS. You add SPF records specifying which servers send mail. MX records handle bounces. A records enable web tracking. DKIM keys provide authentication. You control everything and can update instantly. The downside is needing technical knowledge to manage it properly.

CNAME delegation lets your email service provider manage certain records. Bento uses this approach, handling DNS complexity for you. You point subdomains to your ESP's servers using CNAMEs. They manage the technical details. Your ESP can optimize settings without bothering you, though you lose some visibility into what's happening.

NS delegation completely hands off a subdomain to your ESP, though few companies choose this. You delegate the entire subdomain to their nameservers. Zero maintenance required, but you give up all control. Most avoid this unless they have unusual requirements.

CNAME delegation typically offers the best balance. You maintain overall control while your ESP handles the complex stuff.

## Volume Guidelines for Subdomains

Each subdomain needs sufficient volume to build reputation without concentrating too much risk in one place.

Low-volume senders under 100,000 emails monthly can use a single subdomain or domain. Simple to manage with enough volume to establish basic reputation.

Medium-volume senders between 100,000 and 1,000,000 monthly should separate marketing from transactional mail. Consider also geographic splits if you serve distinct regions.

High-volume senders over 1,000,000 monthly need dedicated subdomains per email type. Geographic subdomains become essential. Department-specific domains help distribute load. Multiple DKIM selectors prevent bottlenecks.

The optimal range sits between 100,000 and 500,000 emails monthly per subdomain. Below 100,000, reputation never solidifies and delivery stays unpredictable. 

## Migration Without Disruption

Moving from your main domain or cousin domains to proper subdomains requires careful planning to maintain delivery during transition.

Start with foundation work. Create your subdomain infrastructure. Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for each subdomain. Test with your internal team first. Send to your most engaged 5% of subscribers or activate a few low-volume automations.

Then transition gradually over two weeks. Move transactional emails first since they get better engagement. Ramp volume from 5% to 25% to 50% to 100%. Watch your metrics constantly. Keep old domains active as fallback options.

Finally, complete the switch. Migrate all remaining volume. Set up forwarding from old addresses. Update every template and system. Monitor closely for the first month to catch any issues early.

## Mistakes That Hurt Deliverability

Using mail.example.com for everything defeats the purpose of subdomains. You lose segmentation benefits and concentrate reputation risk. Split email types across multiple subdomains instead.

Cryptic names like esp47.example.com or x3n.example.com confuse recipients. People see these in their inbox and immediately get suspicious. Pick clear, descriptive names that make instant sense.

Setting up subdomains then ignoring them causes problems to compound silently. Schedule monthly reviews of each subdomain's performance. Check authentication passes, engagement rates, and spam complaints.

## Security for Your Subdomains

Subdomains need the same protection as your main domain. Configure DMARC policies for each one. Monitor for unauthorized usage weekly. Upgrade to 2048-bit DKIM keys. Protect against subdomain takeover attacks. Audit configurations quarterly. Document every active subdomain in a central location.

## Implementation Timeline

Start today by auditing your current setup. List every email type you send. Match each to an appropriate subdomain. Takes about 30 minutes.

This week, check subdomain availability with your DNS provider. Decide between direct setup, CNAME delegation, or NS delegation. Coordinate timing with your ESP. Budget 2-3 hours total.

Over two weeks, implement DNS changes methodically. Verify authentication with testing tools. Start your gradual migration. Monitor everything closely.

## Essential Tools

Planning requires basic tools. A spreadsheet works fine for mapping subdomain structure. DNS checkers verify your configurations. Authentication validators test SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

Monitoring needs ongoing attention. Postmaster tools from Gmail and Outlook track subdomain reputation. DMARC reports show authentication success rates. Your ESP provides engagement metrics per subdomain.

## Scaling Your Domain Strategy

Your subdomain approach evolves with growth.

Startups with under 50,000 subscribers keep things minimal. One or two subdomains maximum. Focus entirely on authentication basics.

Growing companies from 50,000 to 500,000 subscribers expand strategically. Three to five subdomains organized by purpose. Geographic separation if serving multiple regions.

Enterprise senders over 500,000 subscribers need complete architecture. Department and regional subdomains. Multiple DKIM selectors for load distribution. Dedicated IPs for critical subdomains.

## Build on Solid Ground

Your sending domain forms the foundation of your email program. Cousin domains crumble under scrutiny. Subdomains stand strong.

ISPs expect subdomain structures. Recipients recognize and trust them. Major brands all use them. They work consistently, build reputation effectively, and scale with your growth.

Start with three core subdomains. News.yourdomain.com handles marketing. Account.yourdomain.com manages transactional mail. Support.yourdomain.com covers customer service. Expand from there as needed. The foundation matters more than the size.

Choosing the right domain for your email campaigns isn't just a technical decision—it's the foundation of your email deliverability. Get it wrong, and even your best content lands in spam. Get it right, and you build lasting trust with both recipients and email providers.

The Complete Guide to Email Sending Domains: Why Your Choice Matters More Than You Think

How to organize your email sending domains (basic guide)

Find the best transactional email services for developers. Compare APIs, reliability, and speed to build infrastructure that delivers emails fast.

Best Transactional Email Services: Fast, Reliable Delivery

Getting hit with Microsoft's S3150 or S3140 errors? Your emails are being rejected, customers aren't getting important messages, and you're probably starting to panic.

Don't worry—we've been through this process dozens of times. Here's exactly how to get your IP delisted from Microsoft's blocklist, explained in plain English.

## Quick Summary: What's Happening?

When you see S3150 or S3140 errors, Microsoft has blocked your sending IP address due to suspicious activity or poor sending practices.

It'll look something like this in your bounce logs: 550 5.7.1 Unfortunately, messages from [X.XXX.XX.XXX] weren't sent. Please contact your Internet service provider since part of their network is on our block list (S3150). You can also refer your provider to http://mail.live.com/mail/troubleshooting.aspx#errors. [Name=Protocol Filter Agent]. 

Microsoft isn't super transparent about the reason they issue both of these errors, but it's often for the following reasons: 

```
⚠️  THE SITUATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Error S3150: IP blocked because it's some limit (i.e sending abnormal volumes of emails)  │
│ Error S3140: Reputation-based blocking (i.e too many complaints or bounces)     │
│ Result: Emails REJECTED to Outlook/Hotmail │
│ Impact: Lost revenue + frustrated customers │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

**The good news:** Microsoft's delisting process works, but you need to approach it correctly.

**The great news (if you're a Bento customer):** We handle IP reputation management for you and can often resolve these issues fast given our experience dealing with this often.

## Understanding S3150 vs S3140 Errors

### S3150: Policy-Based Blocking
**What it means:** Your IP violated Microsoft's sending policies. This doesn't necessarily mean you're doing something wrong, but it's a sign that Microsfot does want you to reach out to tell them what exactly you're doing. 

**Common causes:**
- Sudden volume spikes without proper warming
- Scaling up volume too quickly
- Sending a lot of different domains on that IP address

### S3140: Reputation-Based Blocking  
**What it means:** Your IP's is sending low quality email (aka spam).

**Common causes:**
- Consistent low engagement rates
- High bounce rates over time
- Sending patterns that look suspicious
- Association with other poor-reputation IPs

```
📊 ERROR BREAKDOWN:
┌─────────┬────────────────────────────────────┐
│ S3150   │ 🚫 Policy violation (more serious) │
│         │ Usually requires human review      │
├─────────┼────────────────────────────────────┤
│ S3140   │ 📉 Reputation issue (recoverable)  │
│         │ Often auto-resolved with good data │
└─────────┴────────────────────────────────────┘
```

## The Microsoft Delisting Process: Step-by-Step

### ✅ Step 1: Stop the Bleeding (Do This First)
Before contacting Microsoft, fix the underlying issues:

**Immediate actions:**
- Pause (or throttle) all email traffic from the affected IP
- Clean your email list (remove bounces, unengaged contacts)
- Review recent sending patterns for anomalies
- Check spam complaint rates
- Lock down all your sign up forms.
- Implement double opt in. 

Basically, you just want to make sure people getting your email actually want to get your email. You don't want to be sending to bots or have your forms abused by spammers. The latter is often a reason for an S3140.

**Bonus:**
- Read our [deliverability guide](https://bentonow.com/deliverability) and check as many boxes as possible. 

### ✅ Step 2: Gather Your Data
Microsoft wants specifics. Collect this information:

```
📋 REQUIRED INFORMATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ ✓ Blocked IP address                        │
│ ✓ Date/time of first error                  │
│ ✓ Sample of rejected emails (headers)       │
│ ✓ Your sending volume history               │
│ ✓ Steps taken to fix the issue              │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

You may need to work with your ESP to get this information.

### ✅ Step 3: Submit Your Delisting Request
Use Microsoft's official sender support form:

**Where to go:** [https://sender.office.com/](https://sender.office.com/) if you are seeing bounces on Outlook (365 - paid) accounts and [https://olcsupport.office.com/](https://olcsupport.office.com/) if you are seeing bounces on Outlook (free - hotmail.com, outlook.com) accounts.

**What to include in your request:**
- Professional, concise explanation
- Acknowledgment of the issue
- Specific steps you've taken to fix it
- Commitment to better practices going forward

### ✅ Step 3.5: Reply to the automated email

You may get an automated email back saying nothing is wrong. Their systems don't seem to automatically check for S3150 errors, so you have to reply to them and get someone manually to review your case. 

### ✅ Step 4: Write an Effective Delisting Request

Here's a template that works:

```
Subject: IP Delisting Request - [Your IP Address] - S3140

Dear Microsoft Support Team,

I am requesting delisting for IP address [X.X.X.X] which is currently 
receiving S3140 errors when sending to Microsoft domains.

Issue Details:
- First noticed: [Date/Time]
- Error type: S3140
- Affected domains: outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com
- Sending domains: example.com, example.net, example.org

Root Cause Analysis:
[Brief explanation of what caused the issue - be honest]
i.e "During the month of May, someone spammed our form with thousands of emails, which we've cleaned up and are now implementing double opt in ..." 

Corrective Actions Taken:
1. Paused all email campaigns from this IP
2. Cleaned email list (removed X unengaged contacts)
3. Implemented stricter list hygiene practices
4. [Other specific actions]

Preventive Measures:
1. Enhanced monitoring of engagement metrics
2. Improved list cleaning procedures
3. Volume ramping protocols for future campaigns
4. [Other ongoing improvements]

We take email deliverability seriously and are committed to maintaining 
best practices. Please let me know if you need additional information.

Best regards,
[Your name and company]
```

Or, if it's a S3150 and you're asking for mitigation, you can use this template: 

```
Subject: IP Mitigation Request - [Your IP Address] - S3150

Dear Microsoft Support Team,

I am requesting mitigation for IP address [X.X.X.X] which is currently 
receiving S3150 errors when sending to Microsoft domains.

Issue Details:
- First noticed: [Date/Time]
- Error type: S3150
- Affected domains: outlook.com, hotmail.com, live.com
- Sending domains: example.com, example.net, example.org

Root Cause Analysis:
[Brief explanation of what caused the issue - be honest]
i.e "During the month of May, we increased our sending volume on this list from 500 per day to 5,000 per day ... we believe this may have caused the block and are requesting mitigation to allow us to increase our email volume to your servers. Our expected volume for the next 30 days is 5,000 per day and will increase to 10,000 per day in June."

We are following best practices in regards to: 
- SPF, DKIM, DMARC

We take email deliverability seriously and are committed to maintaining 
best practices. Please let me know if you need additional information.

Best regards,
[Your name and company]
```

Additionally, include your phone number and email address in the request. More information is always better for the support agent to see you are a legitimate business and not a spammer.

### ✅ Step 5: Follow Up Appropriately
**Timeline expectations:**
- Initial response: 4-8 hours
- Resolution: 12-24 hours.
- Complex cases: Up to 2 weeks

**Follow-up rules:**
- Be professional and patient
- Provide additional information if requested
- Don't spam their support system

## Common Mistakes That Delay Delisting

### ❌ "It wasn't our fault"
Taking responsibility speeds up the process. Even if the issue wasn't entirely your fault, acknowledge your role and focus on solutions. Even in the case of listbombing, where a spammer is putting emails into your list, you still need to take responsibility as it's a security issue and fix it.

### ❌ Submitting multiple requests
One well-crafted request is better than five rushed ones. Multiple submissions can actually delay your case.

### ❌ Not fixing the underlying issue
Microsoft may check your sending practices before delisting. If the same problems persist, you'll get blocked again quickly.

## Alternative Approaches

There aren't any, you must go through official channels. 

## Prevention: Avoid Future Blocks

### Monitor These Key Metrics
```
🎯 HEALTH METRICS TO WATCH:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Bounce rate:        < 0.5%                    │
│ Complaint rate:     < 0.1%                  │  
│ Engagement rate:    > 20%                   │
│ List growth:        Steady, not sudden      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

### Best Practices Going Forward
- **Regular list cleaning** (ideally, instantly removing bounces which is something Bento does for you)
- **Double opt-in** for new subscribers
- **Gradual volume increases** when scaling
- **Monitor feedback loops** from major ISPs
- **Maintain proper authentication** (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

## Tools & Resources

### Monitoring Tools:
- **Microsoft SNDS** (Smart Network Data Services)
- **250ok or Validity** for reputation monitoring  

### Microsoft Resources:
- [Sender Support Portal](https://sender.office.com/)
- [Sender Support Portal for Hotmail, Outlook, etc](https://olcsupport.office.com/)
- [Microsoft's Deliverability Guidelines](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/office-365-security/anti-spam-message-headers)

## FAQs

### Q: How long does Microsoft delisting usually take?
**A:** Most requests are resolved within 12-24 hours, though complex cases can take up to 2 weeks.

### Q: Can I still send during the delisting process?
**A:** Your IP will remain blocked until Microsoft removes it. However, you can send from other IPs if available. Be careful that you fix the issue first before rotating IPs as you don't want the issue to spread.

### Q: What if Microsoft denies my delisting request?
**A:** Review their feedback, make additional improvements, and resubmit after addressing their concerns. Sometimes it takes 2-3 attempts.

### Q: Will this happen again?
**A:** Not if you maintain good sending practices. However, reputation requires ongoing maintenance—it's not a "set it and forget it" situation.

## The Bottom Line

Getting blocked by Microsoft is stressful, but it's fixable. The key is taking responsibility, making real improvements, and communicating professionally.

**Remember:** The delisting is just the first step. Long-term success requires ongoing attention to your email practices and reputation management.

**Most importantly:** If you're seeing these errors frequently, it might be time to evaluate your overall email strategy and consider working with specialists who can help prevent future issues.

---

*Need help with Microsoft delisting or want to prevent future blocks? Most email service providers offer deliverability support, and some specialize in Microsoft relationship management.*


Getting hit with Microsoft's S3150 or S3140 errors? Your emails are being rejected, customers aren't getting important messages, and you're probably starting to panic.

Don't worry—we've been through this process dozens of times. Here's exactly how to get your IP delisted from Microsoft's blocklist, explained in plain English.

How to get your IP delisted after a S3150 & S3140 bounce

Find the best newsletter platforms for content creators. Compare tools to build your audience, monetize content, and manage subscribers effectively.

Best Newsletter Platforms: Build and Monetize Audiences

Email APIs let you send emails programmatically from your applications. You make HTTP requests, the API sends emails. Simple as that.

But not all email APIs are created equal. Some have clean design and solid documentation that make integration a breeze. Others turn a simple task into a week-long debugging marathon. The difference between a good API and a bad one can mean hours (or days) of development time.

When you're building an app that needs to send emails, you need more than just HTTP endpoints. You need authentication that works, webhooks that fire reliably, templates that save time, and analytics that show what's happening. Most importantly, you need an API that doesn't fight you at every turn.

This guide breaks down the top email API services and what makes each one unique. We'll look at API design, SDK support, developer experience, and the stuff that actually matters when you're writing code at 2 AM trying to get email notifications working.

## TL;DR: Quick Picks by Developer Experience

Need to pick fast? Here's who each API works best for:

**Bento** fits applications that want an email API plus deliverability tools in one package. You get a solid API plus reputation monitoring and batching controls included. Often cheaper than buying these separately. Marketing is included so you can send your campaign emails, automations, etc. 

**Resend** works for modern applications that care about developer experience. They built their API from scratch with developers in mind. Clean design, great docs, modern approach. The downside? They're newer, so fewer features and less track record.

**SendGrid** handles both transactional and marketing emails through one API. If you need password resets AND newsletters, this saves you from juggling multiple services. Jack of all trades, master of none.

**Mailgun** serves high-volume senders who need serious infrastructure. Enterprise-grade everything, tons of features, powerful API. Also enterprise-grade complexity and pricing.

**Postmark** delivers critical transactional emails faster than anyone else. When milliseconds matter for password resets or payment confirmations, they're the gold standard. You pay for that speed though.

**What to watch out for:** Developer-focused APIs like Resend make integration easy but might lack advanced features. Enterprise APIs like Mailgun have everything but take longer to learn. Fast APIs like Postmark cost more. Pick based on your actual needs, not what sounds impressive.

Want background on email APIs? Check our [what is email API](/posts/what-is-email-api) guide. For broader transactional email comparisons, see [best transactional email services](/posts/best-transactional-email-services).

## What Makes a Good Email API?

After integrating dozens of email APIs over the years, patterns emerge. Good APIs share certain traits that make developers' lives easier.

Clean API design saves hours of work. You want intuitive endpoints that make sense without reading docs for every call. REST conventions should be followed. Request and response formats should be consistent. Error messages should tell you what went wrong and how to fix it, not just "Error 400."

Documentation makes or breaks an API. Complete reference docs are the minimum. You need code examples in multiple languages, common use case walkthroughs, and clear explanations of rate limits and restrictions. If you have to guess how something works or dig through GitHub issues for answers, the docs have failed.

SDK support in your language matters more than you think. Sure, you can make raw HTTP requests. But native SDKs handle authentication, retries, error parsing, and all the boring stuff that takes time to get right. Good SDKs for Node.js, Python, Ruby, PHP, Go, and Java should be table stakes in 2025.

Webhooks turn email from fire-and-forget into a real-time system. You need delivery confirmations, bounce notifications, open tracking, and click events. More importantly, you need webhooks that actually fire when they should. Nothing worse than finding out three months later that your bounce webhook stopped working.

Error handling separates good APIs from frustrating ones. Clear error codes, helpful messages, and consistent formats make debugging possible. Cryptic errors like "Invalid request" with no details waste everyone's time.

The best email APIs feel invisible. They work the first time, handle edge cases gracefully, and give you the information you need when something goes wrong.

## How Email APIs Compare

Each major email API takes a different approach. Here's what you actually get with each one.

### Bento: API with Deliverability Included

![backdrop-teaching](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/7EOYJ4876qIQfyInkgzZGB/86d91ba6971d0951f3d5c76cee09d68c/backdrop-teaching.png)

Bento (hi there 👋) takes a different approach. We give you a solid API but include the deliverability infrastructure most providers charge extra for.

The API itself is straightforward. REST endpoints for sending, webhooks for events, SDKs for major languages. Nothing revolutionary, but everything works as expected. The documentation covers the basics well, though it's not as polished as Resend's.

What sets Bento apart is what comes with the API. Authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is guided and monitored. Reputation tracking happens automatically. Sending gets throttled if metrics drop. The spam API catches abuse and invalid emails. These are things you'd normally buy separate tools for or build yourself.

The platform shows its roots in marketing automation sometimes. Some API responses include fields you won't need for pure transactional sending. The SDKs work but feel less polished than dedicated API-first providers.

If you want email infrastructure that handles deliverability for you, Bento makes sense. You trade some API polish for not having to think about IP warming, reputation monitoring, or authentication setup.

### Resend: Modern Developer Experience

![resend](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/454lXLKBxSAN80lcutw82W/73f481177c8794f84510cd5316ffd209/resend.png)

Resend built their API from scratch in 2022 with one goal: make email integration as painless as possible for developers.

Their API feels modern because it is modern. Clean REST design, predictable responses, and helpful error messages. The documentation reads like it was written by developers who actually use the product. Code examples work. Edge cases are explained. Rate limits are clear.

The SDK quality stands out. Instead of thin wrappers around HTTP calls, they built proper SDKs that handle the annoying parts. Automatic retries, connection pooling, proper error types. The Node.js SDK in particular feels native to the ecosystem.

Where Resend falls short is features and track record. They don't have the decade of battle-testing that older providers have. Advanced features like complex routing rules or IP pool management aren't there yet. If you need enterprise bells and whistles, you'll be disappointed.

For straightforward email sending with a great developer experience, Resend delivers. If you need complex enterprise features or have compliance requirements that demand an established provider, look elsewhere.

### SendGrid: Transactional + Marketing Combined

![sendgrid-by-twilio](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/01PmW3Gx01vaGf2HM8PPly/cdc72fbf85c6b07ff9667f88cd66fb53/sendgrid-by-twilio.png)

SendGrid tries to be everything to everyone. Send transactional emails through the API, run marketing campaigns through the UI, and manage it all in one place.

The API works well enough. Good documentation, decent SDKs, reliable delivery. They've been around long enough to work out the bugs. The Python and Node.js SDKs in particular get regular updates and have good community support.

Marketing features add complexity though. The API has endpoints for campaigns, lists, segments, and other marketing concepts you might not need. Template management mixes transactional and marketing templates. Pricing tiers assume you're doing both.

The free tier barely exists now, 100 emails per day won't even cover testing for most apps. Paid plans start reasonable but scale up fast. You're paying for marketing features even if you only send transactional emails.

SendGrid works if you genuinely need both transactional and marketing emails. If you just need one or the other, you're paying for complexity you don't use.

### Mailgun: Enterprise API Infrastructure

![mailgun-by-sinch](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3Cncb1R8f2GX0hpnoMrXx4/44ffa67076392903deaff9800f139a6e/mailgun-by-sinch.png)

Mailgun builds for developers at large companies. Powerful API, extensive features, enterprise pricing.

The API documentation spans hundreds of pages. Every edge case is covered. Rate limiting is granular. Routing rules handle complex scenarios. You can do almost anything if you spend enough time with the docs.

Multi-region support means you can send from data centers worldwide. IP pool management lets you isolate different email streams. Detailed analytics track everything. If a large company's legal team has asked for it, Mailgun probably supports it.

This power comes with complexity. Simple tasks require multiple API calls. The learning curve is steep. Documentation assumes you understand email infrastructure deeply. What takes 5 lines with Resend might take 50 with Mailgun.

Pricing reflects the enterprise focus. The entry tier is reasonable, but costs escalate quickly. High-volume discounts exist but require annual contracts. Support beyond basic tickets costs extra.

Mailgun makes sense for large applications with complex requirements and dedicated email teams. For everyone else, it's overkill.

### Postmark: Ultra-Fast Transactional API

![postmark-by-activecampaign](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/yOaVs2BuyI1HaHB2b3B3X/0b4e12fd1a9ce8aaadd246986eb7b451/postmark-by-activecampaign.png)

Postmark does one thing better than anyone: deliver transactional emails incredibly fast.

Most emails arrive in under 3 seconds. For password resets, payment confirmations, and other time-sensitive emails, those seconds matter. Users notice when emails arrive instantly versus 30 seconds later.

The API stays simple on purpose. No marketing features to slow things down. No complex routing rules. Just clean endpoints for sending transactional emails fast. The documentation is excellent, with a focus on best practices for transactional email.

This focus means limitations. No marketing emails allowed, they'll suspend your account. Pricing is premium, about 50% more than competitors for similar volume. The feature set is intentionally limited to maintain performance.

Support deserves special mention. They respond fast and actually help. No tier-one support reading from scripts. Real email experts who understand deliverability.

If transactional email speed and reliability justify premium pricing for your app, Postmark is worth it. For mixed use cases or budget-conscious projects, the restrictions and cost are hard to justify.

## Key Differences: Email APIs

The differences between email APIs become clear when you understand what each optimizes for.

Developer experience varies wildly. Resend feels like it was built last week (in a good way) with modern patterns and helpful docs. Mailgun feels like enterprise software from 2010, powerful but clunky. Bento and SendGrid sit in the middle, functional but not delightful. Postmark keeps things simple, which helps or hurts depending on your needs.

Feature sets reflect target audiences. Mailgun has every feature imaginable because enterprises demand them. SendGrid includes marketing features most developers won't use. Postmark intentionally limits features to maintain performance. Resend and Bento focus on core features done well.

Deliverability approaches differ significantly. Postmark's transactional-only focus means pristine reputation. Bento includes monitoring and tools to maintain good reputation. Mailgun provides tools but expects you to manage them. SendGrid's mixed sending can hurt transactional deliverability. Resend is too new to have established reputation patterns.

Pricing models tell you who they're selling to. Amazon SES prices for AWS users who handle everything themselves. Bento prices for value, including features others charge extra for. SendGrid and Mailgun price for businesses with email budgets. Postmark prices for companies where email deliverability directly impacts revenue. Resend prices competitively to gain market share.

Support quality correlates with price. Postmark's premium support matches premium pricing. Mailgun support requires enterprise contracts for real help. SendGrid support is hit or miss. Bento provides decent support for all customers. Resend is still small enough that support is good, but this might not scale.

## Where Bento Fits: Email API with Deliverability Included

Bento occupies an interesting middle ground in the email API landscape.

The API itself won't win design awards. It's RESTful, documented, and has SDKs for major languages. Everything works as advertised. But it's not as polished as Resend or as powerful as Mailgun. It's a tool that does its job without trying to impress you.

Where Bento stands out is deliverability infrastructure. Most providers give you an API and wish you luck. We include authentication setup, reputation monitoring, and automatic throttling when metrics drop. These are included by default. You won't have to buy an add-on or upgrade to a higher tier.

The pricing model makes sense for many use cases. You pay for emails sent, not contacts stored. If you email 10,000 contacts once a month, you pay for 10,000 emails. With contact-based pricing, you'd pay for 10,000 contacts every month whether you email them or not.

Bento works well when you want a complete email system without assembling pieces yourself. You're not buying the best API or the fastest delivery or the most features. You're buying a system that handles the whole email problem reasonably well.

This approach won't work for everyone. If you need Postmark's speed for critical transactional emails, Bento can't match it. If you need Mailgun's enterprise features, we don't have them. If you want Resend's developer experience, we fall short.

But if you want to send emails reliably without becoming an email infrastructure expert, Bento provides that. One vendor, one bill, one support team, and deliverability handled for you.

## Ready to Choose Your Email API?

Picking an email API comes down to understanding your actual needs versus what sounds good on paper.

Start with the basics. How many emails will you send? What types (transactional, marketing, both)? What's your budget? How much time can you spend on integration? These answers eliminate half your options immediately.

Test the APIs that match your needs. Sign up for free trials. Send test emails. Integrate their SDKs. Read their docs. You'll quickly feel which ones fight you and which ones help you. An hour of testing beats days of reading comparison articles.

Consider the full picture. API quality matters, but so does deliverability, support, pricing, and company stability. A perfect API from a startup that might not exist next year is risky. An okay API from an established provider might be the safer choice.

Think about maintenance, not just integration. You'll live with this choice for years. Consider how the API will scale, how pricing will grow, how support will work when something breaks at midnight. The easiest API to integrate might not be the easiest to maintain.

Make a decision and move forward. Every API has tradeoffs. Perfect doesn't exist. Pick the one that handles your must-haves well and whose downsides you can live with. You can always switch later if needed, though nobody enjoys migrating email providers.

For background on email APIs, read our [what is email API](/posts/what-is-email-api) guide. To compare transactional services broadly, see [best transactional email services](/posts/best-transactional-email-services). For SMTP details, check [everything about SMTP](/posts/everything-about-smtp).

If you're considering Bento's API, [we're here to help](https://bentonow.com).

Find the best email API services for developers. Compare REST APIs, SDKs, webhooks, and developer experience across email service providers.

Best Email API: Compare Developer-Friendly Email Services

Best Email API for Developers: Compare Developer-Friendly Email Services

Find the best email API services for developers. Compare reliable delivery, API quality, and features to build infrastructure that scales effectively.

Best Email API Services: Reliable Infrastructure

Best Email API Services: Reliable Infrastructure for Sending Emails

Are you thinking of signing up for or switching to Mailgun? Mailgun promotes itself as being “by developers, for developers.” But many developers switch *from* Mailgun *to* Bento. Like Danny Postma, founder of Headshot Pro.

![danny postma bento testimonial](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/6efXwt3qHmsBq18eXp3On7/06a57beaa1463bd37610f589d04554ae/danny_postma_bento_testimonial.jpg)

![danny postma bento testimonial 2](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3kryLqiCTcYIbNVDGqnEiI/446354b3a7d9a7cc54d492ee49b3c975/danny_postma_bento_testimonial_2.jpg)

There are plenty of alternatives to Mailgun. Some cost less, some deliver emails more reliably, and some offer features Mailgun doesn't have. This guide covers your options, explains what makes each one unique, and helps you pick the right one (Bento) for your needs.

## TL;DR: Quick Picks by Use Case

If you need to pick quickly, here's what each alternative does best:

**Bento**: Great for applications that need email API access with built-in deliverability tools. You get SMTP, API access, reputation monitoring, and batching controls. Usually costs less than Mailgun. Has one of the best deliverability levels in the industry.

**SendGrid**: Works if you need both transactional emails and marketing campaigns in one place. The API is easy to use, deliverability is solid, and pricing is similar to Mailgun.

**Postmark**: Best for critical transactional emails that must get delivered. Super fast delivery, separate message streams to protect reputation, but you'll pay more.

**Amazon SES**: Perfect if you're already on AWS and want cheap email sending. Integrates seamlessly with other AWS services, pay only for what you send. Takes more work to set up but saves money at scale.

**Resend**: Great for developers who want a modern, clean API. The documentation is excellent, the design is intuitive. It's newer but already popular with developers.

**What to watch out for:** Each alternative has different strengths. Postmark focuses purely on transactional email. Bento and SendGrid handle both transactional and marketing. SES wins on cost. Pick based on what you need most.

For more comparisons, check our [best transactional email services](/posts/best-transactional-email-services) guide. To understand deliverability better, see [email deliverability tools](/posts/email-deliverability-tools).

## Why Look for Mailgun Alternatives?

Here's why people switch from Mailgun to other services like Bento:

**Pricing gets expensive:** Mailgun starts at $15/month for 10,000 emails. As you grow, costs climb quickly. Amazon SES or Bento often cost less, especially at higher volumes.

**Too many features:** Mailgun has tons of features, which is great until you just need to send simple emails. Services like Resend or Bento keep things simpler.

**Emails not reaching inboxes:** Some teams struggle with Mailgun's deliverability. Services like Postmark or Bento focus more on getting emails delivered.

**Hard to set up:** Mailgun takes time to configure properly. Bento or SendGrid often have simpler setup processes with clearer documentation.

Mailgun is not a bad product - it works well when set up and used correctly. The thing is, do you want to become an email API / SMTP and email deliverability expert just to send a few emails? Or would you rather focus on improving your product and growing your business.

## How Mailgun Alternatives Compare

### Pricing

**Note on Bento:** Unlike the others, Bento charges by **contact (subscriber)**, not by the number of emails sent. You can send unlimited emails to your contacts. The price listed below assumes you have 3,000 contacts or fewer (the minimum tier).

| Provider | Free Tier (Monthly) | Starting Paid Plan | Cost for ~50,000 Emails | Best For |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| **Bento** | 30-day free trial | $30/mo (up to 3k contacts) | **$30.00*** | CRM & Automation |
| **Amazon SES** | 3,000 emails (for 12 mos) | Pay-as-you-go | **$5.00** | Lowest absolute price |
| **Resend** | 3,000 emails | $20/mo (includes 50k) | **$20.00** | Developer Experience (DX) |
| **SendGrid** | 100 emails/day (~3k/mo) | ~$19.95/mo (includes 50k) | **$19.95** | Marketing + Transactional Mix |
| **Mailgun** | 5,000 emails (1 mo trial) | $15/mo | **$35.00** | High Volume & Analytics |
| **Postmark** | 100 emails (Developer) | $15/mo (10k emails) | **$55.00** | Speed & Deliverability |

### Bento: Email API with Deliverability Included

![bento](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/owWYl4psczdBbWR2gLtKq/5677a499e07c920a30b615b93163208c/bento.png)

**Who it's for:** Teams that want email API access with amazing deliverability.

**What makes it different:** Bento gives you both API and SMTP access, but here's the key difference: deliverability infrastructure comes built in. Most email services make you figure out deliverability on your own. Bento includes authentication setup, reputation monitoring, and batching controls right in the price.

The API documentation is clear and covers all major programming languages. You can separate transactional emails from marketing emails, so a bad marketing campaign won't hurt your password reset emails.

**Pricing comparison:** Bento usually costs less than Mailgun, especially as you scale up. You actually pay for contacts stored, no matter how many emails do you send. This often works out cheaper than Mailgun's pricing model.

**When to choose Bento:** Pick Bento if you want great deliverability without extra work. It costs less than Mailgun for larger amounts of emails and includes for the same price the tools that Mailgun charges extra for.

**When to stick with Mailgun:** Stay with Mailgun if you need their enterprise features or  SDK support across many languages.

### SendGrid: Transactional + Marketing Combined

![sendgrid](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/5GgbdChE3xJWWMCGVrBWnF/770f1b772fb7a9490e09f7f6af5d505e/sendgrid.png)

**Who it's for:** Teams that need to send both transactional emails and marketing campaigns.

**What makes it different:** SendGrid does both types of email in one platform. Need to send password resets? Check. Want to run email campaigns? Also check. The API works with Python, Java, Node.js, PHP, Ruby, C#, and Go. Documentation is solid.

SendGrid runs reliable infrastructure and gives you tools to monitor your reputation and fix delivery problems.

**Pricing comparison:** SendGrid costs about the same as Mailgun. You'll pay $19.95/month for 50,000 emails with SendGrid, while Mailgun charges $15/month for 10,000 emails. Since pricing is similar, pick based on features instead.

**When to choose SendGrid:** Go with SendGrid if you need both types of email or prefer their interface. Their marketing tools might work better for your needs.

**When to stick with Mailgun:** Keep Mailgun if you need their enterprise infrastructure or advanced tracking features. High-volume senders often prefer Mailgun's enterprise tools.

### Postmark: Ultra-Fast Transactional

![postmark-by-activecampaign](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/yOaVs2BuyI1HaHB2b3B3X/0b4e12fd1a9ce8aaadd246986eb7b451/postmark-by-activecampaign.png)

**Who it's for:** Apps that send critical emails like password resets or order confirmations.

**What makes it different:** Postmark only does transactional email, and they do it really well. Emails arrive in seconds. The service rarely goes down. They keep transactional emails separate from marketing emails, so nothing affects your critical sends.

The API is clean and easy to integrate. They support Rails, Ruby, .NET, Java, PHP, and Node.js.

**Pricing comparison:** Postmark costs more than Mailgun. Both charge $15/month for 10,000 emails, but remember: Postmark only handles transactional email. You'll need another service for marketing emails.

**When to choose Postmark:** Pick Postmark if your transactional emails are critical and you can pay for premium service. The speed and reliability matter when emails directly affect user experience.

**When to stick with Mailgun:** Stay with Mailgun if you need marketing emails too, or if their enterprise features work better for you.

### Amazon SES: Budget-Friendly AWS Integration

![amazon-ses](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/q9JJNhn6ZZxvnabpZ7H9L/218f6cdd9b224eeb68e1e6c0f257d027/amazon-ses.png)

**Who it's for:** Developers already using AWS who want cheap email sending.

**What makes it different:** If you're on AWS, SES is incredibly cheap. You pay $0.10 per 1,000 emails. No monthly fees, no commitments. Just pay for what you send.

SES works perfectly with other AWS services. Use CloudWatch to monitor emails, Lambda for automation, and build your entire email infrastructure with AWS tools.

**Pricing comparison:** SES beats everyone on price. Mailgun charges $15/month for 10,000 emails, which works out to $1.50 per 1,000. SES charges $0.10 per 1,000. That's 15 times cheaper.

**When to choose Amazon SES:** Choose SES if you're on AWS, don't mind managing infrastructure, and want the cheapest option. At scale, nothing beats SES pricing.

**When to stick with Mailgun:** Keep Mailgun if you want managed infrastructure without dealing with AWS complexity. Or if you need Mailgun's specific features and support.

### Resend: Modern Developer Experience

![resend](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/454lXLKBxSAN80lcutw82W/73f481177c8794f84510cd5316ffd209/resend.png)

**Who it's for:** Developers who want a modern, well-designed email API.

**What makes it different:** Resend feels modern. The API is intuitive, the documentation actually helps, and integration takes minutes, not hours. They focused on making email easy for developers.

You get template support, webhook callbacks, and good deliverability. Even though they're newer than the competition, developers love them.

**Pricing comparison:** Resend prices similarly to Mailgun. They offer a free plan, and paid plans start around $20/month for comparable volumes.

**When to choose Resend:** Pick Resend if you value developer experience and clean APIs. They're great if you care more about ease of use than enterprise features.

**When to stick with Mailgun:** Stay with Mailgun for enterprise infrastructure, advanced tracking, or extensive SDK support. High-volume senders often need Mailgun's enterprise tools.

## Key Differences: Mailgun vs Alternatives

Here's what sets each service apart:

**Pricing:** Amazon SES wins on price, especially at scale. Bento usually costs less than Mailgun. SendGrid and Postmark cost about the same as Mailgun.

**Features:** Mailgun has the most enterprise features. SendGrid includes marketing tools. Postmark focuses purely on transactional email. Bento builds in deliverability tools.

**Deliverability:** Postmark is great with delivering transactional emails. Bento includes deliverability infrastructure in the price and has some of the best stats in the business. SendGrid has good practices. Mailgun is decent but nothing special.

**Developer experience:** Resend makes developers happy with clean APIs. Bento has clear documentation. SendGrid works well. Mailgun is powerful but takes time to learn.

Each service has different strengths. Pick based on what you need most: price, features, deliverability, or ease of use.

## Where Bento Fits: Mailgun Alternative with Deliverability Included

If you're looking at Mailgun alternatives, here's what Bento offers.

**Email API access.** Bento has a REST API for sending emails from your code. You get webhooks for tracking delivery events and SDKs for popular programming languages. Works just like Mailgun's API.

**SMTP access.** You can also use SMTP if you prefer. Connect on port 587 with STARTTLS, authenticate with your API key, and send through any standard mail library.

**Deliverability infrastructure included.** Most email services make you handle deliverability yourself. Not Bento. Authentication setup, reputation monitoring, and batching controls come built into the price with no extra tools needed.

**Often more affordable.** You pay for emails you send, not contacts you store. This pricing model usually costs less than Mailgun, especially when you're sending lots of emails.

**When Bento makes sense:** Choose Bento if you want good deliverability without extra work. You care about emails reaching inboxes, and you want to pay less than Mailgun charges.

**When Mailgun makes sense:** Stick with Mailgun if you need their specific enterprise features or extensive tracking capabilities. Some high-volume senders prefer Mailgun's infrastructure.

**The honest pitch:** Bento doesn't replace Mailgun for everyone. If Mailgun works for you, great, but if you want built-in deliverability tools and lower pricing, Bento delivers both.

## Ready to Choose Your Mailgun Alternative?

First, figure out what matters most to you. Is it price? Features? Deliverability? Ease of use? Knowing your priorities makes choosing easier.

Next, calculate the actual costs. Run the numbers based on how many emails you send. SES wins on price at scale. Bento usually costs less than Mailgun. SendGrid and Postmark cost about the same.

Then look at features. Mailgun has enterprise tools. SendGrid adds marketing features. Postmark focuses on transactional email. Bento includes deliverability infrastructure.

Consider deliverability too. Postmark delivers transactional emails best. Bento builds deliverability tools into the platform. SendGrid has solid practices. Mailgun works fine but isn't exceptional.

Finally, test before you commit. Most services offer free trials or starter plans. Try the API, test deliverability, and see if the features work for you.

**Related resources:** Compare more options in our [best transactional email services](/posts/best-transactional-email-services) guide. Learn about deliverability with [email deliverability tools](/posts/email-deliverability-tools). For SMTP comparisons, see [best SMTP email services](/posts/best-smtp-email-services).

There are solid alternatives to Mailgun. Pick based on what you actually need. If you want to see how Bento compares to Mailgun for your specific use case, [we're here to help](https://bentonow.com).


Find Mailgun alternatives for email sending. Compare email API services that offer better pricing, features, or deliverability than Mailgun.

Mailgun Alternatives: Compare Email API and SMTP Services

Every year, around the start of November, we get inundated with emails from people telling us that their emails are landing in the promotions tab instead of the inbox, implying that it's either our fault this is happening or that they can do something to get their emails back into the inbox.

They see the promotions tab as some sort of punishment.

Purgatory for their email sins.

But this couldn't be further from the truth.

Around this time of year, inbox providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, and others tweak their algorithms to help improve the inbox experience for their users. 

You have to think about it from their perspective; almost every brand is coming online to send emails to their subscribers up until Christmas. Those subscribers are getting bombarded non-stop with emails from companies they haven't heard from in months, maybe years!

For the hardcore shopper, this could be up to +500 brands sending daily emails! 

By tweaking the algorithm to push more emails into the promotions tab, they're ensuring that their users see emails that are most important to them and later, when those users are relaxed in a recliner holding a jug of eggnog in one hand and their phone in the other, they can go into the promotions tab and catch up on all the Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals coming up, helping to contribute to the global e-commerce economy.

Afterall, the majority of emails sent in bulk (i.e., broadcast/campaign emails) are promotional by nature, even if they are not explicitly selling something. On our platform, it is very rare for someone to send an email to tens of thousands of people that is not selling or marketing something.

"Ok, ok, but I still want to get my emails into the inbox! That was happening last month! This period is important to me!"

OK; so what can you do? What do you control here?

From our internal research, we've seen that a lot of the classification of emails has to do with the type of content being sent from specific FROM addresses. We believe that during the holiday period, they change their algorithm to more aggressively classify FROM addresses as promotional, which leads to more emails being put in that tab.

For example, if you send a lot of marketing email from hello@domain.com, then we would expect that the majority of those emails would end up in the promotions tab, even if you were sending transactional emails like password resets from the same address.

That's why it's important to split your different types of emails into different FROM addresses to ensure your customers and users don't miss out on important emails.

newsletter@domain.com for your newsletter emails, billing@domain.com for your billing emails, etc.

When we look into the accounts of customers who have raised tickets with us about being moved to the promotions tab for everything, we often see they're using the same email username (hello@, support@, newsletter@, etc.) across all emails they are sending. Split it up! 

But, importantly, don't try to create new senders in hopes that that will land you in the inbox. You cannot game the algorithm. If you switch up the sender, maybe for a short moment you'll land in the inbox, but when the algorithm detects that you're mass emailing, it'll likely classify that email username as promotional and push all future emails from that sender into the promotions tab.

Worse, if they detect you're trying to game the system (i.e unique FROM address for every email — YES we have seen people attempt this!!!), they'll likely block your domain entirely. 

Additionally, in combination with the above, you can also try updating your content to follow these guidelines: avoid using phrases that imply a purchase or sale, ensure your domain is authenticated with DKIM and SPF records, address recipients by their name, limit the email to one link inside, turn off link tracking, exclude images (especially ones from external sources not aligned with your sending domain), refrain from using RSS campaigns, keep the email concise, and avoid using complex HTML (i.e., use the Bento Shoji editor).

... but even if you do all that, it's not guaranteed that you'll land in the inbox, so it's best not to spend time optimizing for something out of your control and instead focus on sending emails that your users want, expect, and love.

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, Gmail has significantly tightened its threshold for what is considered spam recently. In a lot of the private sending communities I'm in, there is chatter from brands who are finding themselves landing in spam more frequently than before and, as a result, witnessing declines in open rates. 

We think they tweak this algorithm to be more aggressive, being OK with potential false positives, mostly to reduce bandwidth consumption caused by such a large influx of emails during the holidays (emails that hit the spam folder do not get scanned or have their links or images proxied/cached). This also explains possibly why open rates decline around this period; yes it could be less people reading emails because they have so many but also we think there's less bot activity requesting links/pixels.

This algorithm change seems to be mostly temporary and reverts back to normal after the holiday season. So, if you are getting spam-foldered, don't worry until January or February (but up until then, maybe clean up your list and follow our deliverability guide? https://bentonow.com/deliverability).

In summary, this season, don't spend time trying to outsmart Google. 

Instead, embrace the promo tab and send great emails to your users.

Discover why emails land in the promotions tab during the holiday season and learn best practices for improving deliverability. Embrace the promo tab and focus on sending valuable emails to your subscribers.

Landing in the Promotions Tab? It's Not Just You, It's the Season!

During the holiday season expect emails to land more in the Promotion tab

It's easy in the chaos of marketing to forget the basics.

One of those basics is just writing a solid email signature. 

We are often lost on what to include in there, so we don't add anything other than our name and an opt-out link.

```
Kind Regards, 
Your Name
Click here to unsubscribe
```

Not very compelling, is it? 

In addition to not being compelling, if your email is ever reviewed by a blocklist provider it's likely you'll get penalized for spam because it looks no different to a cold email which they dislike. It's also missing an address and clear links to our website's privacy policy which you must include in sends.

So, what should our footer look like? 

Here is one that covers all the bases. It's trustworthy, detailed, and is clear to users ... but it's  also devoid of personality so jazz it up a little. 

```
Kind regards,
Your Name

--- 

This is a marketing email from {{ brand }}. You received it because you {{ insert_reason_here }}. Our head office is located at {{ address }}. If you do not want any more marketing emails, {{ visitor.unsubscribe_url | hyperlink: 'click here to unsubscribe' }}, or send an unsubscribe request to the address above. We process all unsubscribes instantly or within a few days getting the mail.

Your privacy is important to us. Please review {{ 'https://example.com' | hyperlink: 'Our Privacy Policy' }}.

To obtain information on how to contact {{ brand }}, visit the web at {{ 'https://example.com/contact' | hyperlink: 'https://example.com/contact' }}. If you have a privacy-related complaint, use our contact page above.

This email has been sent to {{ visitor.email }} and is being sent from {{ author.email }}.

{{ browser_url | hyperlink: 'Read Online' }}
```

The above one can be jazzed up and made fun, but if you want to go completely creative you can take a look at this one included by one of my favourite marketers Daniel Throssell: 

```
🎮 POST-EMAIL GAME MENU
😵 QUIT GAME (UNSUBSCRIBE) ▶️ Sick of these emails? Hate my personality? Can't stand my sense of humour? Honestly, me neither! Hit unsubscribe to stop receiving these emails. (Tip: If you're really angry at me, hit it hard. It probably won't make a difference, but it might help you calm down.)

🧢 NEW GAME ▶️ Did someone forward you this email? Thank them profusely, then start your own adventure at: https://example.com

🏪 COPYMART ▶️ Unlock new and exciting items! Check out the full range of Persuasive Page copywriting training at: https://example.com

🎒 INVENTORY ▶️ Check your currently stocked items & courses in the free Persuasive Page app: https://example.com

🧥 COSTUME ▶️ Gear up for adventure! Customise your character’s outfit with official Persuasive Page merch: https://example.com (AiC subscribers get exclusive pricing on all items! Check your app for details)

❓ HELP! ▶️ App not working? Can't access something you bought? For technical, access or billing issues, contact https://example.com with as much detail as you can, and we will help you out.

🙋‍♂️ #ASKDANIEL ▶️ Got a copywriting question for Daniel? Stuck in a sticky sitch with a client? Hit reply and #AskDaniel! I answer the best Qs in an email each Sunday.

📄 POST-GAME CREDITS & LEGAL ▶️ This email was sent by Daniel Throssell as director of Persuasive Page Pty Ltd. Copyright © 2024 Persuasive Page Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this email may be “swiped”/added to a swipe file, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Persuasive Page Pty Ltd.

💌 SEND MAIL ▶️ Fan mail, death threats and gifts of expensive whisky can be dispatched via messenger kangaroo to:
```

Now that's more like it! Way more fun! 

Your footer doesn't have to be boring, but at the very least it should be compliant and clear. 

Take 30 minutes today and spice up all the authors in your account for better inboxing and less spam reports.

Stuck on a nice, compliant plain text email signature? We got you covered! 

writing a signature on paper dark room ghibli p fc8a48ce-37c9-40a2-b96a-d2ad5f33ac43

Quick Email Signature Examples

**IMPORTANT UPDATE: We have released a [checklist/guide on deliverability](https://bentonow.com/deliverability) which includes our current perspective that our users should implement a Double Opt-In strategy in 2024. It is the best way to ensure that your users are receiving email that is both wanted and expected. This guide is a work in progress and will have more updates to come, please check back later!**

This year, we are prioritizing deliverability as the most important principle at Bento and are aiming to work with all customers to be ahead of the pack.

One area that all users can work on is ensuring that when you send out email it is going to subscribers who both **want and expect** to see your email in their inbox. 

**Sending email that is both wanted and expected is critical when running any email marketing program, more so now than ever before.**

### The Gold Standard

Whilst there are various methods used to build and maintain an email list, one of the best is to implement a Confirmed Opt-In strategy (or more commonly known as Double Opt-In strategy).

It's the one way to ensure that you are building a marketing list of high quality contacts who want to hear from you. 

It is _the_ gold standard when it comes to list building and strongly encouraged by blocklist provides such as [Spamhaus (recommended reading)](https://www.spamhaus.org/faqs/marketing-email/). It is also encouraged by all inbox providers too.

### How does COI/DOI work? 

Once a contact submits an email on your website, whether automatic or manual, you send them an initial email that requests they confirm/consent to further emails. 

Once they click that link or engage, they can then be sent marketing emails. 

If they do not engage, then you can unsubscribe them.

Simple! 

### Why does this work so well?

The internet is filled with bad actors, and those bad actors may submit emails without the permissions of their owners. If you begin to send emails to those users, constantly, you will most likely see an increase in spam complaints and/or a blocklist listing.

This is expensive and time consuming to resolve. 

It will also have an impact on your revenue whilst the issue or blocklist listing persists. In addition to this, a lack of action in 2024 will also see stronger block enforcement from the likes of Google and Yahoo.

### Can't you help fight this spam? 

Over the years, we've tried harder than you could possibly imagine to stop spam sign-ups whether that be the implementation of the Bento Spam API, aggressive rate limiting, and protection of our forms, automatic detection of listbombing attempts, or other strategies. 

There's been a lot of sleepless nights fighting and learning how to block these bad actors, but we will always persist!  

Unfortunately, whilst all those tactics help none of it has been as effective as implementing a Confirmed Opt-In process. There's a reason it's so strongly recommended.

It's truly the only way to ensure that your users are getting the emails they both want and expect.

### Benefits of Confirmed Opt-In and Double Opt-In

Other than being able to sleep well at night, there are many! 

1) By verifying each subscriber, your list becomes cleaner, eliminating inaccuracies such as typo errors in email addresses, which could otherwise inflate your list with non-deliverable contacts.

2) Subscribers who actively confirm their interest are more engaged, leading to higher email open rates over time and, consequently, better deliverability scores. Oh and more revenue! 

3) Implementing this process safeguards your list from fraudulent subscribers, spammers, and automated bots aimed at compromising your email deliverability. A clean list devoid of invalid email addresses ensures genuine subscribers receive your emails and can access your products with ease, maintaining the integrity of your deliverability.

### How to get started with COI and DOI

In Bento, you are able to toggle your account to set all new subscribers to unsubscribed first. You can then set up an automation to send an email based on an event or form submission which requests the users consent. Using a link trigger in the same automation, you can then subscriber (or tag) the user.

Other users prefer to create Confirmed Opt-In flows specific to certain opt-ins or lead magnets. Bento gives you this flexibility, but we encourage you to spend a day or so sitting down to map out every way a user is opted in and ensure that, for your marketing email, those users expect, want, and have consented to those emails.

### Need help? 

As mentioned in the newly created deliverability checklist our team is here and dedicated for every single customer to help them set up an effective double opt-in strategy for their business. Please schedule a call or reach out to support@bentonow.com to talk about ideas to implement today.

In this article, we'll talk about the benefits of Confirmed Opt-In aka Double Opt-In.

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Confirmed Opt-In aka Double Opt-In Benefits

Hey, you! Yes you! 

Were you poking around some email headers and noticed one called 'Precedence: Bulk'?

Of course you did, that's why you're here!

Well, let me explain exactly what this header is so you can go about your day.

A few years back, the ISPs (Gmail, Yahoo, etc) began asking email marketers to identify themselves and classify the type of email they were sending upfront (in the email headers).

This was done to help the ISPs process the email quicker and make sure they were landing in the right places.

One of the headers they introduced was called `Precedence`. 

It was a simple header that allowed you to classify the type of email you were sending. 

The most common values were `bulk` and `first-class`. 

The `bulk` value was used for bulk emails, like newsletters or marketing emails. The `first-class` value was used for emails that were more important or time-sensitive, like urgent support, important announcements, or transactional emails (password resets, account confirmations, etc).

You could also include the value `normal`, `urgent`, or `non-urgent` to indicate the urgency of the email. For example, if you were sending an email to a customer service team, you might use the `urgent` value to indicate that the email is time-sensitive and needs to be delivered quickly.

In practice, having sent over a billion emails, we've only seen a difference using `Precedence: Bulk`. ISPs process email so quickly these days that the other options aren't really used anymore and machine learning is mostly doing the heavy lifting for classification.

So, what happens if I include the header?

If you send out a bulk email, with `Precedence: Bulk`, the ISPs will process the email slightly differently and start suppressing all automatic replies. 

This means your inbox won't be flooded with "out of office" messages, and your support email won't accidentally go into an infinite loop. 

As a general rule of thumb, any templated email should include the `Precedence: Bulk` header. Whereas, anything that is sent 1-to-1 like a support ticket or sales message via your CRM should include `Precedence: First-Class` or nothing at all (again, we haven't noticed a difference with inboxing when using this option).

And that's it! That's basically all that header does! 

Whilst there are some theories that it helps with staying out of the spam inbox, in practice we haven't found that to be true. We have some theories that it may help with warming up new IPs but don't have hard data on that being the case.

We hope this helps you understand the `Precedence` header and how it can help you optimize your email marketing efforts. If your email provider is not including this header in their emails, you should raise a ticket with them to see if they can add it for you.

Thanks for reading, and happy emailing!

A few years back, the ISPs (Gmail, Yahoo, etc) began asking email marketers to identify themselves and classify the type of email they were sending upfront (in the email headers). This was done to help the ISPs process the email quicker and make sure they were landing in the right places. Continue reading ... 

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What is the Precedence: Bulk header?

Every now and then, we get a support ticket that basically asks, "... my emails keep ending up in the promotions tab! Can you help get them in the inbox?"

"しょうがない! (translated: it can't be helped)", we reply! 

... but that's not entirely true. 

In this post, we'll walk you through how to think of inbox placement and leave you with some steps to take action on.

### Predictability

When it comes to inbox placement, the number one thing to focus on is becoming a predictable brand to inbox providers (Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc).

You want to: 

Send via predictable addresses (and domains).

Send predictable volume through those addresses.

Send predictable content in that volume.

Afterall, inbox providers need to place your email within seconds of it hitting their servers, and they need your help to train them on where to place it. 

Predictability is key.

### Predictable Senders

The MOST significant signal we've noticed influencing inbox placement is the FROM address. 

alerts@example.com

sales@example.com

notifications@example.com

no-reply@example.com

receipt@sales.example.com

Just by glancing at the above emails, I bet you can quickly predict where each of those emails would end up. 

As you send volume through each of these different addresses, you're essentially training the classifiers to place your emails in specific tabs. 

For example, if they see you send 1,000 transactional reciept emails every single day to users from notifications@example.com they'll reliably place you in the updates tab every single time.

Whereas if they see you sending your newsletter every Thursday from newsletter@example.com then they know they can put those in the promotions tab.

But, what happens if you send all your emails from one address (i.e yourname@example.com)?

... then that's when the classifier gets confused. 

Usually, it gets confused and starts to put all your emails in the promotions tab because, by volume, you a probably mostly sending  marketing emails from that address thanks to your newsletter.

This is also why if you use your personal email for all your marketing newsletters, you'll often have people you work with tell you they didn't get your email because it got lost in the wrong tab. 

This used to happen to me a lot until I started sending different types of emails via different FROM addresses.

Recommendation: ensure you're sending each email from a dedicated inbox for each activity. Keep your personal usernames (name@example.com) for your most important emails, and use them sparingly for your newsletter or marketing mail. 

### Predictable Volume

Once you've set up your email inboxes for each specific type of email, you'll want to maintain consistency with your sending volumes. 

This means sticking with the same address for your newsletter each week, and not switching it up with a different address. 

If you need to send from a different user for a specific announcement (like a "Message from the Founder"), we suggest sticking with the same FROM address as always but just tweaking the name ("Jesse Hanley < newsletter@example.com >). Bento allows you to have as many FROM addresses (called Authors in our platform) as you want. 

### Predictable Content

Last, but certainly not least, you'll want to make sure you're sending the same type of content as always from these addresses. 

This will train the classifiers in such a way that they'll reliably put it in the right every single time.

While you can adjust the content to influence where your email will be placed, we believe it often gets overruled by how the FROM address has been classified.

For example, if you've trained the inbox classifier that emails from jesse@bentonow.com are personal and belong in the inbox, avoid sending content that includes words like "sales", "promotion", or "deal". 

This sudden shift in content may change how future emails are classified and could actually land you in spam. 

### Takeaways

Jump into your Bento account today, create separate FROM addresses (we call these "Authors" in Bento) for every type of email you are sending, and update them all. 

We recommend using different usernames as well as different subdomains for each.

Any questions, please ask in our Discord!

Ever wondered how to land in the primary inbox? We've got you covered in this post!

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Can You Predict Inbox Placement?

Predicting Inbox Placement

"Hi! Our users are reporting that our emails are going to spam recently and it seems like the IP has been blacklisted, do you mind having a look?"

That's a message we received on our Discord channel last week from a customer. I thought it would be interesting to share how we tackled this issue and found the root cause. Who knows, it might help you improve your own email deliverability!

The customer shared a screenshot showing that our IP address had been blacklisted by Barracuda: 

![CleanShot 2024-03-08 at 15.40.03@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/6w6Kat1ZQgYdXTGAEbEcX2/869432fa75a2e65c4d66ebd80c47f6c4/CleanShot_2024-03-08_at_15.40.03_2x.png)

Ouch! 

Now, Barracuda is a big player in the blacklist world, but landing on it isn't necessarily a catastrophe as not everyone uses it. It would particularly impact our customers who had lots of Microsoft Exchange users.

Given I knew this user had a lot of Gmail users, and that's where the complaints were coming from, my first stop in this investigation was Google Postmaster.

Google Postmaster has a handy feature where you can check the reputation of IP addresses; at Bento all of our IP addresses are listed here to monitor. 

The reputation of the questioned IP was marked as "high", which usually means it should be able to deliver emails to Gmail inboxes without a hitch. Google doesn't use Barracuda's blacklist, but usually if I get a listing on Barracuda or another backlist, I'd expect to see a lower reputation score in Postmaster as they are somewhat correlated — but not the case here.

![CleanShot 2024-03-08 at 15.42.31@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3iC5xx5dhIg8GHciPa9Db5/18ecb2c8c3f964b5dec988c13a9ccd08/CleanShot_2024-03-08_at_15.42.31_2x.png)

Next, I sent a few test emails from the customer's email address to myself. I noticed that SPF and DKIM weren't set up correctly, as evidenced by a glaring yellow "BE CAREFUL WITH THIS MESSAGE" banner at the top of the email. Our sending domain was also visible there (via ....) 

![CleanShot 2024-03-08 at 15.46.08@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/Xt3YGYRZwX17Zqpw43MNM/6ce8e0647af3a8a74dd4a6932647baa2/CleanShot_2024-03-08_at_15.46.08_2x.png)

I asked the customer to add the necessary records, thinking that would solve their problem. Afterall, Google and Yahoo were rolling out their new restrictions on email sending and I thought maybe the lack of SPF and DKIM records was the culprit.

They then sent out a resend of their last newsletter. 

A few days later, they reported back that the open rate was still as low as before. 

To my surprise, my test emails were also landing in spam. 

Could it actually be the IP? 

I checked the email performance of a handful of other customers who shared the same IP pool and had sent emails in the past 48 hours. They all had decent open rates, despite the Barracuda listing. 

So, the IP didn't seem to be the culprit. 

Then, I went to this users authors page (a list of addresses they were sending from in their account) and found they were sending from different subdomains and domains.

The customer was sending their newsletter from a subdomain (mail.domain.com). For all their other emails, they were sending from their primary domain (domain.com).

In the world of email marketing, each domain/subdomain combo has its own reputation. It's usually a good idea to send marketing emails from a subdomain to safeguard your primary domain. If you mess up the primary domain, you're in for a world of hurt.

I sent a few test emails from their primary domain and, voila, each one landed in the inbox using the same IP address. Great!

So, the issue seems to be isolated to this subdomain. 

To quadruple-check, I switched this customer to another IP address and sent a few test emails from their subdomain to myself. Same result: all emails still landed in spam. This confirmed that the subdomain was the problem.

I asked the customer to add this subdomain to Google Postmaster. Unfortunately, Google doesn't aggregate subdomains in their reports, so each one you send from needs to be added separately.

And there it was: 

![CleanShot 2024-03-08 at 15.49.48@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/6vKqjHM9kbS1eVzoxSRvss/0e0872510a0f922883d0c83f35473813/CleanShot_2024-03-08_at_15.49.48_2x.png)

The subdomain was marked as "bad". 

That was the root cause of the deliverability issues with Gmail. 

So, why did this happen?

My theory is that given Google has been implementing more stringent measures, the customer's email list might have contained a bunch of bad emails (spam traps, dead inboxes, etc) so when they sent out their newsletter, they crossed the daily threshold for negative signals. This dropped the reputation of the subdomain leading to the "bad" marking in Postmaster and thus the emails were all flagged as spam.

The solution? I've asked them to segment out their active users (i.e., users who logged in the last 30 days), and send their future newsletters at a slower pace (maybe over a few days instead of within a few hours). Once Google sees you're a good actor, your reputation will gradually improve from bad to medium to high within 90 days.

This customer could also try spinning up a new subdomain and sending from there but be warned, if you mess up with that one, you risk having your entire domain flagged which is far from ideal. 

At the end of the day, debugging deliverability issues is a process of trial and error. It's also fairly black and white, so you'll need to test thoroughly to figure out the real cause to not landing in the inbox.

If you find you're having deliverability issues, regardless if you're a Bento customer or not, please reach out to support!

A fun story diving into debugging a customer's issue landing in the inbox.

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Debugging Deliverability: A Real Life Example

During the onboarding process for our customers, regardless of their size, we strive to ensure that each one receives the best deliverability advice possible.

One key piece of advice we offer is to encourage our users to send emails via a subdomain rather than their root or apex domain. In other words, use @mail.example.com instead of @example.com.

Why is this important? 

Since the beginning of 2024, we've observed a significant increase in a phenomenon known as "list bombing". This is an attack where users upload a large list of emails through unsecured forms with the intent to spam them. The usual objective is to overwhelm an inbox to conceal password resets or to exploit vulnerabilities to get a scam offer into a user's inbox for free, like this one:

![CleanShot 2024-03-13 at 15.09.39@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/2KNP4W9RDDbK0fK4dkCUJv/d7abe60b9de9cdeea52564e8e02bb2c9/CleanShot_2024-03-13_at_15.09.39_2x.png) 

If you fall victim to such an attack, you could find your emails landing in spam, or worse, your domain could be blacklisted and take ages to get delisted.

By sending different types of emails via different subdomains, we can mitigate many of these risks.

For instance, just last week, one of our customers had a form spammed with over a million emails. Our platform automatically detected this and stopped sending, but unfortunately, their other email provider that they used for transactional emails did not, and they found themselves on a blacklist for their primary domain, causing significant issues. 

Had that user separated their different email streams across different subdomains, such as @transactional.example.com for their transactional emails on the other provider and @marketing.example.com for their newsletter and automations on Bento, they could have potentially isolated their issue to just one email stream.

In such a scenario, the customer could simply halt the attack, switch to a different subdomain/provider, and continue doing business as usual.

An important note: only rotate the domain/subdomain once you have confirmed the attack has stopped. Incorrectly doing this could blacklist the entire domain. Additionally, you may need to gradually warm up this new subdomain as it'll have a fresh reputation with inbox providers.

Need ideas for the types of subdomains you should use? Here are some suggestions!

**Transactional Emails**
notifications.example.com
orders.example.com
auth.example.com

**Marketing Emails**
updates.example.com
newsletter.example.com
changelog.example.com

Finally, once you have the above setup and all your SPF/DKIM records added, we recommend setting up a global catch-all for email replies. This ensures that when customers reply to these emails, their responses find their way to a support inbox for your team to respond to. Most hosting providers haave an easy way to set this up, so you can do it in a few minutes.

We hope this advice helps safeguard your email deliverability in the future! 

As always, if you have any questions, please ask in our Discord.

During the onboarding process for our customers, regardless of their size, we strive to ensure that each one receives the best deliverability advice possible.

One key piece of advice we offer is to encourage our users to send emails via a subdomain rather than their root or apex domain. In other words, use @mail.example.com instead of @example.com.

emails flying into a computer ghibli pastel colours c867b561-a4ee-44de-abe3-4f07bc773b11

Should I Use Subdomains For Sending Email?

Standing out in a crowded inbox has become more of a creative challenge than a straightforward task. 

As consumers grow savvier and inboxes get more crowded, the need for innovative, sales-oriented email campaigns has never been greater. 

Let's dive into three unique campaign ideas that go beyond the conventional newsletter or flash sale, offering fresh concepts, strategies, and actionable steps for implementation. 

These creative endeavors aim not just to capture attention but to convert curiosity into sales, fostering a deeper connection with your audience along the way.

### **1. "Behind the Scenes" Access Campaign**

**Concept:** Everyone loves feeling like an insider, privy to information that's not available to the general public. This campaign pulls back the curtain on your products or services, offering subscribers an exclusive look at the making, the effort, and the love that goes into them. Whether it's a sneak peek into your manufacturing process, a day in the life of your product development team, or the story behind your latest collection, this approach adds depth and personality to your brand.

**Strategy:** The goal here is to build a narrative around your products that resonate on a personal level with your subscribers. Use vivid storytelling, engaging visuals, and direct quotes from team members to bring your "behind the scenes" to life. This campaign not only humanizes your brand but also showcases the value and craftsmanship of your offerings, making them more desirable.

**Implementation:** Start by identifying a product or collection that has an interesting story or process behind it. Create a multi-part email series that gradually unveils this story, building anticipation with each installment. Include high-quality images, videos, or even GIFs to visually engage your readers. Consider offering an exclusive pre-order or a special discount for subscribers at the end of the series to turn their newfound interest into a purchase.

### **2. "Choose Your Adventure" Email**

**Concept:** Inspired by the choose-your-own-adventure books, this campaign turns the shopping experience into an interactive journey. Subscribers make choices within the email that lead them down different paths, each tailored to their interests and preferences. This approach not only engages customers in a novel way but also provides valuable insights into their preferences based on the choices they make.

**Strategy:** Map out a simple decision tree that starts with a broad question or choice and branches out into more specific paths. Each decision point should offer insights into subscriber preferences, guiding them toward products they're likely to be interested in. The adventure could end with a personalized product recommendation or a curated selection based on their choices.

**Implementation:** Use email marketing software that supports conditional logic or interactive elements. The initial email could ask subscribers to choose between two styles, product categories, or themes. Based on their choice, subsequent emails guide them further down the path, culminating in a highly personalized product recommendation. Make sure each "adventure" ends with a clear call to action, encouraging subscribers to explore the recommended products on your site.

### **3. "Mystery Box" Sale Campaign**

**Concept:** Everyone loves a good mystery, especially when it promises value and excitement. This campaign tantalizes subscribers with the prospect of purchasing a mystery box filled with products at a significant discount. The catch? The contents remain a secret until the box arrives. This concept plays on the thrill of the unknown and the allure of getting more bang for their buck.

**Strategy:** The aim is to create buzz and anticipation around the mystery box sale. Highlight the potential value of the box compared to the purchase price, and tease the quality and variety of products that could be inside. You can segment your audience and tailor the mystery box themes to different customer interests, increasing the campaign's relevance and appeal.

**Implementation:** Launch the campaign with a teaser email that introduces the mystery box concept and hints at the potential contents and value. Follow up with a few reminder emails that ramp up the excitement, perhaps sharing testimonials from customers who loved their mystery boxes in the past. Limit the availability of the boxes to enhance the sense of urgency and exclusivity. After the sale, encourage buyers to share their unboxing experiences on social media, creating user-generated content that can fuel future campaigns.

---

Creative sales-oriented email campaigns like these can invigorate your marketing strategy, turning routine promotions into engaging experiences that delight and convert. 

By tapping into the power of storytelling, interactivity, and a bit of mystery, you can capture your audience's imagination and drive meaningful engagement that translates into sales. 

Remember, the key to success lies in knowing your audience well and crafting campaigns that resonate with their desires, preferences, and behaviors. So, let your creativity flow, and watch your email marketing transform into a compelling journey that your subscribers look forward to joining.

One of the biggest challenges of email marketing is trying to make a creative and unique campaign that will stand out in the inboxes of your subscribers. To help you with this, we offer you ideas for three different campaigns you have not tried yet, but that will stand out. 

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Beyond the Inbox:  Three Fun and Engaging Promotional Email Campaigns You Haven't Tried Yet

Beyond the Inbox: 3 Promotional Email Campaigns You Haven't Tried Yet

Email marketing isn't just about sending messages; it's about forging a journey with your customers that feels personal, engaging, and rewarding at every step. 

From the first spark of discovery to the warm embrace of loyalty, each phase of the customer lifecycle offers a unique opportunity to deepen the relationship between your brand and its audience. Let’s walk through this journey, applying a blend of insightful strategies and practical examples to ensure each customer feels valued and understood.

### Awareness: Crafting the Perfect Welcome

Imagine meeting someone for the first time. You'd want to make a great impression, right? That's what the awareness stage is all about in email marketing. It's your chance to introduce your brand in a way that resonates personally with new acquaintances.

**Strategic Welcome Series:** Kick things off with a welcome email that not only thanks new subscribers for joining but also differentiates between those who have already made a purchase and those who haven't. For first-time buyers, acknowledge their purchase and offer additional insights or benefits related to their buy. For new subscribers, introduce your brand’s story, mission, and what sets you apart, perhaps enticing them with a special offer to encourage that first purchase. This personalized approach ensures every subscriber feels immediately recognized and valued.

### Consideration: Nurturing With Precision

Now, your guests are contemplating the menu, deciding what to try. This is where you get personal, using automated emails to guide their choices based on their interests and behaviors.

**Behavior-Triggered Automations:** Employ automation to send detailed information on products they've shown interest in, alongside how-to guides or videos that spotlight the unique benefits of your offerings. Tailoring this content based on their interactions with your site ensures each message hits home, making them feel seen and understood.

### Acquisition: Encouraging the Leap

Acquisition isn't just the result of effective messaging in the earlier stages; it's also a direct outcome of targeted email strategies that understand and leverage the customer's readiness to commit.

**Conversion-Centric Flows:** Analyze which aspects of your awareness and consideration emails most frequently precede a purchase. Use this insight to craft targeted messages that highlight these key conversion drivers, whether they're limited-time offers, product benefits, or customer testimonials. It's about giving that gentle, yet persuasive, push towards making a purchase.

### Retention: Cultivating Continued Engagement

Retention is the art of keeping the party lively and engaging, ensuring your guests have every reason to stay.

**Engagement-Driven Emails:** Beyond regular updates, focus on emails that celebrate their milestones with your brand, offer personalized product recommendations, or provide exclusive access to new releases. Recognizing their loyalty with special offers or insights into your brand's journey fosters a deeper connection, making each customer feel like a cherished part of your community.

### Advocacy: Turning Customers into Ambassadors

The final flourish in this journey is transforming satisfied customers into enthusiastic advocates for your brand, a process that extends beyond simple referral programs.

**Creative Advocacy Initiatives:** Consider establishing a VIP club for your most loyal customers or spotlighting customer stories in your newsletters. Encourage user-generated content and share these testimonials, making advocacy a shared and celebrated part of the customer experience. It’s about creating a sense of belonging and appreciation that customers are eager to share with others.

### Bringing It All Together

Mastering email marketing through the customer lifecycle isn’t just about guiding customers from one stage to the next; it’s about crafting a journey that feels personal, engaging, and endlessly rewarding. By tailoring your approach to meet the unique needs and behaviors of your customers at each stage, you not only drive business growth but also forge lasting relationships that turn casual browsers into lifelong brand advocates.

Remember, the key to successful email marketing lies in not just communicating but connecting, ensuring every touchpoint with your customers is an opportunity to deepen that bond. Let’s embrace this journey, making every email a step towards building a vibrant, engaged community around your brand.

The art of marketing is not just composing a good message - it is also how you deliver the message and keep the engagement. This is why it is of crucial importance to start building up a relationship with your subscribers and customers. Here are a few ways to start and maintain engagement in order to keep the cycle of marketing going. 

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Connecting, Not Just Communicating: Mastering the Customer Lifecycle and Relationships with Email Marketing

Mastering the Customer Lifecycle with Email Marketing

Ever found yourself marveling at how a simple email nudged you into buying something you didn't even know you wanted? It's not magic; it's psychology at play. Welcome to the intriguing world of cognitive biases, the brain's little shortcuts that influence our decisions, especially in the digital marketplace of email marketing. If you're navigating the e-commerce or email marketing universe, you're about to discover how these biases can be your best friends.

### Anchoring Bias: First Impressions Stick

Remember the last time a headline caught your eye, and suddenly, you found everything else in the article more compelling? That's anchoring bias for you—the tendency to rely heavily on the first piece of information we encounter.

**In Email Marketing:** Make a splash with your opening act. Highlight a premium product or an unbeatable offer right at the start. This sets the tone, making all subsequent offerings appear even more attractive. It's like telling a story where the opening line ensures the reader can't help but read on. For instance, starting an email with "Our most luxurious skincare line yet..." primes readers to view the following products as especially desirable.

### Bandwagon Effect: Everyone's Invited to the Party

The allure of belonging can't be underestimated. The bandwagon effect leverages our desire to be part of the majority, to follow the crowd.

**In Email Marketing:** Use social proof to your advantage. Customer reviews, testimonials, or even a simple "best-seller" badge next to products can significantly sway decision-making. It's akin to saying, "See how many are already enjoying this? You're missing out!" This method doesn't just validate the product's worth; it creates a sense of community and belonging. Picture an email filled with happy faces and rave reviews, subtly inviting the reader to join the happy customer club.

### Scarcity Bias: The Now-or-Never Approach

Why do limited editions excite us so much? Scarcity bias is at work, making us yearn for things that seem rare or fleeting.

**In Email Marketing:** Craft messages that highlight exclusivity and urgency. Phrases like "Limited offer" or "Only a few left!" can trigger an immediate response. This tactic transforms an ordinary product into a coveted treasure, much like a limited-time invitation to an exclusive event. Imagine an email that reads, "Exclusive preview for our VIP subscribers only," and watch the click-through rates soar.

### Loss Aversion: Dodging the Miss-Out Misery

The fear of losing out can often outweigh the joy of gaining. That's loss aversion—our tendency to go to great lengths to avoid missing out.

**In Email Marketing:** Frame your campaigns to spotlight what's at stake. Instead of just highlighting the benefits, emphasize what your customers stand to lose if they don't act. An email that says, "Last chance to enjoy 20% off!" plays on the natural instinct to avoid loss, making the offer hard to ignore.

### Confirmation Bias: The "I Knew It!" Feeling

We love it when new information confirms our existing beliefs. Confirmation bias is all about seeking and prioritizing information that aligns with our previous choices or beliefs.

**In Email Marketing:** Send personalized content that resonates with the recipient's past interactions or purchases. This could mean recommending products similar to those they've bought before or content that aligns with their interests. It's like saying, "Since you loved X, you're going to adore Y!" This not only makes the email more relevant but also reinforces the customer's belief that they're making the right choices.

### Choice-Supportive Bias: Post-Purchase Bliss

Ever rationalized a purchase by focusing only on its positives? That's choice-supportive bias in action, where we justify our decisions by overlooking any flaws.

**In Email Marketing:** Follow up after a purchase with messages that validate and celebrate the customer's choice. Share tips on how to get the most out of the product, related items, or simply a note that says, "You've made a fantastic choice!" This enhances satisfaction and loyalty, making the customer feel confident and happy about their decision.

---

By diving into the psychology of cognitive biases, email marketers can craft strategies that not only captivate and convert but also create a richer, more engaging customer experience. It’s about understanding the subtle forces that guide our decisions and using them to build meaningful, lasting relationships with your audience. So, the next time you're drafting an email campaign, remember these insights. You're not just selling a product; you're engaging with the human psyche, making every email an opportunity to connect, persuade, and delight.

Marketing emailing is, first and foremost, about customers. Therefore, if we wish to know more about marketing, we need to know more about how customers act in general, what they wish for, and what works best with them. This is where psychology can come in helpful, to explain to us some of the behavioral factors in the process. 

flowers

The Secret Psychology Behind Your Shopping Cart: Using Cognitive Biases to Boost Email Engagement 

The Secret Psychology Behind Your Shopping Cart: Cognitive Biases Unveiled

"Help! My email keeps landing in spam!"

Every so often, I notice a friend on Twitter or within a community I'm part of, struggling with email deliverability issues. Each time, I make it a point to reach out and assist them in debugging the problem.

I find these problems fun! 

And sometimes it's nice to have someone whose job it is to solve these problems, help you out.

For many, email deliverability seems like a mysterious black box, filled with secrets only known to the experts. However, the truth is, it's a relatively straightforward science that you can understand the 80/20 of by just reading this post.

### **It's Probably Not Your Fault**

If your emails have been delivering fine for a while, and suddenly your open rates plummet from 40% to 1%, then there's obviously a problem that needs addressing. In such cases, the issue often lies with the IP (i.e., server) address from which you are sending emails.

So, what is an IP address?

Emails are dispatched from servers, each having an IP address. Think of it as a home address. When email inbox providers receive an email, they can identify the server it originated from. If the inbox providers recognize that the server has a history of sending inappropriate content like hardcore pornography or crypto scams, they will likely reject any subsequent emails as a precaution.

When you register for an email service, like Bento, we assign you to an IP pool along with other customers. Some email services put THOUSANDS of customers in a single pool (insane).

Example: If you're sending from Bento, you're likely in one of our shared IP pools such as `marketing-1`, `new-customers-2` or even `high-risk-10` (reserved for customers we're unsure about).

Each email service has a unique strategy and level of transparency regarding IP pool delegation. 

At Bento, we prioritize extreme transparency. Within your Bento dashboard, you can view which pool you belong to, and whether it's healthy or not. This feature primarily aids our support team in debugging. We also just like the public accountability of it.

If you're not using Bento (we're sorry to hear that 🙈), you can determine which IP pool your provider has placed you in by sending a few emails to yourself, checking the headers, and entering your IP into a tool like MXToolbox.

Grab your IP address from your email: 
![CleanShot 2024-02-05 at 16.13.07@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3xgkP8MHFeqmnj1FfCbUqf/933cfd1564cebcf90ccb56280618d9ac/CleanShot_2024-02-05_at_16.13.07_2x.png)

Then add it to MXToolbox and you'll receive a result similar to this (this is an IP from one of our competitors):
![CleanShot 2024-02-05 at 16.14.21@2x](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/5QG5PvhQOxkQCc0xLRgvjr/01b15408cb1698107bfc2e8643adc102/CleanShot_2024-02-05_at_16.14.21_2x.png)

It's typical for most IP addresses to appear on one or maybe two blacklists. 

Some are a bit more sensitive than others.

However, if you find your IP on numerous blacklists, it generally indicates a poor overall reputation. 

While Gmail and Yahoo offer tools such as Google Postmaster, from our experience, they often inaccurately estimate reputation or lag so much there's no data to gather. 

TLDR: multiple listings, like the above screenshot, you have an issue.

**And most importantly, the above may not even be your fault.**

As we mentioned earlier, email service providers group your emails with those of other customers. One of those customers could be sending out spam, and you're inadvertently suffering collateral damage because of it.

If the above is true, and you're not the one tarnishing the reputation of the IP pool, then the simplest solution is to contact support and request a move to another IP address. 

Most providers will be happy to oblige. If they gaslight you then leave.

### **If It's Not Their Fault, It Could Be Yours**

If the IP addresses you're sending from appear clean, then you need to investigate your own domain reputation.

Similar to the above, enter your domain into a blacklist checker to see if you spot any obvious listings.

Each listing isn't a catastrophe as you can apply to get delisted relatively easily. 

If you're a responsible actor, most of the DBL (domain blocklist) providers will unblock you within 24 hours, provided you've rectified the issue. Some will even automatically delist without your action within a few days if you've stopped sending spam.

In reality, only a handful of DBLs cause widespread deliverability issues due to their adoption; these are Spamhaus, Barracuda, and Sorbs. 

All three of these providers strive to maintain a clean and safe web meaning they really only list when there's an actual problem.

They aren't the bad guys, they're trying to stop the bad guys. Fun fact: we use Spamhaus in our product to block bad emails being sent from our platform. 

In addition to checking DBLs, log into your Google Postmaster account and examine your domain reputation. 

If your reputation is "Low" or "Bad", you have a problem.

"Oh no! My reputation is low :((( and I'm listed in Spamhaus. Should I just create a new domain???"

**No! Do not start a new domain under any circumstances!**

This is a common solution that many people resort to. 

However, the truth is that building up the reputation on a new domain is often much more challenging than repairing the reputation of an aged domain with history.

You need to perceive these email providers more like humans with memory. If you behave well for a sufficient period, they'll forget your past misdemeanors and start letting you back in.

Fix your issue, be good + keep emailing, and you'll be back in the good books in no time.

Which brings me to a crucial point...

### **Figure Out Why Your Reputation Tanked**

If you discover that yes, you are the one to blame, you need to determine why.

If this happened unexpectedly, then it's likely that a specific event triggered this.

A few common reasons include:

**Your system was compromised, and bad emails were sent:** We all try our best, but spammers try harder. Often, an old system or even something like sign-up emails can be exploited for spam. Check your Google Postmaster account for the day your reputation dropped and click the "Spam Rate" tab to see if there were any spikes. If there are spikes, investigate if any of your systems were dispatching these emails.

**You were list bombed:** This one is a bit more subtle, but malicious actors often discover that your app can, and will, send emails easily, so they exploit it to overwhelm an inbox. Why? They may want to fill up an inbox so the user can't see password reset emails coming in.

**You haven't mailed the list in a long time:** If you haven't emailed your list in a long time, then there's a chance that when you tried to revive your list, there was an above-average number of dead emails in there. Closed accounts, full inboxes, etc. If this is the case, you should prune the list and clean it up before sending again.

### **It's All Temporary**

Whether you find yourself in a naughty IP pool or your domain is blacklisted by the Google gods, it's all going to be OK if you're a good faith actor.

Rectify your issues, move into a clean IP pool, and ensure you're with an email marketing provider who is willing to work with you on these issues — like we are at Bento!

If you have any questions, please join our Discord and ask away.


For many, email deliverability seems like a mysterious black box, filled with secrets only known to the experts. However, the truth is, it's a relatively straightforward science that you can understand the 80/20 of by just reading this post.

CleanShot 2024-02-05 at 16.09.30 2@2x

Domains & IPs: What the ESPs Aren’t Telling You

In Email Marketing, ensuring your emails hit the inbox stage without a hitch is crucial. This is where the trio of DMARC, SPF, and DKIM takes the spotlight, acting as the guardians of your email's integrity and deliverability. 

But don't let the acronyms intimidate you; think of them as the trusty tools that keep your emails safe and sound, ensuring they reach your audience just as you intended.

**DMARC: The Bouncer**

Imagine DMARC as a bouncer **you** hire at the club (a club called Gmail and Yahoo), deciding the fate of your emails based on the rules **you** set. DMARC checks if your email has passed the SPF and DKIM checks (more on these soon) and then follows your instructions on what to do if the checks fail. It's like telling the bouncer to give a warning, send the guest away, or let them in but keep an eye on them.

**Actionable Steps:**

1. **Understand Your Policy Options:**
    - **`None`**: The bouncer observes and reports but takes no action.
    - **`Quarantine`**: The bouncer puts the questionable emails in a corner to review (aka the spam folder).
    - **`Reject`**: The bouncer turns away the emails that fail checks. The recipient will never see them. Good option for enterprises. 
2. **Set Up DMARC:**
    - Publish a DMARC record in your domain's DNS settings.
    - Start with a **`None`** policy to monitor your emails without impacting delivery.
    - Gradually adopt a stricter policy based on the insights you gather.

We recommend using [this generator by DMARCIAN](https://dmarcian.com/dmarc-record-wizard/) to create your DMARC policy. It's got a nice questionnaire.

**SPF: VIP List**

SPF is like your club's exclusive guest list. It's a way to tell email servers which 'guests' (email servers) are allowed to send emails on your behalf. When an email arrives at its destination, the receiving server checks this list. 

If the sender isn't on your list, the email could be turned away or marked as suspicious (per the instructions you gave the bounder). 

**Actionable Steps:**

1. **Create Your Guest List:**
    - Set up an SPF record in your DNS that lists all the servers and services allowed to send emails for your domain.
2. **Keep It Updated:**
    - Regularly review and update your SPF record to include any new email services you use.

If you use Bento, we handle this automatically based on the records you generate in your account.

**DKIM: The Verified ID**

DKIM is your way of attaching a verified ID to your emails, proving they're genuinely from you and haven't been tampered with along the way. It's like giving your emails a seal of authenticity that the recipient's email server can check.

Or, using our bouncer analogy, it's like a drivers license. 

**Actionable Steps:**

1. **Set Up Your ID System:**
    - Generate a DKIM key pair and add the public key to your domain's DNS records.
    - Ensure your email service is attaching the DKIM signature to your outgoing emails.

Again, if you use Bento we'll generate these for you.

Once you've set the stage with DMARC, SPF, and DKIM, the next crucial step is to keep a vigilant eye on the performance and security of your emails. This is not a set-it-and-forget-it scenario; it's about continuously adapting and enhancing your defenses based on real feedback.

1. **Review DMARC Reports:**
DMARC reports are like detailed feedback from your audience. They tell you how your emails are being perceived and treated by different email servers.

    **What to Look For:**

    - **Delivery Issues:** Are a significant number of your emails not reaching inboxes or landing in spam? This might indicate issues with your SPF or DKIM setup.
    - **Sources of Failure:** Are emails failing SPF or DKIM checks? Determine if these failures are from your legitimate email sources or unauthorized sources.
    - **Geographical Anomalies:** Are your emails being sent from unexpected locations? This could be a sign of email spoofing or compromise.

2. **Adjust Based on Insights:**
The insights from your DMARC reports are actionable. They guide you on where to tweak your settings to enhance the security and deliverability of your emails.

    **Actionable Steps:**

    - **Refine Your SPF Record:** If legitimate emails are failing SPF checks, ensure that your SPF record includes all authorized sending IPs and services.
    - **Review DKIM Signatures:** If emails are failing DKIM checks, ensure that your DKIM signatures are correctly configured and that your email service is signing emails properly.
    - **Strengthen DMARC Policy:** If you notice unauthorized use of your domain, consider moving from a **`p=none`** policy to a more protective **`p=quarantine`** or **`p=reject`** policy, based on your comfort level and the maturity of your SPF and DKIM setups.

3. **Stay Proactive with User Feedback:**
Beyond automated reports, direct feedback from your recipients can provide invaluable insights. Tools like SurveyMonkey integrated into your emails can help gather user experiences and perceptions, offering a direct line to understand how your audience interacts with your emails.

Regularly monitoring these protocols and adapting based on real-world insights ensures your emails not only reach your audience but also uphold the integrity and trust of your brand.

In Email Marketing, ensuring your emails hit the inbox stage without a hitch is crucial. This is where the trio of DMARC, SPF, and DKIM takes the spotlight, acting as the guardians of your email's integrity and deliverability. 

CleanShot 2024-02-06 at 13.02.22@2x

What Are DMARC, SPF and DKIM records?

DMARC, SPF and DKIM Simplified

The duo of subject lines and preheaders is your first impression. It’s crucial to get this pairing right as its a make or break for whether your subscriber opens the email or not.

## **The Art of the Subject Line:**
*Capture attention.* Craft subject lines that are concise, intriguing, and relevant. Utilize personalization to make each message feel tailored, and A/B test to find the most effective approach.

## **Preheaders as Partners:**
*Support and enhance.* Ensure your preheader complements your subject line, adding context or intrigue without repeating the same information. This duo should work together to pique interest and encourage the reader to dive into the content of your email.

## **A/B Testing for Perfection:**
*Refine relentlessly.* Continuously test different combinations of subject lines and preheaders. Monitor open rates and adjust your approach based on what resonates most, ensuring each email is an opportunity seized.

It’s stupid simple but incredibly easy to miss for the impact it has on your emails. Don’t let this small thing ruin your chances of putting a great email in front of your subscribers.

If you’re out of inspiration, look at your own swipe file of brands or companies that you’ve subscribed to. What are the subject lines and preheaders of the ones that you open? Knowing who you are as a consumer as well as the emails that you opened, will give you a better understanding on how to do it for your own emails.

The subject line and preheader are the first things your subscribers will see when your email lands in their inbox. Because of this, it is of key importance to perfect the art of composing them well - they have the responsibility but also the power to boost your engagement or bury your email in the "unread" pile.

a floating email ghibli Hayao Miyazaki and studio g 99ca1682-27fe-42d0-b227-ec46371ee53d

Subject Line and Preheader Text Strategies: How to Capture Attention and Boost Email Engagement

Subject Lines & Preheader Text - The Power Couple That Can Make or Break Your Email

Discounts can be effective, but they're not the only tool in your arsenal to drive engagement and sales. Over-reliance on discounts can lead to reduced profit margins and the risk of diminishing your brand's perceived value. Let's explore a variety of creative incentives that can add depth to your campaigns and delight your customers.

**Why Expand Beyond Discounts:**
Constant discounts can train customers to wait for sales, undermining the perceived value of your products. Diverse incentives not only preserve your brand's prestige but can also foster a deeper connection with your audience, encouraging loyalty and repeat business.

## **Types of Diverse Incentives**

- **Exclusive Access:** Make your subscribers feel special by offering early access to new products, sales, or events.
- **Loyalty Programs:** Develop a points system where actions like purchases, reviews, or referrals are rewarded. Consider tiered levels with increasingly valuable rewards to encourage continued engagement.
- **Valuable Content:** Provide exclusive content such as in-depth guides, e-books, or access to webinars. This not only adds value but also positions your brand as a knowledgeable leader in your field.
- **Personalized Recommendations:** Use data from past purchases or browsing behavior to make personalized product suggestions, making each communication feel tailored and thoughtful.
- **Giveaways:** Engage your audience with contests or giveaways. This can increase engagement and provide a fun, interactive element to your emails.
- **Social Media Features:** Offer customers the chance to be featured on your website or social media platforms. This not only provides them with a moment in the spotlight but also leverages user-generated content for your brand.
- **Bundled Offers:** Create bundled deals that offer complementary products at a combined price. This can increase the perceived value and encourage larger purchases.
- **Buy X, Get Y Free:** Instead of a straight discount, offer an additional product free with purchase. This can increase the perceived value and encourage customers to try new products.

By integrating these varied incentives into your email marketing strategy, you can diversify your approach, maintain your brand's value, and build a more engaged, loyal customer base.

We all love a good discount, but as email marketers, we love effective discount practices even more! We have determined a few innovative discount strategies that will help you reach your full brand potential, as well as help you find the most successful marketing strategy.

close up of money changing hands Hayao Miyazaki and 78eebde6-4c6d-4232-8088-69adf4bead44

Improve Your Strategy and Moving Beyond Discounts for the Best Brand Value

Beyond Basic Discounts

Let's cut to the chase – in email, it's easy to obsess over a new subscriber. But here's a reality check: What about those who've been swiping their cards on your site for ages? 

That's where RFM Segmentation comes in – it's like the relationship guru of ecommerce, offering insights into who's really into your brand and who's just not that into you.

Imagine your customer base as a series of relationships:

1. **Recency (R)**: When did they last buy from you? If it's recent, they're like that date who just texted you back. Ages ago? More like the one who ghosted you after the first coffee.
2. **Frequency (F)**: How often do they come back for more? Regular buyers are like those who want to hang out every weekend. Rare buyers? They're like acquaintances you bump into once in a blue moon.
3. **Monetary Value (M)**: How much do they spend? Big spenders are like those who go all out on Valentine's Day, while the small spenders are more like the "let's split the bill" types.

Now, Let's Talk Relationships – Ecommerce Style

- **The 'Soulmates' (High RFM)**: These customers are your dream dates. They're into you, they show it often, and they aren't shy about splurging on your products.
- **The 'Flings' (Mixed RFM)**: They've shown some interest, maybe a lot of interest at times, but it's not consistent. They're like that summer romance that flares up then cools down.
- **The 'Ghosters' (Low RFM)**: Remember them? No? They barely remember you either. They popped in once and then vanished into thin air.

Each type of relationship needs a different strategy. 

You wouldn't propose on a first date, right? 

Likewise, you wouldn't send a VIP loyalty program invite to someone who bought a single sock two years ago.

- For your 'Soulmates,' roll out the red carpet. Loyalty programs, exclusive offers – make them feel special.
- For the 'Flings,' keep the spark alive. Tempt them with personalized deals or new product teasers.
- For the 'Ghosters,' it’s about rekindling that lost flame. Entice them back with a "We've missed you" deal.

RFM Segmentation isn't just about data and numbers. It's about understanding the depth of your customers' love for your brand. It's time to stop chasing after every potential match and start focusing on those who really value what you've got to offer. Trust me, your bottom line will thank you for it.

heart

Unlocking Insights: Exploring Customer Segments through the Lens of Romantic Relationships

Customer Segments, but as Romantic Relationships

Have you ever considered that a high unsubscribe rate in your email campaigns could be a sign of success, not failure? 

Unsubscribe Rates are probably the most misunderstood metric in email marketing. 

Let’s reframe this because unsubscribes are more indicative than negative.

## **Unsubscribe Rates: More Than Meets the Eye**

At first glance, unsubscribe rates can be disheartening. No one likes to see subscribers leave. But let's look deeper. These rates aren't just about losing contacts; they're about retaining quality over quantity. A high unsubscribe rate can often mean that your list is self-cleansing, leaving behind a group of highly engaged and valuable subscribers.

## **Quality Subscribers: The Core of Your Strategy**

The difference between a low-quality and a high-quality subscriber is substantial. The former might sign up for a quick discount and then vanish, contributing little to your brand in the long run. In contrast, high-quality subscribers are those who interact with your content regularly and are more likely to make repeat purchases. These are the subscribers who drive your business forward.

## **When Unsubscribes Signal a Strategy Shift**

However, it's crucial to distinguish between healthy list refinement and signs of an ineffective strategy. An uptick in unsubscribes could indicate problems like aggressive sales tactics, lack of personalization, or irregular email frequencies. Although unsubscribes are a sign that you’re qualifying subscribers, the quality of your emails can inaccurately qualify them.

For example, if you send only sales emails, you may get a spike in sales but more likely, your unsubscribe rate will increase and your retention rate will suffer. Why? Your email marketing strategy did not resonate with the type of subscriber and customer you want to have.

## **Leveraging Unsubscribe Rates for Success**

Understanding the reasons behind each unsubscribe is key to refining your strategy. Each unsubscribe can give you insights into your audience's preferences and behaviors, allowing you to create your content more effectively. This makes your email marketing campaigns more resonant and impactful, ultimately driving better engagement and conversions.

## **Conclusion**

It's time to reframe how we view unsubscribe rates in email marketing. By recognizing their role in creating a high-quality, engaged audience and adjusting strategies accordingly, we can turn this metric into a powerful tool for success. So next time you see your unsubscribe rate climb, remember it might just be paving the way for a more effective and impactful email marketing strategy.

Unsubscribe Rates are probably the most misunderstood metric in email marketing. Here's why.

unsubscribe

Unsubscribe rates aren’t evil, they’re indicative

In light of the recent updates in email marketing, we've received a significant number of support tickets. 

A common point of confusion among our customers pertains to the new "1-click unsubscribe" requirements.

Traditionally, Bento has employed a two-step opt-out process for unsubscribing. 

Users would click the "Unsubscribe" link in an email, which would redirect them to a page hosted by us. Here, they could fill out a form to unsubscribe. This page also provided options to report spam, view previous emails, and even activate the 'snooze' feature, which allows users to pause marketing communications for a few months.

We chose the two-step process over the 1-click option primarily to prevent non-human unsubscribes. 

These occur when third-party tools, such as Microsoft Safe-Links and various anti-virus software, automatically click links.

In the B2B sector, where companies frequently use enterprise anti-virus software, and in the broader B2C market, where users have personal anti-virus software (like Norton), we often observe 5-10% of clicks from broadcasts being automated or fake. We've even noticed that Apple's new Privacy Relay offering clicks every link in an email before the user opens it.

Is this two-step process compliant with the new requirements?

Simply: it is compliant! 

The new requirements from Gmail and Yahoo do not affect our process at Bento.

What they require is for us to provide a private, hidden URL that they can use to implement their own unsubscribe button in their products.

Their goal is to allow users to unsubscribe without leaving their inbox.

You may have noticed a small "Unsubscribe" button next to the sender information box in Gmail. This feature is what enables that. When you click this button, Gmail sends a POST request to your email marketing provider's app (in this case, Bento), and the user is unsubscribed. 

![unsubscribe](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/7EAQbf4XiGOHKvwJiDyGGn/205cfe6f5048bc29e6e88280d45306ac/GEehTTOWQAE7Fqu.png)

In my view, this feature should significantly reduce spam reports and support tickets, albeit at the cost of Gmail and Yahoo exerting more control over senders. 

Senders can still link to two-step unsubscribe pages within the body of their emails. The requirements did not mention any changes to this, other than making the links clear and including them in all emails.

For Bento users, we will be adding the following headers to all emails starting next week:

`List-Unsubscribe: <https://app.bentonow.com/one_click_unsubscribe/:id>`
`List-Unsubscribe-Post: List-Unsubscribe=One-Click`

This will activate the new feature without requiring any action on your part. 

If you have any questions, feel free to drop by our Discord and say hello! 


An overview of the more confusing aspects of the Gmail and Yahoo changes.

0 0 2048 N

List-Unsubscribe Simply Explained

A simple explanation of the new List-Unsubscribe header changes

In the world of ecommerce, there’s this infectious notion that ‘new’ is always better. Brands get caught up in the allure of new subscribers, pouring time, money and resources into wooing them to get that first sale.

But, what’s the point if you can’t keep them?

Like in any type of relationship, if you put in a lot of effort in starting it, chances are that other person is going to reciprocate your feelings. Give your new subscriber a sale, they’re going to buy something from you.

However, if you stop there and reduce your effort to nil, guess what their response will inevitably be? Nothing.

No brand wants a one hit wonder but so many still reward their new subscribers more than their current customers. Let’s break the cycle shall we? After all, getting a new subscriber can cost 5x more than retaining an existing customer.

If you want to keep subscribers and turn them into repeat customers, treat them like any relationship you value and want to grow with long-term. That means, sending the right emails at the right time to the right people.

Just like you would send someone who just purchased a thank you email, you’d say thank you if your friend bought you a coffee.

If they bought you a whole espresso machine, you might want to return the favor by giving them the shoes they’ve been eyeing for the last year but never purchased.

That thoughtfulness in picking out something that friend really wants is the type of approach we want to take with email marketing. The equivalent is sending a discount to the person that purchased that low ticket item to buy the high ticket item that they’ve been browsing but never purchased.

With email marketing, brands have the opportunity to build long term relationships with their customers using this type of personalization. The benefit of doing this is increase conversion rate short-term and customer lifecycle value long-term.

In the world of ecommerce, there’s this infectious notion that ‘new’ is always better. Brands get caught up in the allure of new subscribers, pouring time, money and resources into wooing them to get that first sale.

jessehanley ghibli scene mountains and rivers no humans anime p 3ce7555e-70e4-49d3-b7f6-7215027d575f

Reward long-term customer relationships, engage short-term

In this episode of the podcast, I talk about an experience I had dealing with SOFTFAIL errors — it cost me thousands! — and how to debug them. I also talk about SPF, DMARC, DKIM and other terms in a simple to understand way.

We All SOFTFAIL A Little Sometimes: SPF SOFTFAIL Explained (AUDIO)

Bento on Air: We All SOFTFAIL A Little Sometimes

Earlier this week, we had a customer cancel their account because **“they were not receiving the same performance vs. their previous tool”** … this sounded strange to me.

They were on one of our cleanest IPs, had good sending habits, domain had DKIM/SPF/DMARC all setup, and they had a somewhat healthy mailing list. 

After I confirmed that it wasn’t a platform issue I turned to their content. 

The first thing I noticed when viewing their emails was that they were LONG.

And I mean super long.

Why does this matter? 

Email marketing tools, like Bento, add a 1px by 1px image in emails to track them. 

Bento, like the majority of providers, adds this to the footer of the email. 

**An issue with adding it in the footer vs. the header is that when email content is too long the pixel is cut off and never receives a request.**

This leads to drastically lower open rates for subscribers that use Gmail (+80% of emails we see in Bento) and perceived performance even though the email might have crushed it. 

Here’s an example of our pixel being cut off entirely:

![clipped-media](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/7ihzw3argprcqchGjPsKwW/64e7e39b7d2ba38cbcc07cf7efad3c45/clipped-image.png)

This explained why these recent emails had poor performance but it didn’t explain why their previous provider had better performance than us so I began to dug in. 

I signed up with the competitor and sent myself the same email the client had been sending with us.

Once I got it, I clicked “Show original” aka View Source in the email world.

![show-original](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/5Mgrk8uCHSwqedmsYKULYs/2aadd487cd91afe83f1ffa3047881757/show-original.png)

After scanning the HTML I noticed that this competitor was **placing the pixel in the header of the email** and not in the footer like we were doing with Bento. 

This makes comparing the data impossible.

Why does the placement matter? 

Emails load top to bottom. 

If the open pixel placed before any other content it’ll load instantly. Even for emails that are cut-off like above, they’ll still trigger a request to the pixel.

There’s also another major problem with this. 

In our testing, a lot of email clients will prematurely trigger a request to the pixel when they show a notification on iOS or Android — without the user ever opening the email!

This leads to drastically inflated open rates which obviously benefits the email marketing provider as all their customers think they are crushing it when most of them may not have even read the email.

We’ve seen some providers try to game their open metrics by littering their emails with 3x pixels (top, middle, bottom) to juice their metrics and appear as though they are crushing it for their customers.

Whilst most Bento customers know I'm not a fan of the open metric in general it does have some utility in identifying issues and placing it at the top almost nullifies all of those.

In conclusion, tracking pixels are a powerful tool for email marketers, but their implementation can have a significant impact on the accuracy of open rate data. 

As we've seen, some providers use dishonest tactics to game their metrics, such as placing pixels in the email header or using multiple pixels to inflate open rates.

At Bento, we believe in transparency and honesty with our customers. Our tracking pixel is placed in the footer of emails, and we do not engage in any tactics to artificially inflate open rates. 

We believe that by providing accurate data, we can help our customers make informed decisions and improve their email marketing performance.

If you have any questions about our tracking pixel or email marketing in general, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team. 

We're always here to help!

(PS: The above has a few clues in it for the reason plain text emails always look to perform better than drag and drop/heavily designed emails ... when in fact there may be no difference).

In this episode, we discuss the topic of tracking pixels and their implementation in email marketing. The host shares a recent experience where a customer canceled their account because they were not receiving the same performance as their previous tool. Upon investigation, it was found that the customer's emails were too long, causing the tracking pixel to be cut off and never receiving a request. This led to lower open rates for subscribers that use Gmail and perceived poor performance, even though the email might have actually performed well.
The host also discovered that some email marketing providers place the pixel in the header of the email, leading to inflated open rates and making comparing data impossible. Some providers also use multiple pixels to juice their metrics and appear as though they are crushing it for their customers.

Open Tracking Explained

Bento on Air: Tracking Pixels Trickery

![gmail-blue-checkmark](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/3giYoW84sY24KIevAwegxl/ee438caae5bb13e39d7d4733f58bf5fc/gmail-blue-checkmark.webp)

Gmail is introducing a new feature by adding a blue checkmark to emails, building upon the existing support for verified brand logos that was introduced in 2021. 

Previously, you could use BIMI to override the generic logo that Google would put as your avatar in the inbox. With this new system it will slap a blue checkmark next to the sender name too, potentially leading to more engagement via trust.

It's a nice idea but in practice, it's pretty expensive to get going. 

For BIMI to work, you need a particular TLS cert (basically an Extended Validation cert) in addition to the record. To acquire this certificate, you need to handover a lot of documents to prove your legitimacy and fork out hard cash. 

Not fun or free.

If you're a bank, financial company, or you just have a lot of time + cash laying around then go for it. As always, Bento is here to support you get it all setup in your Bento account (we even have a free BIMI record generator!). 

We encourage this initiative from Google but do wish they would make it simpler for the little guys to prove who they are.


Gmail's new feature of adding a blue checkmark to emails with verified brand logos is aimed at providing a more secure email ecosystem.

gmail-blue-checkmark

Gmail Adds Blue Checkmark to Emails with Verified Brand Logos ... Kinda

Affiliate marketing has emerged as a lucrative online business model, allowing individuals to earn income by promoting products or services and earning commissions on successful referrals. However, simply joining an affiliate program is not enough to guarantee success. To maximize your earnings, you need to implement effective strategies to promote your affiliate links. In this text, we will explore ten proven methods to boost your affiliate marketing efforts and generate more conversions.

10 Proven Techniques for Maximizing Affiliate Link Exposure and Skyrocketing Your Profits

10 Effective Strategies to Promote Your Affiliate Links and Boost Your Earnings

Welcome to the Weekly Roundup for Weeks 2 & 3 of October.

I was out last week so unfortunately I didn't get to put out a roundup. So today you are getting two roundups for the price of one. Luck you right?

Let's dive right in and see what Jesse has been up to down on Update Lane.

10/11/2022

__[New Feature] User Goal tracking added to Bento User Profiles__
We're now showing, on profiles, how quickly it takes someone to convert for each specific goal. Just set the Complete Goal node in your workflow to get started tracking.
![Complete Goal](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/1g86aX6sK3pufpjNely6Hc/c9d62a6decb40150e1abc687440330fa/completegoal.png)
![Goal Tracking](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/425CMjGpuIU5stfH5D3Hkg/bd7ea26fc6ebc6acb792cbf9979c31b2/goaltracking.png)

__[Liquid] Embed audio in your emails using the audio_tag filter.__
The tag also contains a fallback for email clients who do not support it. *cough*outlook*cough*
![Audio Tag](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/7ne3PTA6zha9BpbXowVa0O/36a426d48b19ef8721030a81c74fea6e/audiotag.png)

10/12/2022

__[BETA] We're looking for early testers for our new batch/emails API__
Are you looking to ditch your transactional email provider and just send everything through Bento? We are setting up a new API that gives users the ability to send emails in a priority queue (think password resets, magic links, etc). Post in our Discord channel #deliverability_help if you want access to the BETA.

10/13/2022

__[Spam API] Updated disposable email check__
Now includes a few new sites that have been popping up more frequently. We've noticed a large increase in automated abuse so handy to block these at sign-up if you're a developer (using our public API endpoint to check)!

10/17/2022

__[Spam Reports] Now logging, on users profile pages, those that hit the "Report Spam" button on the unsubscribe page.__
No action is needed on these as it's something we monitor internally, but if you are sending out a somewhat controversial email (price increase, political content, etc) I would monitor it (and send your email super slowly). These correlate closely to people hitting the spam button in their ISP (Gmail, Yahoo, etc).
![Spam Report](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/5TAo1Xc0hdzfV5jj0AkZTT/525a1b00805ae809a1b0b664013622f3/spamreport.png)

__[Dev] Developers now able to target bento:forms:submitted and bento:survey:submitted events to add their own functionality. Docs coming soon.__

__[Performance] Users who have sent many hundreds (or thousands) of 
emails should notice faster load times in People.__
Working on more tiny performance improvements this week throughout the app. Should notice things are even snappier.

10/18/2022

__[QoL] Everyone can rejoice, I've reworded the sequence delay (FINALLY).__
Thanks @weisbart for the push to get this done.
![Wait to Send](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/5qktb33m5xlkhLu8Oh4T1M/0e8a0d80d998654cb0b7d3062b69f34a/waittosend.png)

__[Bug] Fixed bug where anonymous names (i.e warm-breeze-9999) were changing.__ 

__[QoL] Improvement to onboarding and script installation flow.__

10/19/2022

__[Bug] Fixed bug where logs in Workflows were not changing despite switching between different nodes.__

__[QoL] Improved speed in Workflows substantially and fixed issue where incomplete triggers could halt flow processing under specific conditions.__

10/20/2022

__[QoL/Bug] Refactored how "products" are calculated so that they only are counted once per unique event.__
Thanks @nathanbraun for suggesting in tiny-bugs. This stops double counts of "products" if an event is sent to our platform a few times accidentally (just like how we handle increasing/decreasing lifetime values of customers). Search data will slowly be updated to reflect this over the coming days.

And that is it for the past two weeks. See you next week, when you can once again ask the question, "What Got Updated!"


Weekly Roundup for Weeks 2 & 3 of October.

Weekly Roundup [Oct Week 2-3, 2022]: Two for the Price of One

Hey everyone! 

It's Scott from the Bento community team here.

Welcome to our new Weekly Roundup post. Starting today, I will pull together all the updates we've pushed to production during the week and will compile them into a nice, convenient post that will go up on Friday. We'll announce this in the Discord when they go live.

So every Friday you will get a nice overview of how much more amazing Bento got over the last week

And as a bonus, I will be retroactively adding in the weeks prior so we have them all on the blog. This will have the added effect of them now being searchable inside Bento. 

Hooray!

A lot of great stuff went out this week, but the highlight has to be the addition of versions in Worfklows. Nothing like having the peace of mind of knowing what you write won't be entirely lost if something accidentally happens by you or a team member.

Okay, grab your trail mix and let's go for a stroll down update lane.

10/02/2022
__[Usability] You can now give webhook actions friendly names!__
Have you ever wanted to name all your workflow webhooks after Spider-Man villians? Well now you can! Or you know, you could just name them with wherever the data is coming from if you want to be all professional. Your choice. If you need a refresher on webhooks check out our guide [here](https://bentonow.com/docs/webhooks-guide).
![Webhook Naming](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/2KlrtOrJYxbSznmiY7B42m/d29a82803ac1ebf5afc64bc1f4ebcf5a/webhook.png)

10/04/2022
__[Removal of Annoyance] Improved in-app notifications substantially so they no longer become overwhelming.__
Ever get an internet burp and Bento needed to let you know until it was all you could see? That has been reworked so you get informed and not overwhelmed when it happens next time.

__[Performance] Tiny improvements to Workflows for people running slow machines.__
Always on the lookout to streamline everyone's experience, these updates should help people who were experiencing some slowdown on older devices.

__[VERSIONS] Recover and restore a Workflow or email back to a previous state in just a click.__
You ever get the stress of having just written what could be the next great internet email but knowing one wrong click could make it disappear into the void? Throw that stress like a hot potato as Bento workflows and emails now come with version history, so all your work will not be lost from a tiny mishap.
![Version Button](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/59lZNVRHDVEuNoONVKRB5y/ab1eccdb095865e4f2363982f6854b2f/versionbutton.png)![Versions](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/52Z2EefvQhs9N5qaZDkz4p/99a7e6bde96da1735ce3b80a73c5ce58/versions.png)

10/05/2022
__[Stability] Added some Bulk Operations changes that ensure all targeted visitors are reindexed after all changes are made.__
There were instances of people performing lots of updates to their data and a few visitors fell out of sync. Now you can update away without worry.

And that is it for this week. 

I will see you next week with a host of new updates.

Any questions, pop into Discord.

The weekly update roundup for Week 1 of Oct.

versions-time-back

Weekly Roundup [Oct Week 1, 2022]: We got your Versions here!

Welcome to the Weekly Roundup for Week 4 of Sept.

This week's best update, I think, has to go to the audience count and batch recommendations when sending emails—no more crunching numbers to find the optimal batch size to keep your stats up. Again, we got you covered!

Take a quick stroll down update lane for everything else that went up this week.

09/24/2022
__[Usability] On the visitor profile screen you can now copy elements in just a click.__
Thanks @ivanfarias for the recommendation. Ever want to grab a users email, name, or other profile data but hate having to highlight it to copy the text. Now you can click the element and it is copied to your clipboard and your ready to go.
![Copy Elements](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/6N9J2jZORwfpKWorzbF1pd/c02c03fd100f52daacb62bf12413fcdb/copyelements.png)

09/26/2022
__[Upgrade] Click tracking was moved off Bento's primary servers.__
With this change, if a database or our primary Redis instance goes down, your subscribers and users will not notice any impact or degradation in link clicks.

09/26/2022
__[JS Feature] We added a new bento.spamCheck(email) function to the JS library.__
This leverages Bento's Spam API and allows you to check if an email is valid or not. The primary use case is if you're putting a piece of content behind an email opt-in and you don't want people to type in fake addresses to get it.
![Spam Check](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/6FkzViNtdlJaY0GcsITJUD/3fed7d83d2d8cc9c7096989151c86286/spamcheck.png)

09/29/2022
__[Upgrade] Moved pageview/JS tracking off Bento's primary servers.__
On the off chance a DB or our primary Redis instance goes down, you will not lose any precious event data with this migration

__[Usability] We're now showing audience count and recommended batch size when sending an email.__
Tired of needing to bring out a calculator every time you send an email in Bento? Throw that Casio FX-350MS out the window! You can now see the audience size and what we recommend for the batch size when setting up for sending.
![Batching Counts](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/2MWmpRnuQ0YAHuBfuFj7xs/f3c90fdf1c690ae4aa0b5c9b216556c8/batching.png)

__[Usability] The query builder in People and Broadcasts now shows a counter as you update your rules.__
Got a large audience and want to get a quick look at how big a certain segment of it would be? We got your back. When setting up rules in the query finder a quick estimate of how many users fall into that bucket will show up to let you know.

https://videos.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/1YcgtRVpveppY0mzhp8Bct/ab962fd0a03e996227b5afaf3971a22c/real-time-count.mp4

That's it for this week. Thanks for tuning in and see you next time.

Weekly update roundup for Week 4 of Sept.

Weekly Roundup [Sept Week 4, 2022]: We got your stinkin' Batches right here!

Welcome to the Weekly Roundup for Week 3 of September.

Just a few QOL updates and then a fantastic new integration with Webflow this week. Check below for everything that happened on Update Lane.

09/20/2022
__[Bug] Fixed sign-up and team-related "unauthorised" bugs.__

__[Integration] Added more support for Webflow. __
All you need to do is add the Bento.js script into your tracking script area of Webflow and then rename your forms to bento-newsletter. This will fire off an event called WebflowSubmit which you can automate on. To get started, hit the gear icon on your site and select "Get your site script here". After that, just hit Webflow and follow the guide.
![Webflow](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/55D1nd1tKlMOspJi09uaMR/8aef017b6f9e61faf469511694b35b64/webflow.png)
![Form Name](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/1a1iEuOzYBa4LKshobir5m/65fcab725a1876af21d1e3d350a1d23e/bentonewsletter.png)

__[Upgrade] Improved load times for the People graph and table.__

__[Upgrade] You can now query events and graph them over time.__

See you next week.

Weekly Roundup [Sept Week 3, 2022]: Just go with the Webflow

If you want to know the basics of email popups, you’ve come to the right place. 

In this guide, you’ll find out what email popups are, why they are effective, and how to make one, alongside examples from famous brands. 

So stick around!

__TLDR:__ *Email popups are small windows that open on a particular website and can be used for a variety of marketing purposes. You can collect email addresses, offer discounts and giveaways, promote sales, remind customers of abandoned carts, and also as social proof — there’s no end to their versatility. Email popups consist of a headline, a body (copy), and a CTA button. All of these elements should be concise and straightforward, reflecting the core of your offer. When crafting an email popup, you should consider the type of template you’re using, the copy you’re providing, and the timing of the popup. You’ll also need to have in mind who gets to see the popup.* 

## What Are Email Popups?
Email popups are small windows that appear when a visitor lands on a particular website. They usually ask for email registration and offer newsletters in return, as well as gifts, vouchers, giveaways, and discounts, among other things. 

You may think of popups as something from the earlier days of the internet, but that’s not the case, especially when it comes to email popups. 
## Are Email Popups Effective?
Email popups are definitely an effective marketing strategy. 

They’re effective for several reasons:

- They can be pretty helpful when it comes to developing your inbound strategy, aka the way you attract new customers and subscribers in the first place;

- They can help you get new leads fairly simply;

- They can help guide your visitors and make them do the desired action;

- A simple way to spread your newsletter to your users;

- A simple way to get customer feedback.

You must know that not all email popups are created equal. In order for them to be effective, you should keep a couple of things in mind. 

The way a popup is constructed can make a world of difference. The headline, the CTA button, the body, and the design of the popup are all very important elements you should never take for granted. 
## Types of Email Popups
There are different email popups for different sales opportunities. These are some popular general types (aka forms) of email popups:
- Lightbox (standard) email popups
- Fullscreen popups
- Side messages
- Sticky/floating bars 
- On-click popups

And these are popups that are usually categorized by a marketing goal:
- Product recommendations
- Cart abandonment 
- Countdown timer
- Newsletter
- Giveaway

These are just a selection of what you can do with email popups. The options are endless! Let’s take a look at the ones noted here in a bit more detail.

### Lightbox (Standard) Email Popup
You’ve most likely seen this everywhere. It’s the classic email popup that - pops up! - on almost every page of the internet. 

It’s a small window that opens within the website (usually the landing page) that you’re browsing at the moment. To catch viewers’ attention and make them focus on the small window before them, when the lightbox popup emerges from the rest of the website, the background looks darker than before. 

Lightbox popups are standard for a reason - they can be used for basically any purpose. Most of the time, however, they’re used as a means to grow your email list, but you can also use them to offer discounts, free shipping, current holiday offers, etc. 
### Fullscreen Popups
As their name says, these popups take up the entire screen and overshadow the page visitors are currently on. They’re designed to get their full attention, as they’re basically popups in the form of landing pages. 

These popup types can be used for a variety of reasons. However, since they make a pretty big impact, it’s wise to use them for an offer you really want to stand out with your visitors, like a limited-time offer, a really big discount, or an important sales promotion. 
### Side Messages
The side message is a less intrusive way to introduce your popup to your website visitors. As you might’ve guessed from the name, these popups show up on the side of the screen, instead of the center or taking the whole screen. 

The side message popups are a good way to grow your mailing list, get people to sign up for your newsletter, or join a loyalty club. They’re not recommended for more standout offers, however. 
### Sticky/Floating Bars
The sticky or floating bars are less common types of email popups. You’ve probably seen them more on the top or bottom parts of websites as campaigns, advertising a limited-time offer, a discount sale, a Black Friday sale, a holiday sale, or a giveaway. 

But since you can tailor them as you please, you can also use them as email popups. Like the side message, they’re great at being unintrusive for the visitor and can stay on top or bottom of the page without interrupting the browsing experience. 

Also, if you don’t want them to be there all the time, you can make them show up at certain intervals while the visitor is browsing your page. 

You can use them for everything - from newsletters to free shipping, or sales that are time-sensitive. 
### On-click Popups
These popups show up only to people who are interested in something you offer on your site. It means that the popups appear to warm leads and consequently, you may expect more conversions than with regular popups. 

How do they work? Well, you need to embed a popup campaign trigger within an anchored text of your choosing. You can do this through an email marketing platform, so that the on-click popup will emerge whenever a user clicks on an offer, service, or product you have on your site. 
## Email Popups by Goals
Now let’s look at the way email popups can be used to achieve a certain goal. 
### User Login
You may not think of this often, but the process of logging in takes several steps and redirection that are usually not necessary. 

A user login email popup can make the process of logging in much simpler and less time-consuming for your users and subscribers. That way your subscribers can log in (or visitors can sign up, alternatively) with just one simple step through the popup, and without any redirections. 
### Product Recommendations
Product recommendations drive conversions. A good idea to use the magic of these popups is to have them recommend different products your visitors and customers will most likely be interested in, depending on the product or service they’re currently looking at. 

For example, if you’re selling clothes, and the customer is considering a particular hat, you can have a scarf or a shawl as a product recommendation to go alongside it. To incentivize the shopper, it’s a good idea to include some kind of a deal or promotion if the two items are bought at the same time. 
### Cart Abandonment
Cart abandonment is something that every online business is trying to tackle in all possible ways, email popups being one. 

Cart abandonment popups can do wonders when it comes to this issue and they’re so easy to implement. Whenever you notice a customer has left their shopping cart full, just have a popup emerge telling them how the cart awaits them with all the wonders inside and how you can give them a nice deal (10, 15, 20% off) by using a coupon to have them come back. 
### Countdown Timer
Countdown timers are used as a FOMO (fear of missing out) strategy. They’re great at making your visitors and customers feel like the offer is urgent and they simply cannot miss this fantastic limited opportunity. 

These popups are particularly good for buyers who are more hesitant and less inclined to make fast purchasing decisions. 

Countdown popups usually come in the form of floating (sticky) bars. 
### Newsletter 
This is the most classic popup goal there is - making visitors sign up for your newsletter. Basically, for this, you can use any type of email popup, whichever fits your campaign best. The most common ones used are the lightbox and the side message popup forms. 
### Giveaway 
A giveaway popup is a great way to lure in new customers or remind existing customers why they like your brand. 

All you need to do is make a lightbox or fullscreen popup and have the visitor enter their email address to get a free item. If they’re new, it’s a great way to encourage them to subscribe.
## Elements of Email Popups
Email popups usually have three parts — the title or the headline, the body, and the CTA button. I’ll give you a couple of examples and walk you through why all of these parts are so important. 
### The Popup Headline
The headline is your “way in,” so it must be short, catchy, and fun. Take a look at this example from the [London Review of Books](https://www.lrb.co.uk/). 

Their title is “Fresh Thinking” — it’s a straightforward and clever way to connect a subscription offer for a literary magazine with a beloved season. The title works perfectly with the body of the text alongside the visual design. The art and copy tie together a feeling of summer and blue skies where you can sit down and enjoy a good book. 
![London Review of Books Popup](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/7JCifvkBGvQ3U9noGZhe9J/5bf96f6732cdf63b568f30358a21ed22/lrb.png)
### The Popup Body
The body of your email popup should also be short and cut straight to the point. 
Take a look at this popup from [Electric Literature](https://electricliterature.com/), an independent publisher and online magazine. 
![Electric Literature Popup](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/1wXV9qw1ENoqQM6tBsDued/69d0fe182eb12a4d2f286f3b7e5fc2be/electricliterature.png)
I just love how they immediately draw you in with their body - what kind of bookworm doesn’t want to become the person who everybody asks for book recommendations? 

This popup body is catchy, concise, and cuts straight to the chase. 

Another example is [Adidas](https://www.adidas.com/us), with its popup body/title, which is also pretty short and simple and tells you that you’re going to get a discount if you join their club. Who wouldn’t want to belong to such a club? 

Also, the design is nice and sleek, it corresponds with the Adidas logo, making it instantly relatable for Adidas fans, but it also stands out for those new to the brand. 
![Adidas Popup](//images.ctfassets.net/7154jijfbyeo/2ZISNdsLqqAXxnRkmXAJjh/4db7fd668c29ddae361757e823758c9f/adidas.png)
### The Popup CTA Button
The CTA button (call to action button) in your email popup is something that must be there. Otherwise, the whole popup is just there to block the user from seeing your website. 

The CTA copy should be only a few words and must use a verb to tell people what action they should take. It all depends on what your popup is about. You can use “Join now,” “Subscribe,” “Sign up,” “Shop now,” “Get in touch,” “Save _,” etc.

## Things to Have in Mind When Creating an Email Popup
As I mentioned earlier, email popups are not created equal. Their effectiveness depends on the target audience, the design, the well-crafted message, and some other factors.

Next, I’ll tell you a little about what to consider when crafting the perfect email popup.  
### Choose the Right Template 
The template you choose for your popups should be based on the goal you’re chasing. It could be about collecting new users’ email addresses or attempting to increase your sales. Whatever it is, choose a template that will fit your goal. 

Ask yourself what you can offer them in the email popup to get them excited and ready to enter their email address. A 10% or 15% discount might do the trick if you’re doing a sale. 
### Pay Attention to the Copy
I’ve mentioned this earlier, but yes, the copy is critical, even though it’s pretty short. The copy should concisely and straightforwardly reflect what you’re offering to your users. 

So, if your title is “30% off all Swimwear,” you can write something like this in the copy:

“Spend the rest of the summer looking chic and fresh with our summer collection, now on sale — 30% off all designs!

We’ll promptly send you the discount code once you sign up.” 
### Choose Who Can See the Offer and When
Not everyone needs to see the offer. If, for example, you’re going after new email addresses and new subscribers, existing subscribers are not the ones you’re chasing after, so they don’t need to see this particular popup. You can easily adjust this by turning off the popup for newsletter subscribers. 

Also, it’s a good idea to think about when you want the popup to show up. Generally speaking, it’s recommended you do this after 6-8 seconds once the person opens the website. 
## Conclusion
Email popups are an easy, fun, and pretty straightforward way to attract new subscribers and guide your visitors towards taking a particular action. 

Email popups are so versatile that you can use them for whatever incentive you want. As an indelible part of any marketing campaign, don’t hesitate to start crafting them as soon as possible!

Learn what email popups are, why they are effective, and how to make one, alongside examples from famous brands.

A Guide on Email Popups

When discussing email marketing and crafting the best email campaign, we often forget about a very important element: the email file size. While we’re in over our heads about the subject line, the email copy, the CTA button, and email personalization, we don’t usually stop to think about the email file size, the HTML file that we’ve sent, email load times, and the fully loaded email size. 

Sure, this might not be the most interesting of email marketing topics, but that doesn’t make it any less important. Your email’s size can determine how much bandwidth your subscribers need to download and read the email. So, you probably see why this can be a problem - if your users or subscribers can’t load the email, or it takes ages for that to happen (especially on a mobile device), it’s less likely that they will engage or let alone convert. 

So, I encourage you to read further and let me take you through the basics of email file size. I’ll also share some tips on reducing the size of your emails and the images inside them, so let’s get into it. 

__TLDR:__ *Email file size is an often neglected email marketing issue, yet it’s so important. Email file size is measured through code weight (the weight of the HTML code) and through the fully loaded email weight, which is a combination of the HTML code and external assets like images. The HTML file size is the HTML code and it doesn’t include any images - the maximum recommended size is 100KB.* 

*You can lower the size of your emails if it exceeds this number by cleaning up the email code, minifying the code, creating a simpler email design, or moving some of the CSS from Inline to Embedded. The most common external asset are the images included in the email, which can be reduced through image compression. The fully loaded email size combines the HTML email size and the external assets (the images). Here it’s essential to monitor the email loading times - you have to consider users with slower network connections as well, which means your emails need to be light and easy to render with almost every recipient.* 

## How Can We Measure Email File Size? 
Email file size is measured in two ways:

- Through the code weight.

- Through the loaded email weight. 

### Code Weight
When we say email code weight, we mean the bytes in the HTML code of the email (each character weighs 1-2 bytes), which can include text, links, HTML tables, etc. This doesn’t include the size of any accompanying images or media because these are linked from the .html file and are only downloaded when the user opens them. 
### Loaded Email Weight
The loaded email weight includes the elements that the user needs to render your email fully, such as assets like images, videos, and fonts. 
## HTML File Size
The maximum recommended size of the .html file should be 100KB - if it’s larger, you risk deliverability issues and issues with displaying your email. And if you don’t reduce the size, Gmail certainly will - they clip the .html file at 102KB. This is definitely not good for business because it practically ruins the end of your email and can wreak havoc on your layout. 
## How to Reduce Email File Size
Even though most of the emails you send should easily be under 50KB, there are still some instances where the email ends up larger than desirable. But, there’s no room for despair when this happens, as there are several ways you can reduce the email file size and have your email be downloaded whole. 

Let’s take a look at what you can do to keep your email fit.
### Make Sure You Clean the Email Code 
The email world is in constant flux, so it’s not uncommon to see email templates with outdated code, taking up a bunch of unnecessary space. Make sure you regularly maintain your email templates and code, and you can easily save a couple of KBs right there. 
### Keep It Simple With the Code
You don’t have to get carried away with the code. Some email templates can do away with the extra code and additional table elements. In fact, most layouts are perfectly fine with 5-10 tables; yet, out there, you may encounter code with 30-40 tables. Besides, the fewer tables you have, the easier your code is to read. 
### Move Some of the Code From Inline CSS to Embedded
It’s still not time to move all the code, aka all the styles into CSS, but if you do it well, you can move some of the inline styles to embedded styles and reduce the code. 
### Make Your Email Design Simpler
Did you know that single-column email templates use significantly less code? Go back to the design and do some tweaks. It’s pretty straightforward; the simpler the design, the lighter the email. 
### Minify or Minimize Your Code
Minification or minimization of your code is an activity through which you remove the unnecessary comments and spaces in code, which can greatly affect the email size. However, you have to be careful when you do this because many email service providers (ESPs) demand a maximum line length which could break your code by forcing a new line. 
## External Assets Size
This is the size of your images and external CSS style sheets, but because external stylesheets are kinda rare, I’ll focus on the images here. 

The maximum size for the majority of images out there is 100KB. However, there are some images, like high-res ones or animated gifs, that go up to 500KB. The good news is that there are ways you can compress images. You can use these tools to do just that:

- [Caesium](https://saerasoft.com/caesium/) - good for Windows users;

- [ImageOptim](https://imageoptim.com/mac) - good for Mac users, you can also use it as a web service;

- Use a CDN - Many CDN services also have built-in image optimization. Some of them also adjust the image compression depending on the bandwidth available. 

Be sure to use the appropriate format for the images, .jpg for photos, .png for alpha channels, and .gif for graphics. And don’t forget to simplify the design, something I mentioned earlier. This means including fewer images, and smaller and simpler images that can be easily compressed into smaller sizes. 
## Fully Loaded Email Size
This size refers to the combination of the email size when it’s opened and when the user downloads everything. This fully loaded email size can vary depending on where the email is being opened. 

The key issue in the fully loaded email size is the time it takes for it to load. Sure, you may be testing your email loading time in a place with a very fast internet connection, but your recipients might not be so lucky opening the email from public wi-fi or a 3G mobile network. 

See it this way: with a good connection, the fully loaded email size of 1MB will load instantly. But on a 3G connection, it can take from 2-14 seconds for this to happen. See how big the difference is and why it’s so important to monitor your email size? 
## Conclusion
The issue with email file size is pretty straightforward - keep it simple and light, and you’ll do just fine. And yes, if this means that you’ll have to make a compromise and change and simplify your email design, then so be it. Whatever improves your email loading size also improves how quickly customers see your email. 

So, make sure to look at the advice and recommendations I provided here on HTML email size and image optimization. Also, experiment a little with the code and see what has to stay and what you can leave out and lighten the load. 

Experiment with the images as well, and try out various ways to compress them. And, don’t forget to make your email look good and functional even without the images because sometimes it will take a bit more for them to load. Your email needs to be readable without them. 

Let us take you through the basics of email file size by sharing some tips on how to reduce the size of your emails and the images inside them.

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