Arriving when a person is actually checking mail lifts engagement, and engagement lifts reputation.
The metrics that matter#
- Authentication pass rate: share of mail passing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC alignment. Healthy: 99% or higher.
- Spam complaint rate: Gmail enforces at 0.3%; stay under 0.1%.
- Hard bounce rate: under 2%; above 5% triggers platform reviews.
- Inbox placement: above 90% across major providers via seed tests.
- Engagement: click and reply rates by segment; opens are unreliable after Mail Privacy Protection.
Where to read them#
- Google Postmaster Tools for Gmail domain reputation, spam rate, and authentication.
- Microsoft SNDS and JMRP for Outlook.com IP reputation and complaints.
- Your ESP's delivery and bounce reports.
- DMARC aggregate reports for authentication by source.
Improving the numbers#
- Capture time zone at signup or infer from engagement.
- Analyze past click timestamps by segment.
- Use your platform's per-recipient optimization if available.
- Spread large sends over hours to avoid rate limiting.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the best time to send marketing emails?
There is no universal answer; mid-morning local time performs well for many B2B lists, but your own data beats benchmarks.