The quality of automation is bounded by the quality of the events feeding it. Reliable triggers make journeys feel personal.
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#
- List the events your product or store already emits.
- Send them to your ESP via webhook or native integration with a stable contact identifier.
- Deduplicate and validate payloads before they enter automations.
- Monitor for silent failures: a broken webhook stops journeys without errors.
Frequently asked questions#
Webhook vs API polling for email automation?
Webhooks are real-time and cheaper. Use polling only as a fallback reconciliation.