Even in Email Your Reputation Precedes You:

Promote and Protect Your Brand Through Email

• Arend Henderson, VP, Analytics, Q Interactive• Spencer Kollas, Director of Delivery Services, StrongMail

• Greg Martz, Director of Marketing Operations, The Motley

Fool

Components of Email Deliverability

Sender owns these components…Sending Platform controls

these components

"When it comes to email blocking and filtering, reputation -- not content -- can be blamed 83% of the time.“

George Bilbrey – ReturnPath

Where do I start?• Understand what you are doing and who

you are sending to– What are the top ISPs you are sending to?– What does your typical customer look like?– How often do you send to your customers?

• How many different systems are you currently using?

• What do the top ISPs look at with regard to reputation?

What is the definition of reputation?

• What are the ISPs looking at?– Complaints– Unknown Users– “SPAMMY” Content– Proper Authentication– Setting up Feedback Loops

How do you know what your Reputation is?

• Online resources– Senderscore.org– Blacklists/Blocklist checks– Google Groups/NANAE (News.Admin.Net-

Abuse.Email)– Microsoft’s SNDS (Smart Network Data System)

• Other resources– Your Reporting system– Seedlist testing

How Do ISPs View Your Mail?

• 99% of mail ISPs get is SPAM

• Guilty before proven innocent

• Are you following the rules and best practices?

• Do most of their users view your mail as Spam?

Case Study: The Motley Fool

• Self Senders; US & UK Combined = 80 Million per month

• Promotional “House” File: 3 Million +

• Paid Newsletter Subscribers: 200,000 +

Case Study: The Motley Fool

• “Channels” of Email:

– Free email newsletters / Promotional Offers

– Partner mailings

– Paid Newsletter-related emails / Transactional

– Cross-sell messages

Case Study: The Motley Fool

• Each Email Channel Unique Sending Domain and corresponding set of IPs

– Mitigates the “guilty by association” risk

– Complaints from one domain don’t directly translate to another domain

– Can maintain excellent reputation on most critical communications

Case Study: The Motley Fool

• Warning Eye Chart Coming Up!

– Recent Delivery issue at Comcast

– Foolsubs.com vs. Foolcs.com delivery rates

• Foolsubs.com: Free email newsletters + promotional offers

• Foolcs.com: Paid newsletter-related communications

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The Top Stocks and the Top Returns foolsubs.com 11/28/2007 6.67 0 93.33RB Update: VRTX, AFFX, CVTX, EXEL, and More foolcs.com 11/28/2007 100 0 0IV Update: BGP, GPS, LTD, SHLD foolcs.com 11/28/2007 100 0 0December Issue Is Here foolcs.com 11/28/2007 100 0 0A Few Thousand Miles to the Left ... foolcs.com 11/28/2007 100 0 0Don't miss out, 11 stocks that could make 2008 your year foolsubs.com 11/28/2007 0 0 10011 Stocks handpicked by the nation's top analysts - free foolsubs.com 11/28/2007 26.67 0 73.33Read This Before the Market Crashes foolsubs.com 11/28/2007 33.33 53.33 13.33Why Real Men Can't Make Money in the Market foolsubs.com 11/29/2007 60 0 40II Update: NFG, WIN, PBI & More foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0Don't miss out, 11 stocks that could make 2008 your year foolsubs.com 11/29/2007 0 0 100Argentina ... Doomed? foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0The Foolish secret behind the market's top 10 stocks foolsubs.com 11/29/2007 0 0 100Hot Topics: Top 3 Stocks for 2008? foolsubs.com 11/29/2007 33.33 0 66.67MDP Portfolio Action: CPRT foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0HG Update: Insider Actions, LOOP foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0GG Update: CRESY, EDU, SSL, ALV, and More foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0Stock Advice That Will Change Your Life foolsubs.com 11/30/2007 80 0 20The Biggest Buys in Buenos Aires foolcs.com 11/30/2007 100 0 0Profit From the Next Economic Superpower foolsubs.com 11/30/2007 60 0 40SA Update: Sell GLYT, News on ATVI, AEO, and More! foolcs.com 11/30/2007 100 0 0New Hidden Gems Pay Dirt Issue foolcs.com 12/3/2007 100 0 0The 3 Keys to Picking Winners foolsubs.com 12/3/2007 93.33 0 6.67The tiny company walking in the footsteps of Microsoft foolsubs.com 12/3/2007 0 0 100The Smartest Investors in Argentina ... Now That We're in Chile foolcs.com 12/3/2007 100 0 0The tiny company walking in the footsteps of Microsoft foolsubs.com 12/4/2007 86.67 0 13.33How to Own the Fastest-Growing Stocks foolsubs.com 12/4/2007 86.67 0 13.33

The Top Stocks and the Top Returns foolsubs.com 11/28/2007 6.67 0 93.33RB Update: VRTX, AFFX, CVTX, EXEL, and More foolcs.com 11/28/2007 100 0 0IV Update: BGP, GPS, LTD, SHLD foolcs.com 11/28/2007 100 0 0December Issue Is Here foolcs.com 11/28/2007 100 0 0A Few Thousand Miles to the Left ... foolcs.com 11/28/2007 100 0 0Don't miss out, 11 stocks that could make 2008 your year foolsubs.com 11/28/2007 0 0 10011 Stocks handpicked by the nation's top analysts - free foolsubs.com 11/28/2007 26.67 0 73.33Read This Before the Market Crashes foolsubs.com 11/28/2007 33.33 53.33 13.33Why Real Men Can't Make Money in the Market foolsubs.com 11/29/2007 60 0 40II Update: NFG, WIN, PBI & More foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0Don't miss out, 11 stocks that could make 2008 your year foolsubs.com 11/29/2007 0 0 100Argentina ... Doomed? foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0The Foolish secret behind the market's top 10 stocks foolsubs.com 11/29/2007 0 0 100Hot Topics: Top 3 Stocks for 2008? foolsubs.com 11/29/2007 33.33 0 66.67MDP Portfolio Action: CPRT foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0HG Update: Insider Actions, LOOP foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0GG Update: CRESY, EDU, SSL, ALV, and More foolcs.com 11/29/2007 100 0 0Stock Advice That Will Change Your Life foolsubs.com 11/30/2007 80 0 20The Biggest Buys in Buenos Aires foolcs.com 11/30/2007 100 0 0Profit From the Next Economic Superpower foolsubs.com 11/30/2007 60 0 40SA Update: Sell GLYT, News on ATVI, AEO, and More! foolcs.com 11/30/2007 100 0 0New Hidden Gems Pay Dirt Issue foolcs.com 12/3/2007 100 0 0The 3 Keys to Picking Winners foolsubs.com 12/3/2007 93.33 0 6.67The tiny company walking in the footsteps of Microsoft foolsubs.com 12/3/2007 0 0 100The Smartest Investors in Argentina ... Now That We're in Chile foolcs.com 12/3/2007 100 0 0The tiny company walking in the footsteps of Microsoft foolsubs.com 12/4/2007 86.67 0 13.33How to Own the Fastest-Growing Stocks foolsubs.com 12/4/2007 86.67 0 13.33

All Foolcs.com sends 100% InboxHowever, all Foolsubs.com sends less than 100%,sometimes 0% Inbox (Yikes!)

Case Study: The Motley Fool

• Maintaining a good reputation

– Classes of Email

– Multiple forms of ID• Domain Keys, DKIM, Sender ID and SPF• White lists, Sender Score Certified, SafeList, Goodmail, etc.

– Play by ISPs rules• Volume throttles• Feedback Loops (FBLs)• Bounce processing

– Give them what they want Be Relevant, Provide a Purpose

Case Study: The Motley Fool

• Establishing a new reputation Example: new sending domain for cross-sell communications

– Authenticate, FBLs, White-listing, et al.

– Start slowly!

– Monitor every send

– Consistent testing

– Continually introduce additional traffic

Growing your email file safely

• Start your email relationship with consumers on the right foot to maintain your strong reputation

• Understand what drives consumers to complain about email

• 3 keys to choosing a 3rd party email source– Segment, measure, and monitor

Why do consumers click ‘Report Spam’?

13%

15%

20%

25%

41%

52%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

I do not recall reporting email fromthe sender as Junk/Spam

I found the email offensive

I receive too much email from allsenders

I received too much email from thesender

The email received was not ofinterest to me

I didn't sign up to receive emailfrom the sender

Approximately 20% of survey respondents said that they knowingly use the 'report spam' button on email they believe is not technically spam.

Source: MarketingSherpa and Q Interactive, September-November 2007

Collecting the right information

• Name and e-mail address is not enough!

• Qualify

• Set communication expectations

• Find out why they are interested in your company

Choosing a 3rd party email/list rental provider

Reputation

Research the reputation of a prospective source

Permission

All mail should be sent under the brand that the consumer provided permission

Frequency

A hard limit isn't required, but the list manager should have a strategy to control and optimize

I've done all this, now what?

• Segment your list by referral source and date

• Measure complaint rates by segment to identify potential issues before they cause harm

• Monitor complaints/reputation as an integral part of your acquisition strategy