Friday, July 20, 2012

How Email works... Part 4... (final)

A successful connection triggers the four-step Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) process: 1) Identifying the sending and receiving servers; 2) Identifying your RSVP address; 3) Identifying the recipient's email address; and 4) Transferring the data.

Essentially now you know how an email gets from you to your subscriber. It may seem simple getting your message to someone...  but now you know it's anything but simple.



Wednesday, July 18, 2012

How Email works... Part 3...

If no connection can be made, it might indicate a permanent issue (e.g., the domain doesn't exist) or a temporary issue (e.g., a bad connection).

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

How Email works... Part 2...

Next, the MTA connects with the MX record for the DNS of the domain (e.g., gmail, or companyname) to which you're sending. A domain's DNS is a one-stop location that other machines use to communicate with the domain's various servers, and the MX record is there to process any incoming mail.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

How Email works... Part 1...

It's good to know the typical route of how a promotion gets from you to ultimately your subscriber.

First, your email service provider (ESP) formats your message and sends it to a mailer (MTA). The MTA adds header information about the sender (RSVP address), the ESP (IP address) and the recipient (email address).

Monday, July 2, 2012

Less is more...

Shorter email subject lines perform better. Those containing 4 to 15 characters attract the highest open rates of 14.1% while those with 51 or more characters more often have open rates below 10%.