In my last blog post, AOL’s Launch of Its New Reputation System, I wrote about DKIM and the role it will play in AOL’s domain sender reputation system. There is as of recently another reason to pay attention to DKIM: Yahoo now requires DKIM as a prerequisite to participate in its new Complaint Feedback Loop (CFL) program.

Internet Service Provider (ISP) complaint feedback loop (CFL) programs are one of the most important tools available to the permission-based email marketer. Registering for these programs helps ensure that you are kept in the loop whenever recipients generate spam complaints through clicking on the “This is SPAM!” button.

I can’t overstate the value and importance of registering for ISP complaint feedback loop programs – it should be done before you send out even your first message. If you choose not to sign up for such a program or ignore the feedback information, you do so at your own peril. I guarantee you that the ISP in question is monitoring spam complaint data very closely and this will affect your sender reputation (IP and/or Domain).

In a nutshell, the fewer complaints, the better your reputation; the better your reputation, the better your deliverability, and therefore the better ROI you can achieve as a result.
Complaint data – Analyze, learn, improve.

Most permission-based email marketers take the right approach and remove subscribers who complain. In fact, your email delivery system should be able to automatically process the feedback notifications and unsubscribe the complainer from your list database.

There is, however, a whole lot more information that you may want to consider from CFL information that can benefit your overall email-marketing strategy. Here are just a few examples:

• Trend Analysis: Here the idea is to look at the aggregate spam complaint data for trends. For example, a spike in complaints may signal an error somewhere such as the wrong list being used. Similarly, a sharp drop in complaints (usually a good thing!) may ironically signal a technical problem such as a blockage preventing reception of the feedback complaint notifications; a system error in processing them, etc.

• Creative Analysis: You may be sending content that recipients want to receive, but if they don’t recognize the message (e.g. poor choice of ‘From’ line, ‘Subject’, or no alt-text to describe the blocked images) they may complain. Similarly, if the opt-out link is difficult to find, the recipient may well choose the path of least resistance – clicking on “This is SPAM”.

• Segmentation Analysis: For example, you may be receiving data from many different sources. By correlating the SPAM complaint metrics to the data source, you can gain a better appreciation on each segment’s interest and preferences.

Again, the above are just some areas where complaint metric data can prove insightful – and we haven’t even touched on other performance metrics such as opens, clicks, unsubscribes, etc.!

Get in the loop!

AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft Hotmail, Comcast are among some examples of ISPs that have sender complaint feedback loop programs in place. Be warned, though, that the names of these programs, applicant prerequisites (e.g. DKIM), and processes vary according to ISP.
Navigating the registration and configuration for each ISP’s complaint feedback programs can be frustrating—particularly for those new to email marketing—but well worth the investment. Get help if you need to because in the end CFL information is vital way to keeping in touch with your reputation as a sender.