Interview with Arnaud Clément-Bollée, deliverability consultant at ExactTarget

Today we are fortunate to welcome Arnaud Clément-Bollée, Deliverability Consultant at ExactTarget. This is an opportunity to look back at what makes a router unique in terms of deliverability and to see what the future will bring.

Jonathan Loriaux: What are the tools in the ExactTarget platform that will help advertisers keep control of their sender reputation?

Arnaud Clément-Bollée: It's important to control your sender reputation in order to keep deliverability under control. ExactTarget provides several tools to achieve this. First of all, when volume allows it, we always use dedicated IP addresses and an infrastructure that is also totally dedicated. This means that the sender's address is dedicated, but also that the tracking domain name and image hosting are dedicated. We go even further because the reverse DNS (editor's note: domain name linked to an IP address) is also personalized with the sender's domain name, which is rare in the market.

Thanks to this configuration, each advertiser has its own identity that is totally separate from the other users of the platform.

To keep control of deliverability, beyond the technical configuration, we offer many statistical tools that will allow to study the reputation. These are for example preconfigured queries that will analyze the activity rate of subscribers, performance statistics by domain name, etc.

On the other hand, ExactTarget has developed tools for automated deliverability audits: WHOIS verification, reverse DNS verification, blacklist monitoring, abuse.net database verification. ... We also offer the various Return Path tools as an option. These are fully integrated via APIs: Inbox Monitor, Reputation Monitor, Email Brand Monitor, ... in short, the entire "Email intelligence" suite. All these tools have the advantage of offering an in-depth analysis, a very broad spectrum of criteria enabling a rapid diagnosis of the situation.

ExactTarget's other strength in terms of deliverability is the advice and follow-up offered. A team of consultants (of which I am a member) offers support to optimize the various parameters that affect the sender's reputation. This ranges from improving the level of engagement of the base to the optimization of the customer/prospect lifecycle, including the welcome program, address processing, marketing pressure, targeting, and the processing of inactive addresses.

JL: What is the role of a deliverability expert based here in France when all the operational part of ExactTarget's deliverability takes place in the US?

ACB: The biggest difference between my role as a deliverability expert at ExactTarget and my previous professional experiences is that I don't have a technical role anymore, I don't have my hands in the mud. The only technical part I still do eventually is SMTP log analysis, but the big part of the job is consulting.

I am not only responsible for deliverability in France, but also for the rest of Europe (Germany, UK, Italy, ...). And if my role is mainly consulting, I also manage the relations with ISPs and webmails and I have a role of evangelist.

Coming back to the deliverability organization at ExactTarget, we are fortunate to have several teams that work hand in hand. The largest in terms of size is the Deliverability Operations team, which is responsible for handling all deliverability-related tickets. Then there is a Deliverability Admin team that is dedicated to the technical configuration of the email delivery. But that's not all, there are three other teams dedicated to deliverability. A service team (of which I am a member) which is composed of specialized consultants, a "Compliance" team which manages the legal aspects but also the relations with the anti-spam industry and the ISP relations. And finally, a team dedicated to the "product" management of deliverability, of which Al Iverson is director.

JL: What is the evolution of the job of a deliverability expert at a router?

ACB: I'm not going to speak for the market, but for what I see at the heart of ExactTarget. Here, deliverability is seen as a major issue for the company. That's why today, the various deliverability managers are listened to and have a real role as reputation guardians. For example, we have the power to block a customer when there is obvious abuse, in order to protect the overall reputation of the platform.

But we have to realize that these blockages are extremely rare. Our sales people are very well educated on all these issues, which is why there are very few customers who cause problems.

JL: Today, does the technical infrastructure of a router still have a big influence on deliverability (compared to another router)? Isn't everything ultimately in the hands of the advertiser?

ACB: You would think so, but infrastructure still plays a very important role. For example, we can look at reverse DNS management, authentication, etc. Technical aspects are still at the heart of deliverability quality. And even if we move towards a domain-based reputation, the reputation of IP addresses and the quality of the infrastructure are still very important.

However, the elements that build the reputation of the IP address and the domain are indeed in the hands of the customer, engagement is a central concept. But while reputation is becoming increasingly important, it will never be the only criterion.

Article sponsored by ExactTarget