Multiple elements of Absorb LMS involve the creation and delivery of email. By default, Absorb LMS will distribute email via a default noreply address. As your Portal grows, and more Users are expected to have email delivered to them, it becomes increasingly important to assure that email will be delivered without obstacle. This article focuses on improving email deliverability, and preventing issues related to messages not being received.

Maintaining a Strong Sender Reputation

Email sender reputation is like a trust score for email senders. To be more precise, it is a measure of how reliable and trustworthy an email sender is, based on their past behavior. Email sender reputation refers to the reputation or trustworthiness of the sender’s email domain and associated sending IPs. It is a measure used by internet service providers (ISPs) to assess the quality and potential impact of each email sent.

Your sender reputation significantly influences inbox placement. Factors like sending frequency, list hygiene, and recipient engagement with emails impact sender reputation.

There are a number of methods to keep Absorb in good standing reputation-wise and ensure that emails from an Absorb Portal reach their intended Users:

• Make certain that User inboxes are created prior to sending emails to an address.

  • As an example, if you create a User with the email ExampleEmail@ExampleMail.com but the account and inbox associated with that address hasn't been created yet. Sending an email to an account that doesn't exist can have a negative impact on sender reputation.

• Make certain the email inbox storage limit of a User has not been exceeded. Mailboxes that don't exist and full mailboxes send back bounce messages.

  • If you are managing your organization's email domain/receiving server. Make sure all Users have adequate storage space for incoming email.

• Reduce the number of messages from our noreply addresses that are marked as spam.

  • When an email is marked as spam, this reduces our reputation and makes it more difficult to maintain trust.

• Make certain that there are no typos in User Email Addresses.

• Add our noreply address to your email domain's/receiving servers allow list. This makes it so messages are less prone to be quarantined. It also reduces how some email domain filters affect incoming mail. The Absorb noreply addresses are:

  • noreply@myabsorb.com
  • noreply@myabsorb.ca
  • noreply@myabsorb.eu
  • noreply@myabsorb.au

• If using Custom SMTP, please test your implementation before leveraging it to all Users.

  • Improper Custom SMTP configurations can lead to accidental blocking.

• When customizing a Message Template use as few links/hyperlinks as possible. An excess of links in an email may cause a filter to view the email as a phishing attempt, or malicious message.

• Reduce the number of messages sent to a single User.

  • An overwhelming amount of messages can be seen as a spam or DoS attempt.

Allow Lists and Deny Lists

It is important, especially if managing an entire organization, that the correct From Addresses are approved on the side of your email service. If you not using Custom SMTP then the default addresses that Absorb distributes email via are as follows:

• noreply@myabsorb.com
• noreply@myabsorb.ca
• noreply@myabsorb.eu
• noreply@myabsorb.au

If you are using Custom SMTP then the From Address will be configured by you, and your organization. When possible, ask your Users not to block or report messages from Absorb as spam. Instead, create internal filters to organize messages and review with your Administrators to confirm the outgoing number of emails is adequate, instead of excessive.

On the Absorb side regularly cleanse your Users by removing inactive or invalid email addresses.

Absorb IP Addresses

It is possible that your email provider, or receiving server filters incoming email by the IP address of the sender. In the case that your email provider filters emails this way, or your Custom SMTP configuration requires the information. Please reach out to the Absorb Client Advocacy team, or your Client Services representative and we will be able to provide you relevant IP addresses your organization may add to your allow list.

Language in an Email

When creating a Message Template, it is important to consider the structure of the email and how the content is phrased. Are there multiple hyperlinks? Are there a great number of embed pictures? These elements may trigger a filter that causes an email to be considered spam, or outright malicious.

Every year, new phrases and terms are added to databases that define 'spam' language. A few examples would be:

• 100% satisfied
• Be your own boss
• Double your income
• Earn extra cash
• Free investment
• Free membership
• Free money
• Guaranteed
• Increase sales
• Increase traffic
• Incredible deal
• Lower rates

There are a great number more. In the age of AI, an increasing number of tools are surfacing that determine if text has been created through the use of a large language model. While the usage of these tools expands, and email filters grow in an attempt to counter their usage for the purposes of spam or malicious messages. Creating authentic, simple emails with essential information is always advised.

Other items in the language or structure of an email to avoid are:

• Repeating changes as it relates to text size, font style, or headers.
• Colored text at the top, or bottom of the email.
• Multiple pictures or a large number of pictures using hyperlinks.
• If viable, consider using plain text emails without additional elements.

Consider HTML Best Practices

If you are customizing your Message Template with custom HTML, there is an additional set of considerations that may interact with email deliverability. The following article discusses best practices for editing the HTML of a Message Template:

• HTML Message Templates Best Practices

Custom SMTP Specific Best Practices

When you are using a Custom SMTP configuration to deliver email from Absorb to your Users, there is an additional degree of insight and responsibility taken on. As Custom SMTP allows you to utilize a distinct/unique From Address, elements of email deliverability such as sender reputation, email policies, anti-spam filters and more are configured outside of Absorb. If there are restrictions as it relates to your email domain, or the content of messages it can handle; these restrictions will also apply to emails distributed from Absorb. This section contains best practices specific to Custom SMTP configurations.

Review Send Limits

Depending on your configuration, your domain may be limited to a certain number of emails per day. Review with your IT team, and confirm if there are any limits that your Absorb Portal may exceed based on the number of Users receiving email.

Consider that a send limit is often reinforced across the entire domain, or email service; not per service. As a result, if you are using the same From Address across multiple services. It is possible the combination of Absorb emails, and the emails of other services in total surpass the daily send limit of your email provider.

Monitor Key Metrics

Regularly track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates. Access to information of this kind may be limited depending on your Users and organization. As an example, if your Custom SMTP configuration is largely used to distribute email to internal Users. You may be able to review how many of the recipients are opening the emails, how many are being delivered to a single User or more. This information can inform the structure of your email campaign alongside Admin usage of Absorb LMS.