Deliverability e statistiche

Sending domains and deliverability

Send from your own domain, set up the DNS records, and keep your emails out of spam.

Questo articolo è mostrato in inglese.

Your default address

Without a domain of your own, each newsletter sends from <name>@mail.smartletter.ai. You pick the name in Name and sender address in Newsletters: 3 to 48 letters, numbers or hyphens.

On this shared address, imported contacts don't get your issues. Verify your own domain to send to them.

Add your own domain

Custom sending domains come with the Pro plan (5 domains), Scale (15) and Agency (200).

Open Sending domains and add your domain.
Copy each record to your DNS provider. If your domain is on a supported provider, click Configure with to add them for you.
Wait. Records can take up to 48 hours to spread. Verification runs on its own, or click Verify.
In Newsletters, open Name and sender address and pick the domain. Verifying a domain does not assign it to a newsletter.

Until the domain is verified, emails still go out from your Smartletter address.

The DNS records, simply

DKIM (3 CNAME records): a signature that proves the email comes from you.
SPF (a TXT record on send.your-domain.com): says our servers may send for you.
MX on send.your-domain.com: receives bounce reports.
DMARC (recommended): tells inboxes what to do with emails that fail the checks.
Ownership (_smartletter-verify): proves the domain is yours. Without it, the domain can't be verified.

Example for example.com (the values shown in your dashboard are the ones to use):

TXT    send.example.com                v=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all
MX 10  send.example.com                feedback-smtp.<region>.amazonses.com
TXT    _dmarc.example.com              v=DMARC1; p=none;
TXT    _smartletter-verify.example.com smartletter-verify=<token>

Custom subdomain for links and the archive

On the Custom subdomain tab, attach a subdomain like news.your-domain.com to a newsletter. It serves tracked links, the preference and unsubscribe pages, and the public archive. One subdomain per newsletter, from the Pro plan.

Add the CNAME record shown. Set it to "DNS only". On Cloudflare, turn off the orange cloud.

If you remove the subdomain, links in emails already sent on it stop working.

Who sends the confirmation email

The double opt-in email picks its sender in 3 steps:

Your own verified, healthy domain: it leaves from the newsletter's address, with its name.
Your Smartletter address: it leaves from <name>@mail.smartletter.ai, with the newsletter name.
Any risk signal (new free account, content under review, high bounces or complaints, a name that looks like a brand or a link): a neutral Smartletter sender and neutral text.

Dedicated IP and good habits

A Dedicated IP is an IP address for your sends only. It needs the Scale or Agency plan, 150,000 emails sent in each of the last 3 months, and a clean list. It is billed yearly and warms up gradually.

Verify your own domain and add DMARC.
Send only to people who asked for it.
Keep the unsubscribe link easy to find.
Watch bounces and complaints in Read your stats.

Our platform numbers are public on the deliverability page, updated every hour.