Extreme Email Deliverability through Return Path Certification

Program Overview:

The Return Path Certification program is a third-party whitelisting program used to identify legitimate email. The program is designed to make sure legitimate commercial emails aren't inadvertently caught in spam filters. Over 50,000 ISPs, universities, and organizations around the world, including MSN, Hotmail, and RoadRunner, use Return Path's whitelists. JangoMail is a certified reseller of the Return Path Certification program, so existing JangoMail customers are eligible to apply and participate in the program. Acceptance into the program is based on adherence to Return Path's high standards.

What are the benefits?

To put it simply, increased deliverability and higher open rates. If you're accepted into the program, then all emails sent from your account will be sent from special servers that are whitelisted with Return Path. These servers are designated exclusively for JangoSMTP customers participating in the Return Path program. The main benefit is improved deliverability. Emails sent from Return Path servers have a much smaller chance of being flagged as spam, and this increased inbox delivery can boost your open rates significantly. A recent Return Path case study revealed that participation in the program yielded a 15% increase in email open rates for Internet media giant CNET.

How does the program work?

Email senders and receivers participate in the certification program. Return Path maintains a whitelist of outgoing IP addresses that have been accepted in the program and thus designated as Safe Senders. This list of whitelisted IP addresses is given to email receivers, such as ISPs and corporate domains, to help them identify legitimate email. When an email is sent, the receiving ISP or corporation performs a standard DNS query on the sending IP address; if the IP is on Return Path's whitelist, the ISP gives it preferential delivery.

If you meet Return Path's standards and are accepted into their program, your outgoing email IP address is added to this whitelist, resulting in higher delivery rates for your emails. Once enrolled the Return Path program, there are no technical adjustments, software installations, or other set-up requirements in order to benefit.

Two levels of whitelisting

Return Path now offers two levels of whitelisting services: the Safe List and the Certified List. Both levels of participation result in improved deliverability and open rates by including sending IPs on the Return Path whitelists. Eligibility at both levels is based on adherence to strict email standards, and senders must apply for inclusion in each program. To decide which program might be right for you, read about them below.

Level One: The Safe List

The first level of whitelisting offered by Return Path is inclusion on their Safe List, which designates you as a Safe Sender. The Safe Sender designation helps differentiate legitimate permission-based messages from spam so that they are not filtered into spam folders.

Inclusion on the Safe List marks you as a legitimate business enterprise that follows best practices and uses well-configured, authenticated servers. The primary benefit of being on the Safe List is preferential treatment with spam filtering mechanisms such as SpamAssassin. For example, when SpamAssassin, the world's most popular spam filter, recognizes a Safe Sender, it automatically lowers the email's spam score, thus increasing the likelihood that your email gets to the inbox.

Am I eligible for the Safe List?

JangoSMTP customers sending through our shared IP pool are eligible to be included on the Safe List. See below for the full list of criteria you must meet to qualify for Safe Sender status.

To apply for the Safe List:

You must be an existing JangoSMTP customer who meets all qualifying criteria to apply for inclusion on the Safe List. You can apply directly to JangoMail for inclusion in this program by completing the following application materials. Please fill out, sign, and return both forms. You can fax your completed application to 1-800-854-1526 or 1-630-604-4082 or email it as a PDF to return_path_application@us.jangosmtp.com.

JangoSMTP Return Path Program Application
JangoSMTP Return Path License Agreement

Fees

Level Two: The Certified List

The second level of whitelisting offered by Return Path is inclusion on their Certified List. Being accepted as a Certified Sender gives a higher level of whitelisting; it designates you as a sender who measures up to the very best standards and provides preferential treatment. Hotmail, for example, uses this list to ensure inbox delivery; Yahoo and other ESPs give Certified Senders perks like having images and links automatically enabled.

Am I eligible for the Certified List?

You must send from a dedicated IP address or set of addresses (i.e. not a shared IP) to be considered for Certified Sender Status. In addition, you must have been on those dedicated IPs for a minimum of 90 days and pass an audit of your email practices based on at least 90 days of history on your IP. This audit examines items including permission practices, email infrastructure, privacy policies and disclosures, and historical complaint and spam rates. Once accepted, senders are monitored for continued compliance with program standards and complaint rates; maintained compliance is required to stay in the Certified Program.

For more details about program standards and requirements, please visit www.returnpath.net/certification.

To apply for Certified List inclusion:

For inclusion on the Certified List, you must apply directly with Return Path. Use the following links to get more information and assistance.

• Use this toolkit to learn more about the program standards, benefits, and application process.
• Take this quiz to find out if you're eligible to apply.
• If you're ready to apply, apply here.

Do I qualify?

To qualify as a Safe Sender, you must meet the following criteria:

• Have used JangoSMTP to send at least three mailings to the majority of your list within the last three months, with no excessive complaints from your campaigns.
• The subject line and content of every email message must not be false or misleading.
• Have a strictly consensual recipient list: All recipients must either have a prior business relationship with you or have consented to receive emails from you. Acceptable methods of consent include double opt-in, opt-in with verification, opt-in, pre-selected option with verification, or pre-selected option. A prior business relationship exists if the recipient has purchased a product/service from you within the past 18 months or the recipient consensually provided his/her email address.
• Third party and rented lists are acceptable only if they went through a co-registration process where: a) the organization that purchases the email list was clearly named to the recipient at the time the recipient signed up, b) proof of consent to join the list can be provided by the list owner for each recipient on the list.
• You may not send to addresses that have been harvested off the Internet (web sites, news groups, etc.).
• All emails must contain a valid unsubscribe mechanism.
• Any unsubscribe requests sent back as replies to your emails must be processed manually and in a reasonable amount of time. .
• Since you are sending from your own domain(s), you must ensure that abuse@yourdomain.com and postmaster@yourdomain.com are valid addresses and that complaints sent to these addresses are responded to within 5 business days.
• You must ensure that there is an Abuse.net (www.abuse.net) listing for every domain included in any From Address.
• You must create and maintain a valid SPF/SenderID record for your domain that grants JangoSMTP permission to send for your domain. For more information on how to set up the record, see this document.
• Make sure your emails are signed with DomainKeys/DKIM. For information on how to set this up, see our tutorial on Configuring DomainKeys/DKIM with JangoSMTP.

To qualify as a Certified Sender, you must meet all of the above qualifications and also the following criteria:

• You must send from a dedicated IP address or set of addresses. Customers sending from shared IPs are not eligible.
• You must have sent from dedicated IPs for at least 90 days.
• You must provide 90 days of sending history from your IPs and pass an audit by Return Path.