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<p>In episode 16 of the Deliverability Defined podcast, Melissa and I discuss inbox placement tests, how they can be helpful, and how they can fall short.</p>
<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-28702 lazy" data-src="https://media.kit.com/post/DPqKUvok-inbox-placement-tests.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="Pros and Cons of Inbox Placement Tests" width="1500" height="1774" /></p>
<h2 id="chapter-1">Inbox placement tests</h2>
<p>Inbox placement tests allow you to know whether your emails are being placed in the inbox, spam folder, or are missing for a list of test addresses. There are two ways to figure out where your email is landing with inbox placement tools:<br />
1) Seed lists- These are fake addresses that populate data back into the tool you’re using<br />
2) Panel data- These are real people using a free application that is aggregating their data in the background. (<a href="https://martechseries.com/mts-insights/guest-authors/bot-driven-email-data-solutions-problematic/#:~:text=Google%20will%20stop%20all%20third,email%20engagement%2C%20activity%20and%20success." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Google banned this in March 2019.</a>)</p>
<p>If you&#8217;ve ever downloaded or used one of those free tools or applications that sync with your email inbox and automatically unsubscribes you from email that you don&#8217;t open very often, there&#8217;s a chance your email data is actually being used by someone else&#8217;s inbox placement test to determine where their messages land.</p>
<p>It’s impossible to know if an email actually hits the primary inbox, but these free tools might be working behind the scenes to acquire that data for someone else. It’s a controversial practice that we want to shed some light on.</p>
<p>In this episode, we talk about the ins and outs of inbox placement tests and how useful they are (if at all).</p>
<h2 id="chapter-2">Inbox placement test pros</h2>
<ul>
<li>Inbox placement tests can be a helpful data point to determine if you have any major deliverability issues.</li>
<li>Inbox placement tests can scan for basic issues like long urls, large images, or HTML problems. These are useful if you’re new to the game.</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="chapter-3">Inbox placement test cons</h2>
<ul>
<li>There are so many factors influencing your inbox placement that it’s nearly impossible to know which one is the culprit. Suggestions can often lead to fruitless rabbit holes.</li>
<li>Seed lists aren’t going to act in the same way as real subscribers because they are fake. This isn’t bad, per se, but it doesn’t offer much help to marketers.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Summary</h3>
<p>Inbox placement tests can be helpful but don’t treat them as an authority. Instead, treat them as a supplement to other tools for increasing your open and <a href="https://kit.com/resources/blog/category/deliverability" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deliverability rates</a>. Be sure to look at your own data in conjunction with anything coming from an inbox placement test.</p>
<div id="attachment_28704" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28704" class="size-full wp-image-28704 lazy" data-src="https://media.kit.com/post/ZNnuNdtt-deliverability-inbox-tests-quote.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="Pros and Cons of Inbox Placement Tests" width="2160" height="2160" /><p id="caption-attachment-28704" class="wp-caption-text">Pros and Cons of Inbox Placement Tests</p></div>
<h2 id="chapter-4">Links</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4fD0IQmH7E&amp;t=4s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How to Read Message Headers</a></li>
<li><a href="https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/awhk76" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reply All #135 Robocall: Bang Bang</a></li>
<li><a href="https://glockapps.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Glock Apps</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.validity.com/everest/250ok/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">250 Ok</a></li>
<li><a href="https://kickbox.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kickbox</a></li>
<li><a href="https://edatasource.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">E Data Source</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="chapter-3">Try Kit&#8217;s deliverability in action</h2>
<p>It&#8217;s now free to use Kit with an audience of 10,000 subscribers or less! Start building your audience and reaching their inboxes: <a href="https://kit.com/pricing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">kit.com/pricing</a>.</p>
<h2 id="chapter-4">Stay in touch</h2>
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deliverability-defined/id1515377286" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Apple Podcasts</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/1ElZx2zrhvllOkbPzSfGxX" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spotify</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://x.com/kit" target="_blank">X/Twitter</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/kit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Instagram</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://kit.com/features/deliverability" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Deliverability Defined Website</a></li>
</ul>
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Kit’s August 2020 Deliverability Report

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Pros and Cons of Inbox Placement Tests

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Alyssa Dulin

New in Kit: Grow your audience by sharing more content

Kit’s August 2020 Deliverability Report