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One of our <a href="https://convertkit.com/mission" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">values</a> at ConvertKit is to work in public. We strive for transparency, which is why we share information that is typically kept private, such as our <a href="https://convertkit.baremetrics.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">finances</a>.
One commonly asked question by creators looking for a new email marketing platform is, “How is your email deliverability?”
Here is our monthly deliverability report to answer that question:
If you missed previous Deliverability reports, you can check them out below:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://convertkit.com/december-2019-deliverabilty-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">December 2019</a></li>
<li><a href="https://convertkit.com/january-2020-deliverabilty-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">January 2020</a></li>
<li><a href="https://convertkit.com/february-2020-deliverabilty-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">February 2020</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>In March, ConvertKit sent over 1 billion messages (1,055,500,636 to be exact).</h2>
When messages are sent, they can be delivered or they can bounce. For more details on how email deliverability operates, check out our blog post <a href="https://convertkit.com/sender-reputation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>. But for a little TLDR- The more messages delivered, the better!
It is inevitable for some messages to bounce due to invalid addresses, full mailboxes, etc., but a good delivery rate indicates healthy deliverability for ConvertKit. We consider a system-wide delivery rate of 98% and above to be very healthy.
<h2>In March, our system-wide delivery rate was 98.9%</h2>
<img decoding="async" loading="" class="size-full wp-image-24475 aligncenter lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/SFnZFlTp-MARCH-20-systemwide-delivery-rate.png?fm=png" alt="MARCH-20 System wide deliverability rate for ConvertKit" width="1500" height="1016" />
This high delivery rate indicates a healthy reputation for ConvertKit, which gives our customers a solid foundation for their email deliverability. To get even more detailed about how well we’re performing, it helps to filter down by mailbox provider.
Here are the top 5 domains ConvertKit sends to in terms of volume:
1. Gmail.com 
Volume: 583 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.54%
2. Yahoo.com 
Volume: 108 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.88%
3. Hotmail.com 
Volume: 103 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.87%
4. AOL.com 
Volume: 26 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.92%
5. Outlook.com 
Volume: 12 million messages 
Delivery rate: 99.88%
<h2>The average open rate of all emails sent through ConvertKit was 31%.</h2>
Senders often ask how their open rates stack up to others. Truth is, open rates can vary greatly depending on your industry and audience type (B2B vs. freemail addresses, for example). However, here’s a general scale you can use to measure your performance:
<img decoding="async" loading="" class="size-full wp-image-22483 aligncenter lazy" data-src="https://media.convertkit.com/post/1agZhVrD-DEC-19-Sender-Reputation.jpg?fm=pjpg" alt="March 20 Sender Reputation" width="750" height="508" /> 
I talk more about open rates and why they aren’t always reliable<a href="https://convertkit.com/sender-reputation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> in this article.</a>
<h2>Our system-wide complaint rate remained over 10x lower than industry standard</h2>
A complaint is when a subscriber marks a message as spam. An elevated complaint rate is a signal that the sender’s quality of mail isn’t good. We have a team dedicated to ensuring that the mail sent from ConvertKit is wanted by the recipients.
In the email industry, a complaint rate less than 0.1% is seen as healthy. ConvertKit’s complaint rate in March was 0.009%, which speaks to the high quality of mail sent by our customers and the healthy reputation of our infrastructure.
<blockquote class="blockquote-sm">
<h2>Deliverability Tip of the Month:</h2>
As you’ve probably experienced, there is a lot of Coronavirus-related email being sent right now. To protect your deliverability during this time, use the following criteria to determine if you should send an email notice about Covid-19:
<ul>
<li>Is the content absolutely necessary? 
Only send a Covid-related notice if it is absolutely necessary, such as your business being closed temporarily, an event being postponed, or another important message. Otherwise, the email will likely be buried in your subscribers’ inboxes and could lead to deliverability damage.</li>
<li>Am I contacting subscribers who need to have this information? 
If the content is absolutely necessary, be sure you are only sending it to subscribers who need to receive it. For example, if you’re emailing about an event being postponed, you should only email subscribers who had purchased a ticket to the event and not your entire database.</li>
</ul>
This is a tough time, and you want to be sure that the emails you send to your subscribers provide value and are relevant to them. Doing so will lead to better subscriber engagement and deliverability.</blockquote>
<h2>Industry news and ConvertKit updates</h2>
<h3>What hurdles, outside of a marketer&#8217;s control, affect Deliverability?</h3>
In March, I contributed to <a href="https://kickbox.com/partner/convertkit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kickbox’s</a> blog series “Email Deliverability Unfiltered”. I highlight three hurdles that impact your deliverability and how to avoid them. To learn about listbombing, spoofing, and domain reputation,<a href="https://blog.kickbox.com/email-deliverability-unfiltered-hurdles-to-avoid/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> check out the blog post here.</a>
<h3>Video: How to improve deliverability by maintaining a clean list</h3>
I’ll be posting monthly videos in our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOQ9AyTAfttG-uZmEhrtOORPDNbJkFpyG" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tuesday Tip</a> series to walk you through quick tips to improve and maintain your deliverability. In March, I outlined how to send an opt-in confirmation email to your Cold Subscribers in order to keep your list healthy and engaged. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVyDGeBonEw&amp;t=201s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click here to watch the video.</a>

ConvertKit’s March 2020 Deliverability Report

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