Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner
on 16 NOV 2012
In our previous discussions about complaints and feedback mechanisms, we are now prepared to delve into the concept of complaint rates.
To clarify, a complaint arises when an email recipient marks a message as spam by selecting “This is spam” or “Send to spam folder” within their email interface. This action is recorded as a complaint by the Internet Service Provider (ISP). If the ISP has established a feedback loop with the Email Service Provider (ESP), the ESP is then alerted. For those utilizing Amazon SES as their ESP, notifications regarding complaints are forwarded to you via email or through an Amazon Simple Notification (SNS) topic, based on your configuration settings. For further details, refer to our guidelines on Handling Bounces and Complaints.
To compute your overall complaint rate, simply divide the total number of complaints by the total number of emails dispatched. However, keep in mind that this may not accurately reflect the complaint rates reported by ISPs, since not all ISPs maintain feedback loops with your ESP, such as Amazon SES. To gain a clearer understanding, it’s advisable to calculate your complaint rate for each specific ISP or domain (e.g., yahoo.com). For each domain or ISP, you would apply the following formula:
Your goal should be to maintain each ISP’s complaint rate below 0.1%. ISPs prioritize user satisfaction and take complaints very seriously. Therefore, it’s critical to keep your complaint rates as low as possible, even if you have to compute them through alternative methods.
Should a complaint be traced back to a specific recipient, ensure that you remove that individual from your mailing list to prevent further unsolicited emails from being sent. For instance, if a recipient complains about receiving marketing emails, halt those communications but continue to send them transactional emails. For additional strategies on minimizing complaint rates, please see the Amazon Simple Email Service Email Sending Best Practices. Happy emailing!
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Note added 2015-12-04: For SES specifically, we expect our senders’ complaint rates to remain below 0.1%. Senders with a complaint rate above 0.5% risk suspension.