commercial e-mail - using the right tools | office 365 | part 4#17

of 17 | Commercial E-mail - Using the right tools - Office 365 - Part 4#17

Written by Eyal Doron | o365info.com

COMMERCIAL E-MAIL – USING THE

RIGHT TOOLS | OFFICE 365 | PART

4#17

The current article is dedicated to the subject of –”commercial

E-mail”. At first glance, there is no clear relationship between

the subject of internal \ outbound spam and commercial E-

mail but my arguments are:

1. Most of the time, the main reason for the phenomenon of

internal \ outbound spam is related to misuse of commercial E-

mail. Lack of knowledge and awareness about the fact that in

case that we use a commercial E-mail, we should plan and

design our commercial E-mail and, pay attention too many

“don’t do” rules etc.

http://o365info.com/commercial-e-mail-using-the-right-tools-office-365-part-4-17

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2. Office 365 and Exchange Online are not the optimal platforms

for using and managing commercial E-mail.

What is commercial E-mail?

The “translation” of commercial E-mail could be – E-mail campaign,

Marketing E-mail, Newsletters, large mailing lists, Bulk mail and so

on.

Because the definition of commercial mail is more on the “legal side”,

I prefer to use quotation from the USA government FTC site:

Any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the

commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or

service,” including email that promotes content on commercial

websites. The law makes no exception for business-to-business

email. That means all email – for example, a message to former






customers announcing a new product line – must comply with the

law.

[Source of information: CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business]

Beside of the definition of commercial E-mail, the article relate to the

“rules” and to the thing we should avoid when using commercial E-

mail. The article includes a set of a guideline, that emphases the “do”

and the “don’t” regarding the subject of commercial E-mail.

Here is a partial quotation from the USA government FTC site:

Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,”

“Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating

domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the

person or business who initiated the message.

Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately

reflect the content of the message.

Identify the message as an ad.

The law gives you a lot of leeway in how doing this, but you must

disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an

advertisement.

Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your

valid physical postal address.

This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve

registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve

registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established

under Postal Service regulations.

[Source of information: CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business]




https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business



Commercial E-mail as part of the business

process

Because commercial mail is a business need, we will need to

“respect” this business need, allocate the require resource,

implement the best practice and so on.

To be able to successfully using and managing commercial E-mail, we

will need to use a dedicated platform or a product that will help us to

manage all of the different aspects that relates to commercial E-mail.

There are many providers and platforms, which was created

especially for providing a suitable solution for the specific needs of a

commercial E-mail.

I’m not “pointing out” a specific provider but, my personal opinion is

that: Office 365 and Exchange Online was not created for as a

“solution for commercial E-mail”.






Why do I think that Office 365\ Exchange

Online is unsuitable for the purpose of

commercial E-mail?

One of the most common miss conception among Office 365

customers is that – Office 365 and Exchange Online can use as a tool

or infrastructure for commercial E-mail.

The source for this miss conception is that – commercial E-mail (as

the name suggest) is implemented by using mail infrastructure and,

Exchange Online is mail infrastructure.

This assumption is true, but the main issue is that commercial E-mail

needs a very specific mail infrastructure and additional components

that are not included in a “standard mail infrastructure” such as

Exchange Online in our scenario.

Office 365 and Exchange Online was not created for fulfilling the

business requirements for a commercial E-mail.

The next quote, is from a Microsoft article which displays the

Exchange Online boundaries:

Exchange Online customers who need to send legitimate bulk

commercial email (for example, customer newsletters) should use

third-party providers that specialize in these services.

[Source of information: Exchange Online Limits]

In the following diagram, we can see a table which presents that

basic need of a commercial E-mail infrastructure.




https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/exchange-online-limits.aspx



It’s very easy to notice that Office 365 and Exchange Online, are not

“equipped” with the right tools and capacities for serving as an

infrastructure for commercial E-mail.

1. Maximum number of mail items per day

One of the most basic requirements of a commercial E-mail

infrastructure is – to be able to provide the ability to send bulk mail

to a large number of mail recipients.

Exchange Online include built-in limitation of maximum 10,000 mail

items per user per day.

In case that you need to send commercial E-mail to a larger number

of recipients, you want to be able to use Exchange Online.






2. Management dashboard – monitor E-mail campaign results

One of the most basic requirements of E-mail campaign is – the

ability to get information about the status and the progression of the

E-mail campaign. For example: how many E-mail was sent, how many

E-mail was “opened”(read) by the destination recipient, did the

recipient click on a link attached to the E-mail, etc.

Exchange Online doesn’t include such abilities.

3. Management dashboard – monitor problems, issues with the

mail distribution

The process of “distributing the E-mail” could be “accompanied’ by

difficulties and problems such as a scenario in which the mail server

IP address or our domain is classified as spam, a classification of our

mail server is “bulk mail server” and so on.

Some of the dedicated commercial E-mail infrastructure, have

systems and tools that could monitor the E-mail campaign, Identify

and pre-alert about the possibility for problems or existing problems,

etc.







4. Check and verify the spam score.

One of the most important procedures that need to be implemented

before starting an E-mail campaign is: to make sure that our E-mail

content will not have any type of charter, which will lead to a

scenario in which our E-mail message could be identified as

spam\Junk mail.

The solution to this need, is implemented by tools that enable us to

evaluate the spam score of our E-mail message and enable us to pre-

identified “area of problems” that lead to high spam score.

Most of the commercial E-mail infrastructure has built-in tools for

this task. The bottom line: it’s very important to verify the spam score

of your E-mail campaign before you execute the E-mail campaign.


Note – you can read more information about this procedure of

assess the spam score level in the article: My E-mail appears as

spam | The 7 major reasons | Part 5#17

5. Reports

The ability to display and export the information about E-mail

campaign results or, the ability to implement BI (business

intelligence) from the E-mail campaign results.

For example – the ability to “see” that our E-mail campaign results

were good in a specific geographical location versus other

geographical locations.





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http://o365info.com/my-e-mail-appears-as-spam-the-7-major-reasons-part-5-17/#SUB-1a



6. Verify the E-mail “appearance” in different browsers, OS,

devices.

The need to test our E-mail message “readability” on different

infrastructures and devices.

For example – avoid a scenario in which our E-mail message has

some presentation problem when using a browser such as chrome

or Internet Explorer.

Another example, could be – a scenario in which our E-mail message

has a presentation problem when using a mobile device.


Is there any “logic troubleshooting path” to

implement in an Office 365 environment?

A detailed troubleshooting path in a scenario in which mail that is

sent from our organization is identified as spam\junk mail will be

provided in the articles:

My E-mail appears as spam – Troubleshooting path | Part 11#17

My E-mail appears as spam – Troubleshooting path | Part 12#17

In case that you want the “essence of the troubleshooting process” of

internal spam in Office 365 environment, the answer is:

In scenarios in which E-mail that sent from our organization is

identified as spam, most of the time, the major cause is: sending out

commercial E-mail or if we want to be more precise: miss-use of

commercial E-mail.




http://o365info.com/my-e-mail-appears-as-spam-troubleshooting-path-part-11-17

http://o365info.com/my-e-mail-appears-as-spam-troubleshooting-domain-name-and-e-mail-content-part-12-17



Many times, the implementation of a commercial E-mail is not

created by following the strict and well-known rules.

This “conclusion” is not a result of depth study about the: specific

causes which lead to a scenario in which our organization E-mail is

identified as spam\junk mail but instead, my personal opinion.

From my experience, in Office 365 and Exchange Online

environment, the main “event” that leads to a scenario in which our

organization (our domain name or the Exchange Online server IP

address) will appear on a blacklist is related to a commercial E-mail.

In simple words: an organization that uses commercial E-mail

(marketing E-mail, newsletter, etc.) and, violate one or more of the

“don’t do” rules of commercial E-mail.

In case that you are sure that the specific scenario is not related to a

commercial E-mail, the next reasonable options are: some kind of

malware that use the “identity” of your organization to send

spam\junk mail or “other” reasons.

The “other reasons” section can include any “other” reasons that can

cause to the “spam\junk mail” problem.






Note – you can read more information about the optional causes

for Internal \ outbound spam in the articles

My E-mail appears as spam | The 7 major reasons | Part 5#17

My E-mail appears as spam | The 7 major reasons | Part 6#17

My point: when we deal with a problem in which our organization is

classified as “element” to send spam\junk mail, don’t start the

troubleshooting process by looking for the “guilty” outside of your

house (Microsoft, conspiracy theory, extraterrestrial, etc.) but

instead, thoroughly examined your organization E-mail “behavior”,

the type of the E-mail message that your users send, problematic

patterns and so on.




http://o365info.com/my-e-mail-appears-as-spam-the-7-major-reasons-part-5-17




Internal \ outbound spam in Office 365

environment | Article series index

A quick reference for the article series

My E-mail appears as a spam | Article

series index | Part 0#17

The article index of the complete

article series

Introduction to the concept of internal \ outbound spam in general

and in Office 365 and Exchange Online environment

My E-mail appears as a spam –

Introduction | Office 365 | Part 1#17

The psychological profile of the

phenomenon: “My E-mail appears as

a spam!”, possible factors for causing

our E-mail to appear a “spam mail”,

the definition of internal \ outbound

spam.

Internal spam in Office 365 –

Introduction | Part 2#17

Review in general the term: “internal \

outbound spam”, miss conceptions

that relate to this term, the risks that

are involved in this scenario,




http://o365info.com/my-email-appears-as-a-spam-article-series-index-part-0-17/My%20E-mail%20appears%20as%20a%20spam%20%7C%20Article%20series%20index%20%20%7C%20Part%200#17

http://o365info.com/my-email-appears-as-a-spam-article-series-index-part-0-17/My%20E-mail%20appears%20as%20a%20spam%20%7C%20Article%20series%20index%20%20%7C%20Part%200#17

http://o365info.com/my-e-mail-appears-as-a-spam-introduction-office-365-part-1-17

http://o365info.com/my-e-mail-appears-as-a-spam-introduction-office-365-part-1-17

http://o365info.com/internal-spam-in-office-365-introduction-part-2-17




outbound spam E-mail policy and

more.

Internal spam in Office 365 –

Introduction | Part 3#17

What are the possible reasons that

could cause to our mail to appear as

spam\junk mail, who or what are this

“elements”, that can decide that our

mail is a spam mail?, what are the

possible “reactions” of the destination

mail infrastructure that identify our E-

mail as spam\junk mail?.

Commercial E-mail – Using the right

tools | Office 365 | Part 4#17

What is commercial E-mail?

Commercial E-mail as part of the

business process. Why do I think that

Office 365\ Exchange Online is

unsuitable for the purpose of

commercial E-mail?

Introduction if the major causes for a scenario in which your

organization E-mail appears as spam

My E-mail appears as spam | The 7

major reasons | Part 5#17

Review three major reasons, that

could lead to a scenario, in which E-

mail that is sent from our

organization identified as spam mail:












1. E-mail content, 2. Violation of the

SMTP standards, 3. Bulk\Mass mail

My E-mail appears as spam | The 7

major reasons | Part 6#17

Review three major reasons, that

could lead to a scenario, in which E-

mail that is sent from our

organization identified as spam mail:

4. False positive, 5. User Desktop

malware, 6. “Problematic” Website

Introduction if the subject of SPF record in general and in Office

365 environment

What is SPF record good for? | Part

7#17

The purpose of the SPF record and the

relation to for our mail infrastructure.

How does the SPF record enable us to

prevent a scenario in which hostile

elements could send E-mail on our

behalf.

Implementing SPF record | Part 8#17

The “technical side” of the SPF record:

the structure of SPF record, the way

that we create SPF record, what is the

required syntax for the SPF record in

an Office 365 environment + mix mail

environment, how to verify the

existence of SPF record and so on.






http://o365info.com/what-is-spf-record-good-for-part-7-17

http://o365info.com/what-is-spf-record-good-for-part-7-17

http://o365info.com/implementing-spf-record-part-8-17



Introduction if the subject of Exchange Online - High Risk Delivery

Pool

High Risk Delivery Pool and Exchange

Online | Part 9#17

How Office 365 (Exchange Online) is

handling a scenario of internal \

outbound spam by using the help of

the Exchange Online- High Risk

Delivery Pool.

High Risk Delivery Pool and Exchange

Online | Part 10#17

The second article about the subject

of Exchange Online- High Risk

Delivery Pool.

The troubleshooting path of internal \ outbound spam scenario

My E-mail appears as spam –

Troubleshooting path | Part 11#17

Troubleshooting scenario of internal \

outbound spam in Office 365 and

Exchange Online environment.

Verifying if our domain name is

blacklisted, verifying if the problem is

related to E-mail content, verifying if

the problem is related to specific

organization user E-mail address,

moving the troubleshooting process

to the “other side.




http://o365info.com/high-risk-delivery-pool-and-exchange-online-part-9-17








My E-mail appears as spam |

Troubleshooting – Domain name and

E-mail content | Part 12#17 Verify if

our domain name appears as

blacklisted, verify if the problem

relates to a specific E-mail message

content, registering blacklist

monitoring services, activating the

option of Exchange Online outbound

spam.


Troubleshooting – Mail server | Part

13#17

What is the meaning of: “our mail

server”?, Mail server IP, host name

and Exchange Online. One of our

users got an NDR which informs him,

that his mail server is blacklisted!,

How do we know that my mail server

is blacklisted?



14#17

The troubleshooting path logic. Get

the information from the E-mail

message that was identified as

spam\NDR. Forwarding a copy of the

NDR message or the message that

saved to the junk mail







http://o365info.com/my-e-mail-appears-as-spam-troubleshooting-mail-server-part-13-17










15#17

Step B – Get information about your

Exchange Online infrastructure, Step

C – fetch the information about the

Exchange Online IP address, Step D –

verify if the “formal “Exchange Online

IP address a

De-list your organization from a

blacklist | My E-mail appears as spam

| Part 16#17

Review the charters of a scenario in

which your organization appears as

blacklisted. The steps and the

operations that need to be

implemented for de-list your

organization from a blacklist.

Summery and recap of the troubleshooting and best practices in a

scenario of internal \ outbound spam

Dealing and avoiding internal spam |

Best practices | Part 17#17

Provide a short checklist for all the

steps and the operation that relates

to a scenario of – internal \ outbound

spam.







http://o365info.com/de-list-your-organization-from-a-blacklist-my-e-mail-appears-as-spam-part-16-17



http://o365info.com/dealing-and-avoiding-internal-spam-best-practices-part-17-17

http://o365info.com/dealing-and-avoiding-internal-spam-best-practices-part-17-17

commercial e-mail - using the right tools | office 365 | part 4#17

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