Twenty precepts.

1. 01

   Every complaint is a failure.

   Each complaint reflects a poor user experience. Monitor and act on feedback to improve.

2. 02

   If you do not authenticate, you do not deliver.

   SPF, DKIM and DMARC are required to ensure trust and delivery.

3. 03

   The subject line is a promise.

   It must reflect the content of the message to avoid user frustration.

4. 04

   Respect frequency.

   Too many emails quickly cause fatigue and blocks. Send at a pace your users accept.

5. 05

   Never hide behind freemail domains.

   Use your own domain to build credibility and reputation.

6. 06

   List hygiene is sacred.

   Remove invalid addresses and spamtraps to protect your reputation.

7. 07

   Consent is binary.

   Only explicit opt-in counts as permission to send.

8. 08

   Segment your audience.

   Target your audience; unsegmented campaigns often go to spam.

9. 09

   Transparency beats trickery.

   Deceptive content or headers damage trust and deliverability.

10. 10

    Unsubscribe must be effortless.

    Provide a clear, one-click option to reduce complaints.

11. 11

    One complaint outweighs a thousand opens.

    Reputation falls faster than it grows; prevent complaints above all.

12. 12

    Delivery ≠ Deliverability.

    Landing in spam means failure; inbox placement is the goal.

13. 13

    Protect your domain.

    Implement DMARC to prevent abuse and preserve reputation.

14. 14

    Respect blacklists.

    Listings are signals of abuse or poor practices; act to resolve them.

15. 15

    Content filters are not your enemy.

    They reflect user expectations. Align content with what users want.

16. 16

    Warm up with patience.

    Increase volumes gradually to avoid triggering blocks.

17. 17

    Your infrastructure reveals you.

    IPs and domains carry history. Manage and rotate responsibly.

18. 18

    Do not buy lists.

    Purchased contacts lead to complaints, spamtraps and reputation loss.

19. 19

    Silence inactive users.

    Focus on engaged recipients; inactives hurt deliverability.

20. 20

    Try to game the filters, and you will lose.

    Filters adapt continuously; only good practices succeed.

Last amended by the Council: 2025-08-21 12:11 UTC