Companies that take digital responsibility and observe legal, technical and ethical principles in their email marketing are more successful in the long term. Information from mailbox providers and Internet help desks helps to improve one’s own commercial emailing in line with the principles of Corporate Digital Responsibility.

More and more companies are taking their digital responsibility seriously and formulating digital ethics – because not everything that is possible is also right and leads to sustainable success. This also applies to digital marketing, especially newsletters and other commercial emails as important building blocks of digital marketing strategies and customer relationship management (CRM). This also includes the protection of personal data as part of Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR). As with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the term describes all efforts towards corporate and social responsibility and ethics – here focused on digital issues.

Corporate Digital Responsibility is a success factor

In the email ecosystem, apart from the self-evident protection of personal data, there are many starting points for improvements in the sense of CDR. Too many spam, phishing messages and unwanted newsletters fill inboxes and put a strain on the image of email marketing. More and more companies are, therefore, deciding to take active responsibility for their commercial emails.

In the long run, it pays off for companies to take ethical guidelines into account in the technical planning and implementation of digital communication. After all, this also makes life difficult for cyber criminals: by adhering to strict technical quality criteria, senders prevent attempts at misuse such as phishing attacks. This, in turn, benefits the email recipients, i.e. the consumers. Their risk of falling victim to a cyber attack is reduced.

Corporate Digital Responsibility begins with email

Mailbox providers honour ethical behaviour by senders because they face a real challenge in their efforts to provide the best service. They have to protect their users from unwanted or even dangerous emails, while at the same time ensuring that wanted emails still arrive. It is essential to block dangerous phishing emails and spam. These are dangerous and must not reach the inbox for security reasons. For this reason, mailbox providers sharply adjust their filters to block such emails. However, this can also mean that wanted messages can also sometimes not pass through these filters.

However, if senders meet ethical standards and can prove this, they benefit from a high reputation. The result is usually improved deliverability of commercial emails. In addition to ethical requirements, companies should also strictly comply with European regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and generally observe internationally applicable laws in email marketing. Senders can prove their high standards, for example, through certification by the Certified Senders Alliance (CSA), for which the sender must demonstrably fulfil specific criteria on an ongoing basis. Messages from certified senders are then received more easily and better by customers and partners. This is a prerequisite for them to be able to interact with the emails and also to conclude a purchase.

Information to help improve your own email marketing

Unfortunately, many companies and senders do not know how to behave ethically and legally without restricting their own email marketing. Many senders lack the necessary information to improve their own behaviour.

The CSA, therefore, supports certified senders with the necessary information to protect their (IP) reputation and build trust with mailbox providers. It has developed the ‘Certification Monitor’ to evaluate data from various international sources and make it available to certified senders. It also shows violations of established best practices, which are reflected in the CSA regulations.

The web-based tool evaluates the senders’ commercial emails and provides information on spam trap hits, DKIM errors and the spam marking rate. In addition, senders are given easy access to 1&1’s feedback loop: If a recipient has moved a commercial email to spam, the sender can immediately remove it from the distribution list. The eco Complaints Office also provides important information by using the CSA criteria to evaluate individual spam complaints from recipients. The senders thus have the opportunity to identify a concrete need for action and to pass this on to their customers or brands in order to protect them from future complaints and damage to their reputation. You can find detailed information about the added value of CSA certification here.