From e-mail address usage

[JenniferH15]

Hi -- When I send email to a campaign thru ConstantContact, how is my actual sender address constructed?  Is it mydomain.constantcontact.com?  What I want to know is what the destination email server uses to identify the origin of the email. 

I know that I can (and do) put my desired email from and reply-to addresses in my settings, but I want to know what flows through the internet's email system.

Thanks,

David

UnitedWay

[William_A]

Hello @JenniferH15 ,

Ultimately, we send using our own servers. So any IPs or Message IDs/Envelopes will all connect back to CTCT. However, when dealing with emails (especially when using a 3rd party like us), receiving severs will still see who the From Address is, since that's the Org/Business that is sending the email.

Different levels of authentication might affect what a contact sees in their header, but ultimately the email will still appear as coming from you, and the receiving servers will still know that your email is the one being used to send the email. For example if you're sending with self-authentication, the servers will read your DKIM key and absolutely confirm it's an email coming from someone associated with your organization, rather than someone potentially disconnected from the organization trying to send it. Some receiving servers can be quite strict on who is sending the email, which is why self-authentication with your own domain tends to result in the absolute best deliverability. However this is a fairly moot point if you're a smaller org or business just sending to peoples' personal emails, rather than corporate or government addresses with strict IT security systems.

For a more in-depth discussion on this, I'd definitely recommend reaching out to our Deliverability / Review team directly. However this is the gist of how it works as far as the receiving server side. 

[JenniferH15]

Thanks, William, for that answer, which is very helpful.  I'd like to ask a follow-up question: there are people at other organizations that I have regular email contact with on an individual basis, but, when they are the recipient of our newsletter, sent via CC (with the same from domain), the mail gets bounced. Am I right in assuming that this means that the recipient's demarc must be blocking CC's servers per se?

Thanks,

David

United Way

[William_A · Accepted solution]

That would be the most likely case, @JenniferH15 .

It'd likely be worth working with those individuals to make sure your emails are absolutely safelisted in their setups. But most importantly, you'd want to work with their IT teams (if applicable) to make sure our domains are safelisted in their security programs.

The authentication tends to play a pretty big part as discussed earlier. Authenticating through us can help deliverability greatly, especially if you don't have your own domain / use a free email service. However if you have your own domain, then self-authentication will have the best results, especially when dealing with more stringent security programs.

Click here for an overview on authentication and links to help set up either type

It will also depend on the bounce. We rely on the receiving servers to provide us with accurate, recognizable codes to ensure you're being given accurate reporting on bounce types. If you're seeing odd discrepancies between your ability to directly email some contacts, and varying bounces when trying to send your e-blasts and newsletters to those same contacts, it'd definitely be worth reaching out to the Deliverability team to see what specialized advice they can provide.