One responsibility of the Compliance team is performing Account Reviews (ARs) and List Reviews (LRs) with our customers. Although slightly different in nature, they are both conversations we have in order to gain a better understanding of a customer’s contact lists, sending history, and collection methods. These processes help us know what industry best practices we can recommend, as well as allow us to help protect Constant Contact’s sending reputation so that your emails will get to their intended destination.
What is the difference between a List Review and an Account Review?
Though they are similar, there are some key differences between “LRs” and “ARs”. List Reviews are based on list size; we have proprietary numeric values within every account that will automatically trigger an account for a review based on certain factors. This is often done as part of the onboarding process, and allows us to help our customers with best practices for their contact list and resolve any issues before they occur.
Account Reviews are a little different. An AR is triggered due to a specific Compliance related issue on the account. This could be due to a problematic list import, elevated levels of spam complaints, prohibited content, a terms and condition violation, or simply that we need to learn more about your business to support you properly.
Why Do Email Marketing Providers Review Accounts?
Every email campaign sent from a Constant Contact customer goes out from the same large group of IP addresses. While this lets all of our customers benefit from our good sending reputation, it also means that if a specific IP address should be blocked due to sending to bad addresses or having too many spam complaints against it then it can affect all users of Constant Contact.
What information should I have available during a LR or AR?
During the review process, we’ll be asking questions about your list, collection methods, and sending history. Some helpful information to have readily available is:
- Collection methods for the various contact lists
- The age of the lists (how long has it been since you first began collecting contacts, or, how long has it been since you’ve interacted with these contacts).
- Past emailing history
- Have you emailed these contacts before?
- If so, were you able to track reports such as bounces and unsubscribes?
- Were those contacts removed from this list?
What do I get out of it?
Lots! As you probably know, Constant Contact’s sending reputation is a leader in the industry; however what you may not know is that the reputation of your own sending email address, as well as the content of your email, can affect your delivery. During the review process, we’ll recommend best practices that can help optimize your performance. This is also a great opportunity to pick our brains and ask any Compliance or delivery related questions you may have.
There are times where Compliance may be forced to require that action be taken before we can release an account. In that case, the Account Review representative will fully explain the action needed and why we require it.
For one customer's perspective on the review process, you can check this article out.
What should I do if I am under List Review or Account Review?
There should be a banner towards the top of your account. That banner contains the contact information and hours of our Account Review team. Once you have the time, please reach out to them to perform the review. Please note that due to the nature of List Reviews and Account Reviews, sending privileges are disabled until the review is complete.
Be sure to keep any eye out in the coming months. I’ll be discussing common reasons why accounts are flagged for Account Reviews, as well as some best practices to help to avoid them!
