Ask the Expert: Email Deliverability Consultant Ting Chin Ng

Ask the Expert: Email Deliverability Consultant Ting Chin Ng

Countless myths abound in the world of email deliverability. That’s why there’s no one better to clear up these common misconceptions than the leading experts in the world of email. For every issue, we’ll bring you a Q&A with leaders from inbox providers, spam trap networks, antispam systems, and more in our new Ask the Expert series blog.

In our tenth Ask the Expert series blog, we’re chatting with Ting Chin Ng. Ting is a passionate Email Deliverability Consultant who has spent many years collaborating with high volume senders across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.  

Now, let’s dive in.

7 questions with email deliverability expert Chin Ng

1. A number of inbox providers in APAC have a daily or hourly limit for sending mail. Can you expand on that?

Ting: Unfortunately, there are plenty of inbox providers in APAC that set an hourly limit. The most obvious example would be the Chinese inbox providers. If you are sending from outside of China, you will almost certainly face this issue. The limits I have seen can be as low as 500 a day at the start. Warming up your IPs with Chinese Inbox Providers does take a long time from my experience.

If you are sending within China, this problem should not be an issue.
One way to mitigate this issue somewhat is to use more IPs but again, this is not the cue to start using 100 IPs. I understand there is a limit placed on the domain as well.

Another lesser known inbox provider that has limits by per hour and per IP is BigPond (Telstra). From my experience, the limit per IP per hour is about 1,250 emails.

If you have a customer who needs to send hundreds of thousands of emails to BigPond within a day, the only solution is to use more IPs. I must caution though there is also a limit to how many IPs can be used but this limit is a secret for obvious reasons. 

2.  How does censorship play a role in delivering emails to inboxes in China? Can you explain the “Golden Shield Project”?

Ting: The “Golden Shield Project” covers a very wide area which apparently started in the late 1990s and does not just cover internet security. Perhaps a more appropriate question is to explain the “Great Firewall of China”.  

Long story short, China bans the use of VPNs, and limits the volume of emails that can be sent from outside of China. Basically, the only way to circumvent this issue is to send the emails from China and the data must remain in China. 

3. Do you recommend senders sign up for QQ’s SNDS like environment? What advantages does that bring?

Ting: Unfortunately you need a Chinese business number to sign up. So that means it’s only applicable for companies operating in China. But if the company is operating within China, they can also send using IP addresses within China which also means they shouldn’t face too many problems. 

At the risk of stating the obvious, email is not popular in China as just about everyone uses wechat. So even an open rate of just 12% for Chinese domains can be considered as a decent result. 

4. If senders are not using the local language in their emails, can that hurt deliverability?

Ting: This is a very good question. I think it’s always a good idea to use local languages because many inbox providers do look at engagement. Let us consider Japan or Korea. To my knowledge, I think the command of English in these countries is not as strong as say Singapore or Malaysia. A recent survey published in March shows only 15-28% of the Japanese population speaks English. This means open rates can be affected if the subject lines show up as English when targeting Japanese or Korean subscribers. In the long run, this can affect inbox placement. 

5. Similar to Google and Yahoo, BigPond recently released a list of sender requirements. Can you expand on that? 

Ting: My understanding is that the requirements from BigPond are similar to Google and Yahoo. However, from past experiences dealing with BigPond, they are much more sensitive to spam complaints than Gmail and Yahoo. It is not uncommon to see emails blocked due to spam complaints with BigPond. 

6. What role does Send Time Optimization play in the APAC region and how might it differ from other regions (NAMER/EMEA)? 

Ting: Generally, most senders in this region like to send their emails out early in the morning to catch the working class on their way to work. 

7. Are there any 3rd party blocklists that are particularly impactful in APAC? 

Ting: No more than the usual such as Spamhaus and Proofpoint. Thankfully, UCE protect listings have no noticeable impact on APAC domains. 

Thanks to Ting! Be sure to stay tuned for the next Ask the Expert, as we’ll chat with another expert in email marketing to provide you with further insight into the ins and outs of email deliverability. 

Until next time, check out Twilio SendGrid’s email deliverability services packages to level up your email program with the help of a deliverability expert.