How Ometria Transformed Email Deliverability Management with Postmastery
"Postmastery is a great tool for email data visualisation at scale. For us, the key value is seeing all our email data in one place with effective drill-down capabilities." Alice Spencer | Senior Manager, Deliverability Services at Ometria
Executive Summary
Ometria, a retail specialist Customer Data Platform (CDP) and Email Service Provider (ESP) with offices in London and New York, revolutionised their email deliverability operations by implementing Postmastery's analytics platform. Led by Alice Spencer, Head of Deliverability, the team moved from reactive problem-solving with clunky internal dashboards to proactive network management with comprehensive data visualisation and intelligent alerting.
Key Results:
- Shifted from reactive to proactive deliverability management.
- Consolidated multiple data sources into one unified platform.
- Reduced troubleshooting time through superior drill-down visibility.
- Improved client onboarding and issue resolution processes.
- Enhanced team efficiency with automated alerting and monitoring.
The Challenge: Managing Deliverability at Scale
As a retail specialist CDP and ESP, Ometria faces unique deliverability challenges. Alice Spencer, who heads the deliverability team, brings extensive industry experience to the role, having spent six and a half years at ReturnPath in London before transitioning to her current position. Her deep understanding of deliverability, built from hands-on experience across different organisations and email environments, makes her uniquely qualified to tackle complex email delivery challenges.
Before Postmastery, Ometria's deliverability team struggled with several critical limitations:
- Fragmented Data Sources: The team relied on SparkPost's limited UI as their primary MTA interface, supplemented by clunky internal dashboards that made data analysis time-consuming and inefficient.
- Reactive Problem-Solving: Without comprehensive visibility, the team was constantly in reactive mode, only discovering issues after they had already impacted client campaigns.
- Limited Analytical Capabilities: Their existing tools lacked the sophisticated filtering and drill-down capabilities needed to quickly identify patterns and root causes across their large client base.
- Alert Fatigue: The team struggled with managing notifications from multiple systems, leading to missed critical issues or information overload.
The Solution: Postmastery's Unified Analytics Platform
After evaluating alternatives, including placement providers like 250ok (later Validity's EDS product), Ometria chose Postmastery based on recommendations from contacts at other ESPs. The decision was driven by Postmastery's cost-effectiveness and ESP-focused approach that perfectly matched their dashboard requirements without requiring significant in-house development.
Key Implementation Features:
- Deliverability Analytics Dashboard: Postmastery's comprehensive analytics platform provides the team with unprecedented visibility into their email data at scale.
- Reputation Monitor: Continuous monitoring of IP reputations and sender scores allows for quick identification of potential issues and minor blocklistings.
- Intelligent Alerting System: Customised alerts for critical events like SNDS status changes, blocklist additions, and reputation shifts.
Consultancy and Support Services: Quarterly meetings and assistance with high-priority issues provide additional expertise and perspective.
Results and Impact
Proactive Network Management
The transformation from reactive to proactive management has been the most significant benefit. As Alice explains: "These features filled gaps in our existing software and enabled a shift from reactive problem-solving to proactive network management and issue prediction."
Enhanced Troubleshooting Capabilities
Postmastery's flexible approach to data analysis has revolutionised how the team handles issues:
- Reverse Analysis: "It's a bit more ESP bulk email friendly so I can start with, say, a bounce code that is troubling me and work back to who is having that and is it more than one sender."
- Scope Assessment: The team can quickly determine if issues are client-specific or industry-wide, enabling appropriate response strategies.
- Pattern Recognition: Easy filtering on bounce codes and the ability to start analysis from various data points accelerates problem resolution.
Specific Use Cases and Wins
- Microsoft Standards Compliance: When Microsoft implemented new email standards, the team used Postmastery to filter by specific bounce codes, quickly identifying which clients were affected and prioritising remediation efforts.
- Spamhaus Blocklist Management: The platform enables analysis of widespread Spamhaus listings, helping the team prioritise remediation efforts based on impact and scope.
- Proactive Blocklist Management: Recent success with Invaluement blocklist issues demonstrates the platform's effectiveness in early detection and resolution.
Operational Efficiency
- Consolidated Monitoring: Alice describes Postmastery as "a great tool for email data visualisation at scale," emphasising its ability to handle large amounts of data "quickly, easily, and intuitively."
- Smart Alert Management: The team uses both email and dedicated Slack channels for different priority levels, with high-priority issues like specific blocklists triggering immediate Slack notifications, whilst less urgent updates go to email.
- Streamlined Workflows: Weekly to daily dashboard interactions, depending on requirements, with configured alerts reducing the need for constant manual monitoring.
Implementation Experience
The onboarding process was remarkably smooth. Alice notes: "The main delay was navigating Ometria's internal procurement processes, as Postmastery was the first such tool they introduced."
Current Technology Stack
Ometria's deliverability infrastructure now includes:
- SparkPost: Primary MTA with built-in features
- Inbox Tracker (E Data Source): Placement monitoring
- Postmastery: Deliverability analytics and reputation monitoring
This streamlined stack has eliminated the need for multiple disparate tools while providing comprehensive coverage of all deliverability needs.
Looking Forward
The success with Postmastery has established a foundation for continued growth and improved client service. The team regularly leverages Postmastery's consultancy services for quarterly reviews and high-priority issue resolution, ensuring they stay ahead of industry changes and maintain optimal deliverability performance.
Key Takeaways
For ESPs and High-Volume Senders:
- Unified data visualisation significantly improves operational efficiency
- Proactive alerting prevents small issues from becoming major problems
- Flexible analysis capabilities enable faster root cause identification
- Expert support services provide a valuable external perspective