Five Essentials for Reliable Email Delivery in Customer Insights – Journeys

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Five Essentials for Reliable Email Delivery in Customer Insights – Journeys

Overview

If you’re running permission-based marketing at scale, Customer Insights – Journeys (CIJ) gives you the plumbing you need: authenticated sending domains, consent enforcement, throughput management, and deliverability safeguards. To get consistent inbox placement and avoid suspensions, focus on the five foundations below-each grounded in Microsoft documentation.

1) Authenticate your sending domain (SPF + DKIM, align with DMARC)

Set up a custom sending domain in CIJ and publish the DNS records Microsoft provides. This enables SPF (authorises who may send on your domain) and DKIM (cryptographic signing), which mailbox providers rely on to verify your messages. Add a DMARC policy on your domain to tell receivers how to handle mail that fails alignment-and to receive aggregate reports for ongoing tuning.

Outcome: Higher trust, fewer spoofing signals, and a better shot at the inbox.

2) Implement consent correctly (contact-point consent)

CIJ treats consent at the contact-point level (for example, a specific email address). Use the built-in compliance settings and subscription experience to capture and enforce channel-level permissions in real time. If you maintain consent elsewhere, integrate it-don’t duplicate. Your journeys should only target opted-in contact points and must respect opt-out and suppression rules.

Outcome: Lawful, permission-based sending that also improves deliverability.

3) Keep lists healthy (bounce prevention and remediation)

Poor list hygiene is the fastest path to throttling or suspension. Microsoft calls out that an acceptable bounce rate is typically ~2%, with CIJ’s upper threshold at up to 8% before enforcement steps may kick in. Clean hard bounces, remove persistent failures, de-dupe contacts, and avoid recycled or purchased lists. If bounce rates climb, pause and fix root causes before the next send.

Outcome: Protects sender reputation and keeps you below CIJ’s enforcement thresholds.

4) Plan around throughput (it’s not “messages per minute”)

Unlike mailbox products, CIJ governs delivery via throughput tied to your monthly interactions quota, journey design, and sender reputation. Larger sends should be sequenced, batched, or orchestrated through multiple journeys if needed. Keep personalisation logic efficient; heavy branching and complex lookups can slow processing.

Outcome: Predictable delivery windows that align with campaign timelines.

5) Monitor policies & health (and know the suspension rules)

CIJ includes deliverability protections that watch for hard bounces, spam complaints, and other risk signals. If you cross policy limits, Microsoft can review and temporarily suspend sending while you remediate. Build an operational rhythm: check bounce and complaint dashboards after every major send, and adjust targeting and cadence promptly.

Outcome: Early warning and fast remediation before reputational damage accumulates.

Practical checklist

  • Add/verify a custom domain; publish the SPF and DKIM DNS records CIJ provides; configure DMARC on your domain.

  • Use CIJ’s compliance settings; target opt-in contact points only; honour unsubscribe/suppression.

  • Maintain list hygiene: remove hard bounces, stale or role accounts; de-dupe.

  • Right-size journeys and test throughput with small cohorts before scaling.

  • After each send, review bounces/complaints and refine your audience or content.

References (Microsoft)

  • Authenticate your domains — why and how to enable SPF/DKIM for CIJ sending domains. Microsoft Learn

  • Consent management (real-time journeys) — contact-point consent model and compliance settings. Microsoft Learn

  • Fix a high email bounce rate — guidance on acceptable (~2%) vs CIJ’s upper threshold (up to 8%) and remediation steps. Microsoft Learn

  • Throughput guidance — how delivery performance relates to interactions quota, journey design, and reputation. Microsoft Learn

  • Email policies & suspension standards — how Microsoft monitors and enforces deliverability health in CIJ. Microsoft Learn


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