The CSA is committed to spreading valuable knowledge about current email topics and maintains close contact with internationally relevant players in the email ecosystem. In 2023, five pertinent topics were discussed and analysed. Around 500 international participants attended webinars on the following topics:

Facts & figures: Black Friday 2022

Black Friday and the Christmas period are usually a busy time for e-commerce companies, resulting in a significant increase in email volume. In addition, the numbers for Spam Trap Hits, Spam Complaints etc. rise.

Speakers:

• Arne Allisat – Head of Product Management Platform Services, 1&1 Mail & Media GmbH
• Magnus Eén – Deliverability Manager, Westwing Home & Living GmbH
• Florian Vierke – Senior Manager Deliverability Services, Mapp Digital
• Sebastian Kluth – Technical Lead, Certified Senders Alliance

These speakers discussed how senders could effectively prepare for the 2023 season and what role email authentication methods play in this.

Behind the scenes: A closer look at email headers for better deliverability

Reading and understanding email headers is essential when investigating deliverability issues. This allows authentication problems to be detected and the sending system and parties involved to be identified. In most cases, this task is delegated to the sending email service provider (ESP) who manages deliverability. Marketers should still be able to understand the context and have a rough overview of this topic. Even if the ESP manages deliverability, the sending brand should know key elements of the header. This webinar covered how to read headers correctly and what sending brands should pay attention to.

Speakers:

• Jennifer Nespola Lantz – VP of Industry Relations and Deliverability, Kickbox
• Sebastian Kluth – Technical Lead, Certified Senders Alliance

Build trust from the start: Email marketing onboarding best practices

New customers are often an unknown quantity for ESPs in terms of their previous sending behaviour, their current email marketing strategy and the quality of their data. ESPs should always screen new customers, but what metrics and factors need to be considered, and what pre-send screening approaches should they use? Serious issues can also arise during the onboarding process: What are the pitfalls versus best practices? And what about post-send verification methods to protect the ESP platform? This webinar comprehensively discussed these topics and provided actionable tips for brands and ESPs to avoid pitfalls and set themselves up for successful email marketing.

Speakers:

• Raymond Dijkxhoorn – Co-founder, SURBL,
• Julia Janssen-Holldiek – Director, Certified Senders Alliance
• Lauren Meyer – Chief Marketing Officer, SocketLabs
• Jakub Olexa – Founder & CEO, Mailkit, Founder & CEO

DMARC, BIMI, and beyond: Best Practices for email authentication and visual branding

In this webinar, we delved into the world of email authentication and explored two important protocols: DMARC and BIMI. In today’s digital landscape, email continues to be an important communication channel for organisations of all sizes. However, it is also an attractive target for phishing and spoofing attacks, which can lead to reputational damage and security breaches.

Speakers:

• Al Iverson, Director of Deliverability Products – Kickbox
• Sebastian Kluth, Technical Lead – Certified Senders Alliance
• Karsten Vendler, IT Engineer – the LEGO Group

These speakers covered the following key topics: What is the current status of DMARC and BIMI? Have there been any changes to DMARC and BIMI, and who are the current participants? Where can I find help and guidance on DMARC and BIMI compliance? Why do senders need to implement DMARC and BIMI?

Philosophy, principles, requirements and myths – Certification real talk

Certification is an important tool for email senders to improve and constantly monitor their deliverability. Only a handful of vendors offer certifications for email service providers or senders, and while the details of their services may differ, they share similar principles and philosophies. In this webinar, Guy Hanson from Validity and Sebastian Kluth from the Certified Senders Alliance dispelled some of the myths surrounding this topic and talked about the cornerstones of certification, the benefits, the pitfalls and the requirements.

Understanding DKIM replay attacks – A must for email senders

Email communication is a central part of our daily lives and DKIM replay attacks pose a real threat to our online security. During the webinar, DKIM replay attacks were explained, and their impacts were explored through practical examples.

Speakers:

• Al Iverson, Deliverability Expert and Publisher – Spam Resource
• Fredrik Poller, Product Manager – Halon
• Sebastian Kluth, Technical Lead – Certified Senders Alliance

The speakers guided attendees through actionable strategies to reduce risk. The latest best practices and straightforward solutions were presented.

The recordings of all webinars can be found here.