What is ESP Matching?
ESP matching is a process that aligns each lead’s email service provider (ESP) with a corresponding sending mailbox. In simple terms, if a lead’s email comes from Gmail, we try to send emails through a Gmail mailbox. This helps improve email deliverability and keeps our sending practices consistent.
How It Works
Grouping Mailboxes by Provider:
We first organize our available mailboxes by their email provider (e.g., Gmail, Outlook). This way, when a lead’s ESP is known, we can quickly find a mailbox that matches.
Matching the Lead’s ESP:
When a match is possible: If a lead’s email is associated with a known provider (like Gmail), the system looks for a mailbox with the same provider that still has sending capacity.
When there’s no match: If no matching mailbox has available capacity—or if the lead’s ESP isn’t supported—the email is deferred to be scheduled using any mailbox that still has room.
Using Mailbox Capacity:
Every mailbox can send a certain number of emails (its capacity). The system assigns emails until the matching mailbox reaches its limit. If there are more emails than capacity allows, the remaining emails are deferred to be sent using alternative mailboxes that still have capacity.
Example Scenarios
Example 1
Situation:
50 Gmail leads, 50 Outlook leads, and 20 leads with an unknown ESP.
We have 2 Gmail mailboxes and 2 Outlook mailboxes, each able to send 20 emails.
Outcome:
Gmail leads: 40 emails are sent using Gmail mailboxes (2 mailboxes × 20 emails each).
Outlook leads: 40 emails are sent using Outlook mailboxes.
Leftover leads: The remaining emails (including unknown ESP leads) aren’t scheduled because there’s no capacity left.
Example 2
Situation:
50 Gmail leads and 50 Outlook leads.
We have 2 Gmail mailboxes (total capacity of 40) and 3 Outlook mailboxes (total capacity of 60).
Outcome:
Gmail leads: 40 are sent through Gmail mailboxes.
Outlook leads: 50 are sent through Outlook mailboxes.
Extra Gmail leads: The remaining 10 Gmail emails are sent using Outlook mailboxes that have available capacity.
Example 3
Situation:
100 Gmail leads and 20 leads with an unknown ESP.
We have 2 Gmail mailboxes (40 capacity) and 4 Outlook mailboxes (80 capacity).
Outcome:
Gmail leads: 40 are sent via Gmail mailboxes.
Remaining Gmail leads: The remaining 60 Gmail emails are sent using Outlook mailboxes.
Unknown ESP leads: All 20 unknown leads are also sent using Outlook mailboxes.
Summary
Purpose:
ESP matching helps us send emails from a mailbox that aligns with the lead’s email provider, which can improve deliverability.
Process:
We group mailboxes by ESP, then assign emails to matching mailboxes if there is available capacity. If no matching mailbox is available, emails are assigned to any mailbox with leftover capacity.
Result:
This process ensures optimal use of our sending capacity while maintaining consistency in the sender’s ESP whenever possible.