To improve the delivery rates of emails you send out using SurveyMethods and to minimize the chances of them being marked as spam, we automatically substitute the domain name in the “From” email address you enter unless you are using Custom SMTP or enter an email with surveymethods.com as the domain.
If you do not have Custom SMTP set up and the domain in the “From” email is not “@surveymethods.com,” we will substite the domain name in the “From” email address with “surveymethods.com”.
The domain name is the part of an email address after the “@” sign:
When the substitution happens, the original “From” email address is moved to the left of the “@” sign, and the domain is replaced with “surveymethods.com”. For example, user@gmail.com will change to user.gmail.com@surveymethods.com.
Why is it being done?
In short – to improve the email delivery rates by ensuring that the emails adhere to industry standard spam prevention practices.
Before a recipient receives an email, the receiving side performs a check to determine whether the domain in the email matches the domain that sent the email. Any email that fails this check may be marked as spam or rejected. This is done to prevent unauthorized use of a domain, and is technically known as Sender Policy Framework.
Will I Be Warned that the Substitution is Occurring?
Yes, when using the web application to send your launch or reminder emails, you will be informed of the substitution on-screen. The substitution itself happens behind the scenes, and the receiver of the email will see the substituted email in the “From” field.
What happens to replies?
If the recipient replies to your email, the reply will be sent to the original email address that you entered. Here’s an example:
| “From Email” | Substituted “From” Email | Replies Will be Sent To |
|---|---|---|
| user@gmail.com | user.gmail.com@surveymethods.com | user@gmail.com |
I prefer not to have the “From” email substituted in my emails. What should I do?
You’ll need to use Custom SMTP. Once this is set up and active, all your emails will be sent using the mail server you have specified. Using your own SMTP server is a practice we strongly recommend, because it not only improves email delivery rates but also gives you complete control over the routing of emails as well as in-depth information on non-delivery and bounces.