When V12 Group set out to build its Launchpad Marketing Platform, email marketing was a central component of the platform. Launchpad provides a lightweight marketing automation platform for existing customers for highly targeted and personalized campaigns across multiple channels. With more than 8,000 platform users, 85 percent of which are brand-name retailers, reaching out to 110M US households, V12 needed an MTA (Messaging Transfer Agent) that would execute high delivery rates, offer more control, and easily enable the latest authentication protocols.

The Challenge

Before PowerMTA™ was installed into their technology stack, the V12 Group had tried outsourcing their email marketing to various email service bureaus (ESBs) but turnaround times, lack of client-level customization, poor delivery rates, and slow delivery speeds shifted the company’s focus to a reliable internal solution. Before they built Launchpad on the PowerMTA™ platform, V12 Group had used an out of the box email marketing platform. They had worked with the vendor to add some customization, but it still fell short of their needs and they had to fall back on their ESB to handle volume during peak seasons.

The Solution

“When we decided to build our Launchpad marketing technology, the email aspect of the platform was our priority. We researched various commercial and open-source MTAs on the market and selected PowerMTA™ for its lightweight code, ease of integration, flexible configuration, IP-based sending control and VirtualMTA technology” said V12 Group’s CIO Ray Estevez.

V12 Group was able to granularly configure, integrate, and fine-tune PMTA for use within the Launchpad platform using PowerMTA™‘s flexible APIs. Granular application of delivery policies and delivery rates through PowerMTA™ allow Launchpad to achieve an inbox placement rate of 90 percent. VirtualMTA gives Launchpad’s PowerMTA™ server the capacity to segment delivery into multiple mail streams with unique IP addresses and different delivery policies for each IP, or VirtualMTA, for additional control.

PowerMTAv4.5 includes an IP rate limiting feature which allows V12 Group to control the number of delivery attempts within a specified time frame for each VirtualMTA, which further contributes delivery success on the Launchpad platform. With functionalities like Multiple DKIM Signing Support, PowerMTA™ supports Launchpad’s successful delivery to other popular email providers, including Gmail, by routing mail to the inbox. V12 Group’s architects and engineers continue to use the delivery metrics tools, including web-based status monitoring and real-time data access, to optimize Launchpad’s delivery controls.

“Once we are hooked in, the automated delivery controls allow us to easily customize settings to meet rigorous sending volumes,” said Estevez. “We can focus on innovation across the platform with the knowledge that our customers get responsive email delivery as part of their digital marketing plans.” Estevez added that this helps them maximize ROI for their customers.