Bots

Bots are automated checking systems that are employed in email filters at the server level. They check for viruses and other nasties, and offer varying levels of protection for the end user. Some school mail servers use bots but they are not unique to the education sector - bots are used in servers in every sector around the world.

How Bots Work

Bots automatically open (sometimes multiple times) an email and/or click one, some, or all of the links, to check for viruses. Once the check is complete and the email is deemed safe, the bot passes the email through to the recipient's inbox.

Why Bots Are Troublesome For Email Marketers

Bots can be troublesome for tracking results because the automated open/clicks that they register clock up tracking reports and skew the results. Most emailing platforms cannot determine the difference between a bot open/click and a human open/click. However, Sprint Education has designed and employed an algorithm that locates the majority of bots within your campaigns and removes the corresponding opens/clicks to give a more realistic review of performance. We've done this through in-depth research and analysis, enabling us to recognise common engagement traits of bots.

Removing Bots From Campaign Tracking Reports

We do our very best to remove as many bots as possible from your campaigns' tracking reports and engaged recipients lists. Our algorithm locates the majority of them, but it is impossible to guarantee that they are all removed from every campaign.