How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?

[ustk]

@d-healey said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

Install FluentCRM and FluentSMTP and combine it with Amazon SES.

Alright so I tried to configure this.
But I realised that for both getting out of the SES sandbox to get a production/live behaviour, and for leveraging the 200 email/day limit, I had to apply. I received a response today, both are denied...

Below is the application message I sent as requested.
Any idea what could have gone wrong?
What you guys did you do to get accepted?

Hello,

Please find below the required information regarding our email sending practices to assist in evaluating our sending limit request.

xxx is a brand focused on developing audio plugins for musicians. The emails sent include order confirmations, newsletters, and updates on existing or newly released products. These communications may contain general information as well as promotional content, such as discount coupons or sales announcements.

Email campaigns are managed through FluentCRM. Subscriber lists are maintained via both manual and dynamic segmentation. New subscribers opt in to receive newsletters and transactional emails either during the checkout process or via a "stay tuned" popup on our website.

Newsletters are sent approximately once per month. Promotional emails related to sales or coupons are sent during major holiday periods (e.g. Black Friday) or when a new product is released.

Bounce handling is managed through FluentCRM, which automatically segments and removes invalid addresses. Complaints are treated with high priority, and any customer requesting removal is manually unsubscribed. Additionally, all recipients have access to unsubscribe and preference management links in the footer of each email as well as in the customer account page.

An example email is attached for your reference.

Best regards,
Greg xxx
Owner, xxx

[d.healey]

@ustk That looks perfectly reasonable to me. It was several years ago that I did mine and I can't remember what I put, but it almost certainly wasn't as well worded as yours. Are you able to request another review?

[ustk]

@d-healey Yes I can still apply again. I have seen online other people having the same issue. And advices was given (not from amazon) regarding being way more technical, like even talking about DKIM, DMARC, SPF...
It appears talking about the bounce handling might be their major concern, but I don't know what I could say that is more specific about this.
I don't know where to start to be sure to hit the bull the second time, as I am afraid there might be no third attempt allowed... I'm trying to get real examples that worked

[ustk]

Also, do you advise for double opt-in email when someone subscribes? That would surely help email bounce, but it might prevent people from actually subscribing by adding extra steps...

[DanH]

@ustk I definitely didn't write something as good as yours! Maybe just leave it as one newsletter a month? I definitely didn't put anything technical!

I don't do double opt in.

Ah I found my email:

I run a successful software company at dhplugins.com. I have to update my existing users with software updates. This is an infrequent process but essential. I also run special promotions and sales several times a year. I plan to use Amazon SES to reach these users via email as this is the most efficient way of updating and sending promotions.

Currently I send emails to users in specific lists depending on which software they own, and offer all the usual options of opting out / unsubscribing etc. I use Newsletter, WordPress and WooCommerce. I really have no intention of spamming my customers - they are of immense value to me and my reputation.

All users in my database are either customers who have purchased products or users who have voluntarily submitted their email information (subscribed).

I normally send one email per month. In holiday and sales times this can increase to 3/4 depending on which list a subscriber is on and what promotions are or are not relevant to them.

All emails contain the company logo as well as high quality (i.e well designed but low file size) images of our software and products. They will normally contain links to promotional products or updates.

I often use unique coupons and prefer this method to general coupons. I occasionally give a way free software and use email to publicise these events.

I have no intention of selling on my existing database for profit or otherwise.

Many thanks,

[d.healey]

@ustk said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

do you advise for double opt-in email when someone subscribes

I do this if I have a sign-up form, but most of my subscribers come through product purchases so I don't for those.

You might ask ChatGPT for help with this.

[d.healey]

@DanH said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

Ah I found my email:

Where did you find it? Maybe i can find mine too.

[ustk]

@DanH Thanks! Very interesting indeed! Not technical, but at the same time very oriented toward respect of your customers and SES as well.

I think I will make a mix of yours and what claude AI suggested, adding the double opt-in.

@d-healey said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

most of my subscribers come through product purchases so I don't for those

I see I can set this in FluentCRM, I need to check how to to this for the popup, might be directly in the FleuntForms form...

You might ask ChatGPT for help with this.

I did, and claude AI. quite helpful, especially claude which gave me a good insight a minute ago

Where did you find it? Maybe i can find mine too.

I think about here: AWS Support > Your support cases

[Matt_SF]

@ustk my email to apply to amazon ses was also not as well written as yours... I hope you'll manage to apply.

IMO double optin is better because, while you may see less subscriptions than if you were using single optin, it would increase the chances that the lead you're converting will be more interested in what you have to offer later on.

In theory (depending on how you'll communicate with your subscribers) , this will lead to a better engagement of your community, better open rates, and a better sales-per-subscriber ratio - if I can say it that way.

My - virtual - door is always open if you want to dive into the depth of email marketing

[ustk]

@Matt_SF Thanks Matt! I can see your point with the double opt-in, and I just enabled it for the subscribe popup

I might indeed ask for marketing help sooner or later

I can bet that SES made it more difficult recently for companies to apply. I just asked DeepSeek, and that chatty boy is way more technical, talking about SPF, DKIM, and DMARC and compliance with CAN-SPAM/GDPR, opt-in/opt-out mechanisms...

Now and with Dan's example I can surely write-up a message compiling everything (explanations & technical bits) that can work... Or will it?

[d.healey]

@ustk said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

I think about here: AWS Support > Your support cases

Mine's empty, maybe it was too long ago

[DanH]

@d-healey i searched my emails for ses amazon and scanned through the year I thought I signed up. got lucky...

[ustk]

Oh and also it is not advised to talk about marketing anymore, despite of course it represent the vast majority of any company's emails... The focus should be on transactional emails... Being hypocrite seems appropriate sometimes

[ustk]

WTF???

Second attempt to get out of the Sandbox mode in SES has been rejected and they don't give any reasons. Everything has been configured and all tests are working. 3 full days I'm on it to make everything compliant and here's the response, which is now definitive...

Hello,

This case was escalated for a secondary review. We appreciate your patience while we have reviewed your case.

I have thoroughly reviewed your account and the information you have provided so far. Although we appreciate your efforts to use Amazon SES, I am afraid we have come to the final conclusion that we are still unable to grant your request. We made this decision because we believe that your use case would impact the deliverability of our service. Unfortunately, for security purposes we cannot provide specific details that led to this decision.
We understand that you may not agree with the outcome, but we will not be able to assist you and there will be no further response to additional messages on this subject.

We appreciate your understanding in this matter.

We value your feedback. Please share your experience by rating this and other correspondences in the AWS Support Center. You can rate a correspondence by selecting the stars in the top right corner of the correspondence.

And here's my second attempt (plus screenshots of my system)

Dear AWS Support Team,

Thank you for your message regarding my previous application. I sincerely apologize for any shortcomings and appreciate the opportunity to clarify our use case further.

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to kindly request production access for Amazon SES to support our platform’s transactional email needs.

Use Case & Justification

We operate XXXX, an e-commerce platform that relies on Amazon SES for time-sensitive, user-triggered communications, including:

• Account verification emails (double opt-in)
• Password reset links
• Order/payment confirmations
• Critical system notifications (e.g., security alerts)

Our emails are transactional and we strictly adhere to AWS’s best practices and anti-spam regulations (CAN-SPAM/GDPR).
We deeply respect our customers’ trust and never spam. Our reputation is our most valuable asset.

Technical Preparedness

To ensure deliverability and compliance, we’ve implemented:

• Full email authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configured and verified for our domain (xxxxxx.com).
• Unsubscribe mechanisms: Included in all applicable emails (where required by law).
• Double opt-in: For user registrations to prevent unsolicited emails.

Volume & Scaling

• Current estimated volume: ~1,500 emails/day (will scale with user growth).
• Sending reputation: We monitor bounce/complaint rates via Amazon SNS and keep them below 2% and 0.1% respectively.

Sample Email for Reference (screenshot attached)

---

Subject:
XXXXXX : Please Confirm Subscription

Body:
Click the button below to confirm subscription:

[Yes, subscribe me to the mailing list]#activate_link#

If you received this email by mistake, simply delete it. You won't be subscribed if you don't click the confirmation link above.

For questions about this list, please contact:
newsletter@xxxxxx.com

---

We deeply respect AWS’s policies and the trust placed in SES users. If further details or adjustments are needed, we’re happy to provide them. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Warm regards,

Now I feel just stuck and desperate and will just rant on whoever mf* decided this...

[d.healey]

@ustk ah that's bad, I hate these faceless companies. Maybe there's an alternative to ses.

[Lindon]

@ustk said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

Volume & Scaling
Current estimated volume: ~1,500 emails/day (will scale with user growth).

Here might be your problem:

Volume & Scaling
Current estimated volume: ~1,500 emails/day (will scale with user growth).

What transaction web site doing these:

Account verification emails (double opt-in)
Password reset links
Order/payment confirmations
Critical system notifications (e.g., security alerts)

needs this many per day straight out of the gate? You have clearly found some magic formula for subscription and sales...

[Orvillain]

Marketing and selling plugins is one of the big challenges today; much more so than 18 years ago when I first got into the industry. I remember the early days of fxpansion, where we'd have 1000's of boxes in the office of BFD2 and various boxed expansion packs. I was the fresh faced 22 year old posting out boxed copies of "B.O.M.B" using Royal Mail - probably should've re-thought that product title!!!

These days, the various digital platforms that all eat massively into your revenue. I don't really know how anyone new is really making a success of selling plugins right now. Innovation is not really being rewarded because of this reseller system - imo.

[ustk]

@Lindon said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

@ustk said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

Volume & Scaling
Current estimated volume: ~1,500 emails/day (will scale with user growth).

Here might be your problem:

Volume & Scaling
Current estimated volume: ~1,500 emails/day (will scale with user growth).

What transaction web site doing these:

Account verification emails (double opt-in)
Password reset links
Order/payment confirmations
Critical system notifications (e.g., security alerts)

needs this many per day straight out of the gate? You have clearly found some magic formula for subscription and sales...

I'm not selling for a long time, but the website and some communications are running for several years. So over the time I gathered 1500+ subscribers even if the real sell is just starting. So 1500/day is what I need, even if only once per month.

Of course, I don't need SES for the transactional emails, but since it has been advised online (by professionals) not to talk about marketing, transactional emails are the only thing I can speak about technically. And they are affirmative, they want technical explanation and I gave them everything I have, with several screenshots of the configurations.

I have pushed to a support yesterday, and the guy seemed to understand the situation and pushed it further for a new assessment. In the waiting I provided even more stuff, screen copy of the CRM, DNS config, hook links, verified badges, and also tested their bounce and complaint simulator so they see it works...

I am ready to receive any advice but they are staying silent, their "security politics" is to not give any clue on what you are doing bad... no assistance...

At this point I am not confident it'll change anything. So I'll probably hire someone on Fiverr specialised with SES and moving out of sandbox + email limit.

I haven't yet found another cheap system that is not relying on SES, except maybe SendGrid at 20$/m

[d.healey]

@ustk said in How/Where do you actually market/sell your plugins?:

So 1500/day

You need 1500/30 if it's just one day per month, no?

[ustk]

@d-healey Hmmm… good point…

But since the original limit they give is 200/day, I’m pretty sure it’s not a monthly average and you trigger the security with the first newsletter