Deliverability Best Practices

Deliverability refers to the ability to deliver an email to the recipient's inbox, rather than the spam folder or being blocked entirely. It's different from "delivery," which just means the receiving server accepted the message.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Google and Microsoft score your email based on your sender reputation. A poor reputation results in your emails being routed directly to the spam folder.

To maintain a healthy sender reputation and ensure high deliverability, follow these essential practices:

Technical Authentication

• Authenticate Your Domain: This is the most important step. Set up your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. This proves to mail servers that you are who you say you are. You can find these records in Settings > Domains.
• Use a Custom Sending Domain: Never send marketing emails from a free domain like @gmail.com. Always use your own branded domain to build long-term reputation.

List and Content Management

• Use a "Warm-Up" Strategy: If your domain is new, don't send 100,000 emails on day one. Start with a small, engaged segment and gradually increase your volume over several weeks.
• Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly clean your list of inactive subscribers and hard bounces. Sending to unengaged users signals to ISPs that your content may be spam.
• Provide a Clear Unsubscribe Link: Make it easy for users to opt out. Hiding the unsubscribe link leads to users marking your email as spam, which is far more damaging to your reputation.
• Avoid "Spammy" Content: Avoid using all-caps, excessive exclamation points, and misleading subject lines (like "Re:" or "Fwd:"). Keep the text-to-image ratio low (more text than images).