Issue	Fix It
Spam Complaints	Send to opt-ins, use clear subject lines, avoid spammy content.
Low Open Rates	Personalize, use engaging subject lines, send valuable content.
High Bounce Rate	Clean email list, use double opt-in, verify addresses.
Poor Sender Reputation	Monitor reputation, warm up your sending volume.
Emails in Spam	Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication.
Too Many Emails	Maintain a steady, consistent sending schedule.
Bad Email Lists	Never buy lists, grow organically, verify contacts.
No Engagement	Encourage replies, segment list, personalize emails.

What Email Deliverability Actually Means

• Email deliverability: It’s all about ensuring your emails land in your recipient’s inbox—not the spam folder. Many people confuse this with email delivery, which simply means the email was accepted by the receiving server. But just because an email is delivered doesn’t mean it reaches the inbox.

If you notice low open rates, high bounce rates, or an increase in spam complaints, you likely have a deliverability issue. And when emails consistently fail to reach inboxes, it damages your sender reputation, making it even harder to get future emails through.

Why Your Emails Aren’t Getting Delivered

If your emails aren’t reaching inboxes, there are a few common reasons behind it. Understanding these issues is the first step to fixing them.

• Spam Complaints Are Too High: When recipients mark your emails as spam, email providers take notice. If too many people do this, inbox providers will start flagging all your emails as spam—even for people who want to receive them.

This usually happens when you send emails to people who didn’t sign up, use misleading subject lines, or make your emails look like spam. If your messages are too promotional or have too many links, they might get flagged.

• Your Sender Reputation is Hurting You: Imagine your sender reputation as the credit score of your email marketing. Email services rate your domain and IP address on things like how often emails bounce back, spam complaints, and how people interact with your emails. If your score drops too low, email providers might block your messages or shuffle them into spam.

A poor sender reputation usually comes from sending emails to inactive addresses, sending too many emails at once, or getting a lot of spam complaints. If you’re not monitoring your reputation, you might not even realize it’s causing problems.

• People Aren’t Engaging With Your Emails: Engagement matters. If people don’t open, click, or interact with your emails, inbox providers take it as a sign that your emails aren’t valuable. Over time, this can lead to your emails being deprioritized or marked as spam.

Low engagement often happens when your emails aren’t personalized, don’t provide useful content, or are sent to inactive subscribers. If you’re sending generic messages, people might ignore them—or worse, mark them as spam.

• Your email list might have some dead weight: Keeping invalid, old, or bought email addresses can really mess things up. Sending messages to these bad addresses increases your bounce rate, which can harm your reputation as a sender.

A lot of businesses make the mistake of buying email lists, thinking it’ll help them reach more people. But in reality, purchased lists are full of inactive or fake addresses, and sending to them almost guarantees poor deliverability.

• Your Authentication Settings Are Off: Email authentication helps prove that your emails are legitimate. Without it, inbox providers might think your emails are spam or phishing attempts.

There are three key authentication protocols you need to set up:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Helps verify that your email is coming from an approved server.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Adds a digital signature to your emails, proving they haven’t been tampered with.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): Guides inbox providers on what to do with emails that don’t pass authentication tests.

If your authentication settings aren’t properly configured, even legitimate emails might get flagged as spam.

How to Fix Poor Email Deliverability

Now that we know what’s causing the issue, let’s go over how to fix it and ensure your emails get delivered.

• Tidy Up Your Email List: It’s crucial to keep your email list updated to enhance deliverability. Get rid of inactive users, bad addresses, and folks who haven’t interacted with your emails for a while. Instead of buying email lists, focus on growing your list organically. Use double opt-in so that only people who truly want to receive your emails get added. This reduces spam complaints and increases engagement.
• Send Emails That People Actually Want to Open: Content is king—even in email marketing. If you’re sending generic, salesy emails, people won’t open them. And if they don’t open them, email providers will assume your messages aren’t valuable. Make your emails engaging by personalizing them, writing compelling subject lines, and including content that actually helps your audience. Keep a good balance between images and text, and avoid spammy words like “free,” “win,” or “urgent.”
• Set Up Proper Email Authentication: To keep your emails out of the spam folder, set up your authentication properly. Make sure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are configured so inbox providers know your emails are legit. This helps reduce the risk of them being flagged as spam.
• Monitor Your Sender Reputation: Your sender reputation determines whether your emails make it to the inbox or get blocked. Use tools like MXToolBox or Google Postmaster Tools to check your domain and IP reputation. If you’re on a blacklist, you’ll need to take action to get removed. Avoid sudden spikes in email volume, as that can look suspicious. Instead, maintain a steady sending pattern and gradually scale up if needed.
• Encourage Engagement: The more people interact with your emails, the better your deliverability will be. Encourage engagement by using strong call-to-actions, asking for replies, and segmenting your list so you’re sending the right content to the right people. Also, remind subscribers to add your email to their contacts or whitelist your domain. This signals to inbox providers that your emails are wanted.
• Keep an Eye on Your Metrics: Tracking your email performance can help you catch deliverability issues early. Pay attention to:
  • Bounce Rate: If it’s too high, clean your email list.
  • Open Rate: If it’s low, improve your subject lines and timing.
  • Click-Through Rate: If it’s low, tweak your email content and call-to-action.
  • Spam Complaint Rate: If it’s increasing, make it easier for people to unsubscribe instead of marking emails as spam.

Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, SendGrid, or Postmark provide these insights, so use them to adjust your strategy.

Conclusion

Fixing poor email deliverability isn’t complicated—it just takes the right approach. Keep your email list clean, send valuable content, set up authentication, and maintain a solid sender reputation. Small tweaks can make a big difference in getting your emails into inboxes instead of spam folders. Stay consistent, monitor your performance, and watch your engagement improve!

Key Takeaway: Email deliverability isn’t just about sending emails—it’s about making sure they land in the inbox and get read. Poor deliverability can hurt your business, but by cleaning up your email list, optimizing your content, setting up authentication, and monitoring your sender reputation, you can dramatically improve inbox placement. The more valuable and relevant your emails are, the better your engagement and success rates will be.

FAQs

How do I know if my emails are going to spam?

You can use spam testing tools like Mail-Tester, GlockApps, or SpamAssassin to see if your emails are getting flagged and identify potential issues.

Does sending too many emails affect deliverability?

Yes, sending too many emails in a short time can trigger spam filters. Keep a consistent schedule and avoid sudden spikes in volume.

What’s a good bounce rate for email marketing?

A bounce rate below 2% is considered healthy. If it’s higher, you may need to clean your email list and verify addresses.

Will switching to a new email provider help with deliverability?

It can help, but it’s not a guaranteed fix. If you have poor sending habits, the same issues will follow you regardless of the provider.

Why are my emails not showing up in Gmail’s primary inbox?

Gmail uses advanced filtering, so if your emails land in the Promotions or Spam tab, it might be due to poor engagement, lack of authentication, or too many promotional elements.