Even at present, Email marketing is one of the best tools for interacting with a customer, building a relationship with customers, and selling them. But then again, the best plans in the entire universe may not work for emails that do not land in the inbox. Today one of the biggest problems for marketers is that their emails are frequently doomed due to spam filters — true ones buried deep inside the junk folder — without even the knowledge of the sender, of course.
In this post, we break down why email deliverability is so often a problem, what causes emails to land in spam, and what you can do to stay ahead of the filters.
1. What Is Email Deliverability and Why Does It Matter?
Email deliverability is a measure of how capable an email is of getting to the intended recipient’s inbox. It is not to be confused with delivery rate-the delivery rate records merely whether or not the email was accepted by the server. Deliverability is about so much more. It considers whether your message reached the inbox, was filtered into spam, or was completely blocked.
Poor deliverability results in lower open and click rates. This means at the same time less conversion, lost prospects, and wasted effort, even if you are emailing a clean and verified list.
2. Spam Filters: What Are They Really Looking For?
Spam filters use a wide range of criteria to judge whether an email is spam or not. These include:
- Sender reputation: If the reputation of your IP address/domain has ever been questioned by spam complaints, then the likelihood of your emails getting flagged is fairly high.
- Content red flags: Phrases that are flagged usually trip the spam filters, whether due to punctuation that is too repetitive, use of all caps, or an obviously seeming misleading subject line.
- Engagement rates: Low open or click-through rates are intimated by email service providers that the messages being sent may not be valuable.
- Authentication: Emails failing the authentication checks (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are often rejected or filtered out.
- Email list quality: Sending through inactive lists or purchased lists can harm your sender score or even get you blacklisted directly.
Even a perfectly legitimate email marketing campaign can be penalized if it triggers enough of these red flags.
3. Your Sending Reputation Is More Important Than You Think
Think of your sender reputation like a credit score, only this one is for email. It is calculated according to:
- The number of hard bounces on emails,
- Spam complaints,
- User engagement,
- Junk mail markings made by recipients,
- Frequency and volume of your sending.
When your sender reputation drops too low, inbox providers such as Gmail or Outlook may throttle or even block your emails. Therefore, sender reputation should be looked into and catered to on a regular basis.
4. The Danger of Cold and Bought Email Lists
Sending emails to anyone not requesting them is one of the quickest kill shots to your deliverability. Purchased lists are usually rife with outdated or fake addresses, phishing traps, and apathetic recipients.
- What these may create are:
- High bounce rates
- Spam complaints
- IP blacklisting
Instead, build a strong permission-based email list. Pay attention to subscribers that opted in and want to hear from you. It takes time, but it will guard your reputation and yield higher engagement rates.
5. Content Quality and Structure Matter
Spam filters observe human judgment, meaning that if a human looks at the content and thinks of it as spam, the machine will most likely do the same.
You must avoid:
- Buzzwords like “Free,” “Buy Now,” “Risk-Free” that could be abused
- Subject lines written ALL IN CAPS
- Excessive use of exclamation marks!!!
- Poor spelling or grammar!
- Lots of images with little or no text.
An email that is clean, properly formatted, and speaks directly to its audience is likely to earn trust from both filters and readers.
6. Keep Your List Clean and Active
Bloat an already inflated list with unengaged or inactive users, and you will bring your metrics down and end up with very low deliverability. Do the following:
- Make sure to remove hard bounces immediately.
- Regularly clean inactive users up.
- Run re-engagement campaigns.
- Use double opt-ins to confirm interest.
Keeping your list healthy means having more engagement-and therefore better inbox placement.
7. Authentication Protocols: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
Email authentication helps prove that your messages really come from you. Without it, inbox providers are more likely to mark your messages as suspicious.
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Authenticate the sender’s address IP.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Include a digital signature on your mail.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting & Conformance): Tell email providers how to treat messages failing SPF or DKIM requirements.
Setting these up correctly is essential for any serious email marketing effort.
8. Monitor and Test Before You Hit Send
Some tools enable one to examine how emails will perform even before they are launched. Such tools can do one or more of the following:
- Preview the mails as they will be seen in different inboxes
- Check spam scores
- Identify all the broken links or missing elements
Running test emails and reviewing results can help catch those issues that might come in the way of deliverability but remain hidden before showing their ugly heads.
9. Engagement Signals Are the New Gold Standard
Gmail and Yahoo, like other inbox providers, now consider user behavior in determining whether to place emails in inboxes or not. These behaviors include the following:
- Opens and clicks
- Replies and forwards
- Moving an email from spam to inbox (a positive action)
- Deleting without opening (a negative action)
- Marking an email as spam (very negative action)
To enhance engagement with emails :
- Send relevant content
- Segment the audience
- Personalize your messages
- Schedule consistent sending times
10. Consistent, Responsible Sending Wins the Long Game
Bombarding inboxes with thousands of emails at sporadic intervals indicates to the inbox providers that you are an unreliable sender. Instead, create a sending schedule that respects your audience’s expectations.
Start with:
- Regular campaigns on a predictable schedule
- Volume scaling as your list grows
- Avoiding sudden spikes in activity
Consistency builds trust—and trust gets you to the inbox.
Final Thoughts
It has an awesome power, the email marketing, potent only if messages are with the people you want to link with. This fight is always on; your awareness of things affecting your deliverability will make a world of difference.
At The Connect More, we believe in focusing on trust, relevance, and permission-based sending. Clean up your practices, monitor your performance, and keep your audience at the heart of every campaign. Inbox placement isn’t guaranteed—but with the right approach, it becomes a lot more likely.
