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Apr 16, 2025
Think back to the last email you sent. You probably spent hours crafting the perfect subject line, fine-tuning your copy, and choosing great graphics. But did you pause to consider where your email might end up? Unfortunately, sometimes email deliverability is treated like a technical concern that we’ll deal with later.
Getting your emails into recipient inboxes isn’t a luxury, though. Nor should it come as an afterthought. Even the most amazing campaign won’t make a difference if it ends up in spam—or buried in a cluttered inbox. That’s when carefully crafted emails turn into lost engagement opportunities.
The good news? Once you make email deliverability an integral part of campaign management, you increase visibility for your emails. And you protect your sender reputation and improve key email marketing metrics.
But it doesn’t have to be a time-consuming or intimidating process.
By following the email deliverability best practices I’ll share below, you ensure your emails don’t get lost in the digital noise. Instead, they’ll always reach their target: getting your messages into recipients’ inboxes and, hopefully, their minds and hearts.
Email authentication isn’t just a box in a technical checklist; it’s the number one rule for better deliverability. Without it, your email campaigns risk being flagged as suspicious and not getting approved by major email clients. Whereas when you have protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC in place, you’re telling email providers “My emails are legitimate and trustworthy.”
Therefore, your emails are more likely to land where they belong—your recipients’ inboxes. On the subscribers’ end, it makes them feel confident each time they interact with your email campaigns. That’s because they know you’ve done everything required to protect them from scammers and spoofers.
But what does it mean to authenticate your domain? Using main authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC sends a signal to internet service providers that your domain is linked to a real and trusted company. Here’s how they help you achieve this result:
How will you know you did everything right? Just make sure to check with your email service provider for guidance on how to set these authentication protocols properly. You should regularly review your domain settings to ensure your records are correct. And ensure that any changes to your email sending process are reflected in these records. That way, you’ll have everything in place before hitting “send.”
To improve email deliverability, you need to prioritize quality over quantity. Which means you need engaged contacts, not just more contacts. And you’ll achieve that with a double opt-in registration process.
Recipients tend to be more engaged when they’ve taken that extra step to join your list. And you’re more confident that they’re genuinely interested in your business news. Win-win.
With double opt-in, users give explicit consent they want to be on your list by confirming their address. This process not only ensures GDPR compliance but also prevents bad or misspelled addresses from finding their way onto your list. On top of that, it helps you lower unsubscribes and spam complaints. Long story short, you get a healthier database and save time that you’d otherwise spend contacting unqualified readers.
Let’s see how you can apply double opt-in with a hotel email marketing example. Soho House sends users the following confirmation email once they register:
This is how Soho House ensures that only real and engaged contacts make it onto the private members’ club list. Their confirmation email is simple and short, with the email copy and the prominent CTA focused on the desired action—which is to activate the account. They also made sure to highlight that the link expires soon, prompting users to use it immediately. But even if they miss the deadline, they can resend the link through their account page.
After the user joins the list, see how they don’t forget to mention that their customers are members rather than guests? Add to that a spot-on CTA, inviting readers to “Stay with us,” and what you have is a community-driven brand image at its best. And it all started from the initial touch point—the subscription.
Trust takes time. When we establish connections, we spend time getting familiar with each other. The same goes for Gmail, Yahoo, and other popular email clients. Once you start sending emails from an IP address, mailbox providers need proof that your emails are legitimate and wanted. Before they can link your domain to a positive sender reputation, they’ll view your email as suspicious. Warming up your IP address is how you’ll build trust with ISPs gradually.
First, you’ll dispatch small email volumes to your most engaged subscribers. These are the people most likely to open, click, and interact with your emails. Email clients rely on such actions to determine whether recipients want to receive your messages. Once your IP address is all warmed up, you can gradually start sending emails to the rest of your list.
However, don’t neglect to keep an eye on metrics like bounce rates and spam complaints so you can identify issues that may damage your reputation. There are dedicated tools like WarmUp Inbox and Mailwarm that help you ensure you’re scaling properly. By investing in an IP warmup, you build trust with ISPs, reduce bounces, and set the foundation for long-term email success.
Imagine you’re delivering a speech to a conference room half-full of people who aren’t interested, while the other half are empty chairs. Would it make sense to share your expertise with this audience? Likewise, there’s no point in spending time and effort reaching out to disengaged or outdated subscribers.
Your contact list is a treasure trove of potential customers. As such, it’s essential to keep it clean and updated, so every seat is occupied by someone who wants to hear from you. Sending emails to invalid or inactive addresses also sends the wrong message to ISPs—that’s that your emails aren’t relevant to your readers, which will inevitably drag down your sender reputation.
But a sanitized and qualified email list translates into better engagement, fewer bounces, and strong deliverability. Here are some key steps to take to keep your list in shape:
With the help of email validation tools, identify and remove any fake, inactive, or incorrect email addresses. This leads to fewer bounce rates. You could invest in such a tool during lead generation, so no invalid or false addresses get added to your list.
Send segmented campaigns by creating groups based on engagement. For instance, create segments of most engaged and at-risk of churning subscribers. The first group may perform actions like clicking on a link in your email or forwarding it. Whereas you’ll need to send a win-back email to the second group with an incentive like a discount to reengage them.
List hygiene shouldn’t differ much from a health check-up. Decide on the list-cleaning frequency and remove addresses connected to hard bounces or dormant recipients. Once or twice a year works fine for most businesses.
Not every inactive contact is a lost cause. Some subscribers just go quiet and may need a gentle nudge to reengage with your brand. After six months of inactivity, consider automating a campaign asking them if they still want to receive your news.
A healthy email list means you won’t keep everyone. So, give the people who want out an easy, quick and straightforward way to do so. This translates into fewer spam complaints and more engaged contacts.
You should respect every unsubscribe request and handle it immediately. But it’s not like you can’t use a compelling unsubscribe page to inspire them to stay. Employ humor, add a personal touch, list the benefits of sticking around, and give them alternatives. Just like Beta List does in the following email:
They use a memorable image from a popular animation and a personal, no-hard-feelings note from the founder. Plus, they made sure to ask for feedback so they can do better. But the cleverest thing is that they gave the reader the option to change their preferences and subscribe to their weekly newsletter—in case the daily updates drove them away.
Every communication relies both on quality and frequency. Sure, it’s important to contact your family and friends and really be there. But if you do so every three months, it won’t be enough to forge strong relationships.
Do you send content that doesn’t resonate with readers? It won’t take long for them to ignore it or move your messages to the trash folder. Do you send too many or too few emails? Then, either subscribers will hit ‘unsubscribe’ or will forget all about your brand. The right combination of value-packed content and proper cadence is key to keeping both them and email clients satisfied.
When you create the next email campaign, ask yourself: “Is my message worth reading? Does it meet my subscribers’ needs and interests?” Here’s how to ensure it does:
When it comes to email frequency, there’s no magic formula. For a small regional bakery, dispatching a monthly newsletter could be enough to stay top of mind. A global cosmetic brand, though, will probably need a weekly newsletter to share every new update, offer, or sale with its customers.
Either way, let data guide your email strategy. Start with a specific and consistent schedule and monitor email engagement over time. For instance, if you see your unsubscribe rates increase, consider scaling back. But your safest bet is to implement an email preference center where recipients tell you exactly how often they want to hear from you.
Email deliverability is based on constant monitoring and improvement. The key is not to rest on your laurels when you see improvement. Keep track of important metrics at all times to catch potential issues before they turn into bigger problems.
These critical metrics reveal how your audience is responding to your email campaigns and where there’s room for improvement. You can combine monitoring audience engagement with regular A/B testing.
By experimenting with different email subject lines, copy, visuals, and CTAs, you identify which elements resonate with your subscribers. Send two email variants to small audience groups in your list, always focusing on one component. That way, you can easily spot the winning component and find the ideal combination to deliver to your entire audience.
Email deliverability isn’t about tricking email providers and spam filters. It’s about delivering consistent and meaningful content. Surely there are technical things to consider, like having a reliable email platform, but most importantly, you need to send emails your audience will want to read.
Every part of your email marketing success depends on how well you understand and adapt to audience requirements. Do they trust you as a sender? Is every email campaign valuable and timely? Do you show them that their input matters? Have you offered them ways to contact you and tell you what to improve?
Treat the bonds you create with subscribers like any other relationship. Be present, show respect, ask questions, and give answers when they’re insecure. What should be your next move? Implement these email deliverability email practices, evaluate what’s working and what’s not, and try to find new and creative ways to connect. Your audience will understand the effort you’ve put in and reward you with ongoing conversations.
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