{"id":146,"date":"2025-01-06T10:00:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T10:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evan-luke.com\/?p=146"},"modified":"2025-01-30T18:19:02","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T18:19:02","slug":"email-deliverability-how-to-dodge-the-spam-folder-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saasygtm.com\/blog\/email-deliverability-how-to-dodge-the-spam-folder-in-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Email Deliverability: How to Dodge the Spam Folder in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So, let me guess, you\u2019ve received some recent reports of your organization\u2019s emails hitting recipients\u2019 spam folders? This wasn\u2019t on your to-do list for today, but now it\u2019s becoming a priority. You were under the impression everything was set up correctly, and it is, right? Because you\u2019re a rockstar! And you are, of course :).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, you\u2019re feeling the pressure to come up with an explanation. It could be for your boss, a sales or customer support representative communicating with prospects, or maybe even someone outside of your organization that you were speaking with directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deliverability can be a tricky subject. See, internet service providers aren\u2019t always the most transparent about the criteria they use to sort who is in their good books and who is in their bad books. That\u2019s for good reason, because if that information was all public it would also serve as a sort of guide from those with malicious intentions to hit unsuspecting recipients inboxes. It\u2019s a good idea to explain this to your team and remind them whenever you can. Always set those expectations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is that there are some basic pieces of the puzzle to check on, test, and tweak. We’ll start by covering some potential ways of diagnosing the problem and then move into the basics of deliverability protocols, which should hopefully be a refresher. Once that\u2019s done we\u2019ll talk about testing your configuration. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One last thing, if you haven\u2019t already picked up on it, this piece is very much written for someone in marketing or marketing operations. If you\u2019re in sales, growth, or GTM engineering and looking for advice on infrastructure for outbound campaigns, that\u2019s a little different. Hence, we\u2019ll cover that in a future post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diagnosis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One piece of the puzzle that can help get you pointed in the right direction is looking at the domain that is being used to send the messages in question. Here are a few possible scenarios that may be helpful to keep in mind as context:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it your primary (corporate) domain or subdomain?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This will typically either be a case of something in the configuration that has recently broken, since it will have almost always been working properly at some point in time. Or, your domain reputation has gone bad. You can get a better sense of if it is the former or latter by skipping ahead to the section about deliverability protocols and then testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have been through testing and you suspect the issue is a domain that has gotten a bad reputation, you may need to look into acquiring a new domain and setting up new infrastructure to help mitigate the problem. That topic will be covered in a future post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it a secondary domain? <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Usually these domains are specifically acquired for the purposes of a marketing campaign or initiative. Of course, some forward thinking companies will purchase separate domains for the purposes of sending high volumes of email to an opted-in database. Most people reading this will probably be in the former camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like for primary domains, this situation can typically go two ways. There is either a configuration issue, which you should be able to get some insight on based on whether you remember setting up the infrastructure to use it. Or, the domain reputation has gone bad from being overused or marked as \u201cspam\u201d too many times. As above, it\u2019s probably worth skipping ahead to test a bit, and if it is a case of a burned domain moving to a new domain may be required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it a default (unconfigured) domain?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For example, Campaign Monitor<\/a> uses [companyname].createsend.com as its default domain. This is usually a case of a new email service provider has been acquired and set up with contacts, email design, and copy, but not configured to send properly. You might think this is uncommon, but it happens more often than you think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is, it is a straightforward fix and most email service providers will have helpful in-app infrastructure to aid you through the process. The bad news is that someone in your department needs to get a slap on the wrist for setting up a new tool without your involvement. Ouch!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deliverability Protocols 101<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s do a quick and dirty refresher on SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These are typically the most important components to be looking at in configuration when establishing the problem, and they can also come into play with most fixes. This is important stuff!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

What is SPF?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPF is an email authentication method that allows domain owners to specify which mail servers are permitted to send emails on their behalf. It works by adding a DNS record that lists authorized IP addresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Does SPF Matter?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine receiving a letter claiming to be from your bank but delivered by an unknown courier. You’d be suspicious, right? SPF helps email servers verify that incoming emails claiming to be from your domain are sent from authorized sources, reducing the chances of spoofing and phishing attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPF Checklist<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n