{"id":111960,"date":"2025-03-21T11:02:28","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T15:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/?page_id=111960"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:59:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:59:20","slug":"why-email-deliverability-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/why-email-deliverability-matters","title":{"rendered":"The 2025 Marketer\u2019s Guide to Email Deliverability"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\r\n    html {\r\n        scroll-padding-top: 200px;\r\n    }\r\n<\/style>\n\n<section class=\" py-5\">\n\t\t\n<div class=\"container\">\n\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-3 d-none d-lg-block\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"sticky-sidebar-section-2024\">\n\t\t\t\t<div id=\"sticky-list-group\" class=\"sidebar-item sticky-top list-group background-white p-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"list-group-item list-group-item-action\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#what_is_email_deliverability\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat is email deliverability?\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><!--list-group-item list-group-item-action-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"list-group-item list-group-item-action\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#matters\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tWhy email deliverability matters\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><!--list-group-item list-group-item-action-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"list-group-item list-group-item-action\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#improve\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t12 ways to improve deliverability\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><!--list-group-item list-group-item-action-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"list-group-item list-group-item-action\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#how_deliverability_test\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow to conduct an email deliverability test\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><!--list-group-item list-group-item-action-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"list-group-item list-group-item-action\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#spam_filter_test\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow to conduct a spam-filter test\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><!--list-group-item list-group-item-action-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"list-group-item list-group-item-action\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#faq\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tYour email deliverability questions, answered\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><!--list-group-item list-group-item-action-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"list-group-item list-group-item-action\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#make_it\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tMake it to the inbox using an email deliverability tool\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><!--list-group-item list-group-item-action-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--sidebar-item sticky-top list-group-->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--sticky-sidebar-section-->\n\t\t<\/div><!--col-3 d-none d-lg-block-->\n\t\t<div data-bs-spy=\"scroll\" id=\"\" data-bs-target=\"#sticky-list-group\" class=\"col-11 mx-auto col-lg-8 py-4 background-white\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block pt-5\">\n\t<h2 class=\"h-xl\">Email Deliverability: What it Is and How to Improve It<\/h2>\n<p class=\"header-description mt-3 mb-4 lh-base bold\">Key takeaways:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><strong>Deliverability measures whether your email reaches your subscriber\u2019s inbox<\/strong> (as opposed to their promotional folder or spam folder). This is different from delivery, which measures whether or not your message is accepted by your subscriber\u2019s Inbox Service Provider (ISP) in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><strong>Email deliverability matters<\/strong> because it\u2019s a measure of whether or not you\u2019re reaching your audience. You can\u2019t achieve your email marketing goals without having a strong email deliverability rate.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><strong>Multiple factors impact your email deliverability,<\/strong> including your sender reputation, authentication infrastructure, and elements of your email marketing strategy\u2014like your sending cadence, list quality, and overall engagement.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" aria-level=\"1\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"><strong>Email deliverability is challenging,<\/strong> but if you\u2019re struggling with it, know that you can improve your email deliverability through both technical changes (like your sending infrastructure) and marketing changes (like creating more compelling, personalized emails.)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Proactive strategies,<\/strong> like pre-send spam testing, help you catch and <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-guardian\">resolve potential issues<\/a> early, ensuring your emails reach the inbox and maximize engagement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Planning, creating, and testing an email is a big investment of time and energy. But all that work goes to waste if it never reaches your subscriber\u2019s inbox.<\/p>\n<p>A good email deliverability rate isn\u2019t just about solving issues after they happen\u2014it\u2019s about preventing them before you hit send. Every email is a chance to connect with your audience and make a positive impact\u2014but only if it lands in their inbox.<\/p>\n<p>This guide covers the essentials of email deliverability, addresses <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/7-common-deliverability-myths\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">email deliverability problems<\/a>, and how proactive measures can help you make every send count.<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 background-white \" id=\"what_is_email_deliverability\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block pt-5\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"text-black\">What is email deliverability?<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row mb-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Email deliverability is the measure of whether your email reaches your subscribers\u2019 inbox\u2014whether that\u2019s primary, social, or promotional\u2014and avoids landing in the spam folder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I think about email deliverability, I\u2019m really thinking about whether my email reaches my subscribers,\u201d says Carin Slater, Manager of Lifecycle Email Marketing at Litmus. \u201cWhether it\u2019s blocked because of my IP reputation, because an email client flagged me as spam, or because I have an outdated email address, I\u2019m thinking about how to get my email message in front of my subscribers, in their inbox.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Delivery vs. deliverability<\/h3>\n<a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-difference-between-deliverability-and-delivery-rate\">Delivery and deliverability<\/a> often get used interchangeably, but they\u2019re actually two parts of the journey an email message takes to go from your ESP (email service provider) to an inbox.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-difference-between-deliverability-and-delivery-rate\"><strong>Email delivery<\/strong><\/a> confirms that an email was accepted by the subscriber\u2019s mail server without bouncing.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Email deliverability <\/strong>evaluates how many of those delivered emails bypass spam filters and reach their intended destination in the inbox, where subscribers are likely to engage. This is where ISPs determine whether or not your email lands in the spam filter, an extra folder like <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-utilize-gmail-promotions-tab\">Gmail\u2019s Promotional Tab<\/a>, or the inbox.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How does email deliverability work?<\/h3>\n<p>Picture your local post office and how many packages they sort through every single day. That\u2019s exactly what ISPs do for their users\u2014your subscribers. First, your package has to be delivered. Think of your email delivery as your mail carrier literally dropping off mail in your mailbox or at your door. But deliverability is what happens after the message gets delivered. Do you sort it on your kitchen table, or does it go straight into the recycling bin? That\u2019s email deliverability.<\/p>\n<p>Every time an email pops up in your inbox, it\u2019s because that\u2019s where your ISP decided it should go.<\/p>\n<h3>How to check your email deliverability<\/h3>\n<p>Deliverability has long been considered a \u201cblack box\u201d area of marketing. Where your email campaign lands is largely up to the whims of each email client\u2019s sorting functionality\u2014though we\u2019ll talk about several factors that you *can* influence in a moment.<\/p>\n<p>To get a complete view of your email deliverability, you need to look at both pre-send testing tools and post-send monitoring tools.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Pre-send testing:<\/strong> pre-send tools allow you to address deliverability risks\u2014like blocklist status or authentication issues\u2014before you send. Resolving these in advance strengthens your chances of reaching the inbox.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Post-send monitoring:<\/strong> post-send tools analyze inbox placement across different email providers to reveal if your emails reached the inbox or spam. Going beyond typical ESP data, these insights enable you to troubleshoot effectively and optimize future <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-plan-your-email-campaign-strategy\">email marketing campaigns<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Using both pre-send and post-send tools provides a well-rounded approach to email deliverability, making sure each send is set up for success. In fact, marketers who describe their email programs as successful are <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/2019_State_of_Email_Analytics.pdf\">22% more likely<\/a> than those at less successful ones to monitor their deliverability or inbox placement.<\/p>\n<p>Supporting both stages of deliverability, <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/\">Litmus<\/a> pre-send testing tools proactively identify potential issues\u2014like sender reputation concerns or spam-triggering content\u2014before they impact email campaign performance. Post-send monitoring then provides insights into where your emails actually landed, helping you refine and improve future sends.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5\">\n\t<div class=\"row blog-cta-blue  p-4\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-12 mx-auto\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Unlock 2026 inbox benchmarks now<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Download Validity\u2019s 2026 Email Deliverability Benchmark Report and learn how your inbox placement compares before your next send.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/resource-center\/2026-email-deliverability-benchmark-report\/\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Get the report<\/a><\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-6 d-none d-lg-block\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/blog-cta-12172024.svg\" width=\"208\" height=\"171\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!--row-->\n\t\t<\/div><!--col-12-->\n\t<\/div><!--row-->\n<\/div><!--container-->\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n<h3>What is a good email deliverability rate?<\/h3>\n<p>Good benchmarks for deliverability are tricky to find because few email marketers actually measure it. 22% of email geeks who took <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/state-of-email-reports\">our survey<\/a> admitted they don\u2019t measure their deliverability or aren\u2019t sure whether or not they do. And when we analyzed thousands of emails to understand trends in deliverability, we found that <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/spam-filter-tests\">70% of emails show at least one spam-related issue<\/a>. That means most email marketers you ask give a big \u2018ol shrug when it comes to their deliverability rate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"quote my-5 col-12 blue-quote\">\n<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">\u201c<em>Everyone\u2019s goal is obviously 100%. What we focus on is our inbox placement. We want 100% of our emails getting to the inbox, and if it drops below 90%, we\u2019re going to immediately investigate what\u2019s going on. Deliverability is a measure of the health of your email marketing program, so it\u2019s important to do regular check-ups on your domain, IP, and authentication in particular to make sure you\u2019re up-to-date, just like how we all go to the doctor each year.<\/em>\u201c<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\"><picture class=\"mt-3 mt-lg-0\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/carin-slater.jpeg.webp\" type=\"image\/webp\" \/><\/picture>\n<picture class=\"mt-3 mt-lg-0\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/carin-slater.jpeg\" alt=\"Carin Slater\" width=\"125\" height=\"125\" \/><\/picture>\n<strong>Carin Slater<\/strong><br \/>\n<span class=\"quote-title\">Manager of Lifecycle Email Marketing at Litmus<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-5-->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--row-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--content-block-->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--row d-flex align-items-center mb-5-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 background-white \" id=\"matters\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block pt-5\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"text-black\">Why email deliverability matters<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row mb-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email deliverability is worth every bit of attention you give it. Even though there are <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/7-common-deliverability-myths\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">email deliverability myths<\/a> that may convince you otherwise, here\u2019s why prioritizing deliverability helps your marketing go the extra mile:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Reach your audience<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For subscribers to engage with your content, they first need to see it. High deliverability means your messages reach the inbox\u2014right where your subscribers expect them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cLet\u2019s say I have a list of 60,000 people. When I send an email, I want it to reach as many of those 60,000 as possible,\u201d says Carin. \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of having 60,000 people on a list if it\u2019s just going to go to spam and nobody\u2019s going to see my email? That\u2019s just wasting everybody\u2019s time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Build trust and strengthen your brand reputation<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The inbox is a personal place\u2014one of the last digital places a person can truly \u201cown.\u201d When a subscriber invites you into that space, you need to treat that space with respect. According to our email friends at <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zerobounce.net\/email-statistics-report\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ZeroBounce<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 78% of survey respondents said they mark an email as spam if the email \u201clooks like spam.\u201d Also, 54% stated they report a message as spam if the sender didn\u2019t ask permission to email them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You don\u2019t want your subscribers to be googling, \u201cIs [brand name] a scam?\u201d If you\u2019re in the spam folder, it automatically makes your brand seem less trustworthy. That\u2019s why each email marketing campaign sent is an opportunity to build trust. Showing up in the inbox consistently (not the spam folder) reinforces credibility and loyalty with your audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Maximize ROI from every campaign<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Done right, email marketing is still one of the most successful marketing channels for businesses. But you\u2019ll miss out on the <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/infographic-the-roi-of-email-marketing\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">$36 for every $1 spent<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if your emails never reach the inbox.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your subscribers can\u2019t open it if they can\u2019t see it! The more emails that reach the inbox, the more visibility and engagement you receive, boosting your ROI.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Drive engagement and conversions<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Improved deliverability means more eyes on your content. Each successful inbox placement strengthens your relationships with subscribers and inbox providers alike. Positive engagement signals, like opens and clicks, build credibility, improving your chances of inbox placement for future sends. Better deliverability means your emails reach more subscribers, driving traffic, engagement, and conversions with every send.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are key metrics for email delivery?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Monitoring key metrics is essential for achieving a high deliverability rate, ensuring you make the most of your budget and effort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are the metrics to keep a close eye on:<\/span><\/p>\n<table class=\"table table-striped mb-5\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"33%\"><strong>Delivery rate:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>The percentage of emails the internet service provider\u2019s (ISP) email servers did not return or bounce.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Bounce rate:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The percentage of emails with <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/whats-the-difference-between-a-hard-and-soft-bounce\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">temporary or permanent<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> unsuccessful delivery, also known as bounced emails. There are two kinds of bounces: Hard bounces and soft bounces. Hard bounces mean the email address you\u2019re using is invalid or expired. Soft bounces are more temporary due to email volume or a service interruption. If your email bounces, then it\u2019s not delivered.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Spam complaint rate:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td>The percentage of your audience who mark an email as spam.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Open rate:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The percentage of your delivered emails that <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/kpis-you-should-be-tracking\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribers opened<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Click-through rate (CTR):<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The percentage of how many people <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/increase-email-ctr\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">click on a call-to-action<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (CTA) in your email.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Unsubscribe rate:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Measures how many people <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-email-metrics-marketers-measure-and-the-ones-they-should\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">opt out<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of your emails.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Inbox placement rate (IPR):<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the percentage of your emails that make it to the inbox and not the spam folder.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Sender reputation:<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a mix of factors that inbox service providers (ISPs) use to gauge whether you\u2019re a trustworthy sender.<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IP reputation\u2014the perceived trustworthiness of the IP addresses you use for sending emails\u2014also plays a key role in sender reputation. Building a positive IP reputation, particularly when using a new IP, requires a gradual increase in email volume, or IP warming. Following IP warming best practices helps establish trust with inbox providers, especially when transitioning to new providers or scaling up volume.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While delivery and open rates offer essential <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/customer-data-management-guide-for-marketers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">customer insights<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, post-send monitoring tools provide deeper visibility into inbox and spam folder placement. These tools go beyond basic ESP reports, giving you actionable insights to refine and improve future sends.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5\">\n\t<div class=\"row blog-cta-blue  p-4\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-12 mx-auto\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Looking to safeguard your email reputation? <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Validity Sender Certification is the industry&#8217;s most exclusive email allow-list\u2014helping senders reach more inboxes and bypass key spam filters around the world.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/sender-certification\/\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Get Certified<\/a><\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-6 d-none d-lg-block\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/blog-cta-12172024.svg\" width=\"208\" height=\"171\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!--row-->\n\t\t<\/div><!--col-12-->\n\t<\/div><!--row-->\n<\/div><!--container-->\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What factors affect email deliverability?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strong email deliverability takes a proactive, strategic approach. Here are the core factors to focus on for better inbox placement and engagement:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Sender reputation\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think of your sender reputation as a composite score of everything that goes into your deliver and deliverability. ISPs look at three main areas to determine your sender reputation score:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Sender behavior:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Your email strategy doesn\u2019t just impact your subscribers. ISPs are watching, too. Things like your email send volume and cadence can indicate spammy practices.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Subscriber behavior:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Do subscribers want to receive your emails? That\u2019s what ISPs are evaluating. The opens, clicks, and replies you receive for your emails indicate to them that you\u2019re a reputable sender and should get sorted into the inbox.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-list-hygiene-how-to-build-a-clean-email-list\"><b>Email list hygiene<\/b><\/a><b>:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Without delivery, there is no deliverability. If your emails constantly bounce (whether it\u2019s hard bounces vs. soft bounces) or if you hit spam traps, you\u2019re going to land in the spam folder.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI know not everyone will open every email I send. But I want them to have the option to open it, read it, and click on it, so that means I need to do everything I can to make sure my sender reputation and domain reputation is good and that I\u2019ve followed all of the rules from main email clients like <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/new-yahoo-gmail-email-deliverability-rules\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Google, Yahoo<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and Outlook,\u201d says Carin.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Your email infrastructure and authentication<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proper authentication protocols verify that your emails are legitimate, reducing the chance of being flagged as spam. This tells ISPs (and by extension, your subscribers) that you are who you say you are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are four different email authentication protocols to choose from.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Sender Policy Framework (SPF)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> shows which IP addresses or domains that can send mail on your behalf via a DNS TXT entry. This way, mailbox providers know that if it\u2019s sent from your company\u2019s domain or IP address, it\u2019s from you.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> DKIM matches a public and private key, like a digital signature, to associate a given email message with your organization as part of the authentication process.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/dmarc-what-it-is-how-it-helps-protect-your-brand-against-email-fraud\"><b>Domain Message Authentication and Reporting Conformance (DMARC)<\/b><\/a><b>:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> DMARC takes the most effort, but is also the most important to get right. DMARC defines how receiving inbox providers should handle messages that fail an authentication check. They can either do nothing, quarantine the email, or reject it. We strongly recommend you set your DMARC to p=reject. This is the best protection against phishing and spoofing attempts for your brand and signals that you\u2019re trustworthy to mailbox providers.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To comply with deliverability rules from Gmail and Yahoo, you need to complete SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But there\u2019s one more authentication protocol you can add: <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/what-is-bimi-and-why-should-email-marketers-care\"><b>Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. While BIMI is technically optional right now, we still recommend adding it to your email infrastructure\u2014not only is it another layer of security, it also helps you stand out in the inbox by adding your logo. This can boost open rates by <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.businesswire.com\/news\/home\/20210720005361\/en\/Red-Sift-and-Entrust-Survey-Showing-a-Logo-Positively-Affects-Consumer-Interaction-With-Emails-Open-Rates-Buying-Behavior-Brand-Recall-and-Confidence\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">up to 21%<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, making your emails instantly recognizable and reassuring\u2014but when we asked email geeks about it, only 8% use it right now. All the more reason to jump on it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. The number of emails you send<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mailbox providers consider email volume and send frequency to assess whether an email sender might be engaging in spammy practices.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s all about consistency,\u201d says Carin. \u201cSpammers don\u2019t have a regular cadence. They just randomly send emails, and a lot of them, all at once. If I send 1,000 emails, but I only send them randomly, it doesn\u2019t look as good as 10,000 emails sent every month at the same time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email volume and frequency play a significant role in deliverability. A sudden spike in the volume of emails, especially from a <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/ip-domain-email-warm-up\/?utm_campaign=wc-2022-01-ultimate_guide_to_deliverability-testing\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">new IP<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> address, looks pretty spammy to spam filters (and it will probably annoy your subscribers, too.) Establishing a positive sender reputation from a new IP or domain requires a gradual volume increase\u2014a process known as IP warming.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IP warming is especially valuable during transitions to new providers, rebrands, or high sending volume marketing campaigns like Black Friday, helping build trust with inbox providers and ensuring consistent inbox placement.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. List quality and engagement<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maintaining a clean, engaged list is essential for building a good reputation with ISPs. This is not a one-and-done activity, but something that you should check in on each quarter. Regularly clean your list to remove inactive or invalid addresses and avoid spam traps\u2014hidden addresses that catch senders with poor list hygiene.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If someone hasn\u2019t engaged with you in a while, you don\u2019t have to automatically remove them. Start with a <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/5-tips-for-creating-effective-re-engagement-emails\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">re-engagement campaign<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which asks subscribers if they\u2019d like to still hear from you. Re-engagement campaigns revive <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-manage-the-3-kinds-of-inactive-email-subscribers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">inactive subscribers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while personalization and segmentation keep content relevant, boosting engagement and signaling value to providers. We\u2019ll talk more about how this works in the next section.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Email content and formatting<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Content quality matters, but not in the way that you think. The era of obsessing over certain words or phrases is over. (That means yes, you can say the word \u201cfree!\u201d in your emails again.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThere\u2019s so much more that goes into it than just the words you use,\u201d says Carin. \u201cIt\u2019s important not to overuse spammy words, of course, but what really matters is that your subscribers want to receive the emails you\u2019re sending. That they\u2019re actively engaging with your content. If an ISP sees that nobody\u2019s interacting with your emails, they\u2019re going to say, \u2018Nobody wants this. Must be spam.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you think about your email content, think about what your subscribers want to see. Are you meeting the email personalization trifecta of \u201cright person, right time, right message?\u201d There\u2019s a reason certain phrases trip the spam filter\u2014because they\u2019re usually associated with emails that don\u2019t match subscriber preferences (or are straight-up scams.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spam filters review everything from subject lines to formatting to assess if an email could be spam and assess overall spam rates. Litmus Spam Testing helps you stay ahead by flagging potential deliverability issues like blocklist status or unverified authentication, so each email is optimized for inbox placement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/fast.wistia.com\/embed\/medias\/5cuwpdb43p.jsonp\" async><\/script><br \/>\n<script src=\"\/\/fast.wistia.com\/assets\/external\/E-v1.js\" async><\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"wistia_responsive_padding\" style=\"padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"wistia_responsive_wrapper\" style=\"height: 100%; left: 0; position: absolute; top: 0; width: 100%;\">\n<div class=\"wistia_embed wistia_async_5cuwpdb43p seo=false videoFoam=true popover=true\" style=\"height: 100%; width: 100%;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-5-->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--row-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--content-block-->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--row d-flex align-items-center mb-5-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 background-white \" id=\"improve\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block pt-5\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"text-black\">12 ways to improve deliverability<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row mb-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understanding what causes email deliverability issues empowers you to take proactive steps to improve and maintain it. Here are some key actions to consider:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Create an email marketing strategy that puts your subscriber needs first<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deliverability has many technical elements, and we\u2019ll talk about those. But a lot of email marketers miss the obvious about deliverability: that if you try to force emails on people who don\u2019t want to receive them, you won\u2019t be successful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou\u2019re a guest in your subscriber\u2019s inboxes, so respect what they have told you. Whether that\u2019s their overall preferences and topics, or if they say they want their <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-ultimate-guide-to-dark-mode-for-email-marketers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">emails in Dark Mode<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or they sign up for your newsletter and nothing else, you have to honor that,\u201d says Carin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ask yourself, why are you sending this email in the first place? And if it\u2019s because \u201cso-and-so in X department asked for it,\u201d think deeper. Says Carin, \u201cEveryone wants to send an email, but you have to ask why. Why would a subscriber be excited to get this email in their inbox? Do they care about this? Are we sending it because we want to send something, or because people want to read it? It has to be the latter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Craft relevant and engaging email content<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With subscribers spending only an average of <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/trends-in-email-engagement\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8.97 seconds reading an email<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, every element should count. That means:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-optimization-tips\/\"><b>Optimizing your email<\/b><\/a><b> envelope <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(subject line and preview text) to improve open rates.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Personalizing emails<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and prioritizing value-driven, relevant content over overly promotional language.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Using clear CTAs <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that encourage subscribers to click or reply to your email.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It works like this: more relevant emails lead to more engagement from your subscribers. More engagement signals to mailbox providers that you\u2019re a legitimate sender, which helps your overall sender score, and by extension, your deliverability.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Make emails personal\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subscribers opt-in to receive your messages because they value your brand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/resources\/email-personalization-guide\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Personalization<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> makes subscribers feel recognized, boosting engagement, conversions, and loyalty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Engage subscribers with tactics like:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Combine <\/b><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/combining-segmentation-and-personalization\/\"><b>segmentation and personalization<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to align with where subscribers are in their journey, tailoring future messages based on their interests.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Use <\/b><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/resources\/ultimate-guide-to-dynamic-content\/\"><b>dynamic content<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to populate messages with product recommendations, exclusive offers, or personalized images.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Engage subscribers with interactive elements<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, like polls or surveys, to make your emails more engaging and valuable.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s why investing in a strong personalization strategy is so important. Sending personalized emails that speak to your subscriber\u2019s interests\u2014whether that\u2019s a retail category or specific topics they want to hear more about\u2014will go a long way toward helping your deliverability.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Maintain a clean and engaged email mailing list<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regular <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-list-hygiene-how-to-build-a-clean-email-list\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">email list hygiene<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ensures you\u2019re only reaching interested, valid contacts, which reduces the chances of hitting spam traps. That means you need to evaluate your email list on a regular basis to remove invalid emails, including those who have bounced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The key metric to look at when evaluating your list, besides delivery rate, is engagement. If someone hasn\u2019t opened, clicked, replied, shared, or otherwise engaged with your email\u2026do they actually want to get your emails?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Litmus, we use a quarantine system with email addresses that seem inactive. \u201cIf they start interacting, they leave the quarantine list and go back into the regular email flow. But if it\u2019s more than 90 days and they still haven\u2019t touched one of our emails, we mark them as unsubscribed. It\u2019s much better to have a smaller, highly engaged email list than a larger one full of random email addresses for deliverability,\u201d says Carin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your email list is a fundamental aspect of your email deliverability, so don\u2019t skip this step.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5\">\n\t<div class=\"row blog-cta-blue  p-4\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-12 mx-auto\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Clean lists. Better results.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Remove risky and inactive addresses with Validity BriteVerify to protect your sender reputation.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/briteverify\/\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Validate lists<\/a><\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-6 d-none d-lg-block\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/blog-cta-12172024.svg\" width=\"208\" height=\"171\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!--row-->\n\t\t<\/div><!--col-12-->\n\t<\/div><!--row-->\n<\/div><!--container-->\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Use double opt-in (DOI)<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One way to keep your email list clean is to proactively screen potential subscribers for engagement. For years, double opt-in got laughed at for introducing friction into the process\u2014but it\u2019s this friction that keeps typos, spam traps, and bots from your list.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_112191\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-112191\" style=\"width: 1061px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-112191 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/email-domain-misspelled.png\" alt=\"Poll results of email domains misspelled the most.\" width=\"1061\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/email-domain-misspelled.png 1061w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/email-domain-misspelled-300x126.png 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/email-domain-misspelled-1024x430.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/email-domain-misspelled-768x323.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1061px) 100vw, 1061px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-112191\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/feed\/update\/urn:li:activity:7298763792044216320\">Poll hosted on Litmus&#8217; LinkedIn<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/single-opt-in-vs-double-opt-in-case-for-soi\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Double opt-ins<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> verify subscribers\u2019 intent to receive your emails, strengthening list quality and accuracy. This extra step can help reduce spam complaints and keep your list cleaner before you start getting bounces.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Litmus, we use a mix of <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-marketing-assumptions-i-need-to-use-double-opt-in-for-all-signups\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">single and double opt-ins<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014double for higher-volume pages to filter out bot accounts, and single for lower-risk content pages.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6. Avoid spam traps<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the worst things that can happen for your deliverability is to accidentally hit a spam trap. Spam traps and blocklists help inbox providers catch unwanted emails.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Spam traps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> identify senders with poor list management.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Blocklists<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> flag domains and IPs associated with spam.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is exactly why we recommend never, ever, ever buying an email list. You never know what\u2019s lurking on a list like that! It\u2019s not worth the hit to your deliverability just to say you have an email list over a certain number. You can identify spam traps using email <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/putting-fires-vs-preventing-happening-difference-pre-post-send-deliverability-tools\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">deliverability tools<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like Litmus Spam Testing. This allows you to identify and remove problematic addresses before sending, reducing risks to your deliverability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7. Run re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Engagement is a big part of deliverability, so keeping your engagement high is important. During the quarantine period for inactive contacts, send them a <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-templates\/re-engagement\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">re-engagement email<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Here\u2019s an example of one we send at Litmus (hopefully you haven\u2019t received this! \ud83d\ude09)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-112167\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/re-engagement-email-from-Litmus.jpeg\" alt=\"An example of a re-engagement email from Litmus\" width=\"596\" height=\"914\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/re-engagement-email-from-Litmus.jpeg 596w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/re-engagement-email-from-Litmus-196x300.jpeg 196w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carin says, \u201cSend a traditional re-engagement email at the 60 day mark for any subscribers that are not interacting with your emails, asking them directly if they still want to receive emails from you. If they still haven\u2019t interacted after that, then we mark them as unsubscribed. That way, at least we\u2019ve double checked that they\u2019re truly inactive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8. Honor your unsubscribes<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Subscribers are so over too many emails. According to <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optimove.com\/resources\/downloads\/optimove-research-consumer-marketing-fatigue\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">our friends at Optimove<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, 70% have unsubscribed from at least three brands in the last three months due to email overload, and 36% have quit six or more brands. You must, must, must include an unsubscribe link.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s illegal under privacy laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM to \u201cforget\u201d to unsubscribe someone from your list. Even if it was allowed, it\u2019s the right thing to do to let those that unsubscribe from you go. Because you know what they\u2019ll do if you keep sending them emails? Hit that spam complaint button so fast.\u00a0 49% of survey respondents said they will submit a spam complaint if marketing emails don\u2019t give them a way to unsubscribe, <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zerobounce.net\/email-statistics-report\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">according to ZeroBounce.\u00a0<\/span><\/a>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYes, your list sizes might go down as you clean up your email list,\u201d says Carin. \u201cBut your engagement will go up. Instead of sending to 60,000 people that may or may not care what you have to say, you\u2019re going to send to 30,000 people that definitely want to hear from you, and that\u2019s super valuable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5 px-1\">\n\t<div class=\"row blog-cta-blue rounded-5 p-4\">\n\t\t<div class=\"mx-auto col-12\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Ensure your emails reach the inbox \n<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Understand the factors affecting your email deliverability using Litmus\u2019 Industry-leading deliverability insights. Find and fix what\u2019s sending you to the spam folder. \n<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue download\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-deliverability\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Boost deliverability<\/a><\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-6 d-none d-lg-block\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/download-blog-cta-09232024.svg\" width=\"221\" height=\"175\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!--row-->\n\t\t<\/div><!--col-12-->\n\t<\/div><!--row-->\n<\/div><!--container-->\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">9. Check your sender reputation<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your sender reputation directly influences inbox placement. It\u2019s not a set metric\u2014it fluctuates over time based on your subscriber behavior, sender behavior, and the health of your email list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regularly monitor key metrics like domain and IP reputation, and use pre-send testing tools to proactively spot potential issues like blocklists or spam complaints before they impact deliverability.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10. Implement proper email authentication protocols<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without proper email authentication, your deliverability can\u2019t get better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email authentication shows inbox providers that your emails are legitimate, improving deliverability by reducing the chance they\u2019ll be flagged as spam. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC confirm your email\u2019s authenticity, while BIMI builds brand trust and visibility by displaying your logo in supported inboxes. Authentication also protects your audience from phishing and spoofing risks.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">11. Monitor feedback loops<\/span><\/h3>\n<a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-reports-marketing-leaders-should-look-at\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email feedback loops<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> provide insights into how your campaigns perform post-send, helping you fine-tune your strategy. Regularly review these metrics with your team to quickly adapt to trends and address emerging deliverability challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">12. Conduct pre-send testing with Email Guardian<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Confirming that authentication protocols are properly configured before sending is essential. <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-guardian\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Litmus\u2019 Email Guardian<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> offers 24\/7 automated monitoring to verify your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, alerting you to authentication issues that could disrupt inbox placement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proactive monitoring through Email Guardian\u2019s automation maintains your sender reputation, helping meet evolving sender requirements from major providers like Google (Gmail) and Yahoo, and keeping your emails out of the spam folder.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5\">\n\t<div class=\"row blog-cta-blue  p-4\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col-12 mx-auto\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-lg-6 col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Deliverability from every angle <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Get the insights and tools to improve inbox placement, sender reputation, and email performance. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-deliverability\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Explore Litmus Deliverability <\/a><\/button>\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-6 d-none d-lg-block\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/blog-cta-12172024.svg\" width=\"208\" height=\"171\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-6-->\n\t\t\t<\/div> <!--row-->\n\t\t<\/div><!--col-12-->\n\t<\/div><!--row-->\n<\/div><!--container-->\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-5-->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--row-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--content-block-->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--row d-flex align-items-center mb-5-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 background-white \" id=\"how_deliverability_test\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block pt-5\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"text-black\">How to conduct an email deliverability test<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row mb-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After sending, post-send tools track where emails land\u2014whether they\u2019re delivered to the inbox or spam folder. These insights reveal engagement rates like opens and clicks, showing trends and pinpointing areas for improvement. Post-send tools also offer deeper insights into placement across different providers, providing a complete view of your emails\u2019 journey and supporting ongoing deliverability success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Testing your deliverability is less about specific emails and more about the behind-the-scenes of your overall email strategy. Running an <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-deliverability-audit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">email deliverability audit<\/a> is easy with Deliverability Monitoring from Litmus. <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/help.litmus.com\/article\/758-litmus-email-guardian-deliverability-monitoring-guide\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how it works<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a class=\"mb-3 d-block\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#\" data-bs-toggle=\"modal\" data-bs-target=\"#tour-modal2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/blog-spam-testing-03202025.png\" alt=\"Take a tour\" width=\"624\" height=\"507\" \/><\/a>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, turn on Deliverability Monitoring by navigating to the Deliverability tab from the Monitor tab in your account&#8217;s top-level navigation and adding your unique seed address to your Email Service Provider subscriber lists.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then, select the domain you want to monitor, if you have more than one.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019re ready to go, start with Sender Authentication. This monitors your authentication protocols to make sure you\u2019re up-to-date.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve run that check, Reputation Monitoring checks your sending domain against 60+ blocklists. If your domain or IP is blocklisted, even transactional emails like password resets or purchase confirmations may not be delivered, so it\u2019s important to see if you\u2019ve hit any.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As your deliverability changes, you\u2019ll see alerts or action items on your Deliverability Monitoring dashboard.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5 px-1\">\n<div class=\"row blog-cta-green rounded-5 p-4\">\n<div class=\"mx-auto col-12\">\n<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 text-center\">\n<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Learn from the best<\/p>\n<p>Your favorite brands use Litmus to deliver flawless email experiences. Discover the ROI your emails can achieve with Litmus.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/customers\" rel=\"noopener\">Explore case studies<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-5-->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--row-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--content-block-->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--row d-flex align-items-center mb-5-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 background-white \" id=\"spam_filter_test\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block pt-5\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"text-black\">How to conduct a spam-filter test<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row mb-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pre-send tools flag potential deliverability obstacles before you hit send. These tools spot blockers such as blocklists, authentication errors, and content likely to trigger spam filters, optimizing your emails for inbox placement from the outset. Catching issues early reduces deliverability risks and increases the chances your emails land in subscribers\u2019 inboxes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Litmus, we\u2019re big fans of previewing your email ahead of time to make sure it looks great. But you can also run a spam filter test or an <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-deliverability-audit\">email deliverability audit<\/a> before your email goes out with <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/spam-filter-tests\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Litmus Spam Testing<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for peace of mind. Here\u2019s how it works:<\/span><\/p>\n<a class=\"mb-3 d-block\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#\" data-bs-toggle=\"modal\" data-bs-target=\"#tour-modal2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/blog-spam-testing2-03202025.png\" alt=\"Take a tour\" width=\"624\" height=\"503\" \/><\/a>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Select the Test your email button dropdown<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on either the Home or Emails page and find the option to Start a spam test.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Once you select Start a spam test,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you&#8217;ll see two different options, Pull from your ESP and Manual Send.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Starting a spam test with an ESP connection requires an existing ESP integration. Once that integration is in place, spam testing starts with the same Start a new spam test button. Select Pull from your ESP, choose your ESP and an email, and then the Start your test button. The test results Summary window will appear as your results begin to process.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The manual send option provides you a unique list of seed addresses for each test. Use all the seed addresses that appear in the list and send your email from your ESP.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Select Results in the left menu pane<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to see the detailed list for each test, including Authentication Filters, Blocklist Filters and Placement Filters.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also run a Spam Filter Test directly in Litmus Previews in the Spam Testing section of your Previews &amp; QA for each email draft.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5 px-1\">\n<div class=\"row blog-cta-green rounded-5 p-4\">\n<div class=\"mx-auto col-12\">\n<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 text-center\">\n<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Reach the inbox \u2014 not the spam folder<\/p>\n<p>70% of emails show at least one spam-related issue that could keep them from the inbox. Don\u2019t let your email be one of them.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/spam-filter-tests\" rel=\"noopener\">Try SPAM testing<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-5-->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--row-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--content-block-->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--row d-flex align-items-center mb-5-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 background-white \" id=\"faq\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block pt-5\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"text-black\">Your email deliverability questions, answered<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row mb-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Still have deliverability questions? We\u2019re here to help.<\/p>\n<section id=\"faqs-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\" class=\"faq py-5\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"row g-5\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<div id=\"faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\" class=\"faq-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"accordion-item border-bottom p-0\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-0 p-3\">\n<h3 class=\"w-100 fs-5 text-uppercase m-0 p-3 d-flex align-items-center collapsed\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#faq-answer-0\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"faq-answer-0\"><strong> What is a good email deliverability rate?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-answer-0\" class=\"px-3 pb-3 collapse\" aria-labelledby=\"faq-question-0\" data-bs-parent=\"#faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\">\n<p>Not to be dramatic, but a good email deliverability rate is 100%. You want as many of your subscribers as possible to see your email in the inbox.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-item border-bottom p-0\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1 p-3\">\n<h3 class=\"w-100 fs-5 text-uppercase m-0 p-3 d-flex align-items-center collapsed\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#faq-answer-1\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"faq-answer-1\"><strong> What happens if I am blocklisted? <\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-answer-1\" class=\"px-3 pb-3 collapse\" aria-labelledby=\"faq-question-1\" data-bs-parent=\"#faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\">\n<p>A blocklist (also known as a blacklist) is a list of IP addresses and\/or sending domains kept by each mailbox provider of known malicious spammers. If you land on one of these by mistake, it can negatively affect your deliverability. Consider it a wake-up call to change your deliverability practices, and submit an unblock request asap. For more tips, check out our article on <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/what-to-do-if-youve-been-blocklisted\" rel=\"noopener\">what to do if you\u2019ve been blocklisted.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-item border-bottom p-0\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-2 p-3\">\n<h3 class=\"w-100 fs-5 text-uppercase m-0 p-3 d-flex align-items-center collapsed\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#faq-answer-2\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"faq-answer-2\"><strong> Can I send cold emails without damaging my sender reputation?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-answer-2\" class=\"px-3 pb-3 collapse\" aria-labelledby=\"faq-question-2\" data-bs-parent=\"#faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\">\n<p>Yes, you can send cold emails without damaging your sender reputation. But you need to be careful with this\u2014about how many you send, and how targeted they are. Fix your poor sender reputation first if you\u2019re having deliverability issues.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a difference between emailing every email address you can find and a well thought-out cold outreach campaign from your sales team. Make sure you\u2019re only emailing prospects that fit your ideal customer profile, and that you offer them an opt-out option.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-item border-bottom p-0\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-3 p-3\">\n<h3 class=\"w-100 fs-5 text-uppercase m-0 p-3 d-flex align-items-center collapsed\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#faq-answer-3\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"faq-answer-3\"><strong> Why do some of my emails land in Gmail\u2019s Promotions tab instead of the Primary inbox?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-answer-3\" class=\"px-3 pb-3 collapse\" aria-labelledby=\"faq-question-3\" data-bs-parent=\"#faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\">\n<p><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-utilize-gmail-promotions-tab\" rel=\"noopener\">Gmail\u2019s Promotions Tab<\/a> is designed to separate email marketing campaigns from messages from friends and family. So you actually belong in the Promotions tab! Of course, it would be great to land in the inbox every time\u2014and you can run an email campaign asking Gmail subscribers to mark you for the Primary Inbox\u2014but if you\u2019re landing in Promotions, you\u2019re exactly where your Gmail subscribers will be looking for you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-item border-bottom p-0\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-4 p-3\">\n<h3 class=\"w-100 fs-5 text-uppercase m-0 p-3 d-flex align-items-center collapsed\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#faq-answer-4\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"faq-answer-4\"><strong> What\u2019s the difference between IP reputation and domain reputation in email deliverability?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-answer-4\" class=\"px-3 pb-3 collapse\" aria-labelledby=\"faq-question-4\" data-bs-parent=\"#faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\">\n<p>Your IP reputation and your domain reputation are both important aspects of your email deliverability, but they\u2019re slightly different:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>IP reputation:<\/strong> Your IP reputation is attributed to an IP address based on what metrics an inbox service provider (ISP) has historically seen from that IP address and how users engage with mail that originates from it.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Domain reputation: <\/strong>Because email isn\u2019t always sent from just one IP address or provider, ISPs also use your sending domain to track reputation. That allows a receiver to accumulate a reputation score across the board.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-item border-bottom p-0\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-5 p-3\">\n<h3 class=\"w-100 fs-5 text-uppercase m-0 p-3 d-flex align-items-center collapsed\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#faq-answer-5\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"faq-answer-5\"><strong> Should I use a dedicated IP address or a shared IP address for better deliverability?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-answer-5\" class=\"collapse px-3 pb-3\" aria-labelledby=\"faq-question-5\" data-bs-parent=\"#faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\">\n<p>In general, a dedicated IP is better for deliverability. That\u2019s because you\u2019re the only one in charge of your IP, which means you\u2019re more in control of how and where it\u2019s used. However, there are pros and cons of <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/dedicated-vs-shared-email-ip\" rel=\"noopener\">both shared IPs and dedicated IPs<\/a>. For example, if you consistently have a high send volume, a dedicated IP will give you more control over your reputation. If your send volume has fluctuations, though, a shared IP will be better to smooth out send volume and prevent raising any deliverability red flags.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-item border-bottom p-0\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-6 p-3\">\n<h3 class=\"w-100 fs-5 text-uppercase m-0 p-3 d-flex align-items-center collapsed\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#faq-answer-6\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"faq-answer-6\"><strong> Why are my open rates dropping suddenly?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-answer-6\" class=\"collapse px-3 pb-3\" aria-labelledby=\"faq-question-6\" data-bs-parent=\"#faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\">\n<p>Open rates can drop suddenly for a variety of reasons. First, check your delivery rates. If something about your sending domain or email list is going awry, you\u2019ll see it there. Then, look at inbox placement to see if you\u2019re landing in the spam folder. If your email deliverability looks okay, then it\u2019s time to think about your overall list management and your inbox envelope: Subject line, preheader text, and \u201cfrom\u201d name.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"accordion-item border-bottom p-0\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-7 p-3\">\n<h3 class=\"w-100 fs-5 text-uppercase m-0 p-3 d-flex align-items-center collapsed\" data-bs-toggle=\"collapse\" data-bs-target=\"#faq-answer-7\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-controls=\"faq-answer-7\"><strong> Does sending time affect inbox placement?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-answer-7\" class=\"collapse px-3 pb-3\" aria-labelledby=\"faq-question-7\" data-bs-parent=\"#faq-wrapper-block_d7e7ed66380d7643e784cd57a94a8a30\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By itself, sending time does not directly impact your inbox placement. Over time, however, sending time can help you optimize for engagement, which <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">does <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">affect your inbox placement. The more your subscribers engage with your emails, the better your deliverability.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-5-->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--row-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--content-block-->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--row d-flex align-items-center mb-5-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 background-white \" id=\"make_it\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"content-block pt-5\">\n\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"text-black\">Make it to the inbox using an email deliverability tool<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row mb-3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deliverability is vital to a healthy email marketing program. When emails don\u2019t reach the inbox, your efforts and marketing dollars are less effective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5 px-1\">\n<div class=\"row blog-cta-green rounded-5 p-4\">\n<div class=\"mx-auto col-12\">\n<div class=\"row d-flex align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 text-center\">\n<p class=\"bold fs-4\">Maximize your email reach<\/p>\n<p>Check against 20+ spam filters. Verify authentication. Get advice to improve deliverability.<\/p>\n<p><button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/spam-filter-tests\" rel=\"noopener\">Try our SPAM checker<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-5-->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--row-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--content-block-->\n\t\t\t<\/div><!--row d-flex align-items-center mb-5-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-9 pb-5-->\n\t<\/div><!--row-->\n\t<\/div><!--container pt-5 background-spinner-wrapper-->\n<\/section>\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\tjQuery(document).ready(\n\t\tfunction normalizeStickySidebar() {\n\t\t\t$('body').scrollspy({target:'#sticky-list-group', offset:225});\n\t\t});\n<\/script>\n\t<style> .sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 .h3, .sticky-sidebar-multi-content-2024 h3 {\n\t\tfont-weight: bold;\n\t\tfont-style: normal;\n\t\tcolor: 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filters, and ensure your emails land in the inbox with expert tips and actionable strategies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":112123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"templates\/content-single-toc.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"blog_category":[10302],"class_list":["post-111960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_category-email-deliverability"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The 2025 Marketer\u2019s Guide to Email Deliverability<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how to improve email deliverability, avoid spam filters, and ensure your emails land in the inbox with expert tips and actionable strategies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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