{"id":5865,"date":"2025-06-05T08:23:45","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T12:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/7-common-deliverability-myths\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T16:42:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T21:42:23","slug":"7-common-deliverability-myths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/7-common-deliverability-myths","title":{"rendered":"7 Common Deliverability Myths That Could Be Holding You Back"},"content":{"rendered":"<table class=\"my-5\" style=\"background-color: #f2f3f6;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"block-1\" style=\"padding: 20px;\">\n<h3>Key takeaways \u2728<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>As an email marketer, you know you\u2019re a trustworthy sender. But <strong>your subscribers will mark you as spam if you don\u2019t respect their inbox<\/strong> by sending too many emails or irrelevant emails too often.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The more engaged your subscribers are, the better your deliverability<\/strong>. That\u2019s why you should embrace any unsubscribes\u2014it\u2019s better to let go of people who don\u2019t want to hear from you than to get another spam complaint.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Your email content matters<\/strong> <em>almost<\/em> as much as your overall infrastructure and sender reputation.<\/li>\n<li>The problem might be your ISP or ESP, but <strong>diagnosing deliverability issues starts with your sender behavior and technical setup<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Litmus can help you diagnose deliverability issues, while Validity gives you the tools you need to solve them. Together, they can help you get back to the inbox.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deliverability remains one of the most difficult aspects of email marketing to master. It\u2019s a borderline mythical craft dependent on your infrastructure, subscriber behavior, and whether or not you mixed mugwort and eye of newt at the last full moon. \ud83e\udee0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The worst part? Poor deliverability means all of the hard work it takes to get an email out the door goes to waste. And we know you work hard. In fact, <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/pdf\/The-2023-State-of-Email-Workflows-Report.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">62% of email marketing teams<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> take two weeks or more to send an email, with 44% of marketers telling us they build two or three versions of each send.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With algorithms and filters constantly changing, it\u2019s hard to figure out what to do to stay in the inbox. <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/resource-center\/state-of-email-march-2025-on-demand\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Validity found<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that inbox placement rates decreased to 83.5% over the last year, and much of that was because of Apple Mail\u2019s new filtering changes. But you don\u2019t have to shake a magic eight-ball and hope for the best with deliverability. Consider these seven common deliverability myths busted.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Table of Contents:<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#myth\u2013one\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Myth #1<\/strong>: marketers and subscribers define spam the same way<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#myth\u2013two\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Myth #2<\/strong>: unsubscribes are the worst thing that can happen to your sender reputation<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#myth\u2013three\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Myth #3<\/strong>: new IPs fix everything<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#myth\u2013four\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Myth #4<\/strong>: you only need to follow your own country\u2019s spam laws<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#myth\u2013five\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Myth #5<\/strong>: avoid words like \u201cfree\u201d or punctuation in your subject lines<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#myth\u2013six\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Myth #6<\/strong>: the problem must be the inbox service provider<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#myth\u2013seven\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Myth #7<\/strong>: the problem must be your email service provider<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#busted\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deliverability myths\u2014busted<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"\u201cmyth\u2013one\u201d\">Myth #1: marketers and subscribers define spam the same way<\/h2>\n<p>When it comes to spam, marketers and subscribers often feel differently. When you\u2019ve put so much hard work into an email, the last thing you want is to be labelled a spammer.<\/p>\n<p>Your subscribers likely define spam as any kind of unwanted or irrelevant email. 78% of the participants in a <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.zerobounce.net\/email-statistics-report\/\">recent Zerobounce survey<\/a> said they mark an email as spam if the email \u201clooks like spam.\u201d Your subscribers field hundreds of emails in their inbox in a given day. If they don\u2019t recognize your brand\u2014or they roll their eyes because of the volume of emails you\u2019ve sent over the last 48 hours\u2014then you\u2019ve lost them.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I<\/span>t can be hard to swallow, but there\u2019s a high probability that your subscribers don\u2019t love or want to see every single email you send. <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/putting-fires-vs-preventing-happening-difference-pre-post-send-deliverability-tools\">What matters for deliverability<\/a> is your subscriber engagement rate. If you\u2019re sending too many emails that don\u2019t matter to your subscribers, they\u2019re going to tune you out at best (passively harming your deliverability) and give you a spam complaint at worst (actively harming your deliverability.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re hearing from a number of senders who are investing considerable time and resources into CDP migrations and integrations, which are allowing, finally, for the reality of hyper-personalized behavior-based marketing. Mailbox providers are also leaning into the subscriber experience by offering more user-focused controls to categorize, summarize and manage email,\u201d says Laura Christensen, Validity\u2019s Sr. Director of Professional Services.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why it\u2019s more important than ever to send relevant, personal emails that best reflect the 1:1 nature of email. That means:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Using segmentation to divvy up your email list between subscriber engagement and interest so you\u2019re tailoring your message to where they are in their customer journey (and making sure you have good email list hygiene, removing invalid email addresses or those with high bounce rates)<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Adding dynamic content like product recommendations, exclusive offers, or seasonal messaging that gives a \u201cwow\u201d factor<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Including interactive elements in your emails, like polls or surveys, to collect more first-party data that help you further infuse personality into your email marketing strategy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To comply with <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/new-yahoo-gmail-email-deliverability-rules\">Gmail and Yahoo\u2019s sender requirements<\/a> (including deliverability rules), for example, you must maintain a spam complaint rate of 0.3%, or no more than three spam reports for every 1,000 messages. Personalization aligns your messaging with your subscriber\u2019s expectations, boosting engagement and making it impossible for your email to \u201clook like spam.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">\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 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<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"myth\u2013two\">Myth #2: unsubscribes are the worst thing that can happen to your sender reputation<\/h2>\n<p>Let\u2019s dispel this myth once and for all. Unsubscribes and unsubscribe rates via the direct <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-ultimate-guide-to-list-unsubscribe\">unsubscribe link<\/a> in your email have no known effect on your <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-email-reputation\">email sender reputation<\/a> or deliverability.<\/p>\n<p>It can actually be a good thing because your list is now cleaner and more targeted toward the people that do want to receive your emails. According to <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optimove.com\/resources\/downloads\/optimove-research-consumer-marketing-fatigue\">our friends at Optimove<\/a>, 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. It\u2019s time to let them go!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf subscribers continually ignore your messages, then they need to be suppressed for good,\u201d says Laura. \u201cWhen you identify that lapsed engagement point for your brand, you want to implement a win back email strategy. These strategies typically reinforce the benefits of being subscribed to your program. They may even offer an incentive to come back. But if those subscribers still fail to engage, then it\u2019s time to say goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Marketers often focus on pleasing everyone, when we actually make the most impact building a community of people who love what we do. A clean and engaged email list is essential for successful campaigns because it can lead to increased open rates, click rates, and other measures of success, as well as a decrease in bounces. If you\u2019re sending to subscribers who want to opt-out from your emails, but can\u2019t find the unsubscribe button, then you could see an increase in spam complaints (not ideal!).<\/p>\n<p>For that reason, it\u2019s a good idea to make it easy for subscribers to opt-out by including clear and simple unsubscribe links at the bottom of your email. Also\u2026it\u2019s illegal under privacy laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM to \u201cforget\u201d to unsubscribe someone from your list. And to comply with <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/new-yahoo-gmail-email-deliverability-rules\">Gmail and Yahoo\u2019s deliverability guidelines<\/a>, you need a one-click unsubscribe button.<\/p>\n<p>The worst thing to happen to your sender reputation? Failing to keep your email list clean can land you on a blocklist or a spam trap. And failing to pay attention to your subscriber engagement can lead to <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/why-email-deliverability-matters\">issues with your deliverability, too<\/a>. Tracking metrics like opens, click-through rate, and conversions with Litmus Analytics can help you spot disengagement trends early, so you can pivot your personalization strategy or nudge them out the door with a re-engagement campaign before you get an unsubscribe or a spam complaint.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"myth\u2013three\">Myth #3: new IPs fix everything<\/h2>\n<p>A common misconception is that, by using a large amount of IP addresses to send email, you can fly under the radar at the ISP to achieve better deliverability. An IP address is a number that uniquely identifies any device connected to the internet, and your IP reputation (alongside your domain reputation) are two key elements of your overall sender reputation.<\/p>\n<p>But changing your IP address or domain in an attempt to work around being blocked or blocklisted won\u2019t necessarily solve your problems, either. With the adoption of domain-based reputation and other <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.act-on.com\/ebook\/email-marketing-deliverability-ebook\/\">fingerprinting techniques<\/a>, ISPs can spot these tricks easily. Without fixing your root problem, you\u2019ll be right back to square one. In addition, most email service providers (ESPs) won\u2019t provide you with <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/dedicated-vs-shared-email-ip\">additional IP addresses <\/a>without a clear business justification.<\/p>\n<p>There are a few legitimate reasons to change your IP address or add more, however, such as acquiring a new company, changing ESP providers, rebranding, or sending a completely new type of email, like transactional emails. If you\u2019re not using an ESP but are sending on your own, you can technically do whatever you want, but it\u2019s still not a recommended practice.<\/p>\n<p>To fix your email deliverability issues, start by diagnosing the problem with Litmus Spam Testing. See if you can figure out why major filters flag your emails. Otherwise, your new IP addresses will quickly become as sullied as your old ones did. Then hop over to <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/validity-for-email\/\">Validity <\/a>to solve those deliverability woes.<\/p>\n<p><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">\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\">Is your infrastructure hurting you?<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Validity Everest checks your technical setup for errors that affect inbox placement\u2014before they hurt your performance.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/everest\/infrastructure\/\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Audit setup<\/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<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"myth\u2013four\">Myth #4: you only need to follow your country\u2019s spam laws<\/h2>\n<p>No matter where your business is based, you must follow any <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-master-international-opt-in-requirements\">international laws that apply to your subscribers<\/a>. This means that if you have subscribers in Canada, Germany, and the U.S., for example, you must follow CASL, GDPR, and CAN-SPAM, since those laws govern each of those countries. These laws aren\u2019t new, and they\u2019re not negotiable. Your business practices must comply with these regulations or you risk major fines\u2014not to mention crushing your brand reputation.<\/p>\n<p>If you use <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/litmus.com\/email-analytics\">Litmus Analytics<\/a>, you can see where in the world your subscribers open your emails, which can serve as a guideline for which laws you must follow. But if we\u2019re being totally honest, following only some of these privacy and data permission laws and not others can get you into hot water pretty quickly. That\u2019s because these laws protect your subscribers from scammers\u2014and trying to put together a segmentation rule for your California-based subscribers under CCPA just so you can get away with messing with your subscriber data just feels kind of icky, right?<\/p>\n<p>Instead, these best practices will help you comply with most major spam laws:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Require permission before sending email (either through <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/litmus.com\/blog\/single-opt-in-vs-double-opt-in-case-for-soi\">single opt-in<\/a> or <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/litmus.com\/blog\/single-opt-vs-double-opt-case-doi\">double opt-in<\/a>, though regulations vary on that as well).<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Include a clear unsubscribe link that works, and honor your unsubscribe promptly.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Identify your email as promotional, and don\u2019t use deceptive subject lines or preview text.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Include a physical address of where you\u2019re sending the email from.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This also includes laws related to AI-generated emails, which are quickly gaining steam in the U.S. and elsewhere. \u201cThe rise of AI has made it even easier, unfortunately, for scammers to dupe unsuspecting consumers. Marketers are going to need to move quickly to ensure compliance with a patchwork of local, state, federal and international legislation,\u201d says Laura.<\/p>\n<p>Now, we\u2019re not lawyers, but by making sure you have permission and staying honest about your intentions when it comes to email will go a long way not just toward complying with the law, but with sending better email, too.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"myth\u2013five\">Myth #5: avoid words like \u2018free\u2019, all caps, emojis, or punctuation in subject lines<\/h2>\n<p>This myth applies to a myriad of spam filter \u201ctrigger words\u201d that simply don\u2019t exist. Though content does play a role in determining what is marked as spam, that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t use exclamation marks or certain words. Copy like \u201cMake money fast!\u201d and \u201cWork from home\u201d can trigger a spam filter, but only if you have previous poor sending practices. It\u2019s all about context.<\/p>\n<p>Trigger words may have been an issue a decade ago, but spam filters have become so sophisticated that you no longer need to worry about them\u2014unless you\u2019ve already had a deliverability issue.<\/p>\n<p>And go ahead and use all the emojis you want \ud83c\udf89\ud83e\udd73\ud83c\udf8a. Just make sure you\u2019re not replacing words with them entirely, as that can impact your <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/ultimate-guide-accessible-emails\">email accessibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In general, the content of your email matters more in how you engage your subscribers and less in making sure you\u2019re avoiding specific words or phrases. It\u2019s not that you can\u2019t advertise your pricing and offerings\u2014you can. But the more your emails add value for your subscribers rather than selling to them, the more likely they\u2019ll open and click on the next email, making it more likely you\u2019ll land in the inbox in the future.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the reason you have to be careful with AI, too. Using ChatGPT or Claude to help write your email is fine, but if it\u2019s vague, boring, or meh copy, it\u2019s not going to do any favors for your deliverability.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEmail content influences spam complaints and subscriber engagement,\u201d says Laura. \u201cIt&#8217;s no longer nice-to-have to use engaging subject lines that are aligned with the message content. And be aware of who you\u2019re mailing to and when. I saw so many examples during California\u2019s wildfire season of senders failing to suppress subscribers in these areas and using a fire emoji to promote their latest deal. That includes your triggered messages as well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The only way to know whether or not your subject line will work is to test it. Litmus Previews helps you view your subject line across multiple email clients and gives you a way to <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-ab-testing-how-to\">A\/B test your subject lines<\/a> to see what your audience likes and what they ignore.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"container pt-3 pb-5\">\n\t<div class=\"row blog-cta-blue rounded-5 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\">Learn from the best<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<p>Your favorite brands use Litmus to deliver flawless email experiences. Discover the ROI your emails can achieve with Litmus.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<button class=\"button-blue arrow\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/customers\" class=\"text-white text-decoration-none\">Explore Case Studies<\/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 id=\"myth\u2013six\">Myth #6: the problem must be the inbox service provider<\/h2>\n<p>If you\u2019re having issues getting your emails delivered to the inbox, it\u2019s easy to blame inbox providers, or ISPs. Your mailbox provider uses <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-your-content-could-trigger-the-spam-filter\">specific algorithms and spam filters<\/a> that can impact where your message goes. As frustrating as it is to be relegated to <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-utilize-gmail-promotions-tab\">Gmail\u2019s \u201cPromotions\u201d tab<\/a>, that\u2019s actually where your message is supposed to go, and where subscribers expect it to be. Don\u2019t blame your subscribers\u2019 email provider for doing their job.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re having deliverability issues and aren\u2019t sure why, it\u2019s probably not your ISP. Instead, it\u2019s a good idea is to backtrack through your latest email sends and practices and <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-deliverability-audit\">do a deliverability audit:<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Did something specific change? Is my list criteria different, or have I changed my email frequency?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Have I implemented a new policy or other framework?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Have I been paying attention to my <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-list-hygiene-how-to-build-a-clean-email-list\">email list hygiene<\/a>? Do I have a large group of inactive subscribers?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Am I doing the same thing over and over again? And am I not targeting emails based on subscriber behavior, cleaned bounces from my list, or updated my opt-outs?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Have I recently opted-in a large number of people through a sweepstakes or other giveaway that may have caused an increase in spam complaints?<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\">Have I recently purchased or rented an email list? (<a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/litmus.com\/blog\/6-alternatives-to-spending-thousands-on-an-email-list\">You should never, ever do that<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are so many factors that go into a <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/how-to-fix-email-reputation\">positive sender reputation<\/a> that it\u2019s important to look at multiple elements, rather than chalk it up to a finicky ISP.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour reputation as a sender directly impacts your deliverability and your inbox placement. And there are many different metrics that make up your reputation,\u201d says Laura. \u201cIt&#8217;s not just one metric, it\u2019s a combination of factors, including spam traps, rejected rate, spam complaints, and unknown users.So it&#8217;s important to look at your reputation holistically.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Problems usually come down to three areas: your sender behavior, your subscriber behavior, and your email authentication protocols. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.validity.com\/\">Validity<\/a> can help you evaluate each one to determine what\u2019s causing your deliverability issues and how you can make changes to fix them.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re stuck after working on your deliverability and answering those questions, then (and only then!) you can also reach out to your ISP postmasters. A postmaster is the administrator of an email service. They deal with spam emails and sender reputation.<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019ve identified your problematic ISP, send them a report using these forms:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/mail\/contact\/gmail_bulk_sender_escalation\">Gmail<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/senders.yahooinc.com\/contact\">Yahoo Mail<\/a><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/support.microsoft.com\/en-us\/supportrequestform\/8ad563e3-288e-2a61-8122-3ba03d6b8d75\">Outlook<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While outages and issues can occur, in most cases the reality is that the issue is with your permission practices and your marketing emails, not the ISP. Petitioning an ISP to remove blocks or calling their help desk won\u2019t fix your problem, but it\u2019s worth a shot if you\u2019ve tried everything else.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"myth\u2013seven\">Myth #7: the problem must be the email service provider<\/h2>\n<p>Similar to the ISP myth, it\u2019s tempting when something\u2019s gone wrong to have a knee-jerk reaction that \u201cit\u2019s not my problem.\u201d While most reputable ESPs will work with you directly to interpret your deliverability issues based on available metrics, there are a few that perpetuate this myth by promoting that they guarantee high deliverability rates.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Issues can happen, but ultimately, deliverability issues come down to the quality and integrity of your mailing processes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re thinking that changing ESPs will help with deliverability rates, that\u2019s not the case. If you\u2019ve had deliverability problems before, they\u2019re likely to follow to your next ESP. If you\u2019ve recently changed ESPs and didn\u2019t encounter issues before, it may be that you used to be on a shared infrastructure and are now on your own, or worse\u2014the problems were there all along, but you didn\u2019t have insight into the reporting.<\/p>\n<p>Laura says, \u201cESPs will give you a delivery rate associated with your campaigns, but that\u2019s not the same thing as deliverability. ESP reporting can tell you what percentage of messages are successfully sent, bounced, or rejected, but not necessarily whether your messages are delivered to the inbox or spam folder.. You\u2019re going to want to track actual inbox placement over time, so you can easily identify and troubleshoot potential deliverability risks.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Your ESP can\u2019t wave a magic wand, but they can be your partner in identifying what the root cause of your issues are, and help you put a plan in place to fix them. While they will work on your behalf and will help you resolve some issues, the ultimate effort is on you.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, as much as we wish it to be true, there is no easy way out\u2014though there can be some short-term band-aids, deliverability is a long-term endeavor. Only you have the power to change it.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"busted\" style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deliverability myths, busted<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We originally wrote this post back in 2016 and many of these myths are still around a decade later. Of all the aspects of email marketing, deliverability feels the most shrouded in mystery\u2014but much of it is in your control as an email marketer.<\/p>\n<p>Creating personalized, relevant email campaigns, backing those campaigns up with the correct email authentication and compliance protocols, and prioritizing engagement as your success metric can help you work through your deliverability issues.<\/p>\n<p>In summary:<\/p>\n<table class=\"table table-striped\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Deliverability Myth<\/th>\n<th>The Truth<\/th>\n<th>How Validity Helps<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Marketers and subscribers are quick to define &#8220;spam&#8221; as the same.<\/td>\n<td>Relevance is subjective. Users mark unwanted emails as spam, even if the email is technically compliant.<\/td>\n<td>Litmus Personalize dynamically tailors content to match subscriber interests and intent to help reduce spam complaints.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Unsubscribes damage your sender reputation.<\/td>\n<td>No one likes unsubscribes, but they don\u2019t negatively impact your sender reputation like complaints do! The more your email list is full of engaged subscribers, the better your deliverability will be.<\/td>\n<td>Litmus and Validity can help spot declining engagement patterns before you get the unsubscribe (or worse, a spam complaint!).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>You only need to follow your country&#8217;s spam laws.<\/td>\n<td>You must follow data privacy and spam laws for any country where your subscribers reside.<\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>New IPs fix everything.<\/td>\n<td>Changing your IP without fixing the root cause of your deliverability issues just means your problems will follow you to your new IP. Unless you\u2019re acquiring a new company, changing ESPs, rebranding, or sending a completely new type of email, it\u2019s best to keep your IP the same.<\/td>\n<td>Litmus Spam Testing and Validity can help you diagnose the root cause of your deliverability issues by examining your infrastructure and your past email marketing campaigns against the most popular spam filters.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Avoid spammy words like &#8220;buy now&#8221; or &#8220;free&#8221; in your email subject lines.<\/td>\n<td>Your content matters, but spam filters are sophisticated enough to know that you&#8217;re not a spammer, as long as your sender reputation is already strong.<\/td>\n<td>Run your email campaign ahead of time through Litmus Spam Testing, and test your subject lines for maximum engagement with Litmus Previews\u2019 A\/B Testing. And, Litmus Assistant helps generate new, creative subject lines to grab your subscriber\u2019s attention.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>The problem is your ISP.<\/td>\n<td>Check your sender behavior, subscriber behavior, and email infrastructure protocols before blaming your ISP.<\/td>\n<td>Validity gives you the data to evaluate what\u2019s going on with your deliverability and how to fix it. Plus, BriteVerify ensures your email contact list is accurate and actionable to reduce bounce rates.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>The problem is your ESP.<\/td>\n<td>Deliverability issues are more likely to be from the quality and integrity of your mailing processes, not your ESP.<\/td>\n<td>Validity can give you the data you need to evaluate what&#8217;s going on with your deliverability and how to fix it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span data-sheets-root=\"1\">\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 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<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think deliverability is just about spam filters? Decode deliverability myths and learn how Litmus and Everest help you improve inbox placement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":115619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[45,832,10247,48],"blog_category":[53],"class_list":["post-5865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-deliverability","tag-email-service-providers","tag-performance-metrics","tag-spam-filter","blog_category-tips-resources"],"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>7 Common Email Deliverability Myths Debunked | Litmus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Think deliverability is just about spam filters? 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