Email Marketing
Why your emails go to spam, and how we fix deliverability.
Spam placement has a handful of common causes and they are checkable in a sensible order. We diagnose authentication, sending reputation, list quality, engagement and content, fix the biggest cause first and verify the result. Nobody can promise inbox placement, but most problems have an identifiable cause.
When You Need This
The situations where this work pays for itself.
Signs it is time
- Open rates dropped suddenly or steadily
- Customers say your emails are in spam or promotions
- You started sending from a new domain or platform
- Bounce rates are rising
- You mail an old list that has not been contacted in a long time
What you get
- A deliverability diagnosis ranked by likely cause
- Fixed authentication and sending setup
- A list hygiene and suppression plan
- A monitoring checklist for ongoing health
How We Do It
A clear process you can follow along with.
1. Separate the symptoms
We find out whether mail bounces, lands in spam or just lands in a tab, and whether it affects one provider or all. Gmail-only trouble points to different causes than a problem at every provider.
2. Check authentication first
We verify SPF, DKIM and DMARC pass and align for every sending tool. Authentication failure is the most common and cheapest cause to fix.
3. Read reputation data
We review Google Postmaster Tools for your domain, any Microsoft and Yahoo sender tools, platform reports and blocklist lookups. We treat these as signals to interpret, not a score to chase.
4. Audit the list
We look at how addresses were collected, how old they are, hard bounce handling and how many recipients have not engaged in a long time. Mailing stale or purchased addresses is a major reputation risk.
5. Review content and sending patterns
We check for broken links, link shorteners, image-only emails, misleading subject lines, a missing unsubscribe link, and sudden volume jumps. We also check that the from name and reply address are real.
6. Fix in order and shrink risk
We repair authentication, suppress unengaged and bouncing addresses, and temporarily send only to your most engaged contacts to rebuild positive signals before widening the audience.
7. Verify and monitor
We confirm improvement through complaint trends, bounce rates and engagement over time, and set alerts so the next drop is caught early.
Mistakes We Help You Avoid
Common ways this goes wrong, and what we do instead.
Blaming subject line words
Trigger word lists matter far less than authentication, complaints and engagement.
Buying or renting lists
These addresses damage reputation and often break the law and platform terms. Confirm legal questions with your attorney.
Resending to everyone after a drop
Mailing the same unengaged list again makes reputation worse. Narrow first.
Trusting one seed test
Seed inbox tests are a rough signal and do not mirror real recipients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do my emails suddenly go to spam?
Common causes are a broken authentication record, a spike in complaints, mailing an old list, a volume jump or a change of platform. A structured check finds which applies.
Can you guarantee inbox placement?
No. Mailbox providers decide, and anyone promising otherwise is overselling. We reduce known risks and measure the effect.
Is the promotions tab the same as spam?
No. The promotions tab is still the inbox. It is a Gmail sorting choice, though stronger engagement can influence where messages land.
Want Help With Why your emails go to spam, and how we fix deliverability?
Schedule an appointment. Tell us about your business and we will outline the safest, highest-value approach.
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