Email deliverability can make or break the success of your cold email campaigns. Even the best-crafted emails won’t do any good if they don’t land in your recipients’ inboxes. With email service providers (ESPs) constantly updating their algorithms to filter out spam, improving email deliverability is crucial to making sure your messages get read. In this guide, we’ll cover 7 actionable strategies to improve email deliverability and avoid getting caught in spam filters.
Warm Up New Email Domains Gradually
Before you start sending out large volumes of emails from a new domain, it’s crucial to warm up your email accounts. Warming up involves sending a small number of emails per day and gradually increasing that volume over time. This signals to email providers like Google and Outlook that your domain is trustworthy, reducing the chances of your emails being marked as spam.
Start with a few dozen emails per day, and slowly work your way up over the course of a few weeks. Using a warm-up tool can automate this process, ensuring your domain builds a good reputation with ESPs before you start sending out high-volume cold emails.
Use Spintax to Vary Your Content
Spin tax is a technique that allows you to create variations of your email copy to avoid sending identical messages to multiple recipients. It works by using placeholders for different phrases or words, making each email slightly unique. This can significantly improve email deliverability because ESPs are more likely to flag identical emails as spam.
For example, instead of saying, “We help businesses like yours grow faster,” you could use spin tax to create variations like:
- “We assist companies like yours in scaling rapidly.”
- “Our team helps businesses similar to yours accelerate growth.”
By rotating through these variations, each email appears unique, reducing the chances of ESPs identifying them as automated or spam.
Set Up Proper Email Authentication
One of the most important steps in improving email deliverability is setting up proper email authentication protocols. These include SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance).
These protocols verify that your emails are coming from legitimate sources and not spoofed addresses. Without them, ESPs are more likely to flag your emails as untrustworthy, which can result in your messages landing in the spam folder.
SPF ensures that only authorized servers can send emails on behalf of your domain, while DKIM adds an encrypted signature to your emails to verify they haven’t been tampered with. DMARC allows you to set up a policy for how ESPs should handle emails that fail these checks.
Avoid Spam Trigger Words
Certain words and phrases can set off spam filters, even if your email content is legitimate. Terms like “free,” “guaranteed,” “limited time offer,” and “act now” are common in spam emails, so ESPs are programmed to flag them. Using these words in your subject line or body copy can negatively impact your email deliverability.
Instead, focus on clear, straightforward language that gets to the point without sounding like a sales pitch. Keep your tone professional and conversational, and avoid over-the-top claims that might come off as spammy.
Manage Bounce Rates Effectively
A high bounce rate can damage your sender reputation, making it more likely that your emails will be marked as spam. Soft bounces occur when an email can’t be delivered due to a temporary issue, like a full inbox, while hard bounces happen when the email address is invalid or no longer exists.
Regularly clean your email list to remove invalid or outdated addresses, and use email validation tools to ensure your list is up-to-date. This will help reduce your bounce rate and improve your sender reputation over time.
Rotate Sending Domains and Email Accounts
For high-volume email campaigns, rotating your sending domains and email accounts is essential for maintaining good email deliverability. If you send too many emails from the same domain or inbox over a short period, ESPs may flag your emails as suspicious, even if your content is legitimate.
By using multiple domains and rotating them, you can spread out the sending volume, reducing the likelihood of being flagged. You should also rotate the email accounts you send from, using different inboxes for each segment of your audience.
Monitor Your Deliverability Metrics Regularly
Regularly monitoring your email deliverability metrics is the best way to catch potential issues before they become bigger problems. Look at metrics like bounce rates, spam complaints, and sender reputation scores to get a sense of how your emails are performing.
If you notice a sudden drop in deliverability, take a closer look at your recent email activity. Did you send too many emails too quickly? Are your subject lines triggering spam filters? By catching these issues early, you can adjust your strategy and improve deliverability.
Conclusion
Improving email deliverability is an ongoing process that requires careful planning and attention to detail. By using strategies like warming up domains, setting up proper authentication, and avoiding spam triggers, you can significantly increase the chances of your emails landing in the inbox. Regularly monitor your performance and make adjustments as needed to ensure your cold email campaigns reach their full potential.
