You write a beautifully worded email. You hit send. And then – nothing. No opens, no replies, no clicks. Sound familiar?
The most likely reason is that your email never made it to your subscriber’s inbox at all. It went straight to spam – or worse, it was silently filtered before anyone ever saw it.
This happens more often than most business owners realize, and it’s rarely because of one big thing. It’s usually one of three fixable issues that are quietly working against you every time you press send.
In this episode of TechTalks, I’m walking you through exactly what those three issues are, how to identify which one is affecting you, and the specific steps to fix each one.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Why Email Deliverability Matters More Than Open Rates
Most people obsess over open rates. But open rates can only be measured if the email actually reaches the inbox. If your deliverability is broken, your open rate is meaningless – you’re measuring a fraction of what’s actually happening.
Email platforms like Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail use sophisticated filters to decide whether your email belongs in the inbox, the promotions tab, or spam. These filters look at dozens of signals and the good news is that most of them are within your control.
THE THREE CAUSES
The Three Most Common Reasons Your Emails Land in Spam
1. Your Domain Authentication Is Missing or Broken
Domain authentication tells email providers that your emails are genuinely coming from you — and not from someone impersonating your domain. There are three records that need to be set up correctly in your domain’s DNS settings:
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework) — authorises which servers are allowed to send email on your behalf
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) — adds a digital signature to your emails that verifies they haven’t been tampered with
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication) — tells email providers what to do if SPF or DKIM checks fail
If any of these are missing, misconfigured, or in conflict with each other, email providers will treat your emails with suspicion — and many will send them straight to spam.
How to check: Use a free tool like MXToolbox (mxtoolbox.com) or Mail Tester (mail-tester.com) to run a check on your domain. They’ll tell you exactly what’s missing.
Tip: If you’re sending from an email platform like ActiveCampaign, ConvertKit, or Kajabi, check their documentation for the specific DNS records they require. Most platforms provide a step-by-step guide.
2. Your Email Content Is Triggering Spam Filters
Even with perfect authentication, your email content itself can cause deliverability problems. Spam filters scan the body of your email and flag certain patterns:
- Spam trigger words — ALL CAPS subject lines, words like FREE!!!, CLICK NOW, LIMITED TIME, GUARANTEED
- Excessive links — too many URLs in one email, especially if they all go to the same domain
- Image-heavy emails — emails that are mostly images with very little text are flagged because spammers often hide text inside images
- Broken links — links that return errors or redirect too many times
- Missing plain text version — every HTML email should have a plain text alternative — most platforms do this automatically but it’s worth checking
How to check: Send your email through mail-tester.com before sending to your list. It gives your email a spam score and tells you exactly what’s causing problems.
3. Your Sender Reputation Has Taken a Hit
Your sender reputation is a score that email providers assign to your sending domain and IP address based on your sending history. If your reputation is low, your emails will be filtered — regardless of how good your content is.
Common reputation killers:
- High bounce rates — sending to invalid or outdated email addresses
- High spam complaint rates — subscribers hitting the spam button instead of unsubscribing
- Low engagement — sending to a large list where very few people open or click
- Sudden spikes in sending volume — going from 100 emails a week to 10,000 overnight
How to fix it:
- Clean your list — remove subscribers who haven’t opened an email in 90+ days
- Re-engagement campaign — send a final email to inactive subscribers asking if they want to stay on your list
- Remove anyone who doesn’t respond and never complain about removing them — a smaller, engaged list always outperforms a large, disengaged one
- Warm up your domain if you’re new to email sending — start with small volumes and increase gradually over several weeks
QUICK CHECKLIST
Quick Deliverability Checklist
Before you send your next email, run through this:
- SPF record is set up correctly for your sending domain
- DKIM is enabled in your email platform and DNS
- DMARC policy is in place
- Subject line has no ALL CAPS or spam trigger words
- Email has a healthy mix of text and images — not image-only
- All links are working and not over-redirected
- Plain text version is enabled
- Unsubscribe link is clearly visible
- You’re not sending to a list full of cold or invalid addresses
CLOSING
The Bottom Line
Email deliverability isn’t glamorous but it’s foundational. Everything you do with email marketing depends on your emails actually reaching the people you’re sending them to. The fixes above aren’t complicated, but they do require getting into your DNS settings or your email platform settings – which is exactly the kind of thing I help my clients sort out.
If you’ve run through the checklist above and you’re still having deliverability problems, feel free to reach out – this is the kind of issue I troubleshoot regularly and it’s usually fixable faster than you’d expect.
If you found this useful, browse the rest of TechTalks for more practical videos on the tech side of running an online business. And if your backend needs more than a quick fix — take a look at my services.
