Summary
Transactional email delays from SFMC to Gmail are multifaceted, stemming from SFMC infrastructure, Gmail throttling, sender reputation, authentication issues, and more. Specific issues include SFMC processing delays, Gmail's temporary failures and throttling, incorrect SFMC configurations (DNS, SPF, DKIM), shared IP reputation problems, SMTP timeouts, SFMC's Send Time Optimization (STO), new IP warming requirements, and even email content triggering spam filters. Analyzing email headers, adhering to Gmail's guidelines, managing sending volume, and ensuring proper configuration are crucial to mitigate these delays.
Key findings
- SFMC Infrastructure: SFMC's infrastructure and processing times can be a source of delays.
- Gmail Throttling: Gmail may throttle emails from new or less reputable IPs, particularly during peak times, or temp fail.
- Configuration Errors: Incorrect DNS records or missing authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) in SFMC can cause delays.
- Shared IP Issues: If using a shared IP in SFMC, the reputation of other senders on that IP impacts delivery speed.
- SMTP Timeouts: SMTP timeouts between SFMC and Gmail can cause delays.
- STO Feature: SFMC's Send Time Optimization (STO) can introduce delays.
- IP Warming Needed: New IPs used in SFMC must undergo a warming process.
- Email Content: Spam-like content can cause delays.
- SFMC retry logic: Incorrectly configured SFMC retry logic can cause delays.
- Gmail server issues: Gmail server issues can cause delays
- SFMC Queue: SFMC's email queue having issues can cause delays
Key considerations
- Analyze Headers: Analyze email headers to pinpoint delay sources.
- Follow Gmail Guidelines: Adhere to Gmail's bulk sender guidelines.
- Manage Sending Volume: Manage sending volume and avoid sudden changes.
- Ensure Proper Configuration: Ensure correct DNS records and authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) in SFMC.
- Monitor Reputation: Monitor and maintain a good sender reputation.
- Consider Dedicated IP: If using a shared IP, consider moving to a dedicated IP.
- Disable STO: If STO is enabled, try disabling for transactional emails.
- Investigate retry logic: Investigate retry logic and ensure they are configured correctly
- Check SFMC Status: Check SFMC's status for any incident that can affect performance
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
Several factors can contribute to delays in transactional emails sent from Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) to Gmail. These include issues with SFMC's infrastructure and processing, Gmail's throttling of emails from new or less reputable sources, incorrect SFMC configuration settings, shared IP reputation, temporary Gmail server issues, SFMC queue backups, poor sender reputation, spam-like email content, misconfigured SFMC retry logic, and general email delivery factors such as large images, DNS issues, and SMTP problems. Addressing these areas can potentially mitigate delivery delays.
Key opinions
- Infrastructure/Processing: SFMC's infrastructure or high email volume can cause processing delays.
- Gmail Throttling: Gmail may throttle emails from new or less reputable IPs/domains, especially during peak times.
- SFMC Configuration: Incorrect DNS records or missing authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) can lead to delays.
- Shared IP Reputation: A shared IP's reputation in SFMC can impact email delivery speed if other senders have poor practices.
- Gmail Server Issues: Occasional issues with Gmail's servers can cause temporary delays.
- SFMC Queue Backups: SFMC email queues being backed up can cause delays.
- Sender Reputation: Poor sender reputation (complaint rates, spam traps) can lead to delays.
- Email Content: Spam-like content or suspicious links can trigger delays from Gmail's spam filters.
- SFMC Retry Logic: Misconfigured retry logic in SFMC can cause delays if initial delivery attempts fail.
- General Email Factors: Large images, DNS issues, and SMTP problems can contribute to email delivery delays.
Key considerations
- Monitor SFMC Status: Regularly check SFMC's status page for any reported incidents or known issues.
- Review SFMC Configuration: Ensure correct DNS records and proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are in place.
- Improve Sender Reputation: Reduce complaint rates, avoid spam traps, and maintain consistent sending volume.
- Optimize Email Content: Review and optimize email content to avoid spam-like words or suspicious links.
- Configure Retry Logic: Check SFMC’s retry logic to ensure that the retry intervals are not set too long.
- Monitor Sending Volume: A sudden increase in sending volume can affect deliverability.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Quora notes that many factors can contribute to email delivery delays including: large images that take a long time to download, DNS issues, and issues with SMTP.
20 Mar 2025 - Quora
Marketer view
Email marketer from MarketingCommunity.com shares that the content of your email, particularly if it contains spam-like words or suspicious links, can trigger delays as Gmail's spam filters analyze the message. Reviewing and optimizing your email content may improve delivery speed.
4 Dec 2021 - MarketingCommunity.com
What the experts say
6 expert opinions
Gmail delivery delays for transactional emails sent from SFMC can stem from several technical and reputational factors. Temporary failures may cause Google to re-queue emails, leading to delays. Email header analysis can pinpoint delay locations. Issues within ExactTarget (SFMC) can also contribute to delays, as can the sender's reputation. Misconfigured SPF records may cause receiving servers to flag emails as suspicious, delaying their delivery.
Key opinions
- Temporary Failures: Google may temporarily fail initial delivery attempts, causing emails to be re-queued and delivered later.
- Header Analysis: Email headers contain 'Received:' lines that indicate the time and location of delivery delays.
- ET/SFMC Delays: ExactTarget (SFMC) can introduce delays due to its own processing issues or Google instructing it to retry delivery.
- Sender Reputation: Poor sender reputation can cause Gmail to delay emails.
- SPF Configuration: Misconfigured SPF records may lead to emails being flagged as suspicious and delayed.
Key considerations
- Monitor Headers: Analyze email headers to identify the source and location of delivery delays.
- Improve Reputation: Take steps to improve sender reputation to avoid delays.
- Check SPF: Ensure SPF records are correctly configured to avoid emails being flagged as suspicious.
- ET/SFMC Performance: Investigate potential performance bottlenecks within ExactTarget/SFMC.
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource mentions SPF record misconfigurations can cause email delays or even delivery failures, as receiving servers may flag emails without proper authentication as suspicious and delay delivery for further inspection.
9 Jun 2024 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks analysed the email headers and identified that ExactTarget (SFMC) took 18 minutes to deliver the message to Google. This delay could be due to issues at ET or Google instructing ET to retry delivery.
17 Aug 2022 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Delays in transactional emails from SFMC to Gmail can be attributed to several factors. SFMC's Send Time Optimization (STO) may cause delays while determining optimal send times. Adhering to Gmail's bulk sender guidelines, including maintaining sender reputation and consistent sending volume, is crucial. New SFMC IPs require warming to build reputation. SMTP timeouts due to network issues can lead to delays and re-queuing of emails. SFMC may also implement throttling measures during high-volume periods or anomaly detection, causing temporary delays.
Key findings
- STO Delays: SFMC's Send Time Optimization (STO) can introduce delays.
- Gmail Guidelines: Adhering to Gmail's bulk sender guidelines is crucial for avoiding delays.
- IP Warming: New SFMC IPs require warming to build a positive reputation.
- SMTP Timeouts: SMTP timeouts due to network issues can cause delays and re-queuing.
- SFMC Throttling: SFMC may implement throttling measures during high-volume periods.
Key considerations
- Disable STO: Consider disabling STO for transactional emails to reduce potential delays.
- Adhere to Guidelines: Follow Gmail's bulk sender guidelines to maintain deliverability.
- Warm IPs: Properly warm new SFMC IPs before sending high volumes of emails.
- Monitor Networks: Monitor network performance to minimize SMTP timeouts.
- Manage Volume: Manage sending volume and patterns to avoid triggering SFMC throttling.
Technical article
Documentation from Gmail Help states that adhering to Gmail's bulk sender guidelines is crucial for avoiding delays and spam filtering. Factors like sender reputation, authentication, and consistent sending volume can affect delivery speed. Sudden changes in sending patterns might trigger delays.
21 Mar 2025 - Gmail Help
Technical article
Documentation from Salesforce Help explains that Send Time Optimization (STO) feature within SFMC could introduce delays as the system analyzes data to determine the optimal send time for each recipient. If STO is enabled, disabling it for transactional emails might reduce delays.
22 Jun 2022 - Salesforce Help
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