How do you improve email deliverability by adding live text, sending printables, and focusing on engaged users?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 2 Jun 2025
Updated 18 Aug 2025
6 min read
Achieving strong email deliverability is a multifaceted challenge that extends beyond technical configurations. While foundational elements like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential, the content of your emails and how you manage your audience play equally critical roles. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and mailbox providers increasingly analyze user engagement and content quality to determine inbox placement.
My experience has shown that focusing on what users genuinely want to receive and optimizing content presentation can significantly improve inbox rates. It's about building trust and demonstrating value, not just avoiding spam triggers.
Crafting emails with live text for better inboxing
Using live text, rather than relying heavily on images for content, is a fundamental best practice for email deliverability. Spam filters often view image-only emails with suspicion because they can be used to bypass text-based content analysis. A high text-to-image ratio signals to mailbox providers that your email is legitimate and contains readable content, improving its chances of landing in the inbox.
Beyond deliverability, live text offers a superior user experience. It's accessible to screen readers, allows for easy copy-pasting, and adapts better to different screen sizes and email clients. Images might not load for all recipients, or they may be blocked by default, leaving your message unintelligible. Prioritizing live text ensures your message is conveyed effectively to everyone.
While images can enhance visual appeal, they should complement, not replace, your core message. I aim for a balanced approach, typically a 60% text to 40% image ratio, or even higher text percentages for critical communications. This balance helps maintain a positive sender reputation and ensures your content is delivered and understood.
Image-heavy emails
Emails with excessive images and minimal text are often flagged by spam filters, which look for content variety. They can also load slowly, leading to a poor user experience and potential deletions.
Risk of spam flags: Spam filters scrutinize emails with too many images.
Poor user experience: Images might not load, making the email unreadable.
Delivering value through content
The content you send is paramount to email deliverability. When recipients consistently receive emails they find valuable and relevant, they are more likely to open, click, and engage. This positive interaction signals to mailbox providers that your emails are desired, enhancing your sender reputation. Offering unique, useful content like printables, guides, or exclusive tips can significantly boost engagement.
Sending valuable content goes beyond just avoiding the spam folder, it builds a loyal subscriber base. When subscribers anticipate and appreciate your emails, they are less likely to mark them as spam or unsubscribe. This proactive approach to content quality naturally aligns with email deliverability best practices.
Consider tailoring your content to specific segments of your audience. A one-size-fits-all approach often leads to disinterest. By understanding what different groups of your subscribers value, you can provide highly relevant content that drives consistent engagement, reinforces your brand's authority, and ensures your emails continue to reach the inbox.
Generic email content
Generic, unpersonalized content often leads to low open rates and high unsubscribe rates. This negatively impacts sender reputation and deliverability.
Low engagement signals: Recipients ignore or delete emails without opening.
Increased spam complaints: Irrelevant content can prompt recipients to mark emails as spam.
Valuable, desired content
Providing content like printables, exclusive tips, or personalized recommendations fosters strong engagement. This builds a positive sender reputation over time.
High engagement signals: Increased opens, clicks, and replies signal value to ISPs.
Reduced complaint rates: Subscribers are less likely to complain when content is relevant.
Prioritizing engaged audiences for optimal deliverability
Focusing your email sends on engaged users is one of the most impactful strategies for improving deliverability. Mailbox providers closely monitor how recipients interact with your emails. High open rates, click-through rates, and low spam complaints from your most active subscribers send strong positive signals about your sender reputation.
Segmenting your audience based on engagement allows you to tailor your sending frequency and content. For highly engaged users, you might increase frequency, as they are keen to receive your updates. Conversely, for less engaged segments or inactive subscribers, reducing send volume or implementing re-engagement campaigns can prevent negative signals that could impact your overall deliverability, as discussed in email deliverability best practices.
Starting with your most engaged subscribers and gradually increasing volume (a process known as email warming) for new IPs or domains is a prudent strategy. This builds a strong reputation from the ground up, teaching ISPs that your emails are valued. Consistent volume, once established, also contributes positively to your long-term deliverability.
Engagement Level
Sending Strategy
Impact on Deliverability
Highly engaged
Send more frequently, prioritize new content, use personalization.
Reduce frequency, initiate re-engagement campaigns, consider list cleaning.
Prevents negative signals like spam complaints and bounces, protects reputation.
Beyond content: Technical foundations for sustained deliverability
While content and engagement are crucial, it's equally important to have a solid technical foundation. Ensuring your domain is properly authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is non-negotiable for establishing trust with mailbox providers. These protocols verify that your emails are legitimate and sent from an authorized source, significantly reducing the likelihood of them being flagged as spam or phishing attempts. Without proper authentication, even the most engaging content can fail to reach the inbox.
Regularly monitoring your sender reputation and checking for any appearances on email blocklists (or blacklists) is another vital technical step. Being listed on a blocklist can severely impact your deliverability, leading to widespread email rejections. Prompt identification and remediation of any such issues are key to maintaining healthy email operations.
Beyond authentication and monitoring, continuous list hygiene is paramount. Regularly removing invalid, inactive, or bouncing email addresses from your list protects your sender reputation from degradation. A clean list ensures your engagement metrics are accurate and that you're only sending to recipients who genuinely want to hear from you.
Maintain a balanced text-to-image ratio, ideally around 60% text and 40% images, to optimize for spam filters and user experience.
Consistently provide valuable, relevant, and anticipated content to your subscribers, ensuring they look forward to your emails.
Segment your email list based on engagement levels, sending more frequently to active users and scaling back for less engaged segments.
Implement a gradual sending ramp-up for new IPs or domains, starting with your most engaged subscribers to build a positive reputation.
Common pitfalls
Sending image-heavy emails without sufficient live text can trigger spam filters and lead to poor deliverability outcomes.
Failing to provide consistently valuable content causes subscriber disengagement, resulting in low open rates and increased spam complaints.
Ignoring inactive subscribers and sending to unengaged lists can significantly harm your sender reputation and overall inbox placement.
Sudden, high-volume email blasts from new sending infrastructures without proper warming can lead to immediate blocklisting.
Expert tips
Prioritize sending to your most engaged subscribers first; their positive interactions are critical for improving your domain reputation.
Regularly clean your email list by removing unengaged or invalid addresses to maintain a healthy and responsive audience.
Personalize your content based on user behavior and preferences to enhance relevance and drive higher engagement rates.
Monitor your sender reputation metrics, like spam complaint rates and open rates, to identify and address issues promptly.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says that no deliverability issue is truly unsolvable, it just requires dedicating the necessary time and effort to diagnose and implement solutions.
2025-02-04 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says that success came from focusing on basic things like adding more live text, sending desired content such as printables for kids, slowly ramping up volume by targeting the most engaged users, and maintaining a steady sending rhythm.
2025-02-05 - Email Geeks
Key takeaways for better email deliverability
Improving email deliverability involves a holistic approach that integrates technical soundness with content quality and audience engagement. Focusing on live text ensures readability and avoids spam filters, while providing valuable content like printables drives genuine interest and positive interaction.
Ultimately, nurturing your relationship with engaged users through relevant content and strategic sending practices builds a strong sender reputation, which is the cornerstone of consistent inbox placement. By implementing these strategies, you can significantly enhance your email deliverability and ensure your messages consistently reach their intended audience.
