Email deliverability is a complex field, and for every piece of sound advice, there's often a misleading tip that can seriously damage your sender reputation and inbox placement. Navigating the world of email marketing requires a clear understanding of what works and, more importantly, what doesn't. Relying on outdated or ill-conceived strategies can lead to emails landing in the spam folder, or worse, outright blocking by internet service providers.
Many of these pieces of bad advice stem from a desire for quick fixes or a misunderstanding of how modern spam filters and mailbox providers operate. They often promise shortcuts to the inbox, but in reality, they lead to long-term deliverability problems.
The core of good email deliverability lies in building and maintaining a positive sender reputation through legitimate practices and consistent engagement. Deviating from these fundamentals, even with seemingly clever tricks, almost always backfires.
Misguided list management and engagement
One of the most pervasive pieces of bad advice is that you can simply purchase an email list to quickly grow your audience. While it may seem like a fast way to expand reach, purchased lists are almost universally detrimental to your deliverability.
These lists often contain invalid, unengaged, or even spam trap addresses. Sending to such contacts will lead to high bounce rates, increased spam complaints, and ultimately, a damaged sender reputation. Mailbox providers quickly identify and penalize senders who use these tactics. For more details on this, explore why purchased email lists cause deliverability issues.
Another common misconception is that you should never remove inactive subscribers because more contacts equals more opportunities to convert. This is false. Continuing to email unengaged contacts signals to mailbox providers that your content is not relevant or desired, which can harm your overall sender reputation. It's essential to regularly clean your email list and focus on engaged subscribers. You can learn more about this by reading about email deliverability.
Technical shortcuts and misguided content
The myth
Sending to non-clickers is more effective than non-openers.
Some advise that removing subscribers who don't click on your emails is a superior strategy to removing those who don't open them. The underlying idea is that clicks indicate a higher level of engagement. However, focusing solely on clicks misses the broader picture of how mailbox providers assess engagement and can lead to you keeping disengaged subscribers on your list who are harming your sending reputation.
Another piece of bad advice is to intentionally send to unengaged contacts to dilute your complaint rates. This suggests that a lower complaint rate relative to total emails sent is good, even if a significant portion of those emails are going to recipients who don't want them. This is a flawed metric for gauging success because it sacrifices quality for quantity and can hide serious underlying engagement problems.
Misleading advice often suggests technical shortcuts that bypass established email protocols, leading to deliverability failures. One such piece of advice advocates for hash busting, which involves adding large blocks of hidden, random text (like passages from a book) to your emails. The idea behind this is to fool spam filters into thinking the content is unique and legitimate, thereby supposedly helping emails land in the inbox or promotions tab.
However, modern spam filters are sophisticated and can easily detect such deceptive practices. Rather than improving deliverability, hash busting often triggers spam filters, leading to worse inbox placement or outright blocking. It's a black-hat tactic that damages your sender reputation.
Another frequently heard piece of bad advice is that plain text emails deliver better than HTML messages. While it's true that a plain text alternative is crucial for accessibility and some older email clients, sending only text content within an HTML MIME type doesn't offer a deliverability advantage. In fact, it can sometimes flag your emails as suspicious if the HTML is minimal or malformed compared to the content. Always ensure you have a properly formatted HTML version alongside a robust plain text alternative. You can learn more about email deliverability by reading this in-depth guide.
Dangerous sending habits
Misconception: DKIM placement
A common but incorrect piece of advice is to put your DKIM signature at the bottom of every email. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication method that uses a digital signature to verify the sender. This signature is part of the email header, not the body, and is added by the sending server. Trying to manually insert it into the email body serves no technical purpose and will not improve deliverability, and may even cause issues. Properly configured DKIM records in your DNS are what matters.
Bad advice: Immediate DMARC enforcement
One dangerous piece of advice is to institute the strictest DMARC policy possible immediately for maximum deliverability, without any prior testing. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) is critical for email security, but improperly implementing a p=reject or p=quarantine policy can lead to legitimate emails being blocked or sent to spam. This is because DMARC relies on SPF and DKIM alignment, and any misconfigurations will result in deliverability failures. It's crucial to start with a p=none policy and monitor your DMARC reports to ensure everything is aligned before moving to a stricter policy. This is covered in how to safely transition your DMARC policy.
Example of a strict DMARC record (to be avoided initially)DNS
Dangerous sending habits are often promoted as ways to get around filters or maximize reach, but they inevitably lead to deliverability problems. One such piece of advice is that if your emails don't get engagement within a few hours of a send, you should re-send to those who didn't engage to ensure it hopefully gets through on the second try. This is a common misstep because it increases the likelihood of complaints and alienates subscribers who simply aren't interested. Repeatedly emailing unengaged contacts damages your sender reputation and can land your emails in the spam folder.
Another ill-advised strategy is to hide your unsubscribe link by making it the same color as the background or burying it with excessive white space. The logic is that fewer people will unsubscribe, leading to a larger list. However, this tactic infuriates recipients, leading to higher spam complaints and a greater chance of being blocklisted (or blacklisted). Mailbox providers prioritize user experience, and making it difficult to unsubscribe is a clear violation of best practices. You can learn more about this by reading is it bad to not have an unsubscribe link.
Finally, the advice to switch ESPs or ask for new IPs if you're blocklisted is a classic example of treating the symptom, not the cause. While a new IP or ESP might offer a temporary reprieve, if your sending practices remain unchanged, you will quickly find yourself in the same predicament. Focus on addressing the root causes of your deliverability issues, rather than seeking a quick, superficial fix. This is a common pitfall that can lead to email deliverability issues.
Testing and content delivery gone wrong
Bad advice
Why it's bad
Best practice
Use a lookalike domain to protect your brand.
Lookalike domains are often associated with phishing and spam, severely damaging reputation and increasing blocklist (blacklist) risk.
Always send from your primary, authenticated domain to build a consistent, positive sender identity. This involves proper DMARC, SPF, and DKIM configuration.
Send promotional emails from a free domain like gmail.com.
Free domains lack proper authentication controls for bulk sending, making emails highly likely to be marked as spam or blocked.
Always use a custom, authenticated domain for all your email sends to establish trust with mailbox providers and ensure your domain reputation is built correctly.
Use link shorteners to save space or track clicks better.
Generic link shorteners are often abused by spammers, causing them to be flagged by spam filters and harming your deliverability.
Use your own custom tracking domain if you need to shorten links or track clicks. This aligns with your sending domain and maintains trust.
A serious pitfall is the idea that testing is important, so just create a fake list of thousands of addresses at a domain like @abc.com. This is extremely dangerous. Sending to non-existent domains or large numbers of invalid addresses will generate high bounce rates and flag your sending reputation as suspicious, potentially leading to immediate blocklisting (or blacklisting). Always use legitimate testing methods, such as a deliverability tester or a small, carefully curated list of valid test addresses. You can learn about proper testing by reading email testing best practices.
Another piece of bad advice is to ignore opt-in origins, claiming your privacy policy grants permission to email subscribers across your entire network. This approach often leads to being kicked off your email service provider (ESP) for non-compliance. Mailbox providers and internet service providers (ISPs) strictly enforce consent policies, and attempts to circumvent them will result in severe penalties and deliverability issues. Each subscriber should explicitly opt-in to the specific content they wish to receive from a clearly defined sender.
Finally, avoid sending content you’re sure people want, regardless of whether they asked for it. This ego-driven approach ignores the fundamental principle of permission-based email marketing. If recipients didn't explicitly opt-in for your content, they are highly likely to mark your emails as spam, which devastates your sender reputation. Focus on delivering valuable content to an engaged audience that has given clear consent. For related insights, see why your emails go to spam.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Maintain a clean, engaged email list by regularly removing inactive or invalid addresses.
Always use double opt-in for new subscribers to confirm their genuine interest and prevent spam traps.
Monitor your sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools and promptly address any issues.
Implement email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) correctly and progressively.
Provide a clear, visible, and easy-to-use unsubscribe link in every email.
Common pitfalls
Purchasing or scraping email lists, which leads to high bounce rates and spam complaints.
Re-sending emails to non-openers or unengaged segments, further harming sender reputation.
Hiding the unsubscribe link or making it difficult to find, increasing spam reports.
Switching IPs or ESPs without addressing underlying sending practice issues, a temporary fix.
Adopting strict DMARC policies without proper testing and monitoring.
Expert tips
Focus on quality over quantity for your email list. A smaller, engaged list outperforms a large, unengaged one.
Prioritize recipient engagement metrics like opens, clicks, and replies for better inbox placement.
Regularly audit your email content for spam trigger words and avoid excessive imagery or complex HTML without a plain text alternative.
Understand that deliverability is a continuous effort, not a one-time fix. Adapt to evolving ISP requirements.
Leverage DMARC reports to gain insights into your email authentication and delivery performance.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says a common mistake is to put your DKIM signature at the bottom of every email, when it's part of the header and added by the sending server.
2021-09-02 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says if you don't have enough subscribers, it's advised to just buy a list or add all of your personal contacts, but this practice is harmful.
2021-09-02 - Email Geeks
Embracing real deliverability strategies
Achieving strong email deliverability is about consistently applying sound email marketing principles, not seeking out quick fixes or trying to game the system. While some advice might sound appealing on the surface, it often leads to more severe problems down the line, including damage to your email domain reputation and getting caught on a blocklist (or blacklist).
The most reliable path to the inbox involves building a healthy, engaged subscriber list, ensuring proper email authentication, and sending valuable content that your audience genuinely wants. Prioritizing long-term sender health over short-term gains will always yield better results. Staying updated on best practices for avoiding spam filters is key.
