Why did my promotional emails suddenly start going to the spam folder after terminating my deliverability agency contract?

Key findings

• Sudden drop: A precipitous decline in inbox placement, specifically to spam, within days of an agency contract termination, points towards a likely change in underlying technical or strategic elements.
• Agency influence: Deliverability agencies often implement optimizations, such as email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) or specific IP warming strategies, that directly influence sender reputation and inbox placement. The termination may have halted these practices or reverted configurations.
• Reputation impact: Even with a seemingly stable domain or IP reputation, hidden factors or the absence of an agency's proactive management can swiftly degrade performance at major ISPs like Gmail.
• Test tool limitations: Tools like Glockapps provide valuable insights but use seed lists, which may not always perfectly reflect real-user inbox placement. It's important to also monitor actual engagement metrics.

Key considerations

• Technical audit: Immediately conduct a thorough technical audit of your email setup, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, to ensure they are correctly configured and haven't been altered or removed by the agency.
• Monitor real engagement: While test results are a warning, confirm the issue by monitoring real engagement KPIs (open rates, click-through rates, complaint rates) from your actual campaigns. A sudden drop in opens for active recipients will provide clearer evidence.
• Review agency handover: Examine the terms of your contract termination and any handover documents. The agency may have managed certain aspects or used their own infrastructure that reverted to a less optimized state upon contract end.
• Gradual changes: If immediate technical issues are ruled out, consider a gradual decline in reputation due to the cessation of the agency's proactive reputation management efforts (e.g., list hygiene, engagement monitoring).

Key opinions

• Initial panic: There is a common initial reaction of concern, especially when a test email shows a 100% spam placement after a period of excellent deliverability.
• Reliance on tools: Marketers frequently rely on third-party tools like Glockapps for inbox placement testing, which can sometimes provide misleading results based on seed lists rather than actual user behavior.
• KPI stability: A key indicator is whether other engagement KPIs, such as click rates or opens, have also dropped. If not, the issue might be isolated or a false alarm from testing.
• No immediate changes: If no changes were made to the email strategy, content, or sending cadence, the sudden shift points to external factors or agency-specific configurations.

Key considerations

• Validate with real tests: Beyond seed list tools, send test emails to a diverse set of real Gmail accounts (active and inactive) to confirm actual inbox placement. This provides a more accurate picture.
• Check email content: Review the specific email that went to spam. Sometimes, a single email's content or links can trigger filters, not indicative of a systemic problem. Omnisend's blog on reasons why your emails go to spam is a good resource here.
• Consistent monitoring: Maintain consistent deliverability monitoring for multiple sends and over several days before enacting major changes. A single anomalous result may self-resolve.
• Domain and IP reputation: Regularly check your domain and IP reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools and other online blocklist checkers. While a medium reputation isn't ideal, it usually doesn't cause a 100% spam rate instantly.

Key opinions

• Single email anomaly: A one-off bad delivery result, especially for a test email, might be specific to that email's content or external factors and not indicative of a long-term problem.
• Time for observation: Experts recommend observing deliverability over multiple sends and several days before concluding there's a serious issue, as some problems self-resolve.
• Reputation lag: Significant reputation hits typically take longer than two to three days to fully manifest across all major ISPs. A sudden, immediate 100% spam rate might suggest a more direct, possibly technical, change.
• Agency's role: Agencies often implement sophisticated strategies or maintain specific infrastructures (e.g., dedicated IPs, domain reputation management) that, once removed, can lead to a rapid decline if not properly transitioned.

Key considerations

• DNS record verification: Ensure all DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are still correctly configured for your sending domain, especially if the agency managed these. Misconfigurations can cause sudden drops in deliverability.
• IP/domain changes: Confirm whether the agency was using a specific IP address or sub-domain that has now been discontinued or changed, impacting your sending reputation.
• Engagement strategy post-agency: Re-evaluate your engagement strategy. If the agency was artificially boosting engagement or managing list hygiene, the cessation of these efforts could lead to a natural decline.
• Check for blocklisting: While you mentioned reputation is medium, check if your IP or domain has recently been placed on any significant blocklists or blacklists. This can cause immediate and severe deliverability issues.

Key findings

• Authentication standards: ISPs heavily rely on email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to verify sender legitimacy. Any misconfiguration or removal of these records can lead to immediate spam placement.
• Sender reputation metrics: Documentation outlines key reputation indicators like spam complaint rates, bounce rates, and engagement (opens, clicks), which influence filtering decisions. A sudden cessation of active management can impact these.
• Content guidelines: Spam filters analyze email content for suspicious patterns, keywords, and formatting. If content quality slips post-agency, it can trigger filters.
• Infrastructure considerations: The underlying sending infrastructure (IP addresses, sending domains) and their historical reputation are critical. Agencies often manage or provide optimized infrastructure that affects deliverability.

Key considerations

• Verify authentication: Ensure all necessary authentication records are still active and correctly implemented. EmailTooltester.com highlights email authentication as a crucial aspect for avoiding spam.
• Monitor complaint rates: Spam complaints are a severe negative signal. OptinMonster states that high spam complaints signal you're not a reputable sender. Actively work to minimize them.
• List hygiene importance: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or invalid addresses, reducing bounces and spam trap hits. Agencies often manage this proactively.
• Content and personalization: Ensure your promotional email content remains relevant, personalized, and avoids common spam triggers. Engaging content promotes positive user interaction, which ISPs value.