Emails Going to Spam? Fix It Before It’s Too Late

Isn’t it sad to see all your efforts go down the drain when you find out your emails haven’t been reaching anywhere? I have seen clients go from sad to happy in an instant after I helped improve their email deliverability rates. You can speak to an email deliverability consultant with a free 15-minute scheduled call for more assistance.

In these ten years, I have learnt a key lesson—sometimes it’s not you. There are a number of reasons for your emails going to spam. A lot of people fail to configure their emails to its completion, which troubles them in the future.

So make sure you do not make these mistakes. In this article, we will first discuss the reasons behind your emails going to spam. And in the next section, I will share some ways in which you can recover your position in your customers’ inboxes.

Reason For Your Emails Going to Spam

Out of 347 billion emails that were shared in 2023, 45.6 percent of these emails were spam. While it is four percent down from 2022, it is still a concerning number.

Due to this heavy inflow of spam emails, email service providers have tightened their spam filtering checklist. While they do not explicitly share the factors that trigger spam filters, we have studied the patterns to understand how they work.

Spam filters are a set of parameters that process the authenticity of an incoming mail. If the email is found to be misleading, unwanted or unsolicited, it is not allowed to enter a user’s inbox. The email is then flagged as spam.

We also have a guide on how to know if your email went to spam, if you want more clarity on where your emails are going.

What Triggers These Spam Filters?

Spam filters flare up when an email service provider detects even a hint of malpractice in an email. With increasing amount of email spoofing and phishing, lots of mail services have tightened digital security.

So even if your email is well-intended, repeating certain mistakes could pool your email with the spammy ones.

Here a few mistakes you might be making that potentially trigger the spam filters:

1. Your Email is Not Authenticated

The key step to avoiding spam filters is making sure your email address is legitimate. You need to authorize your domain by creating SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. I have explained these records in the below section.

Not authorizing your email address is like letting spammers walk freely into your domain. When you have these records by your side, it will make ESPs trust you and let you communicate with your customers in the inbox. To help with these authentication issues, you can talk to an email deliverability consultant for free.

2. Your Content is Not Optimized

While sending emails to your customers, you need to make sure that your content does not mimic a spammy email. If it would, your email would land in the spam box.

If your content has the following features, it is likely to send your emails down in the spam box:

1. Excessive punctuation (!!!), emoticons or special signs ($$$)
2. Text in ALL CAPS
3. Flashy colors and visuals
4. Excessive images
5. Heavy attachments
6. Spammy subject lines

3. You are Using Complex HTML Code

If you are using jargonish HTML code that is used in web design or browsers, you are doing it wrong. Most email providers cannot handle all types of HTML content you see online.

You are inviting spam filters if you insist on using the following:

1. JavaScript
2. iframe
3. Flash
4. Embedded audio
5. Embedded video forms
6. Div layering

4. You Use a No-Reply Domain

If subscribers open your email and find a no-reply domain, believe it or not, they are going to be disappointed. Emailing is all about communication. So, if you’ll close this two-way street, how will they reach out to you?

Not only does it frustrate the customers, but also lowers your sender reputation among email providers. If people are willing to respond to your campaigns and engage with you—it’s a good sign. But if customers can’t reply, it is likely that ESPs will consider you spam and push you into the spam box.

5. Your Domain Has a Poor Sender Reputation

A poor sender reputation means your domain has low open rates, click-through rates and low engagement. Subscribers are not opening your mails, and so you are not able to reach them. This also lowers your deliverability rates.

This happens when your IP address has a history of spamming and bulk emailing.

Let us also consider another scenario. Maybe your domain does not have a poor sender reputation. But, the links that you are attaching with your mail do. They are websites that appear scammy or have been reported for copyright infringement in the past.

If there is anything that spammers love, it’s malware. So, spam filters are extra careful about such links that you may attach in your emails.

6. You Use URL Shorteners

URL shorteners like TinyURL or Bitly make it easier to track clicks. However, this is also a source for spammers to direct people to phishing sites.

If you are using such tools to track per clicks on links you would rather benefit from using your email provider’s tracking tools. This way you can securely track the click-through rates for your emails without using email shorteners.

Emails Going to Spam: Ways to Fix it

Now that you know what is directing your emails to the spam folder, you need to find ways to avoid this. The goal is to optimize your content so that it does not trigger spam filters. Here are the methods you must follow:

1. Authenticate Your Domains

Both Google and Yahoo have brought some big changes to email deliverability protocols in 2024. All email senders are to carry out security measures like SPF, DKIM and DMARC to verify credibility.

• Make sure you have an SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record for your domain to specify which IP addresses can send mails with your address.
• With a DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) record, you can protect your domain from any alterations after the email has been sent out to prevent spoofing and phishing.
• A DMARC (Domain-based message authentication, reporting and conformance) record works along with SPF and DKIM to stop your domain from unauthorized access. It protects your domain from spoofing and phishing and provides instructions in case of any malpractice.

Note: Make sure you have properly set up SPF and DKIM before setting up DMARC. You can check out this guide in case your DMARC set up is facing errors like 554 5.7.5 permanent error evaluating DMARC policy.

With email authentication, you are less likely to be targeted by spammers.

2. Run Your Mails Through a Spam Checker

Before sending a mail to your customers, you must put the content through a spam checker. You need to make sure that your content is optimized to comply with spam filters. When you check email for spam triggers, you can tweak out all the content that’s going to trigger these filters.

This way, you can determine exactly what it is that’s triggering the spam filters. Don’t forget to run your subject lines by the spam checker too. I have seen so many people pay attention to the content, but somehow overlook subject lines. Make sure you do not make the same mistake!

3. Set Up a Custom Domain

Setting up a custom domain like david@companyname.com can help customers identify you instantly. It also lets them trust you. Moreover, when you have a custom domain, you appear more professional, which also goes well with email service providers.

Tip: Do not forget to authenticate your custom domain as well!

4. Maintain a Clean Mailing List

As amazing as it is to have a large mailing list for your business, it is also a risk if you do not clean it regularly. If your list is filled with inactive email addresses that do not engage with your mails, it harms your deliverability rates. Email providers see that subscribers are not engaging with your mails, thus, pushing you down in the spam folder.

This is why it is important to run email verification API so that you can clean your mailing list regularly. When your email deliverability rates are better, email service providers are likely to land your mails in the recipients’ inboxes.

5. Add an Unsubscribe Button

Not having an unsubscribe tab in your emails is a red flag. Email service providers catch such domains and push them into the spam folder. Obviously, you do not want to encourage your subscribers to unsubscribe, but having an unsubscribe button lets email providers know that you are not spam.

If you do not have a visible or one-click unsubscribe button, then the only way out for customers is to mark you as ‘spam’. And you absolutely do not want that. And even if customers don’t unsubscribe, ESPs will detect your domain and push you in the spam folder.

6. Monitor Your Email Metrics Regularly

Don’t forget to keep an eye out for any suspicious stats in your email metrics. In the early years of my career, I overlooked certain unusual changes assuming they were insignificant. However, not paying attention to these oddities like increasing bounce rates, low engagement or low open rates can later cause damage, sometimes even blacklisting you.

So, it is better to rectify these issues in the beginning itself to avoid any long term damage to your deliverability rates.

Metrics you should check regularly include, but not limited to are as follows:

1. Open rate
2. Click-through rate
3. Bounce rate
4. Spam complaints rate
5. Unsubscribe rate
6. Conversion rate
7. List-growth rate
8. Cost per lead
9. Engagement
10. ROI rate

7. Improve Your Sender Reputation

When emails continuously land in spam, your deliverability rates take a hit. The lower the deliverability rates, the poorer the sender reputation. In order to improve your sender reputation, you must make sure your emails don’t flood in all at once.

In such a scenario, the smart thing would be to use email warm up. All you need to do is hook your mail box to the email warmup tool and it will send out emails on your behalf. It lets your mailbox receive positive interactions in the form of open-rates, replies and by starring them.

Overtime, the tool increases the volume of emails it sends. This way, your deliverability rates improve, which makes it easy for mail providers to trust your domain.

When your sender reputation improves, you will be able to land your mails in your recipients’ inboxes.

Conclusion: You Can Save Your Emails Going to Spam

With the growing rate of email spoofing and phishing, it is extremely important to protect your mails. And when emails land in the spam folder, it does your sender reputation no good.

If your email triggers spam filters, then your mails are going in the spam folder. To stop this, make sure you authenticate your domains, check your email for spam using a spam checker and maintain a clean mailing list using email verification API.

And in case you need more assistance, feel free to schedule a free consultancy call with an email deliverability consultant.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why are my emails suddenly going to spam?

When the emails you send out start triggering spam filters, email service providers will push your emails down to the spam folder. Spam filters are triggered by a variety of factors like spammy email content, heavy attachments, unauthenticated email domain, using complex HTML code, using URL shorteners and sending emails with a ‘no-reply’ domain.

2. How do I stop emails going to spam?

To make your emails land in the inbox rather than the spam, you need to start by authenticating your email address. Next, you have to optimize your content in compliance with spam filters, maintain a clean mailing list, monitor your email metrics regularly and improve sender reputation.

3. How do I know if my email copy is spam?

To know if your email copy is spam, you need to look out for words or visuals that may trigger the spam filters. Check your email for spam using a spam checker tool. This way you can know if your email would land in the inbox or spam.