What is Email Deliverability? 7 Tips and Best Practices to Improve It

Email deliverability is the ability of an email to successfully land in the recipient's inbox instead of the spam or junk folder. It depends on various factors, including sender reputation, email content, authentication, and engagement rates. Poor email deliverability can harm marketing campaigns, limit communication, and affect overall business success.

Email Delivery vs. Email Deliverability

Email delivery measures the number of emails that were delivered successfully, no matter the folder. It tells if the recipient’s mail server has accepted the email file and delivered it to the receiver. Precisely, it calculates the percentage of emails that did not bounce out of the sent emails.

Email deliverability is akin to the number of emails that reach the right destination. Also known as inbox placement, it calculates the percentage of emails that get delivered to the priority inbox.

For example, if 100 emails were sent and 33 ended up in the spam folder, the email deliverability rate would be 66%.

An easy summary of this email delivery vs. email deliverability comparison:

• Email delivery = How many emails were delivered?
• Email deliverability = How many emails were delivered to the recipient’s inbox?

Delivery issues may be due to faulty email addresses, problems with your infrastructure, or too much negative feedback on the email address. Deliverability issues arise due to outdated sending and permission practices, violating a law, or receiving too many spam labels by the receivers.

Why Does Email Deliverability Matter So Much?

Email deliverability is crucial for higher ROI. For every $1 spent, email gives an ROI of around $36. Even if the email delivery rate is around 97% for the 1,000 emails sent, there are still 30 emails that bounced back.

Now, consider the open rates. The open rates might oscillate around 30%-40%. One of the major reasons for the low open rates could be email deliverability.

Emails that end up in the spam folders or the promotional folders have lower open rates because they are often overlooked. For email marketers, getting higher open rates is imperative. To ensure that, it is important that every email sent should end up in the inbox.

What Affects Your Email Deliverability Rate?

There is no single factor that affects the email deliverability rate. Chances are that you could be doing various wrong things or just one mistake to get your emails marked as spam. The good thing is that these factors are in your hands and can be fixed by iterating your mistakes.

1. Sender Reputation

Whenever a marketer or an organization sends an email, the ISP assigns a sender score based on the recipient’s actions. The scores vary on a scale of 0-100. A lower sender score means more recipients are unsubscribing or marking your email as spam. Out of various factors that affect your email deliverability rate, the sender score matters the most.

2. Email Content

Email subject and email content are imperative for boosting credibility and engagement levels. A compelling email subject line and enticing email content will have longer read times and higher open rates. With these two factors, no ISP will mark your email for suspicion or flush it into the spam folder.

3. Email Infrastructure

Despite everything being on the cloud, email deliverability largely depends on the software and hardware systems. The email system works much like a real-life postal service system. If you have a high volume of email, you need a dedicated IP that provides robust and seamless email infrastructure.

4. Spike in Email Volume

No one likes their inbox flooded from the same sender at once. Whether you are running promotional campaigns, launching a product, or having a big announcement for the subscribers, the emails should be sent at a fixed interval. Spam emails have erratic patterns and are sent out in large volumes in short intervals. Sending emails over a fixed time interval gives a positive sign to ISPs that the emails sent are ethical and legitimate.

7 Tips and Best Practices to Improve Email Deliverability

1. Use a Verified Domain with Proper Authentication

Email providers filter emails based on authentication records. Setting up SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) ensures that your emails come from a legitimate source. These protocols help prevent phishing attempts and build trust with email servers.

2. Avoid Spam Triggers in Subject Lines and Content

Spam filters scan emails for specific words, phrases, and formatting issues. Avoid using "free," "guaranteed," "urgent," or excessive capitalization and punctuation in subject lines. Also, balance text-to-image ratios, as too many images and too little text can trigger spam filters.

3. Regularly Clean Your Email List

Sending emails to inactive or fake addresses can harm your sender reputation. Remove bounced emails, unsubscribed users, and inactive recipients from your list. Use email validation tools to ensure your list stays clean and up to date.

4. Encourage Engagement with Your Emails

The more recipients open and interact with your emails, the better your deliverability will be. Write engaging subject lines, personalize emails, and include clear calls to action. Encouraging replies also signals to email providers that your emails are wanted.

5. Monitor Your Sender Reputation

Email providers assign a sender score based on how your emails are received. High bounce rates, spam complaints, and low engagement can lower your reputation. Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools or Sender Score to check your performance and make adjustments.

6. Send Emails at the Right Frequency

Sending too many emails can annoy recipients, while sending too few can lower engagement. Find a balance based on your audience's preferences. A consistent and predictable email schedule helps maintain engagement and reduces spam complaints.

7. Use a Reputable Email Service Provider (ESP)

Choosing a reliable email service provider (ESP) with good infrastructure improves deliverability. Look for an ESP that offers IP warming, deliverability monitoring, and compliance tools to ensure your emails are sent properly.

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