Deliverability: getting into the inbox
Sending an email and reaching the inbox are two different things. Deliverability is the science of making sure your messages don't land in spam folders. Most of it is set-and-forget if you do it right at the start.
The 5 pillars of deliverability
1. Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
These DNS records prove to Gmail/Yahoo/Outlook that you're authorized to send from your domain
Set up during Onboarding Step 4 — if you skipped it, do it now
Settings → Email Services → Domain Authentication
2. Sender reputation
Each sending domain accumulates a reputation score over time at every major inbox provider
High bounce rates, spam complaints, and unsubscribes hurt reputation; high opens and replies help it
New domains have neutral reputation — "warm up" by sending small initial volumes that grow over weeks
3. List quality
Sending to addresses that bounce or never engage is the fastest way to ruin reputation
Run email verification on imports (Settings → Email Verification, $0.01/address)
Auto-unsubscribe contacts who haven't opened in 90+ days (a smart-list-driven workflow can do this)
4. Content
Avoid spam-trigger words and patterns: all caps subject lines, excessive exclamation marks, "FREE!!!", "act now"
Keep image-to-text ratio below 40% — image-only emails are spam-flagged
Include a plain-text version (Intellivizz CRM auto-generates this)
5. Engagement
Inbox providers watch how recipients interact: opens, replies, deletes, marking as spam
Replies are the strongest positive signal — design campaigns that invite responses
"Mark as not spam" recovery from a few engaged readers can lift you out of spam folders
TIP — The 7-day deliverability check
Send a test campaign once a quarter to seed accounts at major providers (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Apple). Use a free tool like mail-tester.com or GlockApps to see where you land. Detecting spam folders before a major campaign is much cheaper than recovering after.
