The Ultimate Email Deliverability Best Practices Guide for 2024

Why Deliverability Is the Foundation of Email Marketing Success

You’ve crafted the perfect email campaign with compelling content and eye-catching design. But if those emails never reach your subscribers’ inboxes, all that effort goes to waste. This is why email deliverability—the ability to successfully deliver emails to recipients’ inboxes rather than spam folders or nowhere at all—is the foundational element of any successful email marketing strategy.

With email providers constantly updating their algorithms and filtering criteria, staying on top of deliverability best practices isn’t just recommended—it’s essential. This comprehensive guide will walk you through proven strategies to maximize your inbox placement and ensure your carefully crafted messages actually reach your audience.

Understanding the Email Deliverability Landscape

Before diving into specific practices, let’s establish a clear understanding of how email deliverability works in today’s digital ecosystem.

Key Players in the Deliverability Equation

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): Companies like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook that provide email services and determine which emails reach the inbox.

Email Service Providers (ESPs): Platforms like Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or SendGrid that you use to send marketing emails.

Sender Reputation: Your “credit score” in the email world, based on factors like bounce rates, spam complaints, and engagement metrics.

Authentication Protocols: Technical standards (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) that verify you are who you claim to be.

Recipient Engagement: How subscribers interact with your emails (opening, clicking, deleting without reading, etc.).

Current Deliverability Statistics

• Average inbox placement rate across industries: ~85%
• 1 in 6 emails never reaches the intended recipient
• Gmail and other major providers block nearly 10 million spam emails every minute
• Sender reputation influences up to 83% of email deliverability issues
• A single spam complaint can affect deliverability for your entire list

Essential Email Authentication Protocols

Email authentication is your first line of defense against deliverability issues. These technical protocols help verify your identity to email providers and protect your domain from being spoofed by spammers.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

What It Is: SPF specifies which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain.

Why It Matters: Without SPF, anyone can send emails claiming to be from your domain, potentially damaging your reputation.

Implementation: Create an SPF record in your DNS that lists all servers authorized to send email for your domain.