Why are my emails delayed when sent to Gmail and I use a Coherent Path template?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Gmass suggests throttling your sending speed, particularly when sending to Gmail. Gmail may delay messages from senders sending large volumes too quickly.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that Gmail delivery issues are sometimes related to specific content triggers within your templates. Try A/B testing your email with different content to see if you can isolate what's causing the delay.
Email marketer from Stack Overflow mentions that high image sizes in your emails can cause delays. Optimizing images can help with this. Also, he mentions the importance of checking SPF records.
Email marketer from SparkPost explains that if you are sending from a new IP address or domain, you must warm it up by gradually increasing the sending volume and engagement over time. Email providers like Gmail monitor your email statistics over time and use this data to make sure that you are a legitimate sender.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that Gmail delivery delays can be caused by a low sender reputation. Focus on improving sender reputation by authenticating your emails (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), maintaining a low bounce rate, and ensuring recipients are engaged with your content. Also, check your IP address against blacklists.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that delays can be related to slow DNS lookups, which can happen especially with new domains or DNS configurations. Ensure your DNS records are properly configured.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests trying a different template to confirm if the issue is related to the new template.
Email marketer from Mailchimp explains that factors like spam filters, content, sender reputation, and authentication impact email delivery. Specifically regarding delays, they suggest reviewing your sending practices for compliance and best practices and checking your account dashboard for any warnings or issues.
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that the code within your template may contain elements that are being flagged by Gmail's spam filters, causing delays. Try simplifying the template or removing any suspicious code.
Email marketer from Sender.net explains that delivery delays can originate from server load on either the sender or recipient end, DNS issues, content triggers for spam filters, or greylisting. They recommend checking server status, reviewing email content, and warming up your IP address.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource, Laura Atkins, explains that sender reputation significantly impacts delivery speed. If your domain or IP has a poor reputation due to past spam complaints or blacklisting, Gmail might delay your emails or send them to the spam folder. Monitor your reputation and take steps to improve it if necessary.
Expert from Word to the Wise suggests using the message header to diagnose delays. The 'Received:' lines in the header provide timestamps that show how long each server took to process the email. This allows pinpointing where the delay occurred (sender, intermediary, or recipient server).
Expert from Email Geeks explains that Google may be delaying the message because it doesn't like the new template, failing after DATA. This means Google gets a view of the full message and delays it after seeing it. Alternatively, the ESP might be causing a 4-hour delay between the MTA getting the message and Google receiving it.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from RFC-Editor explains that greylisting is a method of temporarily rejecting an email from an unknown sender. A legitimate server will, according to specification, try again after a delay. A spammer will, usually, give up after the first try, since they will often be sending out many emails and cannot afford to wait. This can cause delays.
Documentation from MXToolbox explains that using their tools, one can check for SMTP errors or other issues that might indicate problems with the mail server software or configurations. These errors can result in delivery delays.
Documentation from Google explains that Gmail delays can be caused by routing issues, filtering, or temporary server problems. They recommend checking the Google Workspace Status Dashboard for reported incidents. Also, they suggest investigating email headers to trace the path of the email and identify bottlenecks.