Why are my test emails going to the junk folder, and what can I do about it?

Email marketer from Word to the Wise explains that feedback loops (FBLs) allow mailbox providers to forward complaints about spam to senders. By monitoring and addressing these complaints, senders can identify and fix issues that are causing their emails to be marked as spam.

Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that to improve email deliverability, it's important to use a dedicated IP address, authenticate your email with SPF and DKIM, monitor your sender reputation, and segment your email list to send more targeted content. Consistent sending volume and engagement also play a role.

Email marketer from StackOverflow explains that to avoid the spam folder, don't use spam trigger words, URL shorteners, or excessive images in your email content. A high image-to-text ratio and aggressive sales language can often cause emails to be flagged as spam.

Email marketer from GMass answers that when sending cold emails, personalization and relevance are key. Avoid generic templates and focus on providing value to the recipient. Personalized emails are less likely to be marked as spam.

Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that DMARC is a protocol that helps email senders indicate to mail providers that their emails are protected by SPF and DKIM, and tells the mail provider what to do if neither of those authentication methods passes. This helps to prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks.

Email marketer from Reddit explains that warming up an IP address involves gradually increasing the volume of emails sent over time to establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs. This process helps avoid being flagged as a spammer when starting a new email campaign.

Email marketer from HubSpot shares that A/B testing different email subject lines, content, and sending times can help you optimize your email strategy and improve engagement rates. Higher engagement can lead to better deliverability.

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that several factors can cause emails to land in the junk folder, including a low sender reputation, poor email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), high spam complaint rates, and problematic email content. They advise monitoring sender reputation, properly authenticating emails, cleaning email lists, and avoiding spam trigger words.

Email marketer from Litmus shares that maintaining good email list hygiene involves regularly removing inactive subscribers and correcting typos. This reduces bounce rates and improves your sender reputation, which can help prevent emails from going to the junk folder.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that if you're not sending significant amounts of mail and not sending to real recipients, your testing may not be particularly meaningful and that as long as your authentication is set up correctly, and you’re acquiring email addresses with the consent of the recipients, your next step would be to send real email. They also add that If you’re on a dedicated IP you’d want to look at warming up your IP / sending domain tuple to introduce your mail stream to the mbp filters gradually.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that deliverability is statistical and you cannot ensure 100% of your mail makes every inbox ever time. Individual users have individual filters and deliverability ensures that the global filters put mail in the inbox, but once past those filters, it's out of our control.

Expert from Spam Resource explains that testing deliverability requires simulating real-world conditions. Sending to a small, controlled group of test accounts may not accurately reflect how mailbox providers will treat your emails when sent to a larger audience. Factors like sender reputation and user engagement are critical.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that engagement is a major factor with mailbox providers now using user engagement as a primary factor in determining inbox placement. Low or no engagement can lead to messages going to the junk folder, even for legitimate emails.

Documentation from DKIM.org explains that DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) uses a digital signature to allow the recipient to verify that an email message was sent from an authorized mail server and that the message content was not altered during transit. This authentication method helps improve email deliverability.

Documentation from RFC-Editor explains that Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records are used to specify the mail servers that are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. Creating and properly configuring an SPF record can prevent spammers from forging your email address.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that Outlook uses a junk email filter to identify and move suspected spam messages to the Junk Email folder. Users can adjust the level of protection or manually mark messages as not junk to train the filter.

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that keeping the spam rate reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and avoiding ever going above 0.30% is crucial to avoiding the spam folder. They emphasize that these rates should be calculated over the long term, not just for individual sends.