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

Email marketer from Reddit explains that transactional emails often end up in the spam folder due to poor sender reputation, failure to properly authenticate emails (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and content that triggers spam filters. They also noted that factors such as high spam complaint rates and sending to outdated or unengaged email lists can significantly impact deliverability and increase the likelihood of emails being categorized as spam.

Email marketer from Stack Overflow explains that IP reputation is a crucial factor influencing transactional email delivery. They state that if your sending IP address is blacklisted or has a poor reputation, email service providers may filter your emails into the spam folder. They advise monitoring IP reputation and taking measures to improve it, such as authenticating emails and avoiding spam-like content.

Email marketer from Mailjet Blog explains that transactional emails may land in the spam folder due to various reasons, including poor sender reputation, lack of authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), high spam complaint rates, and content triggers. They also suggest that neglecting email list hygiene and sending to inactive or invalid email addresses can negatively impact deliverability, causing emails to be marked as spam.

Email marketer from Postmark emphasizes that sender reputation is critical for ensuring transactional emails reach the inbox. They explain that factors such as IP address reputation, domain reputation, and engagement metrics impact how mailbox providers evaluate email legitimacy. They add that building and maintaining a positive sender reputation through consistent sending practices, proper authentication, and minimizing spam complaints is essential for improved deliverability.

Email marketer from EmailOnAcid shares that maintaining a clean and up-to-date email list is crucial for improving deliverability. They explain that sending emails to inactive or invalid email addresses can increase bounce rates and harm sender reputation. Regularly cleaning your email lists helps ensure that your transactional emails are sent to engaged and valid recipients, which can reduce the likelihood of emails being marked as spam.

Email marketer from Litmus explains that transactional emails can land in the spam folder for reasons such as lacking authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), having poor sender reputation, being included in blacklists, and containing spam-like content. They also point out that low engagement rates and high spam complaint rates can negatively impact deliverability, causing email service providers to filter emails as spam.

Email marketer from Quora shares that improving email deliverability for transactional emails involves authenticating emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, monitoring sender reputation, and regularly cleaning email lists. They also recommend using dedicated IP addresses, avoiding spam-like content, and monitoring spam complaint rates to ensure emails reach the inbox.

Email marketer from HubSpot explains that authenticating your emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential for improving deliverability. They note that these authentication methods help email service providers verify that the emails are genuinely from your domain and not from a spammer. Implementing proper authentication can significantly reduce the likelihood of transactional emails ending up in the spam folder.

Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that while IP reputation was once considered more important, domain reputation now carries significant weight. She cautions that all parts of an email contribute to reputation, so even seemingly unrelated marketing activities can impact deliverability.

Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests that if users don't perceive the mail as transactional, it's likely to go to spam. Furthermore, she explains that negative user engagement (ignoring emails) can hurt sender reputation and lead to spam folder placement.

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor states that using a dedicated IP address can improve deliverability. They explain that a dedicated IP address allows you to build and maintain your own reputation without being affected by the sending practices of other users on a shared IP address. Building a positive IP reputation can improve the likelihood of transactional emails reaching the inbox.

Email marketer from SendPulse Blog says that poor sender reputation, missing or incorrect email authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and spammy content are main reasons why emails go into spam. They also highlight that sending to invalid or inactive email addresses, as well as high spam complaint rates, can negatively impact deliverability and increase the likelihood of transactional emails landing in the spam folder.

Expert from Email Geeks initially suggests content-based filtering might be the reason for emails going to spam, based on user reports. Expert from Email Geeks later stated that there are domains and IPs that are so toxic, it will cause delivery to fail, even with domains of high reputation. She clarified that identities (IPs and authenticated domains) are used as hooks for reputation, and shared identities will share reputation.

Expert from Email Geeks stated SCL values are not a score, it is something that just records things.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that legitimate email can be rejected by ISPs because the ISP believes the sender is not legitimate, because the ISP thinks users don't want it, or because the ISP thinks users do want it but also think it's spam. She further explains that to avoid issues you need to follow all the rules: authenticate, send email people want, and format correctly.

Expert from SpamResource explains that many factors contribute to email filtering, including but not limited to complaints, blacklists, honeypots, spam traps, authentication and engagement. They note that a good reputation and the absence of negative signals lead to good inbox placement. Poor practices lead to poor delivery.

Expert from Email Geeks advises that each customer should use their own domain for authentication and click links, rather than a subdomain of the service provider. They emphasizes the importance of alignment between the DKIM domain and the customer's domain for deliverability, particularly under the latest Yahoo and Google requirements.

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that Google marks emails as spam for a number of reasons including the email being similar to other spam messages, the email coming from a suspicious IP address, the email not being authenticated correctly, and the email having a high complaint rate.

Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that the SCL Spam Confidence Level, is a rating that indicates the likelihood of an email being spam. A higher SCL indicates a greater probability of the email being spam, leading to the email being filtered into the junk folder. They highlight the importance of configuring spam filtering settings to manage and control SCL thresholds effectively, which helps ensure that legitimate transactional emails are not mistakenly marked as spam.

Documentation from DMARC.org describes that implementing DMARC is essential to protect your domain from email spoofing and phishing attacks. They emphasize that DMARC works in conjunction with SPF and DKIM to verify the authenticity of emails and ensure that unauthorized senders cannot use your domain to send malicious emails. Implementing DMARC helps improve deliverability and protect sender reputation.

Documentation from RFC-Editor explains that the key to improving email deliverability involves implementing proper authentication mechanisms like SPF and DKIM, maintaining good sender reputation, and adhering to email sending best practices. They note that actively monitoring and addressing issues such as spam complaints, blacklisting, and content that triggers spam filters is crucial for ensuring transactional emails reach the inbox.