Why are my welcome emails going to spam and how do I fix it?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Sendinblue Blog shares that common reasons for welcome emails ending up in spam include poor sender reputation, lack of proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), high spam complaint rates, and sending to outdated or invalid email addresses. They advise cleaning your email list regularly.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that using spam trigger words in the subject line or body of your welcome email can cause it to be flagged as spam. Examples include 'free,' 'guarantee,' or excessive use of exclamation points. He recommends reviewing content for potential triggers.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog shares that welcome emails going to spam can be a sign of a mismatch between customer expectations and the content they receive. Making sure the emails are relevant to what the user was signing up for is key.
Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that poorly coded HTML in your welcome emails can trigger spam filters. They recommend ensuring your code is clean, using responsive design principles, and avoiding broken links or images.
Email marketer from MailerLite Blog explains that low engagement rates (opens, clicks) for welcome emails can signal to ISPs that your emails are unwanted, leading to the spam folder. They recommend ensuring your emails provide value and encouraging interaction.
Email marketer from StackOverflow advises validating your email lists regularly to remove invalid or inactive addresses. Sending to these addresses increases your bounce rate, which can negatively impact your sender reputation and lead to spam placement.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog shares that using double opt-in can drastically reduce spam complaints. Double opt-in requires subscribers to confirm their email address before being added to your list, ensuring you only send to engaged and interested recipients.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that checking spam issues across multiple ISPs, monitoring domain/IP reputation, and reviewing performance indicators like opens, clicks, complaints, and unsubscribes is crucial. He also recommends investigating any recent changes in sending habits if deliverability suddenly declines.
Email marketer from Litmus Blog explains that a high image-to-text ratio in your emails can trigger spam filters. Aim for a balanced ratio, ensuring sufficient text content to provide context and avoid being flagged as spammy.
Email marketer from GMass Blog shares that your IP address's reputation greatly influences whether your emails reach the inbox or spam folder. A 'cold' IP address, one that is new and hasn't built a positive sending history, is more likely to be flagged. Warming up your IP address gradually is essential.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that spam issues arise from deliverability problems or mailbox providers identifying emails as spam. He suggests examining acquisition sources, ensuring customer promises align with expectations, and assessing the brand's overall reputation.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that consistent volume is key to ensure your welcome emails make it to the inbox, and not spam.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that welcome messages go to junk when recipients' actions indicate the message is unwanted. The solution involves gaining genuine permission and encouraging recipients to retrieve messages from the bulk folder.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that many delivery problems are reputation problems. Work on building a better sender reputation to avoid landing in the spam folder.
Expert from Email Geeks explains the importance of preventing fake addresses to protect deliverability.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that website reputation, as assessed by Google, can impact email delivery. Issues with website SEO can negatively affect inbox placement.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains that SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records are a crucial part of email authentication. They allow domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on their behalf, preventing spoofing and improving deliverability.
Documentation from Microsoft shares that ensuring that you set up reverse DNS records to match your sending IP addresses to your domain can improve the trust of your emails. Reverse DNS helps verify that the IP address is associated with your domain.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email authentication protocol that builds upon SPF and DKIM to provide further protection against phishing and spoofing. Implementing a DMARC policy can significantly improve your domain's reputation and email deliverability.
Documentation from Google explains that Gmail uses various factors to determine if an email is spam, including user reports, engagement metrics, and sender reputation. Consistent negative feedback can significantly impact deliverability.