Why are recruitment emails from Lever being marked as spam in Gmail, and how can I fix it?
Summary
What email marketers say7Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that maintaining a clean email list, personalizing emails, and avoiding spam trigger words are crucial for avoiding spam filters. Mailjet also suggests using a dedicated IP address to improve sender reputation.
Email marketer from GlockApps suggests using a tool like GlockApps to test email placement in various inboxes (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.). These tools can identify whether your emails are landing in the inbox, spam folder, or being blocked.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum mentions that some tracking domains used by Lever have been blacklisted in the past. Suggests contacting Lever support to inquire about their tracking domain reputation and explore options for using a dedicated tracking domain.
Email marketer from EmailDeliverability.com shares that if Lever uses shared IP addresses for sending emails, the reputation of those IPs could be affecting your deliverability. Even if your domain reputation is good, a shared IP with other users sending spam can negatively impact your emails.
Email marketer from SendGrid shares that warming up new IP addresses, by gradually increasing sending volume, can improve sender reputation and prevent emails from being marked as spam.
Email marketer from Hubspot explains that implementing a double opt-in process (where users confirm their email address) can help build a cleaner and more engaged email list, improving sender reputation and deliverability.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests that using a custom tracking domain, instead of a shared one, can help improve sender reputation and reduce the likelihood of emails being marked as spam.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks suggests a potential content issue, specifically links to domains with reputation problems. Testing plain text emails is recommended to rule out link-related issues.
Expert from Spam Resource shares that a common reason for emails going to spam is a poor IP reputation. This can stem from sending spam or being on a blocklist. They advise checking the sending IP address against various blocklists and taking steps to clean up your sending practices to improve your reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that if enough recipients pull the mail out of spam, Google may eventually start placing emails in the inbox. Additionally, advising users to check their spam folder and add the sender's address to their address book can help improve deliverability.
Expert from Email Geeks identifies that shared link and image domains across multiple customers of the tool (Lever) can negatively impact email deliverability if other customers are sending spam. If a tracking domain is shared it could be affecting your mail.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that shared tracking domains can be a major deliverability issue. If Lever uses a shared tracking domain and other users on that domain are sending spam, it can negatively affect your sending reputation. The best solution is to use a dedicated tracking domain or work with Lever to improve their shared domain's reputation.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains that SPF records are crucial for email authentication. SPF records allow domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their domain, helping prevent spoofing and improving deliverability.
Documentation from Microsoft Support details that following best practices, such as properly authenticating emails (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), segmenting lists, and providing easy unsubscribe options, can improve deliverability and prevent emails from being marked as spam.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that DMARC policy builds upon SPF and DKIM by allowing domain owners to specify how email receivers should handle emails that fail authentication checks. Implementing a strict DMARC policy (p=reject) can help prevent phishing and improve deliverability.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that Gmail marks emails as spam for several reasons, including sender reputation, authentication issues (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), spam complaints from recipients, and content that resembles spam. To fix this, ensure proper authentication, monitor sender reputation via Postmaster Tools, and review email content for spam triggers.