You’ve just launched a crucial campaign to promote your latest offer, but your sales team reports that many potential clients haven't received anything. Your support team is overwhelmed with password reset requests because transactional emails aren't arriving. Worse still, an unhappy client contacts you because your urgent invoice went directly to spam. Every email not delivered represents a missed opportunity, frustrated clients, and direct negative impact on your revenue.

In 2024, nearly one in six marketing emails (about 15%) never reaches the inbox: 6.4% vanish completely, and 8.6% end up in spam folders.

This article explores why these issues occur and how you can ensure better email deliverability to optimize the effectiveness of your transactional and marketing communications.

Understanding Email Deliverability

Deliverability refers to the ability of an email to effectively reach a recipient's primary inbox. This differs from open rates, which measure how many delivered emails are actually opened.

Email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) evaluate each message using specific criteria to protect their users from spam. Even legitimate emails can be misclassified if certain standards aren't met.

Key Factors Influencing Email Deliverability

An email’s ability to reach the inbox doesn't depend solely on sending it, but also on various technical and operational factors. Here are the main elements determining if an email is properly delivered or relegated to spam:

• IP and Sender Reputation: Your sending history directly influences how email providers perceive you. A high rate of complaints (marked as spam) or bounces (failed deliveries due to invalid or full addresses) damages your reputation. Poor reputation can lead to automatic filtering or complete blocking.
• Email Authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC): Correct authentication proves to receiving servers that an email is legitimate and not forged. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are the minimum standards required to reduce rejection risks. Additionally, emerging technologies like BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) enhance visibility and credibility by displaying your brand logo in some email clients.
• Content Quality and Email Structure: Excessively promotional content, poorly balanced emails (text/image ratio), or suspicious links often trigger spam filters.
• Frequency and Sending Volume: Sudden spikes in frequency or sending volume raise alerts with email providers. Gradually scaling your sending volume (warming) demonstrates regular and legitimate activity.

Example of a Bad Sender

A sender poorly managing their contact list, sending mass emails to outdated addresses, resulting in a high bounce rate and frequent spam complaints, will quickly find their emails blocked. For instance, a company purchasing unqualified email databases, sending aggressive promotional campaigns without proper authentication, and ignoring user complaints exemplifies bad sending practices.

Best Practices to Improve Your Deliverability

Optimizing email deliverability involves adopting technical and strategic best practices. Here are essential actions to maximize your message delivery:

• Dedicated vs. Shared IP: A dedicated IP provides greater control over your reputation and avoids penalties related to other users’ behaviors.
• Authentication Protocols: Carefully configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and regularly check them to maintain your reputation.
• List Quality: Regularly clean your contact database by removing invalid or inactive addresses and strictly respecting unsubscribe requests.
• Monitoring and Adjustments: Track your metrics (opens, clicks, bounces, complaints) and continually adjust your strategy through A/B testing.

Why Choose a Reliable Email Delivery Service?

A high-quality infrastructure doesn't just send emails; it ensures their effective delivery by minimizing risks of rejection or spam filtering. Here are key benefits of an optimized sending service:

• Proactive monitoring of IP addresses and sending patterns to quickly detect anomalies.
• Rapid and proactive resolution of technical incidents, such as IP blacklisting, to immediately limit negative impacts on your sends.
• Advanced monitoring with real-time dashboards to track and improve your reputation.
• Expert advice on optimal technical configuration and continuous support.

Investing in a robust email delivery service strategically secures your results and supports your growth.

Conclusion

Deliverability isn’t merely a technical issue, it's a major commercial factor crucial to the success of your transactional and marketing email campaigns. Neglecting this aspect means losing opportunities. By adopting best practices and choosing a reliable partner, you ensure not just delivery, but maximum effectiveness of your communications.

Switch to Scaleway TEM

Optimize your deliverability with a reliable and powerful European solution 🇪🇺 dedicated to transactional email sending.

Scaleway TEM offers:

• A robust and scalable infrastructure capable of easily managing peak sending periods.
• Precise, real-time monitoring tools to immediately identify and resolve any deliverability issues.
• Fully managed dedicated IP addresses, available with the Scale offer, ensuring isolated, optimal reputation for maximum long-term deliverability.

Ensure every email truly counts.