How Do I Fix Poor Email Deliverability?

Diagnosing the Problem

Before fixing deliverability, you need to understand what's broken. Poor deliverability manifests in several ways:

• High bounce rates: Over 2-3% indicates list quality issues
• Low open rates: Under 10% suggests spam folder placement
• Spam complaints: Any complaints above 0.1% are concerning
• Blacklist presence: Your domain or IP appears on blocking lists

SendroAI provides comprehensive deliverability diagnostics, identifying exactly which factors are impacting your inbox placement.

Step 1: Audit Authentication Records

Authentication is the foundation of deliverability. Verify these records are correctly configured:

• SPF: Lists authorized sending servers for your domain
• DKIM: Cryptographically signs emails to verify authenticity
• DMARC: Tells receivers how to handle authentication failures

Use tools like MXToolbox or Google Admin Toolbox to verify your authentication setup. Even small misconfigurations can cause significant deliverability issues.

Step 2: Clean Your Email List

List hygiene directly impacts sender reputation. Remove:

• All hard bounced addresses immediately
• Addresses with repeated soft bounces (3+ attempts)
• Recipients who haven't engaged in 90+ days
• Known spam traps and catch-all domains
• Role-based addresses (info@, sales@, support@)

Run your list through an email verification service before resuming campaigns. SendroAI includes built-in verification that catches invalid addresses before they impact your metrics.

Step 3: Reduce Volume Temporarily

If your reputation is damaged, continuing to send at full volume makes things worse. Scale back immediately:

• Reduce to 20-30% of normal volume
• Focus only on your most engaged recipients
• Pause any cold outreach campaigns temporarily
• Prioritize quality over quantity for 2-4 weeks

This gives mailbox providers positive signals—your remaining sends should have high engagement rates, gradually rebuilding trust.

Step 4: Implement Proper Warm-Up

If you're recovering from serious reputation damage, treat your domain like new. Follow domain warm-up protocols:

• Week 1: 10-20 emails/day to engaged contacts only
• Week 2: 30-50 emails/day, monitor engagement
• Week 3-4: Gradually increase by 25% weekly
• Week 5+: Resume normal volume if metrics are healthy

SendroAI automates this process, intelligently scaling volume based on real-time deliverability signals.

Step 5: Improve Email Content

Content quality affects both engagement and spam filtering. Review your emails for:

• Spam trigger words: Avoid "free," "urgent," "act now," excessive punctuation
• Image-to-text ratio: Don't send image-only emails
• Link quality: Use reputable, non-shortened URLs
• Personalization: Generic templates trigger spam filters
• Unsubscribe link: Make it visible and functional

Consider using personalization at scale to make each email unique—identical mass emails are more likely to be flagged.

Step 6: Monitor Recovery Progress

Track these metrics weekly during recovery:

• Google Postmaster Tools: Domain and IP reputation scores
• Bounce rate: Should stay below 2%
• Spam complaint rate: Keep under 0.1%
• Open rates: Should improve as inbox placement recovers
• Blacklist status: Check weekly until clear

Step 7: Consider Infrastructure Changes

In severe cases, infrastructure changes may be necessary:

• New domains: If reputation is unsalvageable, start fresh with new sending domains
• New IPs: Switch to a clean IP range
• Different ESP: Some providers have better relationships with major mailbox providers

SendroAI helps teams implement inbox rotation strategies that distribute risk and accelerate recovery.

Timeline Expectations

Deliverability recovery isn't instant. Expect:

• Authentication fixes: 24-48 hours for DNS propagation
• List cleaning impact: 1-2 weeks to see improvement
• Reputation recovery: 4-8 weeks of consistent positive behavior
• Full recovery: 2-3 months for severely damaged domains

Key Takeaways

• Diagnose the specific issue before attempting fixes
• Verify authentication records are correctly configured
• Clean your list aggressively—quality over quantity
• Reduce volume and focus on engaged recipients during recovery
• Be patient—reputation recovery takes weeks, not days