Email Deliverability Setup That Keeps Your Emails Out of Spam.
An email programme with poor deliverability reaches a fraction of its intended audience regardless of how good the content is. SPF, DKIM and DMARC authentication, list hygiene, sender reputation management and inbox placement testing all determine whether your emails arrive in the inbox or disappear into spam.
Why Deliverability Is the Foundation of Every Email Programme.
Email deliverability is the percentage of sent emails that successfully reach the recipient inbox. A programme with 70 percent inbox placement is effectively reaching only 70 percent of its list regardless of send volume. The three technical authentication records, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, form the foundation of inbox placement by proving to receiving servers that your emails are legitimately sent from your domain.
SPF, DKIM and DMARC: what each does
SPF specifies which mail servers are authorised to send email on behalf of your domain. DKIM adds a cryptographic signature that receiving servers use to verify the email has not been tampered with in transit. DMARC builds on both and specifies what receiving servers should do with emails that fail authentication: quarantine them to spam or reject them entirely. All three must be correctly configured before any significant email volume is sent from your domain.
Sender reputation and list hygiene
Beyond authentication records, your sender reputation is built over time based on how recipients interact with your emails. High open rates, low spam complaint rates and low bounce rates all contribute to a positive reputation. Sending to unengaged contacts damages it. List hygiene, the regular removal of bounced, unengaged and invalid contacts, is the most direct lever for maintaining strong sender reputation over time.
Key Services and Approaches We Use.
SPF Record Configuration
We configure the correct SPF record for your sending domain, listing all authorised mail servers and testing that it validates correctly with no errors.
DKIM Setup and Signing
We set up DKIM signing for your sending domain and verify that signatures pass validation in email headers after sending.
DMARC Policy Implementation
We implement a DMARC policy starting in monitoring mode, review reports to identify any unauthorised sending sources and progressively tighten the policy.
Inbox Placement Testing
We test your emails across major inbox providers including Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail to identify any deliverability issues before they affect your full list.
List Hygiene Implementation
We implement a 90-day hygiene cycle removing hard bounces, spam complaints and chronically unengaged contacts to protect sender reputation for all active subscribers.
Sending Domain Warmup
For new sending domains or IP addresses, we manage a structured warmup programme gradually increasing send volume to establish positive sending reputation with major inbox providers.
Tactics That Improve Results Faster.
Never Use Your Root Domain for Email Sending
Use a dedicated sending subdomain such as mail.yourdomain.com for email campaigns. This protects your root domain reputation if a campaign generates high complaint rates.
Set DMARC to Monitor Before Enforcing
Start with a DMARC policy of p=none to monitor authentication failures without rejecting emails. Review DMARC reports for 2 to 4 weeks before moving to quarantine or reject policy.
Keep Spam Complaint Rate Below 0.08 Percent
Gmail and Yahoo enforce a 0.3 percent spam complaint threshold for bulk senders. Aim below 0.08 percent to maintain a safety margin. Monitor complaint rates in Google Postmaster Tools weekly.
Authenticate All Email Sending Sources
Every service sending email on behalf of your domain, including your ESP, CRM and transactional email service, must be included in your SPF record with DKIM signing configured.
Remove Hard Bounces After Every Send
Hard bounces should be suppressed immediately after each send. Continuing to send to hard-bounced addresses signals to inbox providers that you are not maintaining a quality list.
Test Deliverability Before Every Major Campaign
Use an inbox placement testing tool before sending to your full list. A 15-minute test before a large send can prevent a deliverability problem from affecting thousands of contacts.
Warm Up New IP Addresses Gradually
Sending high volumes from a new IP immediately will result in filtering or blocking by major inbox providers. Start with your most engaged subscribers and increase volume gradually over 4 to 6 weeks.
Monitor Google Postmaster Tools
Google Postmaster Tools provides domain reputation, IP reputation, spam rate and authentication data for emails sent to Gmail. Review it weekly to identify issues before they affect overall deliverability.
The Stack Behind Every Campaign.
Klaviyo
Primary ecommerce email platform with deep Shopify integration, predictive analytics and advanced flow logic for behavioural automation.
ActiveCampaign
Best-in-class automation builder for B2B with CRM integration, lead scoring and conditional content personalisation.
MXToolbox
Free tool for checking SPF, DKIM, DMARC and blacklist status. Essential for diagnosing deliverability problems.
Litmus or Email on Acid
Email rendering testing across 90 plus email clients before sending, catching layout breaks in Outlook, Gmail and Apple Mail.
Google Analytics 4
UTM-tagged email links track post-click behaviour in GA4, attributing website sessions and conversions to specific email sends.
WATI for WhatsApp
Connects WhatsApp follow-up automation alongside email sequences for higher-reach multi-channel nurture programmes.
Looker Studio
Live email revenue dashboards combining ESP data, GA4 and CRM data to track revenue per send and automation performance.
HubSpot or Mailchimp
Email platforms for earlier-stage businesses or simpler requirements with solid deliverability, basic automation and broad integration support.
How We Deliver Consistent Results.
Email Programme Audit
We audit flows, deliverability, segmentation and revenue attribution to establish a baseline and identify the highest-impact improvements.
Strategy and Platform Setup
We configure your email platform correctly including list structure, sending domain authentication, flow architecture and segment definitions.
Flow Build and Testing
We build all core automation flows, test every path end to end and verify all triggers, delays and branching logic before going live.
Campaign Calendar Launch
We plan and produce the first 30 days of campaign sends alongside live automation flows, establishing content cadence and creative standard.
Weekly Optimisation
Weekly performance reviews cover all active flows and campaigns with specific data-driven changes to improve open rate, click rate and conversion rate.
Monthly Reporting
Monthly reports cover revenue by flow and campaign, list growth, deliverability health and forward strategy with a live Looker Studio dashboard.
More Across Our Services.
Common Questions Answered.
Fix Your Email Deliverability and Get Your Emails Into the Inbox.
We configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC for your sending domain, implement list hygiene processes and test inbox placement across major email providers so your campaigns reach the audience you are sending to.