Most people who land in spam aren't doing anything shady. They skipped one or two of the basics below. Go through the list once before every big send.
Before you send
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC are in place. Gmail and Yahoo require all three from bulk senders, and Outlook has done the same since May 2025. Check your domain in ten seconds.
- Your IP and domain aren't blacklisted. Run a blacklist check.
- New domains and inboxes are warmed up. Two to four weeks of slowly growing, real-looking activity. How to warm up a domain.
- Your list is clean. Remove bounced addresses and people who haven't opened anything in months. Never buy lists.
- Your email scores well. Send it to our mail tester and aim for 9/10 or better.
While you send
- Spread the volume. Several accounts at a comfortable pace beat one account pushed to its limit. See the limits for Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo.
- Add pauses. A random gap of 20 to 90 seconds between emails looks like a person.
- Don't send the same email to everyone. Use the person's name, and vary the first line or the subject. AI makes this easy.
- Make unsubscribing easy. A visible link, and a one-click List-Unsubscribe header for newsletters.
- Watch replies and complaints. If people mark you as spam, stop and fix the list before sending more. Gmail wants complaints under 0.3%.
The short version
Authenticate the domain, warm it up, send slowly from several accounts, write like a person, and only email people who expect you. Our AI senders handle the pacing and the writing; the sending service does all of it for you.