How to Keep Your Newsletters Out of Spam Folders

You've put a lot of effort into creating your newsletter, but it still ends up in your subscribers' spam folders? Don't worry, there are ways to prevent this. Email deliverability depends on several factors: your domain's reputation, the quality of your subscriber list, the content of your emails, and your technical authentication settings. The good news is that there are practical steps you can take to improve your chances of reaching your subscribers' inboxes. Here are seven tips you can start using today.

Tip 1: Authenticate Your Sending Domain

Before you can send your first newsletter, most email marketing platforms will ask you to authenticate your domain. Essentially, this means connecting your domain name to your email platform so it can confirm to email providers, such as Gmail and Outlook, that messages sent from your address really come from you, not from someone maliciously impersonating your identity.

Think of it as presenting a digital ID every time you send an email. The mechanisms behind this process (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) are generally handled through your email platform, so you don't need to worry about all the technical details.

Rest assured, the process is usually simple and quick. If you need assistance, your chosen platform's customer support team can guide you through it.

Tip 2: Send Newsletters From Your Own Domain Name

Using a generic email address ending in @gmail.com or @outlook.com, for example, can hurt your newsletter deliverability. These domain names are shared by millions of users, and when someone sends fraudulent or unwanted messages, it can affect how email providers evaluate messages from those domains.

Your sender reputation is one of the main factors email providers consider when deciding whether your newsletter reaches your subscribers' inboxes or goes straight to spam.

That's why you should always use a professional email address when sending messages on behalf of your business. Choose something classic, such as info@yourbusiness.com or firstname@yourbusiness.com. This allows you to build your own sending reputation instead of relying on a shared email domain.

Tip 3: Maintain a Healthy Subscriber List

A healthy subscriber list also contributes to your domain's reputation and helps improve your email deliverability. But how can you keep your list in good shape over time?

First, never buy email lists. Yes, your campaigns may reach more people, but none of them asked to receive your communications, and most probably don't want your emails in their inboxes. The result? Your messages get marked as spam, damaging your sender reputation.

Regularly cleaning your list will help keep it healthy. To determine which subscribers to remove, start by sending a re-engagement email to those who have been inactive for several months. If they still don't respond or interact, it may be time to remove them from your list, since inactive contacts can negatively affect your engagement rate. We'll discuss that in more detail shortly.

Enabling double opt-in also prevents people from signing up with fake email addresses. The principle is simple: after someone completes your subscription form, they receive an automatic confirmation email containing a link they must click to activate their subscription. This confirms that the address is active and increases the chances that your future newsletters will reach that subscriber's inbox.

Tip 4: Monitor Your Engagement Rate

Your newsletter engagement rate directly affects your sender reputation. The more recipients open your emails and click on your links, the more email providers may consider your content relevant and deliver it to the right folders.

If your engagement rate is low, consider temporarily targeting only your most active subscribers. This can help improve your engagement metrics and send positive signals to email providers, showing that your community values the content you share. Over time, this may improve the deliverability of your future newsletters.

Segmenting your audience based on interests or demographic information can also help increase engagement, since subscribers receive content that is more relevant to them.

Tip 5: Pay Attention to Your Newsletter Content and Subject Lines

Email providers may filter messages that appear fraudulent or overly aggressive, sending them directly to spam folders. Certain topics, such as money and health, may attract additional scrutiny from spam filters.

Subject lines and email content that create excessive urgency can also affect deliverability. Overusing exclamation marks, question marks, capital letters, or promotional expressions such as "free," "discount," and "100% guaranteed" may raise warning signs.

That doesn't mean you can't use newsletters for marketing campaigns or announce limited-time promotions. Just avoid excessive superlatives and maintain a balanced text-to-image ratio, since emails made up primarily of images may be more likely to trigger spam filters.

Tip 6: Check the Quality of Your Links and Attachments

The quality of the links you include in your newsletters can make the difference between reaching the inbox and ending up in spam. Make sure all your links work properly and lead to websites protected by an SSL certificate, helping keep users' data secure. You should also avoid shortened links created with services such as Bitly, as these are sometimes associated with fraudulent practices.

Be careful with misleading links as well. For example, if the visible text in your email says "Visit festival.ca," but the hyperlink actually redirects users to "mybusiness.com," email providers may detect the mismatch, increasing the chances of your newsletter being flagged as spam.

Tip 7: Make Unsubscribing Easy

Highlighting an unsubscribe link may seem counterproductive when your goal is to grow your subscriber list. However, making it easy to unsubscribe is essential to preventing your newsletters from being reported as spam.

When subscribers no longer want to receive your emails but can't quickly find a way to unsubscribe, they may simply mark your messages as spam instead. The more often your domain is reported for sending unwanted content, the more its reputation suffers. As a result, future newsletters are more likely to land directly in spam folders.

It's also important to note that certain countries, including Canada, the United States, and France, have laws requiring newsletters and marketing emails to include an unsubscribe option.

Newsletter deliverability doesn't depend on just one factor. It's the result of several good practices that need to be implemented and maintained over time.

By protecting your sender reputation, keeping your subscriber list healthy, and creating relevant content, you maximize the chances that your emails will actually reach your audience. And that's the foundation of an effective email marketing strategy.

To learn more about the factors that influence the success of your campaigns, check out our article on the essential newsletter statistics you should track.

Why Do Newsletters End Up in Spam Folders, and How Can You Prevent It?

• Poor sender reputation, low engagement, suspicious wording, and authentication issues are among the main reasons newsletters end up in spam folders.

• Authenticating your sending domain helps email providers verify that your messages come from the legitimate sender, improving deliverability.

• Maintaining a healthy subscriber list made up of active contacts who have consented to receive your emails reduces spam complaints and protects your domain's reputation.

• Making unsubscribing easy is essential. Subscribers who can't find a way to leave your list may mark your messages as spam, which damages your sender reputation.

• Improving engagement involves segmenting your audience, temporarily focusing on your most active subscribers, and ensuring that your content matches the interests and expectations of each segment.