Join our Customer Marketing Manager (APAC), Andy, as he breaks down the core mechanics of modern email deliverability, explaining how inbox algorithms evaluate recipient behaviour to determine where your messages land. The session moves beyond outdated myths to offer actionable strategies for building a strong domain reputation, maintaining list hygiene, and working alongside mailbox providers to maximise inbox placement.
Key Takeaways:
Engagement Is the Ultimate Consent Signal: Modern inbox algorithms prioritise how users interact with your emails. Positive signals like opens, clicks, replies, and moves out of spam boost your sending domain's reputation, while negative signal (especially spam complaints!) heavily penalise deliverability. A complaint rate as low as 0.1% can divert future campaigns straight to junk.
The Promotions Tab Is Categorisation, Not Failure: Landing in Gmail's Promotions tab means your domain health and authentication are intact. Mailbox providers use tabbed inboxes to organise commercial email for users who are in a shopping mindset, so attempting to "hack" your way into the primary inbox often backfires into direct spam reports.
Technical Protocols Are Non-Negotiable: Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records is the essential first step before running campaigns. While these technical frameworks don't grant permission to send, they verify your domain's authenticity, protect your reputation from spoofing, and ensure recipient servers accept your mail.
Quality Outweighs Quantity (List Hygiene Matters): A smaller, highly engaged subscriber list is far more valuable than a large, passive one. Implementing a sunset strategy to remove or re-engage inactive subscribers after three to four months protects your domain authority from being degraded by persistent non-engagement.
Spam Filters Have Evolved: Traditional "spam trigger words" like "free" or emojis in subject lines no longer automatically sink deliverability because modern algorithms understand context. Instead, delivery issues stem from misleading tactics (like fake "RE:" or "FWD:" headers), inconsistent sending volume spikes, or neglecting list maintenance.
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