Myths and Facts About Email Deliverability

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There are some myths about email deliverability out there, and it is important to realize myth from fact. Here are a few of the most prominent myths and the truths to set them straight.

1. Unlike before, B2B senders should worry a bit about spam filters.

As businesses migrate to cloud based services and email solutions, email deliverability best practices for B2B marketers are one in the same as B2C. Therefore, B2B senders aren’t off the hook when it comes to email filters.

Gmail’s spam filter for example looks at generated data from complaints, unknown users, spam traps, etc. to determine whether an IP address will make it through. Therefore, B2B marketers are no exception to the deliverability rules

2. Low Complaint Rates don’t necessarily equate to good deliverability.

Just because you have a low complaint rate doesn’t mean your emails are evading the spam folder.

A complaint rate is calculated as the number of emails delivered to the inbox divided by subscriber complaints. If your company isn’t sending mass amounts of emails, then the chances of getting a bad complaint rate is much easier.  

Focus on getting subscribers to mark your emails as “not spam” rather than focusing too much on your complaint rate.

3. High sender scores don’t necessarily equate to high placement.

Sender scores are like the credit scores of email marketing: you may have a great one but you will still need to go through a screening process before taking out a loan.

Sender scores indicate how likely it is that an email recipient will think the sender’s IP address is spam and are great tools to determine whether your messages are being junked, blocked, or bulked. But just remember, while it measures deliverability potential, it does not measure how many emails are actually making it to the inbox.

4. Just because an email is inactive doesn’t mean it went straight to the spam folder.

Instead of removing subscribers based on open and click activity, don’t assume that just because nobody clicked or opened it that it wen to the spam folder. Instead, adjust your content/frequency/cadence accordingly and then determine whether they should be removed from your list.

What are some other common misconceptions about email deliverability that you’ve heard? Leave a comment in the section below. 

Jonathon Mahon is a content marketer, writer and designer based in Boston. He writes for various digital publications and blogs specializing in the cloud, email automation, software, and technology.​