What Is Email Deliverability?
Email deliverability is the ability to get your emails into your recipients' primary inbox — not their spam folder, not promotions tab. In cold email, deliverability is everything. You can have the best copy in the world, but if your emails land in spam, no one will ever read them.
The Four Pillars of Cold Email Deliverability
1. Technical Setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Before you send a single email, your domain needs to be properly authenticated. These three DNS records tell email providers that you are who you say you are.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) — Specifies which mail servers are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) — Adds a digital signature to every email you send, proving it hasn't been tampered with in transit.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication) — Tells receiving mail servers what to do if an email fails SPF or DKIM checks. Start with p=none to monitor, then tighten to p=quarantine or p=reject.
2. Email Warmup
A brand-new sending account has zero reputation. Sending 500 cold emails on day one is a guaranteed way to land in spam.
Email warmup gradually increases your sending volume while building positive engagement signals — opens, replies, marking emails as not spam. Leads Genie's warmup network does this automatically. Most domains reach a healthy inbox placement score within 3–4 weeks.
Best practices:
- Warm up every new domain for at least 3 weeks before sending cold outreach
- Never skip warmup even if the domain is a couple of years old
- Keep warmup running even after you've started sending campaigns
3. Sending Behaviour
Even with perfect technical setup and warmup, poor sending behaviour will destroy your deliverability.
- Daily limits: Send no more than 50–100 emails per day per account for the first 30 days. After 60+ days of warmup, you can safely push to 150–200/day.
- Sending schedule: Only send Monday—Friday, 8am—6pm in the recipient's timezone. Weekend sending tanks engagement rates.
- Bounce rate: Keep hard bounces below 2%. Use email verification before uploading any list.
- Spam complaints: Keep complaint rate below 0.1%. Use opt-out links, honour unsubscribes immediately.
4. Email Content
Email providers scan the content of your emails for spam signals.
- Avoid spam trigger words: "free", "guaranteed", "act now", "limited time"
- Don't use link shorteners (bit.ly, tinyurl)
- Don't attach files to cold emails
- Avoid excessive formatting, all-caps, or multiple exclamation marks
- Keep your email plain-text or minimal HTML
How to Monitor Your Deliverability
Use Google Postmaster Tools (free) to monitor your domain reputation with Gmail. Aim for a "High" reputation score.
In Leads Genie's Analytics dashboard, track your open rates by account. If a specific account's open rate drops below 20%, pause it and check your warmup score.
Common Deliverability Problems & Fixes
| Problem | Likely Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| 0% open rate on a new account | Sent before warmup | Stop immediately, warm up for 3 weeks |
| Bounce rate > 5% | Poor list quality | Verify emails before import |
| Sudden open rate drop | Spam complaints | Review content, add opt-out, slow down |
| Emails going to Promotions | HTML-heavy template | Switch to plain-text format |
Key Takeaway
Cold email deliverability isn't magic — it's a system. Set up your authentication, warm up your domains, respect sending limits, and keep your content clean. Follow these steps and you'll consistently see 60%+ open rates in Leads Genie campaigns.