I’m a new email. Did I land in your primary inbox?

We Always Hope We’ll Land In The Primary…

But sometimes things just don’t work out. Good news is, there’s several things you can do to make sure your chances of landing in that prized primary inbox are higher.

Here’s a guide to help you maximize email deliverability and ensure your emails consistently land in the primary inbox.

1. Warm Up Your Domain

Before you start sending large volumes of emails, you need to warm up your domain. This process builds trust with email service providers (ESPs) and improves your sender reputation.

• Start small: Send a limited number of emails each day and gradually increase the volume over several weeks.

• Engage with your recipients: Ensure that initial emails go to people likely to open and engage with your content. The more opens, replies, and clicks you get, the better ESPs will perceive your domain.

Or just use Warmforge 😉

2. Use Secondary Domains

Using your main domain is a big NO-NO. If your primary domain gets blacklisted or its sender reputation is affected, it can impact all future email needs. Instead, use secondary domains that use a variation of your company name.

For example, if your primary domain is salesforge.ai, try using gosalesforge.ai or trysalesforge.com.

3. Authenticate Your Emails

Authentication is vital for building trust with ESPs, as it proves you're the legitimate sender. Ensure you have the following protocols in place:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Specifies which IP addresses are allowed to send emails on behalf of your domain.

• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Adds an encrypted signature to your emails, verifying that they weren’t altered in transit.

• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): Protects your domain from being used in email spoofing and phishing attacks.

4. Maintain a Clean Email List

A clean email list is essential to good deliverability. Regularly scrub your list to remove inactive, bounced, or unengaged email addresses.

• Use list-cleaning tools to automate the process.

• Segment your list based on engagement levels and tailor your content accordingly.

5. Optimize Your Email Content

The content of your email plays a big role in whether it lands in the primary inbox or gets relegated to spam.

• Personalization: Use dynamic fields to personalize emails with the recipient’s name, company, or industry-specific content.

• Avoid spammy language: Words like "free," "buy now," or "earn money" can trigger spam filters.

• Use a clean, responsive design: Ensure your email design is mobile-friendly and doesn’t rely too heavily on images, as emails with too many images and not enough text may get flagged.

6. Monitor Sender Reputation

Your domain’s sender reputation is influenced by a variety of factors, including bounce rates, complaint rates, and email engagement. If your reputation dips, so will your deliverability.

• Use tools like Google Postmaster to track your reputation.

• Avoid high bounce rates by cleaning your list regularly and ensuring you’re only sending to valid email addresses.

7. Test Before You Send

Testing your email before a full campaign can prevent deliverability issues. Use tools like Litmus to preview your email in various inboxes and ensure it’s being delivered to the primary tab.

8. Encourage Engagement

Higher engagement signals to ESPs that your emails are wanted. Encourage readers to interact with your emails by:

• Asking for replies or feedback.

• Including clear CTAs that invite clicks.

• Sending relevant and valuable content to your audience.

Speaking of… Reply to this email and tell us what you’d like to see in the next newsletter!