Email campaignsWrite, schedule and send newsletters and promotions. SMS marketingTexts for offers, reminders and alerts. API & integrationsSync contacts from your CRM, shop or website. Inbox placementAuthenticated sending on Amazon SES, monitored for you. Domain authenticationDKIM, SPF and DMARC set up and checked automatically. Domain healthBounce, complaint and Google Postmaster trends in one score. Contacts & importsLists, CSV imports and consent kept for every contact. AnalyticsOpens, clicks and bounces, with bot activity filtered out. Team workspacesEvery seat free, with roles and an audit log.
Small businessesBring customers back without hiring a marketer. Agencies & freelancersOne workspace per client, no per-seat fees. GDPR-compliant emailConsent records, a DPA and an EU sending region. Why emails go to spamThe 12 most common causes and how to fix each. Mailchimp alternativesEight alternatives priced at 1k, 5k and 10k contacts. Compare platformsPrices and features side by side, with sources.
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SPF, DKIM and DMARCWhat each record does and how to set it up. Why emails go to spamThe 12 most common causes and how to fix each. Mailchimp alternativesEight alternatives priced at 1k, 5k and 10k contacts. Help centerGuides for domains, imports, campaigns and billing. Your first campaignFrom a new workspace to a sent email. Healthy bounce ratesThe thresholds that matter and how to stay under them. Affiliate programEarn recurring commission for every referral. Contact supportWrite to us and a person replies, never a bot. Security & privacyOur Data Processing Addendum and sub-processors.
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Deliverability guide

Why are my emails going to spam? 12 causes and how to fix them

Mailbox providers decide where your email lands mostly on reputation: who you are, whether you are authenticated, and how people react to what you send. Content matters less than most people think. Here are the twelve causes we see most, roughly in order of impact.

Updated

Authentication and identity

  1. 1 No SPF, DKIM or DMARC. Unauthenticated bulk email is filtered or rejected by Gmail and Yahoo. Publish all three and make sure they align with your From domain.
  2. 2 Sending from a free mailbox address. A From address at gmail.com or outlook.com sent through a marketing platform fails DMARC. Send from your own domain.
  3. 3 A brand-new domain sending at full volume. New domains have no reputation. Start with your most engaged contacts and grow volume over a few weeks.

Your list

  1. 1 Old, bought or scraped lists. They contain dead addresses and spam traps. Only email people who opted in, and re-confirm anyone you haven’t emailed in a year.
  2. 2 A high bounce rate. Remove hard bounces immediately. Amazon SES reviews accounts when bounces approach 5%; aim to stay under 2%.
  3. 3 Emailing people who stopped engaging. Long-inactive contacts drag down engagement signals. Send them a re-engagement campaign, then stop emailing those who don’t respond.

How people react

  1. 1 Too many spam complaints. Gmail asks bulk senders to stay below a 0.3% spam rate; aim for under 0.1%. Amazon SES reviews accounts when complaints approach 0.1%.
  2. 2 A hidden or slow unsubscribe. If leaving is hard, people press “report spam” instead. Put one-click unsubscribe in every email; Gmail and Yahoo require it for bulk senders.
  3. 3 Sending too often, or out of the blue. Irregular blasts after months of silence surprise people. Keep a steady, predictable schedule.

The message itself

  1. 1 Misleading subject lines. A subject that doesn’t match the content earns complaints. Say what’s inside.
  2. 2 Image-only emails and no plain-text version. Filters can’t read images. Use real text and include a plain-text part.
  3. 3 Link shorteners and broken links. Public URL shorteners are often abused by spammers. Link to your own domain and check every link before sending.

Checklist before every campaign

  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC pass and align with your From domain.
  • Sending only to people who opted in and engaged in the last 6–12 months.
  • Hard bounces and complaints suppressed automatically.
  • One-click unsubscribe in the header and a visible link in the footer.
  • Clear subject line, real text, plain-text version and links on your own domain.
  • Bounce rate under 2% and complaint rate under 0.1% on the last campaign.

How Sendonia helps

Sendonia authenticates your domain for you, adds one-click unsubscribe to every email, suppresses bounces and complaints automatically and tracks your rates against the thresholds Amazon SES uses. Connect Google Postmaster Tools to see Gmail’s own view of your reputation in the same domain health page.

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