Cold Email Deliverability: Your Guide to the Inbox

Ever craft the perfect cold email, hit send, and then... nothing? It's a common frustration. You know you have something valuable, but your messages seem to disappear.

Often, the issue isn't your offer or subject line – it's deliverability. If your emails don't land in the main inbox, they're practically invisible.

But don't worry! This guide will show you the essentials to make sure your emails get seen.

Technical Setup: Your First Step

Think of this as the essential groundwork. Without a solid technical setup, your emails are more likely to stumble before they even reach the inbox. Let's break down the must-haves.

Smart Domain Use for Outreach

When you're doing cold outreach, it's often a smart move to use a sending domain that's different from your main business domain (e.g., if your main site is mycompany.com, you might send outreach from getmycompany.com or mycompany.net).  

Why? It helps protect the reputation of your primary domain. If your cold outreach accidentally hits a few spam traps or gets a high complaint rate, the negative impact is contained to your outreach domain, not the one your existing customers and partners use. When choosing a new domain for outreach, opt for reputable domain registrars and select a domain name that still aligns with your brand.

Email IDs Explained: SPF, DKIM, & DMARC

These sound technical, but they're key to proving your emails are legitimate. Getting them right helps build trust with email providers like Gmail and Outlook, which is key to landing in the inbox. If these signals are missing or incorrect, your emails are much more likely to go to spam or even get blocked entirely.  

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework):
  • SPF specifies which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. Essentially, it's a public list saying, "These are the official senders for my domain."
  • It helps prevent spammers from "spoofing" your domain, sending emails that look like they came from you. This protects your domain's reputation and signals to receiving servers that the email is legitimate.
  • General Setup: This typically involves adding a TXT record to your domain's DNS (Domain Name System) settings, listing all email service providers (ESPs) permitted to send email for you.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail):
  • DKIM adds a unique digital signature to every email you send. This signature is verified by the recipient's email server using a public key published in your DNS.
  • This confirms that the email actually came from your domain and that its content hasn't been tampered with during transit. It's like a digital seal of authenticity on a letter.
  • General Setup: This involves generating DKIM keys for each email service provider, adding TXT records to your DNS, and allowing 48 hours for DNS propagation.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance):
  • DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM. It's a policy you publish that tells receiving email servers what to do if an email claiming to be from your domain fails either SPF or DKIM checks (or both). It also allows you to receive reports on emails that pass or fail these checks.
  • DMARC is an extra layer of security that further builds your domain's reputation, which helps protect your domain from being used in phishing and spoofing attacks, and provides valuable feedback on your email ecosystem.
  • General Setup: This involves creating a DMARC TXT record in your DNS, specifying your policy (e.g., p=none, p=quarantine, or p=reject) and where to send reports.

Getting these three records correctly configured is a fundamental step for good email deliverability. While the setup involves working with your domain's DNS records, the process is well-documented. For a clear, step-by-step walkthrough on how to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for your domain, here is a helpful guide that breaks it down further.

Making Technical Setup Easy with Mailgo

Setting up new domains, configuring authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and then properly warming up new email accounts can feel like a lot of technical hurdles. This is where Mailgo simplifies things significantly.

As you can see from our options:

• Want to start sending right away? Mailgo offers Pre-warmed accounts. These are dedicated accounts, already prepared with a good reputation, using high-quality IPs that can even match your location.
• Alternatively, you can acquire New email accounts for marketing, which also come with permanent warm-up and simplified configurations (handling things like SPF/MX so you don't have to), allowing you to use designated domains.

Essentially, Mailgo provides the infrastructure and takes the hassle out of these critical technical steps, whether you need an instant pre-warmed solution or new, properly configured accounts for your campaigns.

List Quality: The Heart of Deliverability

You could have the most amazing email and a perfectly configured technical setup, but if you're sending to a bad list, your efforts will fall flat. Think of your email list as the very foundation of your outreach.

Keep Your Email List Clean & Verified

Sending emails to outdated, incorrect, or non-existent addresses is a surefire way to hurt your sender reputation and deliverability. High bounce rates (when emails can't be delivered) are a major red flag for email providers.

That's why regularly cleaning and verifying your email list isn't just a good idea – it's essential. This means removing invalid email addresses and those likely to cause bounces. For instance, Mailgo offers robust email verification and list cleaning functions that automatically identify and help you remove invalid and risky email addresses. This keeps your list healthy and your sender reputation intact, ensuring more of your emails reach their destination.

Smart Sourcing: Finding Contacts Ethically

Beyond just being valid, your contacts should also be relevant. Sending generic blasts to a purchased list of random people is rarely effective and can quickly get you flagged as spam.

First, focus on contacts who genuinely fit your ideal customer profile (ICP). Need help defining your ICP with AI? Mailgo has a great guide here.

Manually finding leads that match your ICP can take ages. Instead, Mailgo's AI Leads Finder does the heavy lifting. Just describe who you're looking for (like "Marketing Heads in LA tech companies"), and Mailgo delivers a list of targeted leads with verified emails.

A targeted, ethically sourced list means your emails are more welcomed, boosting engagement and deliverability.

Crafting Emails That Get Opened

Now that your technical setup is solid and your list is clean, it's time to focus on the email itself. What you write and how you present it can make all the difference between landing in the inbox or the dreaded spam folder.

Subject Lines & Formatting: First Impressions Count

Your subject line is your email's first handshake – make it a good one!

• Keep it Clear & Relevant: Make it obvious what the email is about and why it might be valuable. Avoid vague or misleading subject lines.
• • Good Example: "Idea for's Marketing Strategy"
  • Bad Example: "You WON'T BELIEVE THIS!" (too vague)
• Personalize (Wisely):Using the recipient's name or company name can help, but don't overdo it or make it feel creepy.
  • Good Example: "John, saw your recent post on LinkedIn"
• • Bad Example: "Hey Pal!!!" or using incorrect company/name information.
• Avoid "Spammy" Tactics:These are major red flags for spam filters and recipients alike.  
• • Good Example: "Following up on our conversation"
  • Bad Example: "URGENT: FREE MONEY AWAITS YOU NOW!!!" (ALL CAPS, excessive exclamation points, spammy words like "free money")
• Simple Formatting Wins: For cold emails, less is often more. Stick to plain text or very simple HTML. Avoid lots of different fonts, colors, or too many images, as these can trigger spam filters. Also, ensure your email is mobile-friendly, as many people will read it on their phones.
• • Mailgo’s template library, for instance, offers minimalist, text-only designs that prioritize readability and trust, helping your messages feel more personal and less like a bulk advertisement.

Content That Connects

Spam filters are smart, but so are genuinely helpful emails.

• Focus on Value: Your email should offer something of genuine interest or solve a problem for the recipient. Generic sales pitches are a quick route to the spam folder.
• Personalize Your Message: Generic emails get ignored. Go beyond just using their name. Reference their company, their role, a recent achievement, or a specific challenge they might be facing. This shows you've done your homework.
• Write Like a Human: Avoid overly formal or robotic language. A friendly, conversational tone usually works best.
• Keep it Concise: Respect your recipient's time. Get to the point quickly and clearly.
• Mind Your Links: Don't stuff your email with too many links. One or two relevant links are usually fine.

If crafting this kind of value-driven, personalized, and spam-avoidant copy consistently feels challenging, Mailgo's broader AI email writing assistant capabilities can also be a huge asset. It helps generate natural-sounding content that's less likely to trigger spam filters, while ensuring your message is clear and effective.

Send Smart, Build Trust

Email providers like Gmail and Outlook are always watching. They want to see that you're a responsible sender, not a spammer. Smart sending practices help build that trust, which is key for good deliverability.

Warm Up New Email Accounts

You wouldn't run a marathon without training, right? Same idea here. If you have a new email account or sending domain, you need to "warm it up." This means starting by sending a small number of emails and gradually increasing the volume over time.

This slow and steady approach shows email providers that you're a legitimate sender building a natural sending pattern, not someone about to blast out thousands of spam messages. Manually warming up an account by sending emails to friends or colleagues and getting replies can be effective but time-consuming. To streamline this, Mailgo offers an automated email account warm-up feature. It helps send and receive emails to build your sender reputation safely and efficiently, so you can start your outreach campaigns sooner with confidence.

Consistent Sending & Monitoring

Once you're warmed up, consistency is key. Avoid sending huge batches of emails all at once, then going silent for weeks. Spammers often blast emails in bulk; legitimate senders space them out.  

• Human-Like Sending Patterns: It's important to mimic natural, human behavior. Mailgo helps with this by randomizing intervals between sends (e.g., 8-15 minutes apart) and varying daily volumes, making your campaigns appear more manual and less like an automated bulk blast.
• AI-Optimized Send Times: Timing also impacts opens and engagement. Sending emails at 10 AM on Tuesdays might work for some, while others prefer different times. Mailgo’s smart scheduler analyzes recipient time zones and activity patterns, queuing emails to be sent during their peak engagement windows.
• Monitor Key Metrics: Keep an eye on your bounce rates (aim for under 2%), spam complaints (below 0.1%), and open/reply rates. Low engagement or high negative signals can hurt your reputation. Mailgo's analytics provide real-time insights into these crucial deliverability metrics, allowing you to spot and address potential issues early on, ensuring your campaigns stay on track.

By leveraging features like Mailgo's smart scheduling for optimized send times and human-like sending patterns, alongside its analytics for monitoring crucial deliverability metrics, you can maintain a healthy sender reputation and address potential issues early on.

Make Deliverability Your Advantage

So there you have it! Getting your cold emails to land in the inbox isn't about secret tricks; it's about building a solid foundation and following smart practices consistently.

Your Inbox Checklist

Let's quickly recap the essentials:

• Nail Your Technical Setup: Ensure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured. Consider a separate domain for outreach.
• Prioritize List Quality: Always verify your email lists to remove invalid addresses and focus on ethically sourcing relevant contacts.
• Craft Compelling Content: Write clear, valuable, and personalized emails. Keep formatting simple and subject lines engaging.
• Send Smart: Warm up new accounts, maintain consistent sending patterns, and monitor your key deliverability metrics.

Deliverability is a Journey

Think of email deliverability not as a one-time task, but as an ongoing commitment. Email provider rules and spam filter technologies are always evolving, so staying informed and regularly reviewing your practices is key.

By focusing on these core areas – and leveraging smart tools like Mailgo where they can help automate and optimize these processes – you can significantly boost your chances of reaching the inbox, engaging prospects, and ultimately, achieving your cold outreach goals. Make deliverability your advantage, and watch your email effectiveness soar!

FAQs

• Is cold emailing considered spam?

Answer: Cold emailing can be considered spam if not done correctly. If it uses spam trigger words, comes from an account with a bad sender reputation, isn't personalized, or violates anti-spam laws, it's likely to be flagged as spam. However, well-targeted, personalized, and value-driven cold emails that follow best practices are less likely to be considered spam.

• What is the difference between email delivery and deliverability?

Answer: Email delivery means the email was successfully sent and didn't bounce; it reached a mailbox (which could be the inbox, spam, or promotions folder). Email deliverability specifically refers to whether your email lands in the recipient's primary inbox, bypassing spam or promotional filters.

• What is good email deliverability?

Answer: Good email deliverability means your emails consistently reach the recipient's main inbox. For cold emails, a deliverability rate of 95% to 98% is considered good. It's influenced by factors like sender reputation, IP address, email content quality, and recipient engagement.

• What is the CTR for cold emails?

Answer: The average click-through rate (CTR) for cold emails is generally around 3-5%. One survey found an average CTR of 3.67%.

• Can I mass cold email?

Answer: Blasting thousands of generic emails is not recommended and will likely lead to poor deliverability and spam issues. Instead, focus on sending to targeted, verified lists with personalized content, using separate sending domains, warming up accounts, and respecting daily sending limits per account. Tools like Mailgo can help automate sending in a way that mimics human behavior (e.g., random intervals) rather than bulk blasting.

• How many cold emails should you send per day?

Answer: With a fully warmed-up account, you generally shouldn't send more than 50 emails per day per account. It's crucial to start with a small number (e.g., 5-20 emails per day) during the warm-up phase and gradually increase, sending them at random intervals to mimic human-like activity.

• How long is too long for a cold email?

Answer: The ideal length for a cold email is generally between 50 to 125 words. Emails in this range are quick to read and respect the recipient's time. Shorter emails (50-80 words) are good for initial outreach or follow-ups, while slightly longer ones (80-125 words) can work for more complex propositions. Anything significantly over 125 words risks losing the reader's attention.