What is email deliverability?

A deliverable email is one that successfully lands in your recipient’s inbox. The inbox provider has verified that the recipient’s email address exists and that the message isn’t spam. 

Whether the email will land in their inbox depends on two main processes:

  1. Email delivery: When an email is delivered, it reaches the email server and doesn’t bounce. Factors such as the validity of the recipient’s address, mailbox capacity, and server issues impact delivery.
  2. Email deliverability: After the email reaches your recipient’s inbox, it gets stored in a specific folder. If the deliverability is high, the email will end up in the primary inbox. Factors such as your sender reputation, email content, and the recipient’s engagement level impact deliverability.

How to make sure your emails are deliverable

To ensure your emails appear in your subscriber’s primary inbox, follow these steps:

1. Warm and ramp your sending domain

When using a new domain, build your sender reputation by:

  1. Warming: Send messages to engaged segments first to secure high open rates. If available, migrate your historical engagement data from your previous email service provider.
  2. Ramping: Send fewer emails at first and gradually increase the volume over time.

2. Get consent and clean your list

Consider using double opt-in for new subscribers. Once they complete your sign-up form, ask them to verify their consent.

Reach out only to those who’ve given their express consent and your engaged segments. Remove invalid email addresses or unengaged profiles from your email list regularly. 

3. Enable subscribers to opt out easily

Insert two unsubscribe links in your emails so recipients can opt out of receiving them. It’s also advisable to give them an option to manage their mailing preferences.

4. Optimise your message content 

Follow these email content guidelines to maximise your deliverability:

  • Personalise your messages by including the recipient’s name and offering tailored recommendations.
  • Make your messages more engaging by using concise language, providing valuable information, and creating a powerful call to action (CTA).
  • Avoid using all caps and spammy words like “100% FREE,” especially in the subject line.
  • Reduce the number of links in your emails and place them strategically.
  • Use both text and images. Avoid image-only emails, and don’t overdo it with visuals.

5. Monitor your deliverability

By tracking your email performance and deliverability, you can detect and resolve bottlenecks before they’ve had a chance to damage your sender reputation. Pay attention to metrics such as:

  • Open rate: This metric indicates how many people opened your email. If it’s low, try to make your subject lines and preheader text more compelling.
  • Click rate: This metric indicates how many people clicked on the links within your email. If it’s low, try to make your content more engaging, reorganise the layout, and use a stronger CTA.
  • Bounce rate: This metric indicates the percentage of emails that didn’t reach recipients’ inboxes. If it’s high, consider cleaning your list more frequently and rigorously, checking your links, and revising the language in your messages.

Use Klaviyo to optimise your email deliverability and make sure your marketing messages reach your subscribers. Klaviyo’s deliverability hub gives you detailed and helpful insights, from your overall deliverability score to campaign-specific performance. 

Klaviyo also offers guided warming, recommends the next steps to improve your sender reputation, and features various pre-built templates—all you need to make your email marketing efforts a resounding success.

Sign up for Klaviyo and secure deliverable emails for every campaign or flow.

Additional resources