People say our email is going to spam

Spam is a multi-level and can be a tricky issue to deal with. Most of the problems can be rectified with the end-user taking appropriate action, some require collaboration with the recipient IT department.

If your email is going to spam at the other end with a recipient, then we will need that person to provide us with some information so we can look at why it is happening. Usually, this is an issue with Spam rules/filters on their end, and we have limited ability to fix it.

Even Google's own documentation states that you will need the recipient's help to provide details.

You may also need to set up your domains correctly to comply with email sender rules. We can help you do that through our Email Deliverability and Domain Reputation service.

1. Providing the most useful information (Email Headers)

Email Headers are a recording of all of the steps that an email goes through from the moment the send button is clicked, through to landing at the recipient side on the other end. Think of it a bit like when you track a parcel with a courier. It tells you each step of the process, where your parcel is and how long it will be until it gets to you. 

It is the most useful piece of information that we can have when trying to work out what is happening with email delivery.

How to get Email Headers:

1. Recipient: Technical email details (Email or Message Headers):
   1. Please ask the recipient to provide the Message Headers for an affected email
      • Instructions for Gmail
      • Instructions for Outlook, AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail
        
   2. Note:
      • The best headers are from the recipient. 
      • You will need to copy and paste the headers in full. We cannot use a screenshot, and we cannot use a link that goes into their account. 
      • If the recipient forwards you the affected email - this is not useful.
2. Sender: Technical email details (Email or Message Headers)
   1. If you are the sender you can provide us with the Message Headers for the email you sent, by finding it in your sent items. 
      • Instructions for Gmail
      • Instructions for Outlook, AOL, Yahoo, Hotmail

With the email headers we can analyse exactly what is happening in the background, and advise what action needs to be taken, noting that it may be out of our (and your) hands as it's an issue at the recipient's end.

2. Patterns

Can you identify a pattern? 

1. Are they from the same sender, or domain? 
2. if a different member of your team sends the same email to the same recipient, do you get the same result?
3. Are all of the affected people only on Gmail, or are they only on Hotmail, or are they only on Outlook?
4. Any time of day that it is more common? 
5. Is it a particular type of email e.g. an order receipt or a transactional email or a marketing email?

3. Sender Platform

1. Does the issue appear simultaneously by sending email via your mobile app and/or gmail.com?
2. Are you using a third party client e.g. Outlook / Mac Mail? If so, try via gmail.com to see if that makes a difference. 
3. Does there seem to be any inconsistency between the synchronisation of the client used to send the email? 
4. Is it only happening when you send it from your website or from your CRM? 

4. Email content

Try removing your signature and sending an email with almost no content - sometimes attachments and email signatures trigger spam rules that prevent your email getting through. 

5. Search the Email Log (Google Workspace)

You can also get your Google Workspace admins to gather some information from your side if you know the specific email recipient. Conducting a search in the Email Audit Log will provide more detailed information for us to review.

NOTE even though we may be your partner for Google Workspace, we do not have access to your email audit log. Google restricts this kind of access because it allows us to see end-user data, which is against their terms of service and privacy restrictions. Google's support is also unable to do this for you.

6. Short term fixes

The best thing you can do in the short term to improve your deliverability is to ask recipients to click "Mark as Not Spam" on your emails. If your message contains links or buttons, encourage them to click those as well.

These actions signal to providers like Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo that your content is valuable. Much like how Google ranks websites based on click-through rates and "dwell time," email providers use engagement data to determine your status. By interacting with your mail, users help build your reputation as a legitimate, high-value sender.

7. Long term fixes

If you wish to learn more check out our 2 part series on Email Deliverability management: 

• Part 1:  Don’t Let Your Emails Go Astray: A Small Business Guide to Email Deliverability
• Part 2: Is Your Business Email Landing in the Spam Folder? (And How to Fix It!)

Here's a quick list of the things that go into good email deliverability that we discuss in the videos above:

1. Ensure your technicals (SPF/DMARC/DKIM/BIMI) are correct and in place for all the platforms you send email from. Think about Gmail/outlook/website/CRM/Email marketing/ERP etc.
2. Send high quality emails, reduce the number of links, avoid spammy phrases
3. Ensure your website is not hacked / compromised 
4. Keep your email marketing lists clean 
5. Send marketing emails to your highest engaging list members first followed by the lesser 
6. Monitor your reputation through DMARC and Google Postmaster tools 
7. Keep your spam report rate below 0.2%

If you need help doing this please check out out Email Deliverability and Domain Reputation service.