Deliverability

Why Deliverability Matters

Email deliverability determines whether your emails reach the inbox or get filtered to spam. Even the best-written cold email is worthless if it never gets seen. With 85% of emails globally classified as spam, email providers are aggressive about filtering—and cold email is especially scrutinized.

Good deliverability requires three things: proper technical setup (DNS records), a warmed sending reputation, and clean sending practices. Get any of these wrong, and your campaigns will fail.

DNS Configuration

DNS records prove to email providers that you're authorized to send from your domain. Three records are essential:

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

SPF tells email providers which servers can send mail from your domain. Add a TXT record to your DNS:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:amazonses.com ~all

Include all services you use to send email. Multiple "include" statements are fine, but you can only have one SPF record per domain.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to your emails, proving they haven't been modified in transit. Your email provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365) generates a DKIM key—add it as a TXT record in your DNS.

For Google Workspace: Admin Console → Apps → Gmail → Authenticate Email → Generate DKIM key.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication)

DMARC tells email providers what to do when SPF or DKIM checks fail. Start with a monitoring policy:

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

This sends you reports without rejecting any mail. Once you're confident your setup is correct, change to p=quarantine or p=reject.

Dedicated Sending Domains

Never send cold email from your primary business domain. If your cold email reputation tanks, your legitimate business email suffers too.

Best practice: Create dedicated domains for outbound. If your company is "acme.com", use domains like:

• acme-mail.com
• tryacme.com
• getacme.com

Buy 2-5 domains and rotate them. This spreads risk and increases sending capacity.

Email Warmup with Lemwarm

New email accounts have no reputation—email providers don't trust them. Warmup builds reputation gradually by sending and receiving legitimate emails.

Lemwarm (included with Lemlist Email Pro and above) automates this process. It sends emails between Lemlist users, simulating real conversations with opens, replies, and inbox placement.

Warmup Schedule

• Week 1: 5-10 warmup emails/day. No campaigns yet.
• Week 2: 15-25 warmup emails/day. Start small test campaigns (10-20 emails).
• Week 3: 30-40 warmup emails/day. Gradually increase campaign volume.
• Week 4+: Maintain 40-50 warmup emails/day alongside campaigns.

Important: Never stop warmup, even when running active campaigns. Warmup maintains your reputation over time.

Sending Limits and Pacing

Sending too much too fast is the fastest way to damage deliverability. Follow these guidelines:

Daily Limits

• New accounts (0-30 days): 30-50 emails/day maximum
• Warmed accounts (30-60 days): 50-75 emails/day
• Mature accounts (60+ days): 75-100 emails/day

Sending Intervals

• Minimum 60 seconds between emails
• Ideal: 90-180 seconds (randomized)
• Send during business hours (8 AM - 6 PM recipient timezone)

Bounce Rate Management

High bounce rates signal to email providers that you're sending to bad lists—a spam indicator. Keep bounce rates under 3%.

To reduce bounces:

• Verify all email addresses before importing to Lemlist
• Use tools like Neverbounce, Zerobounce, or Dropcontact
• Remove catch-all domains (risky—may bounce or spam-trap)
• Clean your list every 30 days

Spam Complaint Rate

When recipients mark your email as spam, it damages your sender reputation. Keep spam complaints under 0.1% (1 per 1,000 emails).

To reduce complaints:

• Target relevant prospects (don't spray and pray)
• Include easy unsubscribe links
• Don't email people who haven't opened previous emails
• Make it clear who you are and why you're reaching out

Monitoring Deliverability

Track these metrics to catch problems early:

• Open rate: Below 40% suggests inbox placement issues
• Bounce rate: Above 3% is dangerous
• Spam complaints: Above 0.1% requires immediate action
• Inbox placement: Use tools like GlockApps or Mailreach to test