Hello there, Saleshandy users! 👋

Want to ensure your cold emails reach your prospects' inboxes and boost your success metrics? 💌🚀

The best subject lines, content, open rates, and CTAs won't matter if your emails don't make it to your recipients.

That is why landing in the primary inbox is a major goal when it comes to cold emailing, as all your success metrics, such as reply rates, open rates, and conversion rates, depend on this.

Look no further, as we've got some awesome best practices to supercharge your email deliverability! 💡🌟

🏆Best Practices to Improve Your Email Deliverability

1️⃣ Email Reputation Audit 🕵️‍♂️

Sender reputation is a score various ESP (email service providers) decide according to your domain score and IP address.

If your cold emails are not opened, ignored, reported as spam, or unsubscribe, your domain & IP addresses are likely to be blacklisted 🚫

Check if your domain and server IP are blacklisted using a handy tool like https://mxtoolbox.com/.

If you find yourself blacklisted, follow the instructions on the listing website to get unblocked. Many times anyone can request to unblock the IP, but most of the time, only the IP owner can do it, so request your ESP or hosting service provider to remove you from the blacklist.

Maintain good deliverability stats and engagement rates in Saleshandy reports to keep your reputation shining! 🏆📈

If you don’t see good results in the above tests, here are the essential steps to maintain a high email reputation:

Maintain a Sending Quota

A lower sending limit is recommended for better deliverability. Check out the Article 📩 What is the Daily Sending Limit? to know more about Sending Quota.

Use Email Warmup

We have partnered with TrulyInbox, a specialized email warm-up service, to provide you with a better and more reliable solution.

Connect Multiple Domains

It is advisable to connect multiple domains to increase deliverability. Check out the Article Alternative Domain Ideas for more details.

Email Open Rate

Ensure your email open rate is between 40-70%, your reply rate is between 3-5%, your bounce rate is below 3%, and your unsubscribe rate is lower than 5%.

You must check your Domain's Authentication Records if you see these statistics lower (or higher) than the industry-recommended percentage.👇

2️⃣ Authenticate Your Domain🔒

Proper email authentication is vital for mass email outreach. Please make sure your SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and Custom Tracking Domain are set up correctly. It ensures your emails avoid spam folders and have a better chance of landing in the primary inbox. 🔍✉️

You can go to Settings > Email Accounts > Email Setup Score and check your score first to Authenticate your domain.

The better the score, the better your email’s chances of optimal deliverability and a good response rate. In my case, it's 100.

You need to set up some technical configuration if your score is low. Here is a step-by-step process:

Setup SPF

SPF is an email authentication protocol that allows the admin of the domain to define the list of mailing servers used from the domain. Check Out SPF What, Why, and How to Set it Up?

Setup DKIM

The DKIM is a record that lets the receiver know whether an authorized sender sent a particular email. Check Out DKIM What, Why, and How to Set it up?

Setup DMARC

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is a protocol that helps protect against email spoofing. Check Out DMARC What, Why, and How to Set it up?

Setup Custom Tracking Domain (CTD)

Custom tracking domain helps preserve your sender reputation and increase deliverability. Check Out ⚙️Setting up your Custom Tracking Domain: Step-by-step guide 🪜

Woosh! That’s all for the major technical setup! Now, back to the non-technical part 👇

3️⃣ Use High-Quality Email (Lead) List🚀

Whether you’re new or a pro at cold emailing, you might already know Saleshandy Lead Finder. It’s the most popular email database among the cold email lead generation community as it is relatively cheaper and has a large database of users in nearly all the niches and industries available.

Build Prospect List

Use a High-Quality Lead List(Prospect List) to get better email campaign results. Checkout the article to learn more about How to build your email list with Saleshandy Lead Finder

People often switch professions, and their emails get changed, so it is important to keep an updated & clean email list. Sending an email to outdated addresses will result in a high bounce rate & can negatively affect your email deliverability. That’s why it is important to clean and validate your email list.🔄

Verify Prospects

To validate your list of Prospects, you can go to the Prospect tab in Saleshandy > Upload your Prospects and let Saleshandy verify it.

I want you to know that you should avoid purchasing email lists in bulk and try to get them from more trustworthy sources.

Check out this Blog to learn more about How to reduce your Bounce Rate.

4️⃣ Create Hyper-Personalized Unique Emails📝

Your email content also decides whether your email lands in the spam or in the primary inbox.

Use Catchy Subject Line

Use Catchy Subject Line, which the recipient sees first and can trigger high opens. You can also add Pre-Header as well. Check out How to write a Good Subject Line?

Use Merge Tag

Use the Merge Tags to personalize the email content for each and every prospect. You can use Merge Tags in Subject, Pre-Header, and even in Email Body. Check out Merge Tags: What, Why, and How to Set it up?

Use Spintax

Use the Spintax feature to send unique emails in single sequences to avoid spam filters. Check out What spintax is & how to use it with saleshandy?

Use A-Z Testing

Perform A-Z testing to check which variant works best and is getting more engagement, which could positively impact your deliverability. Checkout 🔠 A - Z testing explained

Use Text only email [No HTML]

It can boost your email deliverability, making sure your message lands in your recipient's inbox without any formatting distractions. Plus, it gives your emails that personal touch, like a friendly message from a colleague. Checkout Text-only email [No HTML]💬

Use Email Signature

Keep links to a minimum and Include a plain text signature (No Links). Check out ✍️Email Signature: What, Why, and How to Set it Up?

Use AI Content Help Guide

Saleshandy AI can help you write emails that don't go into the spam folder and get more replies! 🤖📬

To check what links and spammy words are in the email content, click the content guide and click on Words and Links. Spamminess in the content guide will only show the words from your email content. You can copy any word and click [Control + F] and then enter that word you see in the spammines and click on the enter tab, and it will show you all the places where that word is placed in your email content.

5️⃣ Connect Multiple Email Accounts 🔄

Could you make sure to connect multiple Email Accounts in Saleshandy to divide the email sent to multiple accounts?

To learn more, check out 💡How to Connect Email Account/Provider with SalesHandy?

Use Sender Rotation

Sender’s Rotation improves your deliverability by splitting the volume of your outreach amongst multiple accounts. Instead of one, now you can connect up to 50 email accounts in Saleshandy with Sender Rotation and avoid spam filters.

Checkout 🔄Sender Rotation: What, Why, and How to Set it Up?

6️⃣ Configure Email Sending Settings for More Human-like Outreach⏲️

After connecting email accounts & before sending your sequences, it is important to set the time interval between them. Sending emails too frequently can trigger spam filters, negatively impacting your deliverability.

Setup Time Interval

Setting up email intervals between two emails is advised to keep it more humanistic. For better results, you should keep a minimum of 90-180 seconds and recommended is 120-290 seconds.⏰ Checkout Time Interval between two emails (In Seconds)
Navigate to Settings > Email Accounts > Select the Email Account > Select Time interval between two emails (in seconds) > Click "Save"(It will be showed only if you have changed the time interval)

7️⃣ Gradually Increase Your Emails to Scale Up 🎢

Use Email Ramp-up

Play it safe and send emails in small batches, then gradually increase the volume using the Saleshandy email ramp-up. It helps avoid spam and establishes a positive sending reputation. 🚀📩

Checkout 🎢Email Ramp-up: What, Why, When, and How to Set it Up?

8️⃣ Make it Easier for Your Prospects to Opt-Out 🔕

Don't forget to include unsubscribe links in your emails. It improves deliverability and respects recipients' choices. Set up custom unsubscribe links in Saleshandy's Sequence Settings and ensure to remove unsubscribed prospects from your list. 👋🔗

Setup Unsubscribe

You can set up custom unsubscribe links in Saleshandy by going to Sequence > Sequence Settings.

Make sure to remove the prospects who have unsubscribed from your list. To learn more Checkout Sequence Settings: 🔕Unsubscribe

Try that less number of your recipients click on unsubscribe by:

Targeting the right market & the right people by checking if the profile is your Ideal Customer Profile or not.
Check that your email content is relevant to the user's pain point and is catchy for users to take action.

If you want to improve your deliverability, you must follow these practices.

💡Important: Once you have followed all the steps mentioned in the above list, send a Test Email to yourself to see how your email looks and where it lands.

Alternatively, you can also check out detailed resources on How to Improve Deliverability:

Email Deliverability Blog for more tips to improve your outreach 😃
Cold Email Masterclass video for optimum email deliverability
Video for factors that can affect your email deliverability

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

How do I Remove the Automated Unsubscribe Link?

To remove the automated unsubscribe link, follow these steps:

1. Locate the unsubscribe option in your email campaign settings.
2. Click on the toggle button to disable it.
3. A pop-up message will appear asking for confirmation.
4. Click "YES" to confirm disabling the opt-out link.

Please note that disabling the unsubscribe option may affect your email deliverability and user experience, as recipients will not have an easy way to opt out of your emails.

You can remove the unsubscribed link from the Sequence > Settings > Unsubscribe > Disable "use unsubscribe links in Emails."

Mission accomplished; you've successfully improved your Email Deliverability. 👏

Wishing you a delightful experience! ❤️

Happy Selling. 🤝

Warmest regards,

Saleshandy Team