Hey {{First Name}}! Happy Monday.
It’s Anthony from The Retention Report, and this week we’re breaking down email deliverability.
We’re getting straight into the meat of it because this is urgent. I see the same mistake quietly hurt DTC brands’ deliverability over and over again.
It usually happens before brands even realize there’s a problem.
The good news?
Auditing deliverability doesn’t have to be complicated.
Here’s a simple way to benchmark it before you touch segmentation, volume, or content.
Step 1: Check your Domain and IP reputation
Every sending domain builds a reputation over time.
That reputation affects:
Inbox vs spam placement
How much you can send
How forgiving inbox providers are when things go wrong
The easiest starting point is a free tool: Google Postmaster Tools.
Add your domain, and after a quick setup, you’re able to look at:
Domain reputation
IP reputation
Spam complaint trends
You just want to set reminders to check on these every few weeks to make sure there are no big drops, and if there are, tie them to an event to avoid making the same mistakes.
When GPT is setup you’ll see something like below:
Step 2: Confirm authentication is set up correctly
This part is boring, but critical.
Make sure you have:
SPF
DKIM
DMARC
These tell inbox providers:
“Yes, this sender is legitimate.”
You can quickly check this using a tool like easydmarc.com.
If these are broken or missing, nothing else matters. Eventually, your emails will be kicked to the spam folder.
If you find any broken records, reach out to your web master to fix the issue or reach out to us, and we can rebuild your email deliverability for you:
https://www.transparentdigital.agency/30-day-deliverability-drill-down
Step 3: Look at inbox placement (not just opens)
Open rates don’t tell you where emails land.
Inbox placement does.
Tools like GlockApps show:
Inbox vs Promotions vs Spam
Results across different mailbox providers like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and more
This gives you clarity instead of guessing.
You’ll see actionable insights as well as tips on how to improve your email deliverability.
Simple takeaway
Before changing anything:
Audit
Benchmark
Understand your starting point
Most deliverability problems get worse because brands skip this step.
Next email, I’ll break down simple segmentation rules that protect deliverability (and what to stop doing).
– Anthony