Spam placement is rarely random. Mailbox providers score every sender, and once your score slips, even good emails get filtered. The repair path is well established; what most businesses lack is doing it in the right order.
Pillar 1: authentication is now mandatory
Since the big mailbox providers tightened rules, unauthenticated senders barely reach inboxes at all.
- SPF: authorises the servers allowed to send for your domain.
- DKIM: cryptographically signs each message.
- DMARC: tells receivers what to do when checks fail, and sends you reports. Start at p=none, monitor, then move to quarantine.
- Align the from-domain with the authenticated domain; mismatches kill trust.
Pillar 2: sender reputation
Reputation follows your domain and IP. It drops with spam complaints, hard bounces and spam-trap hits, and it recovers slowly with consistent wanted mail. Check Google Postmaster Tools for your domain reputation, keep complaint rates under 0.1%, and warm up any new domain gradually instead of blasting day one.
Pillar 3: list hygiene
- Remove addresses that have not opened in 6 to 12 months, or win them back once and then let go.
- Never buy lists. Purchased addresses carry traps and complainers that poison everything else.
- Use confirmed opt-in for new signups and make unsubscribing one click. An unsubscribe is harmless; a spam complaint is not.
- Fix bounces immediately; sending repeatedly to dead addresses marks you as careless.
Pillar 4: content and sending behaviour
Modern filters weigh engagement more than trigger words, but extremes still hurt: all-image emails, link shorteners, deceptive subjects and sudden volume spikes. Send consistently, segment so people get what they actually signed up for, and ask engaged subscribers to reply or add you to contacts; replies are deliverability gold.
Done-for-you deliverability
Our email marketing team repairs deliverability end to end: authentication, warm-up, list strategy and the automations that turn a clean inbox presence into revenue. Get a free deliverability check and we will tell you exactly why you are in spam.
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Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get out of spam?
Authentication fixes help within days. Reputation recovery takes 2 to 8 weeks of consistent, engaged sending depending on how damaged the history is.
Why do my emails go to spam in Gmail but not Outlook?
Each provider scores senders independently with different data. Gmail leans heavily on domain reputation and engagement; fix the four pillars and placement converges.
Will changing my email platform fix spam placement?
Only if the platform was the problem, which is rare. Reputation follows your domain. Moving without fixing authentication and hygiene just imports the problem.
