Mailchimp is a popular email marketing platform that many businesses use to communicate with their audience. However, a common issue that many Mailchimp users face is their emails going to the spam folder. This problem can significantly decrease the effectiveness of email campaigns, making it crucial to understand the causes and how to fix it. Email deliverability plays a vital role in ensuring that emails reach their intended audience, making it important for Mailchimp users to optimize their email campaigns to avoid spam filters.

Understanding email deliverability and spam filters

Email deliverability is the process of ensuring that emails reach the recipient's inbox. It depends on several factors, including email content, sender reputation, subscriber engagement, and technical settings. When an email is sent, it goes through several checks by the recipient's email service provider. If the email passes these checks and does not trigger any spam filters, it is delivered to the recipient's inbox. However, if the email fails these checks or triggers spam filters, it is either sent to the spam folder or rejected altogether. Therefore, optimizing email deliverability is essential for successful email marketing.

How do spam filters work?

Spam filters are designed to identify and block unwanted and potentially harmful emails. They use various criteria to evaluate incoming emails, such as content, sender reputation, and technical settings. Based on these criteria, the email is assigned a score, and if the score exceeds a certain threshold, the email is flagged as spam and sent to the recipient's spam folder or rejected altogether. To avoid triggering spam filters, it is crucial to follow best practices for email content and maintain a good sender reputation.

Common spam filter triggers

Spam filters use a range of criteria to evaluate emails, and some common triggers include using spammy words or phrases, sending emails from suspicious or unfamiliar addresses, including too many links or attachments, and sending emails to a large number of inactive or invalid email addresses. To avoid triggering spam filters, it is essential to follow best practices for email content, maintain a healthy subscriber list, and ensure technical settings are set up correctly.

Causes of Mailchimp emails going to spam

Email content issues

Mailchimp emails can go to spam due to email content issues such as using spam trigger words, all caps, excessive punctuation, or too many images. Using a generic or suspicious sender name or email address can also trigger spam filters. Furthermore, failing to include an unsubscribe link or using an invalid or inactive sender email address can decrease email deliverability and result in emails being sent to spam. To prevent these issues, it's important to follow best practices for email content and ensure sender information is accurate and up-to-date.

Subscriber engagement issues

If subscribers don't open or interact with emails, it can signal to email providers that the emails are not relevant or wanted, resulting in lower deliverability rates. Additionally, if subscribers mark emails as spam or move them to the junk folder, it can negatively impact sender reputation and result in emails being sent to spam in the future. To avoid engagement issues, it's important to send relevant and targeted content, maintain a clean subscriber list, and regularly clean out inactive or invalid email addresses.

Technical issues

Technical issues can also cause Mailchimp emails to go to spam. These include using an invalid or inactive sender email address, not authenticating the email, and not having a proper unsubscribe link. Technical issues can also arise from email formatting problems, such as broken links, missing images, or inconsistent HTML coding, which can trigger spam filters. To avoid technical issues, it's important to follow Mailchimp's best practices and ensure technical settings are correctly configured, including authentication protocols such as SPF and DKIM.

Best practices to avoid Mailchimp emails going to spam

Improve email content

To improve email content and avoid Mailchimp emails going to spam, it's essential to follow best practices such as avoiding spam trigger words and phrases, keeping the subject line concise and relevant, using a personalized and trustworthy sender name and email address, providing valuable and engaging content, and including a clear and visible unsubscribe link. By following these best practices, you can optimize your email content to increase deliverability and engagement with your subscribers.

Maintain a healthy subscriber list

This involves regularly cleaning out inactive or invalid email addresses, ensuring that subscribers have opted in to receive your emails, segmenting your list to send targeted and relevant content, and avoiding purchasing email lists or adding subscribers without their consent. By maintaining a healthy subscriber list, you can improve engagement rates, reduce spam complaints, and improve your sender reputation, ultimately leading to higher email deliverability.

Use Mailchimp's authentication features

Using Mailchimp's authentication features is essential to avoid Mailchimp emails going to spam. These features, including SPF and DKIM, help to verify that the email is from a legitimate sender and not a spammer. Authentication ensures that email providers can identify the source of the email and establish trust between the sender and recipient. By using Mailchimp's authentication features, you can improve your sender reputation and increase email deliverability rates.

Monitor email deliverability metrics

Monitoring email deliverability metrics is crucial to avoid Mailchimp emails going to spam. Metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and spam complaint rates can provide insight into how your subscribers are interacting with your emails and how email providers are responding to them. By regularly monitoring these metrics, you can identify issues with your email content, subscriber list, or technical settings and take corrective action before they negatively impact your sender reputation and email deliverability.

Advanced tips to improve Mailchimp email deliverability

Use a dedicated IP address

Using a dedicated IP address is an advanced tip that can help improve Mailchimp email deliverability. A dedicated IP address is an IP address that is only used by your account, as opposed to a shared IP address, which is used by multiple accounts. With a dedicated IP address, you have more control over your email deliverability and can take steps to improve your sender reputation.

To use a dedicated IP address in Mailchimp, you'll need to upgrade to a higher-tiered plan, such as a Pro or Premium plan. Once you have a dedicated IP address, you can monitor your email deliverability metrics, warm up your IP address by gradually increasing your email volume over time, and take steps to maintain a good sender reputation, such as avoiding sending to inactive or invalid email addresses, keeping your subscriber list clean, and following email content best practices.

Using a dedicated IP address is not necessary for all users, but it can be beneficial for those with large subscriber lists or who send a high volume of emails. It's important to consider the costs and benefits of a dedicated IP address and determine if it's the right choice for your Mailchimp account.

Implement DMARC

Implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) is an advanced tip that can help improve Mailchimp email deliverability. DMARC is an email authentication protocol that verifies that the sender's domain is authorized to send email on behalf of the organization. DMARC helps to prevent domain spoofing and email phishing attacks, which can harm the organization's reputation and lead to emails being marked as spam.

To implement DMARC in Mailchimp, you'll need to add a DMARC record to your domain's DNS settings and configure your Mailchimp account to use the DMARC protocol. This involves setting up the appropriate authentication protocols, such as SPF and DKIM, and configuring your email headers to pass DMARC checks. Once DMARC is implemented, you can monitor your DMARC reports to track email authentication results and identify any unauthorized use of your domain.

Implementing DMARC can help improve email deliverability and protect your organization's reputation. However, DMARC can be complex to set up, and it's important to follow best practices and work with a qualified email deliverability specialist to ensure proper configuration and maintenance.

Segment your email list

Segmenting your email list is a best practice that can help improve Mailchimp email deliverability, it involves dividing your subscriber list into smaller, targeted groups based on demographics, behaviors, or interests. By sending targeted and relevant content to these segments, you can improve subscriber engagement and reduce spam complaints.

To segment your email list in Mailchimp, you can use various criteria such as subscriber preferences, past purchases, location, or engagement history. By segmenting your list, you can send more personalized and relevant content to your subscribers, resulting in higher open and click-through rates. Additionally, segmenting can help to prevent sending to inactive or invalid email addresses, which can harm your sender reputation and lead to emails being marked as spam.

Implement double opt-in

Implementing double opt-in is a best practice that can help improve Mailchimp email deliverability. Double opt-in requires subscribers to confirm their subscription via email, which helps to ensure that they have provided a valid email address and have explicitly given consent to receive your emails. This can help to reduce invalid email addresses, spam complaints, and improve subscriber engagement.

To implement double opt-in in Mailchimp, you can enable the double opt-in feature in your list settings. Once enabled, Mailchimp will automatically send a confirmation email to new subscribers, and they must click a confirmation link to confirm their subscription. This helps to prevent fake or misspelled email addresses from being added to your list and can improve the overall quality of your subscriber list.

Troubleshooting tips for Mailchimp emails going to spam

Check your spam score

Checking your spam score is a troubleshooting tip that can help improve Mailchimp email deliverability. The spam score is a measure of the likelihood that your email will be flagged as spam by email filters. If your spam score is high, it may indicate issues with your email content or formatting that need to be addressed.

To check your spam score in Mailchimp, you can use the email spam checker tool, which analyzes your email content and provides a score based on various factors that can trigger spam filters. The tool also provides recommendations on how to improve your score, such as removing spam trigger words or adjusting your email formatting.

Check your email content

Checking your email content is a troubleshooting tip that can help improve Mailchimp email deliverability. The content of your email can be a critical factor in determining whether it is flagged as spam or not. Spam filters often look for certain patterns or characteristics in email content that indicate it may be spam.

To check your email content in Mailchimp, you can use the preview and test tool, which allows you to see how your email will appear to subscribers and preview any potential issues with the content. You can also use the email spam checker tool to analyze your email content and provide a score based on various factors that can trigger spam filters.

Checking your email content is an important troubleshooting step that can help you identify and address potential issues with your email that may be causing it to be marked as spam. By ensuring that your email content is relevant, engaging, and free of spam trigger words or formatting issues, you can improve your email deliverability and reduce the likelihood of your emails being sent to spam folders.

Check your sending domain reputation

Your sending domain reputation is a measure of how email filters and internet service providers view the trustworthiness of your email address and domain. If your sending domain reputation is poor, it may negatively impact your email deliverability and increase the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam.

To check your sending domain reputation in Mailchimp, you can use the domain reputation checker tool, which analyzes your domain's sending history and provides a score based on various factors that can impact reputation. The tool also provides recommendations on how to improve your domain reputation, such as sending high-quality content, reducing bounces and unsubscribes, and avoiding spam complaints.

Checking your sending domain reputation is an important troubleshooting step that can help you identify and address potential issues with your domain that may be causing your emails to be marked as spam. By following the recommendations provided by the domain reputation checker tool, you can improve your email deliverability and reduce the likelihood of your emails being sent to spam folders.

Check your subscriber engagement

Checking your subscriber engagement is a troubleshooting tip that can help improve Mailchimp email deliverability. Subscriber engagement is a critical factor in determining the success of your email campaigns and how they are perceived by email filters and internet service providers. If your subscribers are not engaging with your emails, it may negatively impact your email deliverability and increase the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam.

To check your subscriber engagement in Mailchimp, you can review your email campaign reports, which provide data on open rates, click-through rates, and other engagement metrics. You can also segment your list based on engagement levels and tailor your content and messaging to specific groups of subscribers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, monitoring and optimizing MailChimp email deliverability is crucial for the success of your email campaigns. By implementing best practices such as maintaining a healthy subscriber list, improving email content, and using MailChimp's authentication features, you can improve your email deliverability and reduce the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam. Additionally, troubleshooting tips such as checking your spam score, email content, and subscriber engagement can help you identify and address potential issues with your email campaigns that may be negatively impacting your deliverability. By monitoring and optimizing your MailChimp email deliverability, you can ensure that your emails are reaching your subscribers' inboxes and driving engagement and conversions for your business.