Email Deliverability

Deliverability is the art and science of getting your emails into your subscribers' inboxes instead of their spam folders. Good deliverability requires proper technical setup, healthy sending practices, and quality content.

Deliverability Checklist

Use this checklist to ensure you're set up for success:

Technical Setup

Sending Practices

Content Quality

DNS & Authentication

Email authentication proves to inbox providers (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook) that you're a legitimate sender. Without it, your emails are much more likely to land in spam.

The Three Pillars

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) Tells receiving servers which IP addresses are allowed to send email from your domain. Think of it as a "permission list" for your domain.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) Adds a digital signature to every email, proving it hasn't been tampered with and really came from you.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication) Tells receiving servers what to do if an email fails SPF or DKIM checks. Also enables reporting so you can monitor authentication.

Setting Up DNS

Bento provides all the DNS records you need:

1. Go to Deliverability → DNS Records in your Bento dashboard
2. Add the provided records to your domain's DNS settings
3. Click Validate DNS Records to confirm they're working

See our DNS Setup Guide for step-by-step instructions for your DNS provider.

Domain Warmup

When you start sending from a new domain or IP address, inbox providers are suspicious. They've never seen you before, so they need proof you're legitimate. Warmup is the process of gradually building that trust.

Why Warmup Matters

• New domains have no reputation (neutral, not good)
• Sending too much too fast triggers spam filters
• Building reputation takes consistent, engaged sending over weeks

Warmup Strategy

1. Week 1-2: Send only to your most engaged subscribers via automations
2. Week 3-4: Add small broadcast sends to engaged segments
3. Week 5+: Gradually increase volume while monitoring metrics

See our Domain Warmup Guide for detailed schedules and strategies.

List Hygiene

A clean email list is essential for good deliverability. Sending to invalid addresses, spam traps, or disengaged subscribers hurts your sender reputation.

Best Practices

When Importing

• Don't import purchased lists (ever)
• Remove bounced emails from previous providers
• Import unsubscribes and mark them as unsubscribed
• Clean old lists before importing

Ongoing Maintenance

• Bento automatically removes hard bounces
• Consider re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers
• Remove subscribers who haven't engaged in 6-12 months
• Use double opt-in for new signups (setup guide)

What Bento Handles Automatically

Content Best Practices

What you send matters as much as how you send it. Inbox providers analyze email content to determine if it's wanted or spam.

Do

• Write compelling subject lines (but don't mislead)
• Personalize with subscriber data
• Include a clear call-to-action
• Make unsubscribing easy (Bento adds this automatically)
• Test emails before sending

Don't

• Use ALL CAPS or excessive punctuation!!!
• Include too many links or images
• Use URL shorteners (they're associated with spam)
• Send image-only emails
• Use spam trigger words excessively

Subject Line Tips

Monitoring

Watch these metrics to catch deliverability issues early:

Tools

• Bento Dashboard: Monitor engagement metrics in real-time
• Deliverability Monitor: Track inbox placement (available in Bento)
• Google Postmaster Tools: See how Gmail views your domain

Guides

Dive deeper into specific deliverability topics: