Table of content
- Identify the root cause
- Hit pause – Stop sending emails for a week
- Relaunch with a “Safe” list
- Purge the dead weight (Hard but necessary)
- Make It stupidly easy to unsubscribe
- Stop making these mistakes
- Strengthen your authentication
- Don’t rush – Reputation recovery takes 30-60 Days
- Final Thought: Think long-term, Not just fixes
Imagine this: You’ve spent months building your email list, crafting the perfect campaigns, and hitting send with confidence only to see your open rates plummet and your emails land in spam. Frustrating, right? Your sender reputation is at stake, and if you don’t fix it, your emails might never reach the inbox again.
But here’s the thing: Restoring your sending reputation isn’t just about following generic best practices. You need a strategic recovery plan, one that goes beyond “clean your list” or “send better content.” In this guide, we’ll reveal lesser-known techniques that can actually help you rebuild your reputation faster and smarter.
Step 1: Identify the root cause (It’s not what you think)
Before making any changes, you need to diagnose the real reason your emails aren’t making it to the inbox. It’s not just about bad content or a dirty list; there could be deeper issues at play.
1. Pinpoint when the problem started
Check your email performance history. When did open rates start to drop? Was it after a specific event like switching email service providers (ESPs), changing your domain, or increasing your sending frequency?Sometimes, small changes trigger larger issues. For example, a domain switch could result in a loss of your sending reputation or a spike in sending volume could cause filters to flag your campaigns as spam. Understanding the timeline will help you pinpoint which actions may have impacted your reputation.
2. Look for spam complaints & hard bounces
Use Google Postmaster Tools or your ESP’s analytics to check your complaint rates. If you see a sudden increase in bounces or complaints, it’s a sign that ESPs are flagging you as risky. Even a few complaints can significantly damage your reputation, so monitoring this data is crucial.
Try to dig deeper into patterns do specific campaigns, subject lines, or sending times to correlate with higher complaint rates? Address these patterns and adjust your strategy accordingly.
3. Check for spam traps
Spam traps are secret email addresses used by inbox providers to catch spammers. If you hit one, your reputation takes a significant hit. How to check:
- Remove old, inactive contacts: Subscribers who haven’t engaged with your emails in a while could be attached to spam traps.
- Review how your email lists were collected: If you bought email lists or scraped them from unverified sources, it’s a red flag. Legitimate subscribers are the key to building a healthy reputation.
- Use email validation tools: Services like Kasplo’s list validation tool can help you identify and remove potential traps and invalid emails that could harm your deliverability.
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Step 2: Hit pause – Stop sending emails for a week
One of the fastest ways to cool down a bad sender reputation is to stop sending emails for 5–7 days. While this may seem counterintuitive, it gives email service providers (ESPs) a signal that you’re making changes. Think of it as a detox for your domain.
During this pause, don’t just sit around waiting for things to improve. Here’s what you should do:
1. Pinpoint when the problem started
Check your email performance history. When did open rates start to drop? Was it after a specific event like switching email service providers (ESPs), changing your domain, or increasing your sending frequency?Sometimes, small changes trigger larger issues. For example, a domain switch could result in a loss of your sending reputation or a spike in sending volume could cause filters to flag your campaigns as spam. Understanding the timeline will help you pinpoint which actions may have impacted your reputation.
- Segment your most engaged contacts: Start identifying your most active subscribers—the people who are consistently opening or clicking your emails.
- Fix authentication issues: Go back and double-check your email authentication protocols (more on this below).
- Clean your list: Use this time to scrub your list of any non-responsive subscribers, invalid emails, or potential spam traps.
The pause will show ESPs that you’re actively working on improving your practices, which helps reduce the likelihood of being flagged as a spammer.
During this pause, don’t just sit around waiting for things to improve. Here’s what you should do:
Step 3: Relaunch with a “Safe” list
Not all subscribers are created equal. To rebuild your reputation, start sending only to your most engaged contacts the people who have recently opened or clicked your emails.
Here’s how to do it:
- Day 1-7: Only send emails to contacts who clicked a link in the past 30 days. This ensures that you’re engaging the most active segment of your list.
- Day 8-14: Expand to subscribers who opened an email in the past 90 days. These people may not have clicked, but they’re still engaged enough to open your emails.
- Day 15+: Gradually add in users who engaged in the past six months. The key here is gradual expansion to avoid sudden spikes in sending volume.
Golden rule: Never send more than 25,000 – 50,000 emails per day when rebuilding your reputation. ESPs monitor sudden spikes in volume, and it can look suspicious. Keep it slow and steady think of this as rebuilding trust, not rushing the process.
Rebuild your email reputation faster with Kasplo’s powerful tools – start your journey to inbox success now!
Step 4: Purge the dead weight (Hard but necessary)
Here’s the harsh truth: Keeping unengaged contacts is killing your deliverability. ESPs look at engagement rates as a trust signal, so sending to subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in months is like waving a red flag.
Here’s how to clean up your list:
1. Pinpoint when the problem started
Check your email performance history. When did open rates start to drop? Was it after a specific event like switching email service providers (ESPs), changing your domain, or increasing your sending frequency?Sometimes, small changes trigger larger issues. For example, a domain switch could result in a loss of your sending reputation or a spike in sending volume could cause filters to flag your campaigns as spam. Understanding the timeline will help you pinpoint which actions may have impacted your reputation.
- Remove subscribers who haven’t opened in 6+ months: People who haven’t engaged in half a year are either inactive or likely using outdated email addresses. Either way, they can harm your reputation.
- Create a last-chance re-engagement campaign: If you must keep these subscribers, try a re-engagement campaign to win them back. But if they don’t engage after that, it’s time to say goodbye.
- Use tools like Kasplo’s engagement management: Kasplo offers tools to help you identify and filter out non-responders easily, allowing you to send emails to only the active portion of your list.
By focusing on active users, you send a clear signal to ESPs that you value engagement and are committed to sending only to people who want your emails.
Step 5: Make It stupidly easy to unsubscribe
Most email marketers fear unsubscribes, but here’s a counterintuitive trick: make it ridiculously easy for people to unsubscribe from your emails.
Here’s why:
If your unsubscribe link is buried in the fine print, subscribers are more likely to mark your emails as spam rather than unsubscribe. And spam complaints are far more damaging to your reputation than losing a few unsubscribes.
So, put the unsubscribe link at both the top and the bottom of your emails. This makes it crystal clear that you respect your recipients’ preferences. Plus, if someone does unsubscribe, at least they won’t mark you as spam
Step 6: Stop making these mistakes
Even after cleaning up your list, your reputation can suffer if you’re making these common mistakes:
If your emails come from “noreply@yourcompany.com” or something vague like “info@company.com,” people won’t trust them. Instead, use a real person’s name (e.g., “Sarah from Kasplo”) to improve engagement and recognition.
ESPs use AI to analyze whether an email feels “human” or spammy. Generic emails look spammy to them. Personalize your emails using tags (e.g., “Hey [First Name], your exclusive offer is inside!”). Personalized content is not only more likely to be opened, but it also boosts trust.
3. Sending to old lists without revalidation
If you’re reviving an old list, always run it through a validation tool before sending it. This ensures you’re not sending to invalid or risky addresses, which could harm your reputation.
Step 7: Strengthen your authentication
Even if you do everything right, bad email authentication settings can still hurt your reputation. Authentication is how inbox providers verify that your emails are legitimate, and it plays a big role in deliverability.
Here’s what you need to set up:
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework): This tells email servers which IP addresses are allowed to send emails from your domain.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): This ensures the email content hasn’t been altered in transit.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): This tells ISPs how to handle failed authentication attempts (e.g., send the email to the spam folder).
Pro Tip: Set up BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) to show your brand logo next to your emails in inboxes like Gmail and Yahoo. It’s an instant trust booster and helps recipients recognize your brand more easily.
Step 8: Don’t rush – Reputation recovery takes 30-60 Days
Restoring your sending reputation is not an overnight fix. It takes time, consistency, and strategy. Most businesses see improvement in 4-8 weeks if they follow these steps carefully.
Here’s what a realistic recovery timeline looks like:
- Week 1: Pause sending, clean up your list, and fix authentication.
- Week 2-3: Start sending small volumes to highly engaged users.
- Week 4: Gradually add more contacts as your reputation improves.
- Week 6+: Return to normal sending but with better list hygiene and ongoing monitoring.
Final Thought: Think long-term, Not just fixes
Once your reputation is restored, don’t fall back into old habits. Make list hygiene, engagement tracking, and proper email authentication a permanent part of your email marketing strategy. By doing so, you’ll not only protect your sender reputation but also maintain consistent deliverability in the long term.
