How can I use email to nurture leads before they're ready to buy?

Email Deliverability: Getting Into the Inbox

Deliverability is the foundation of email marketing ROI. A perfectly written email with a brilliant subject line generates zero revenue if it lands in spam. In 2026, inbox providers use sophisticated reputation systems - deliverability requires ongoing management, not a one-time setup.

Email Deliverability Checklist

2026 Gmail and Yahoo Requirements

Since February 2024, Google and Yahoo require bulk senders (1,000+ emails/day) to have SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication set up, maintain spam complaint rates below 0.10%, and provide easy one-click unsubscribe. Non-compliant senders face automatic deferral to spam folders. Check your setup using Google Postmaster Tools (free) to monitor your domain reputation score.

Inactive Subscriber Strategy

• 60-day mark: Reduce send frequency for non-openers from weekly to biweekly
• 90-day mark: Launch a win-back sequence (2 emails over 7 days)
• 120-day mark: Suppress from all campaigns if still no engagement
• Sending to inactive subscribers hurts your engagement ratio, which inbox providers use as a key signal - smaller, engaged lists consistently outperform large, stale ones

Deliverability and On-Site Email Capture Quality

Deliverability problems often start at the capture point. Growth Suite's Personalized Email Capture Campaigns target visitors with genuine purchase intent rather than all traffic - this means subscribers are more likely to be real, engaged buyers rather than people who signed up just to get a discount and never open again. Higher-quality subscribers at acquisition leads to better engagement ratios, which directly protects deliverability over time.