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Cold email deliverability checklist

6 min read

Quick answer

For cold email to reach the inbox, use a separate sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, warm it up slowly, verify every address before sending, keep daily volumes low per mailbox, write short personal emails with few links, and make it easy to opt out.

Cold email works when it reaches the inbox. Use this checklist before every new campaign.

Domain and mailbox setup

  1. Use a separate sending domain, so problems never touch your main company domain.
  2. Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Gmail and Yahoo require authentication for bulk senders. Check yours with the free SPF, DKIM and DMARC checkers.
  3. Warm up new mailboxes. Start with a handful of emails a day and grow over a few weeks.
  4. Check blacklists before you start, with the blacklist checker.

List quality

  1. Verify every address with an email verifier. Send only to Deliverable and Likely valid.
  2. Remove people who left their company. Their mail bounces or goes unread.
  3. Treat catch-all addresses with care, in smaller batches. See are catch-all emails safe?
  4. Remove role addresses like info@ and sales@ from personal outreach. See role-based and disposable emails.

Sending and content

  1. Keep daily volume low per mailbox and spread sends across the day.
  2. Write short, personal emails. Plain text, one link at most, no attachments in the first email.
  3. Make it easy to opt out, and honour it at once.
  4. Watch your numbers. Bounces, spam complaints and replies tell you what to fix. Gmail asks bulk senders to keep spam complaints below 0.3%.

The cheapest deliverability fix is a clean list. Verify before every send.

FAQ

Why do cold emails go to spam?

Usually a missing SPF, DKIM or DMARC record, a new domain sending too much too fast, a list with many bounces, or content that looks like mass marketing.

How many cold emails can I send per day?

There is no fixed number. Start low on new mailboxes and increase slowly while bounces and complaints stay low.

Should I verify emails before cold outreach?

Yes. Bounces are one of the fastest ways to damage a new sending domain.

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