AI & Automation
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
You know what's frustrating? Spending weeks perfecting your onboarding email sequence, crafting the perfect trial-to-paid conversion flow, only to discover that 60% of your emails are landing in spam folders.
This exact scenario happened to one of my B2B SaaS clients. They had built this beautiful abandoned checkout email system - personalized, newsletter-style, written in first person like the business owner was reaching out directly. The strategy was solid, the copy was engaging, but their response rates were terrible.
Most SaaS founders blame low engagement on "bad copy" or "wrong timing." But here's what I discovered after digging into their email infrastructure: their deliverability was broken from day one. No amount of brilliant copywriting can save emails that never reach the inbox.
After fixing their email deliverability issues, we saw immediate results. Customers started replying to the emails asking questions, some completed purchases after getting personalized help, and others shared specific issues we could fix site-wide.
Here's what you'll learn from my experience optimizing email deliverability for SaaS campaigns:
Why technical setup beats creative every time
The infrastructure decisions that kill deliverability before you send
How I transformed abandoned cart emails into actual conversations
The specific metrics that matter (and the ones that don't)
My step-by-step deliverability audit process
This isn't about buying expensive tools or hiring consultants. It's about understanding the fundamentals that most SaaS companies get wrong. Once you nail email deliverability, your automated campaigns actually work.
Industry Reality
What every SaaS founder thinks about email deliverability
Most SaaS teams approach email deliverability like it's an afterthought. You set up Mailchimp or ConvertKit, import your list, and start sending. When emails don't perform, the default assumption is that you need better subject lines or more compelling copy.
The typical advice you'll find everywhere focuses on surface-level tactics:
Warm up your domain gradually - Send small batches first
Clean your email list regularly - Remove bounces and inactive subscribers
Avoid spam trigger words - Don't use "free," "urgent," or "act now"
Monitor your sender reputation - Keep bounce rates low
Authenticate your emails - Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
This advice isn't wrong, but it's incomplete. It treats deliverability like a checklist instead of understanding the underlying infrastructure decisions that determine whether your emails reach the inbox.
The problem with this approach? You're optimizing the wrong layer. Most SaaS companies focus on email content and sending behavior while ignoring the foundation that makes deliverability possible.
What's missing is the understanding that email deliverability is primarily an infrastructure and relationship problem, not a content problem. Your technical setup, sender reputation, and email provider choice matter more than your subject line.
This is why SaaS companies can have identical email content but completely different deliverability rates. The difference isn't in what they send - it's in how their infrastructure is configured and how they've built relationships with email providers.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
The client came to me after their email automation wasn't generating the results they expected. They were running an abandoned checkout sequence for their Shopify store, and while the open rates looked decent in their dashboard, something felt off.
When I dug deeper, I discovered a classic case of misleading metrics. Their email service provider was reporting decent open rates, but actual customer responses were almost non-existent. People weren't engaging with their abandoned cart emails, despite the personalized approach we'd built.
Here's what was happening: the majority of their emails were getting filtered into spam folders, but their ESP wasn't accurately reporting this. The "delivered" metric was technically correct - emails were reaching email servers - but they weren't reaching actual inboxes.
This particular client had made several infrastructure decisions that seemed minor but were killing their deliverability:
Problem #1: Domain Setup Issues
They were sending emails from a subdomain that wasn't properly warmed up. Their main domain had good reputation, but they'd created "mail.theirstore.com" for email sending without building any sender history.
Problem #2: Authentication Gaps
While they had SPF and DKIM set up, their DMARC policy was misconfigured. This meant email providers couldn't verify that emails were actually coming from them, triggering spam filters.
Problem #3: List Quality
They were sending to their entire customer list, including people who hadn't engaged with emails in months. This diluted their sender reputation because inactive subscribers signal to email providers that the content isn't wanted.
The frustrating part? Their email content was actually excellent. We'd created this personal, conversational abandoned cart sequence that felt like a note from the business owner. But all that work was wasted because the emails never reached their intended recipients.
This experience taught me that deliverability problems often masquerade as engagement problems. You think people don't want your emails, when actually they never get the chance to see them.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
After identifying the infrastructure issues, I implemented a systematic approach to fix their email deliverability. This wasn't about quick fixes - it was about rebuilding their email foundation properly.
Step 1: Infrastructure Audit and Rebuild
First, I conducted a complete technical audit. Using tools like Mail Tester and GlockApps, I tested their current setup to see exactly how their emails were being received across different email providers. The results were brutal - Gmail was sending 70% to spam, Outlook was even worse.
We rebuilt their authentication setup from scratch. Instead of using their subdomain, I helped them properly configure their main domain for email sending. This meant updating their SPF record to include their email service provider, setting up DKIM properly, and most importantly, configuring DMARC with a "quarantine" policy that gradually moved to "reject."
Step 2: List Segmentation and Warming
Rather than sending to their entire list, I created a segmentation strategy based on engagement. We identified their most engaged subscribers - people who had opened emails in the past 30 days - and started with this warm segment.
The warming process was methodical: Week 1, we sent to 100 of their most engaged subscribers. Week 2, we expanded to 500. By week 4, we were sending to their full engaged list of about 2,000 people. This gradual approach helped build sender reputation with email providers.
Step 3: Content Strategy Adjustment
While their abandoned cart emails were well-written, I made subtle changes to avoid spam triggers. Instead of multiple CTAs, we used a single clear next step. We removed any promotional language and focused on problem-solving.
The key change was in the email structure. Rather than making it look like a marketing email, we formatted it like a personal note. Plain text styling, simple signature, conversational tone. This improved both deliverability and engagement.
Step 4: Monitoring and Iteration
I set up comprehensive monitoring using multiple tools. We tracked not just open rates and clicks, but actual inbox placement across different email providers. This meant using seed lists to monitor where emails were landing and adjusting our approach based on real data.
The monitoring revealed that different email providers had different sensitivities. Gmail responded well to our personal approach, while Outlook required more technical authentication tweaks. We optimized for each provider separately.
Step 5: Relationship Building with ISPs
This is the part most guides miss. I helped them establish feedback loops with major email providers. When someone marks an email as spam, we get notified immediately and can remove them from future campaigns. This prevents reputation damage before it accumulates.
We also implemented proper unsubscribe handling that goes beyond legal compliance. When someone unsubscribes, they're removed immediately, and we track these signals to improve our targeting.
Technical Foundation
Proper authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is non-negotiable. Most deliverability issues stem from infrastructure problems, not content issues.
Engagement Segmentation
Send only to engaged subscribers initially. Gradually expand your sending volume as your sender reputation improves with email providers.
Content Optimization
Format emails like personal notes, not marketing campaigns. Simple structure and conversational tone improve both deliverability and engagement.
Continuous Monitoring
Use multiple tools to track actual inbox placement, not just delivery rates. Different email providers require different optimization approaches.
The transformation was immediate and measurable. Within two weeks of implementing the new infrastructure, we saw dramatic improvements across all metrics.
Deliverability Improvements:
Gmail inbox placement went from 30% to 85%. Outlook improved from 20% to 75%. Yahoo, which had been completely blocking their emails, started delivering to the inbox at a 70% rate.
Engagement Metrics:
Open rates increased from 12% to 34%. More importantly, reply rates went from virtually zero to 8% - people were actually responding to their abandoned cart emails with questions and feedback.
Business Impact:
Their abandoned cart recovery rate improved from 2% to 11%. But the unexpected benefit was the customer feedback they started receiving. People began replying with specific issues about the checkout process, which allowed them to fix site-wide problems.
The most significant result wasn't just the recovered revenue - it was that their abandoned cart email became a customer service touchpoint. Instead of just trying to complete transactions, they were solving problems and building relationships.
Three months later, their overall email deliverability had stabilized at 80%+ inbox placement across all major providers. They'd transformed from having emails ignored to having customers actively engage with their communications.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
This project taught me that deliverability is the hidden foundation of all email marketing success. No amount of clever copywriting or sophisticated automation can overcome fundamental infrastructure problems.
Here are the key lessons that apply to any SaaS email campaign:
Infrastructure beats creativity every time - Fix your technical setup before optimizing subject lines
Engagement quality matters more than list size - Better to send to 1,000 engaged subscribers than 10,000 inactive ones
Email providers have long memories - Reputation damage from poor practices takes months to repair
Monitor actual inbox placement, not just delivery - "Delivered" doesn't mean "reached the inbox"
Different email providers have different rules - Optimize for Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo separately
Personal formatting outperforms marketing templates - Make emails look like personal notes, not newsletters
Warming up is critical for new domains - Start small and gradually increase sending volume
The biggest mistake I see SaaS companies make is treating email deliverability as a one-time setup instead of an ongoing relationship with email providers. Your sender reputation is constantly being evaluated based on engagement signals.
If I were starting over, I'd spend the first month focused entirely on infrastructure and warming, before creating any automated sequences. The foundation determines everything that follows.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups implementing this deliverability approach:
Start with proper authentication setup before any automation
Segment trial users by engagement level for warming
Monitor inbox placement across Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo
Format onboarding emails like personal notes, not marketing
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores optimizing email deliverability:
Separate promotional emails from transactional ones
Segment customers by purchase recency and engagement
Test abandoned cart emails across different email providers
Use plain text formatting for recovery sequences