Your emails are hitting spam. Here's exactly what you need to do.

Bottom line up front: Your email deliverability is probably trash, and it's costing you thousands in revenue. Here's the brutal truth and the exact playbook to fix it.

Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat this. If you're a Shopify brand and your emails are landing in spam folders, you're basically lighting money on fire. We've seen brands go from 15% deliverability to 85%+ in 60 days using this exact playbook.

The crazy part? Most of you are making the same 5-7 mistakes that are completely fixable.

Why your emails suck (and why you should care)

Here's what's happening: You're sending emails to 10,000 people, but only 1,500 are actually seeing them. The rest? Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook are treating your carefully crafted campaigns like Nigerian prince scams.

The math is simple: If you're losing 70% of your emails to spam folders, you're losing 70% of potential revenue from email marketing. For a brand doing $100K/month, that's $70K walking out the door.

The brutal deliverability audit (do this first)

Before you fix anything, you need to know how broken you actually are.

Step 1: Check your current deliverability rates in Klaviyo

1. Log into Klaviyo

2. Go to Analytics → Email Performance

3. Look at your last 30 days of campaigns

4. Calculate: (Delivered emails ÷ Total sent) × 100

What good looks like:

• 95%+ delivery rate = You're crushing it

• 85-94% = Not terrible, but needs work

• Below 85% = Your emails are basically spam

Step 2: Run a spam test (this will hurt)

1. Go to mail-tester.com

2. Send a test email from Klaviyo to the address they give you

3. Check your score

Scoring:

• 8-10/10 = Good to go

• 5-7/10 = Needs serious work

• Below 5/10 = You're basically a spammer

Step 3: Check your domain reputation

Use these free tools:

• MXToolbox.com (check for blacklists)

• Google Postmaster Tools (if you send to Gmail users)

• Microsoft SNDS (for Outlook/Hotmail)

If you're on any blacklists, you're screwed until you get off them.

The technical foundation (get this wrong and nothing else matters)

Step 4: Set up proper authentication (this is non-negotiable)

You need three things configured:

SPF Record:

1. Log into your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.)

2. Find DNS settings

3. Add this TXT record: v=spf1 include:spf.klaviyo.com ~all

DKIM:

1. In Klaviyo, go to Settings → Sending

2. Click "Set up domain authentication"

3. Follow their setup wizard

4. Add the DKIM record they give you to your DNS

DMARC:

1. Add this TXT record to your DNS: v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:[email protected]

Pro tip: Use Klaviyo's domain authentication wizard. It literally walks you through this step-by-step.

Step 5: Set up a dedicated sending subdomain

Don't send from your main domain. Create a subdomain like mail.yourbrand.com and authenticate that instead.

Why? If your email reputation tanks, it won't hurt your main website's domain authority.

The list hygiene emergency room

Step 6: Segment your engaged vs. unengaged subscribers

In Klaviyo:

1. Create a segment: "Engaged subscribers"

2. Conditions: Opened or clicked email at least once in last 90 days

3. Create another: "Unengaged subscribers"

4. Conditions: Has not opened or clicked in last 90 days AND subscribed more than 30 days ago

Step 7: Suppress the dead weight (this hurts but it works)

Here's the hard truth: Those 5,000 subscribers who haven't opened an email in 6 months? They're killing your deliverability.

The suppression strategy:

1. Create a "win-back" campaign for unengaged subscribers

2. Send 3 emails over 2 weeks with your most compelling offers

3. Anyone who doesn't engage gets suppressed (not deleted, suppressed)

4. Yes, your list size will shrink. Your revenue will grow.

Step 8: Implement double opt-in (controversial but effective)

In Klaviyo:

1. Go to Lists & Segments

2. Select your main list

3. Enable "Double opt-in"

You'll lose 20-30% of signups, but the ones who confirm are actually engaged. Quality over quantity.

The content and sending strategy overhaul

Step 9: Fix your "from" name and subject lines

From name rules:

• Use a real person's name: "Sarah from [Brand]"

• Or just your brand name: "Allbirds"

• Never use "noreply" or generic emails

Subject line audit: Avoid these spam triggers:

• ALL CAPS

• Multiple exclamation points!!!

• Obvious spam words (FREE, URGENT, ACT NOW)

• Excessive emojis 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Step 10: Optimize send frequency and timing

Most brands are sending too much, too randomly.

The framework:

• New subscribers: 2-3 emails/week max

• Engaged subscribers: 3-5 emails/week max

• Unengaged subscribers: 1 email/week max

Send timing:

• Test Tuesday-Thursday, 10 AM - 2 PM

• Avoid Mondays (everyone's catching up)

• Avoid Friday afternoons (weekend mode)

Step 11: Clean up your email design and content

Technical requirements:

• Keep HTML file size under 100KB

• Use a 60/40 text-to-image ratio

• Include a clear unsubscribe link

• Add your physical address (legally required)

Content guidelines:

• Write like you're texting a friend

• One clear call-to-action per email

• Keep paragraphs short (mobile-friendly)

• Test everything on mobile first

The monitoring and maintenance system

Step 12: Set up deliverability monitoring

Track these metrics weekly:

• Delivery rate (aim for 95%+)

• Open rate (industry average: 20-25%)

• Click rate (industry average: 2-5%)

• Unsubscribe rate (keep under 0.5%)

• Spam complaint rate (keep under 0.1%)

Step 13: Create a regular list cleaning schedule

Monthly:

• Remove hard bounces immediately

• Suppress subscribers inactive for 6+ months

Quarterly:

• Run spam test campaigns

• Review and update email authentication

• Audit your highest-performing subject lines and content

The 30-day recovery plan

Week 1: Technical setup

• Fix authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

• Set up dedicated sending subdomain

• Run deliverability audit

Week 2: List hygiene

• Segment engaged vs. unengaged

• Launch win-back campaign

• Implement double opt-in

Week 3: Content optimization

• Fix from names and subject lines

• Optimize send frequency

• Clean up email templates

Week 4: Monitor and iterate

• Track key metrics

• A/B test new approaches

• Plan ongoing maintenance

What to expect (and when to panic)

First 2 weeks: Metrics might get worse as you clean house. This is normal.

Weeks 3-4: You should see delivery rates start improving.

30-60 days: Significant improvement in open rates and overall performance.

90 days: If you're not seeing major improvements, you might need professional help or have deeper reputation issues.

The bottom line

Email deliverability isn't sexy, but it's the difference between a $100K/month brand and a $300K/month brand using the exact same email strategy.

Most Shopify brands are losing 30-50% of their email revenue to deliverability issues they don't even know they have. Fix the foundation first, then worry about clever subject lines and fancy designs.

Your future revenue will thank you.

Quick wins you can implement today:

1. Run a spam test at mail-tester.com

2. Check if your domain authentication is set up in Klaviyo

3. Segment your engaged vs. unengaged subscribers

4. Review your last 10 subject lines for spam triggers

Stop leaving money on the table. Your emails should be making you rich, not making you look like a spammer.