• Inbox Insider
  • Posts
  • Why Emails Go to Spam and How to Build a Solid Reputation

Why Emails Go to Spam and How to Build a Solid Reputation

Author

Pavel Ivanishchev
February 21, 2025

In 2017, I was in Munich doing some Christmas shopping at Tiffany. Before I paid for my gift, a consultant asked if I wanted to register with their brand and receive special offers via email. After signing up, she asked me to check my spam folder and said, "For some reason, this first email always goes to spam in Gmail."

I was surprised. How could such a famous brand—with hundreds of marketers working behind the scenes—have their emails land in spam? At the time, I had zero experience with email deliverability, but this moment left a strong impression on me.

Fast forward to today, and I am experienced enough to understand the issue: Tiffany's German domain likely had a poor sender reputation issues, and their transactional emails were filtered out of inboxes. In 2025, however, their emails land directly in Gmail's primary inbox, proving that they have resolved this issue.

That’s what led me to write this edition — a deep dive into how email reputation is built, why emails land in spam, and what businesses can do to improve deliverability.

📈 Building a Good Email Reputation—It’s Both Simple and Hard

Here’s the deal: To build a solid email reputation, you’ve got to send relevant emails to people who actually want them. Subscribers who opted in, who are excited to hear from you, and who find your offers valuable. Sounds pretty easy, right?

But here’s where it gets tricky. In the real world, people sign up for your emails for all sorts of reasons:

  • They want a 10% off coupon for their first purchase

  • They’re just waiting for their coffee, free Wi-Fi, or a train to arrive and end up on your list by accident

Good luck getting engagement from those folks. If they didn’t actively want to hear from you in the first place, don’t expect them to start clicking through your emails anytime soon. And if they’re ignoring you, unsubscribing, or worse—marking you as spam - well, that’s a deliverability nightmare.

The Engagement Trap: Why do you need it for Email Deliverability

Engagement is a significant factor in building and supporting your email reputation. So if many of your subscribers sign up for emails just to receive a one-time discount or access free Wi-Fi. or for booking a room in your hotel there is a high chance that these recipients are unlikely to engage with future emails, leading to high rates of ignored messages, unsubscribes, or even spam complaints. 

When too many recipients take these actions, email providers like Gmail consider it as a n indicator of low-quality content. As a result, your emails may start landing in spam - even for engaged subscribers who want to receive them. 

To maintain a strong sender reputation, focus on getting really interested in your newsletters subscribers and regularly cleaning your list to remove inactive contacts.

🏗️ So, How Do You Build a Good Reputation?

It’s all about sending the right emails to the right people, but that’s easier said than done. Here’s what you need to focus on:

  • Engagement, Not Just List Size

    Stop worrying about the number of people on your list. Instead, focus on the quality of your audience. A smaller, more engaged list will do a lot more for your reputation than a bloated one that just sits there, ignored.

  • Let People Unsubscribe

    If someone doesn’t want your emails, let them go. Holding onto unengaged people just hurts your reputation in the long run. Make it easy for them to opt-out, and you’ll thank yourself later.

  • Segment, Segment, Segment

    Not all your subscribers are the same. People who open your emails and click through should get more love than those who haven’t opened in months. If you treat everyone the same, your emails will suffer.

  • Be Ready to Let Go

    If someone hasn’t opened an email in 3 months, send them a re-engagement campaign. No response? Let them go. It’s not personal—it’s about keeping your list healthy and your emails on the right track.

📨 And Now, the "Best Practices" Everyone Loves to Talk About

We’ve all heard the usual deliverability advice, right?

  • Authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

  • Keep your complaint rates low

  • Use a recognizable sender name

  • Send consistently

Sure, those things matter, but here’s the truth: They’re not the magic bullet. If your emails don’t get opened, no amount of authentication or perfect timing is going to save you. You could have everything set up perfectly, but if no one’s engaging, you’ll still end up in spam.

🤔 The Key Question: What Do You Really Want?

So, before you chase that huge list or worry about getting everything "just right"—ask yourself:

Would you rather have 100,000 people who never open your emails, or 10,000 subscribers who actually click and engage with your content?

At the end of the day, it’s not about the size of your list—it’s about how well you’re connecting with the people on it. Choose quality over quantity, and your email deliverability will thank you.