Email deliverability is the difference between sending emails and actually reaching the inbox. For B2B teams, deliverability affects cold outreach, nurture campaigns, newsletters, sales follow-up, and customer communication. If your domain reputation is damaged, even good emails can be filtered or ignored.
Use this checklist before launching or scaling any B2B email campaign.
1. Confirm Your Sending Domains
Before sending, list every domain and subdomain used for email: main company domain, sales outreach domains, marketing subdomains, transactional email domains, support email domains, tracking domains. Do not send from domains you are not prepared to monitor.
2. SPF Checklist
- One SPF record only — never two
- All legitimate sending tools included
- Old tools removed from the record
- 10 DNS lookup limit checked
- SPF passes in test emails
3. DKIM Checklist
- DKIM enabled for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365
- DKIM enabled for HubSpot or marketing platform
- DKIM enabled for sales engagement tools
- DKIM enabled for transactional tools
- 2048-bit keys used where supported
- DKIM passes in test emails
4. DMARC Checklist
- DMARC record published
- Start with p=none if monitoring first
- Aggregate report address included
- SPF or DKIM alignment confirmed
- Reports reviewed regularly
- Move toward stricter policy when ready
5. Gmail and Yahoo Requirements
- SPF or DKIM configured for all senders
- Spam complaint rates monitored — keep below 0.10%
- One-click unsubscribe supported for bulk sending
- Visible opt-out available for marketing messages
- DNS records valid
6. List Verification Checklist
- Emails verified before sending
- Duplicates removed
- Role-based emails reviewed
- Unsubscribes suppressed
- Bounced contacts suppressed
- Negative replies suppressed when appropriate
- Old contacts revalidated
7. Email Content Checklist
- Clear sender identity
- Honest subject line — no fake "Re:" or "Fwd:"
- Short body copy for cold outreach
- Minimal links in cold email
- No heavy images for cold email
- One clear call to action
8. Sending Volume Checklist
- Start with conservative volume from new inboxes
- Increase gradually — no sudden volume spikes
- Bounce rate monitored
- Complaint rate monitored
- Pause if reputation drops
9. Monitoring Checklist
- Google Postmaster Tools set up
- DMARC reports monitored
- Bounce rates tracked
- Complaint rates tracked
- Unsubscribe rates tracked
- Domain reputation reviewed weekly
- Problem campaigns paused quickly
10. Business Outcome Tracking
Inbox placement is important, but the business goal is pipeline. Track: positive replies, meetings booked, meetings held, qualified opportunities, pipeline created, closed-won revenue, and lost reasons. A campaign that reaches the inbox but creates no qualified conversations still needs work.
FAQs
What is B2B email deliverability?
The ability of your business emails to reach the recipient's inbox instead of being blocked, bounced, or sent to spam.
What is a good spam complaint rate?
Google recommends keeping spam rates below 0.10% and avoiding 0.30% or higher. Yahoo advises keeping complaint rates below 0.3%.
Can HubSpot help with email deliverability?
HubSpot can help manage campaigns, contacts, suppressions, unsubscribes, and reporting. DNS authentication and list quality still need to be managed separately.