Troubleshooting
My emails are not arriving
Why they land in spam, and the three things that fix it for good.
If several different people say nothing arrives, it is neither coincidence nor bad luck: the recipient's mail system does not trust the sender. And trust is demonstrated, not requested.
The three things, by impact
- 1
Use your domain
Mail from @yourcompany.com passes filters a generic address does not. This changes the most.
- 2
Authorise sending
A few records have to be added to your domain saying this platform may send on your behalf. Whoever manages your domain does it in ten minutes.
- 3
Mind the wording
No capitals in the subject, no exclamation marks, no "URGENT". Filters read it literally.
Watch out
Until the domain is authorised, the mail arrives claiming to be from you without being able to prove it. Gmail and Outlook filters treat that as suspicious, and rightly so.
In the meantime
An SMS or WhatsApp arrives even when email does not. It is not the underlying fix, but it unblocks today's case.
›How do I know if a particular email bounced?
The case flags it, with the reason.
›Can I ask people to add me to their contacts?
Yes, and it helps, but it does not replace authorising the domain.
›How long before the change shows?
A few hours after the records are in place.
A real case
The situation
An accountancy firm finds half its notices are never opened.
What you do
- Switches to their own domain
- Their IT person adds the authorisation records
- Rewrites subject lines without capitals
What you get
Open rates go from 40% to 85% in a week.
The situation
Notices land in junk at one particular client.
What you do
- Asks them to add the sender to their safe list
What you get
The next notice reaches the main inbox.
The situation
A send goes to an old list and many addresses bounce.
What you do
- Cleans the contacts before the next round
What you get
Sending reputation does not suffer.
The situation
A corporate domain blocks everything external.
What you do
- Agrees with their IT to allow the sender
What you get
The block is resolved once for the whole company.
The situation
The supplier says it never arrived and it shows as sent.
What you do
- Checks the send time and resends
What you get
You learn whether the problem is sending or receiving.
The situation
Subject lines that look like marketing are used.
What you do
- Writes specific subjects saying what is requested
What you get
The email gets opened rather than dismissed.
This article answers
- emails go to spam
- the recipient does not receive my notices
- configure the domain for sending
- improve email deliverability