Email Deliverability Audit

When it comes to email and newsletter marketing there are some very technical aspects that are just out of most people’s scope, but they are just as important as the content being written to mail out.

I’ve put this detailed guide together to simplify the process so that all mailers, regardless of their skill level, can ensure that they are properly set up to hit their subscribers' inboxes.

This is the same process I follow when performing detailed deliverability audits and domain reputation remediation for our partners.

That being said let’s begin with Step 1.

Confirming Your Technical Setup

Starting in 2024, there were updates made to the sender guidelines by Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, and other top email providers so you need to confirm you are following each of the requirements below.

1) SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

An email authentication method that helps prevent spoofing. It allows domain owners to specify authorized mail servers to send emails on their behalf, verified via DNS records.

This ensures emails are from legitimate sources, reducing phishing and fraud.

To make sure you have your SPF records properly configured follow the instructions in the video below.

Here’s a quick list of many of the popular ESP SPF records for quick reference.

Active Campaign

v=spf1 include:emsd1.com -all

Amazon SES

v=spf1 include:amazonses.com -all 

Aweber

v=spf1 include:send.aweber.com -all

Brevo (Formerly Sendinblue)

v=spf1 include:spf.sendinblue.com -all 

Campaign Monitor

v=spf1 include:_spf.createsend.com -all 

Campaigner

v=spf1 include:_spf.emailcampaigns.net -all

Constant Contact

v=spf1 include:spf.constantcontact.com -all

GetResponse

v=spf1 include:_spf.getresponse.com -all

Mailchimp

v=spf1 include:servers.mcsv.net -all

MailerLite

v=spf1 include:_spf.mlsend.com -all

Mailgun

v=spf1 include:mailgun.org -all

Mandrill

v=spf1 include:spf.mandrillapp.com -all

Sendgrid

v=spf1 include:sendgrid.net -all

Sparkpost

v=spf1 include:_spf.sparkpostmail.com -all

If your ESP isn’t listed, don’t worry. You can ask your ESP for your SPF record or it will be provided while setting up your custom sending domain on their platform.

To confirm your SPF record is setup correctly you can use the SPF Record Checker by DMARCLY by clicking here.

2) DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail)

An email authentication method that allows a sender to sign their emails with a cryptographic signature.

This signature helps the recipient verify that the email was sent from the claimed domain and was not altered during transmission, increasing email security and trustworthiness.

In order to setup your DKIM record through your domain’s DNS settings, you will first have to receive the DKIM from your ESP.

Once you have the DKIM record information simply create a new record like you did previously for the SPF record, but this time with the DKIM details.

To confirm your DKIM record is setup correctly you can use the DKIM Record Checker by DMARCLY by clicking here.

3) DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, & Conformance)

An email security policy that builds on SPF and DKIM to prevent email spoofing.

It enables domain owners to specify how to handle unauthenticated emails and provides reports on email activity.

If you have ensured that both SPF and DKIM are configured properly, it’s time to set up your DMARC record to tell the ISPs what to do with emails that fail the DMARC check.

To help you create your DMARC record use the DMARC Record Generator from EasyDMARC by clicking here.

To confirm your DMARC record is setup correctly you can use the DMARC Record Checker by DMARCLY by clicking here.

4) One-Click Unsubscribe

is required for anyone sending more than 5,000 messages per day.

Next week we will get in depth with monitoring your domain reputation.

Sorry for being so technical tonight,

Chris Miquel
Co-Founder of SoVi Digital

Follow me on Twitter: @miqchris

and on LinkedIn: chrismiquel