Your sender reputation is one of the biggest factors determining whether your emails reach your guests' inboxes or end up in spam. Think of it like a credit score for your sending domain built up over time based on how you send and how recipients respond.

Topics

• What is sender reputation?
• What affects your sender reputation?
• How to protect and improve your reputation
• FAQ

What is sender reputation?

Every time you send an email, inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook assess the reputation of your sending domain. They track signals like bounce rates, spam complaints,and engagement levels. Based on these signals, they decide whether your emails are trustworthy enough to deliver to the inbox.

A strong sender reputation means more of your emails land where they should. A poor reputation means they get filtered or blocked entirely.

What affects your sender reputation?

Spam complaints Every time a guest marks your email as spam, it damages your reputation with that inbox provider. Spam complaints are more damaging than unsubscribes. The acceptable industry benchmark is below 0.1%  one complaint per 1,000 sends.

Bounce rates High bounce rates signal to inbox providers that your contact list is outdated or poorly managed. Hard bounces (permanent failures) have more impact than soft bounces (temporary failures). See our article on bounces for more detail.

Engagement Open rates and click-through rates are signals inbox providers use to assess whether your emails are wanted. Low engagement over time tells providers your emails are not resonating — and they begin routing them away from the inbox.

Unsubscribe rates A high unsubscribe rate on its own does not directly damage your reputation, but it is a warning sign. It usually means your content is not matching what guests signed up for, or you are sending too frequently. Left unaddressed, high unsubscribe rates often lead to spam complaints — which do cause direct damage.

Sending to non-consenting or purchased contacts Adding contacts to your list without their consent is one of the fastest ways to damage your sender reputation. It leads to spam complaints, high bounce rates, and spam trap hit all of which inbox providers use to identify senders who should be filtered.

How to protect and improve your reputation

• Only send to opted-in contacts. Build your list organically. Never use purchased or imported lists of contacts who have not explicitly agreed to hear from your venue.
• Clean your list regularly. Remove contacts who have not engaged in three to six months. A smaller, engaged list always performs better than a large, stale one.
• Make unsubscribing easy. Guests who cannot easily unsubscribe will mark your email as spam instead. A spam complaint is far more damaging than a quiet opt-out.
• Monitor your sending metrics. Keep an eye on open rates, bounce rates, and unsubscribe rates. A sudden change in any of these is worth investigating.
• Send consistently. Erratic sending patterns — long gaps followed by large blasts — can raise flags with inbox providers. A regular cadence is better for your reputation.

FAQ

Can I recover from a poor sender reputation? Yes, but it takes time. Recovery typically involves cleaning your list, pausing sends to unengaged contacts, and focusing on highly engaged segments first. It can take 30 to 60 days to see meaningful improvement. 

Does sending more emails improve my reputation? Not directly. Volume alone does not build reputation. What matters is sending relevant emails to engaged contacts who want to hear from you.

What is a blacklist? A blacklist is a list maintained by inbox providers and third-party organisations of domains or IP addresses known to send spam. If your domain ends up on a blacklist, your emails may be blocked entirely. This typically happens after sustained high spam complaint rates or sending to spam traps. If you suspect you are on a blacklist, contact our support team.

Any questions? Reach out to us via email at support@meandu.com.