Spam Testing

You've crafted your campaign, checked your design, and you're ready to hit send. But before you do, there's one more step that can make a real difference to whether your email actually reaches your audience: a spam test.

What is a spam test?

A spam test analyses your email against the criteria that inbox providers, like Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail use to decide whether a message is legitimate or not. It checks things like your sender authentication, content, and gives you a report highlighting anything that might cause your email to be filtered out.

Why does it matter?

Even well-intentioned emails can end up in spam. Inbox providers use complex, constantly-evolving algorithms to protect their users, and a single overlooked issue such as an unverified domain, a broken link, or even certain phrases in your subject line can be enough to land you in the junk folder instead of the inbox.

Running a spam test before you send gives you the chance to catch and fix these issues while you still can.

What to look out for

Sender authentication

Make sure your domain has [SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records properly configured] TODO. These tell inbox providers that you are who you say you are, and that your emails are genuinely coming from your domain. Without them, your emails are far more likely to be treated with suspicion.

Your sender reputation

Inbox providers pay attention to how recipients interact with your emails over time. High bounce rates, lots of spam complaints, or sending to disengaged lists can all damage your reputation. Keep your list clean and only send to people who have genuinely opted in.

Email content and formatting

Avoid tactics that are commonly associated with spam - things like excessive use of capital letters, overly sales-heavy language, misleading subject lines, or a disproportionate amount of images to text. Make sure every link in your email works and points where it says it does.

A clear unsubscribe option

Every marketing email should include an easy, working way for recipients to opt out. This isn't just good practice. In many countries it's a legal requirement. Inbox providers also look for this as a signal of legitimacy. If you haven't added an unsubscribe link yourself, Transpond will automatically inject one at the bottom of your email to ensure you stay compliant.

A recognisable sender name and address

People are more likely to mark an email as spam if they don't recognize who it's from. Use a consistent, professional sender name and a real reply-to address rather than a no-reply address.

How to run a Spam Test

1. When you get to the Send step of the campaign wizard, there's button for Spam Test, next to the 'Send' button.

   

2. Choose which email services you want to spam test for. By default they'll all be enabled. Click Start Test to get started.

Transpond will now analyze your email content, and test it against the selected email services. If your email is rejected by any service or fails to pass any checks, you'll be able to see that on the screen.