Cold Email Deliverability in 2025: Key Changes & Actionable Steps
Master the new rules of cold email deliverability with these must-know strategies for 2024.
Tomáš Bútora
Dec 17, 2024
7
minutes
Lead Generation
1. Rapidly Changing Landscape
What’s Happening:
Deliverability best practices are evolving faster than ever. Methods that worked a few months ago may now be outdated.
Action:
Review and update your cold email strategy every 1–2 months to stay ahead of shifting trends.
2. Focus on Technical Mastery
What’s Happening:
Getting your emails into the inbox has become the hardest part of cold email campaigns. Reply rates are dropping below 1%, and inbox burnouts are common.
Action:
Invest in mastering technical elements like DNS records, SPF/DKIM/DMARC setups, and warm-up protocols. These technical elements are essential to reducing spam flags and improving inbox placement.
Why It Matters:
A strong technical setup directly impacts where your emails land—inbox, promotions, or spam.
3. Test Multiple Infrastructure Setups
What’s Happening:
No single provider or tool guarantees success. Performance varies depending on your campaign and audience.
Recommended Tests:
Email Providers: Compare Google Workspace, Outlook, and private SMTP servers.
Sequence Tools: Test different cold email platforms like SmartLead or Instantly.
Warm-Up Pools: Use both built-in warm-ups (e.g., SmartLead’s) and private warm-up services.
Action:
Run pilot campaigns with various infrastructures and track deliverability metrics. Stick with the setups that perform best for your needs.
4. Weekly Deliverability Audits
What’s Happening:
Spam placement often goes unnoticed, leading marketers to blame their messaging instead of their setup.
Tools:
EmailGuard
MailMeteor
SmartLead’s integrated deliverability tester
Action:
Run weekly tests to check where your emails land. Adjust your infrastructure or messaging as needed if deliverability metrics worsen.
5. Maintain a Reserve of Warmed-Up Inboxes
What’s Happening:
Even well-managed inboxes can “burn out” after 3–6 months.
Action Steps:
Calculate Needs: For 2,000 emails/day at 20 emails/inbox, you’ll need 100 inboxes.
Build a Buffer: Start with 1.5x your calculated amount (e.g., 150 inboxes).
Ongoing Maintenance: Add ~20% new inboxes monthly to keep your campaigns running smoothly.
6. Move from SpinTax to AI-Generated Emails
Problem:
Basic spin tax (e.g., swapping a few words) no longer fools advanced spam filters.
Solution:
Use AI tools to rewrite your emails entirely. AI can adjust sentence structure, phrasing, and tone for each recipient, keeping your messaging unique.
Action Steps:
Implement AI systems to rephrase your base templates for every recipient.
Maintain consistent messaging but allow AI to vary the delivery style.
Expected Outcome:
More unique emails, reduced spam detection, and better deliverability rates.
7. Narrow Your Targeting (TAM & ICP Refinement)
What’s Happening:
Misaligned targeting increases spam complaints, damaging your reputation.
Action Steps:
Define your Total Addressable Market (TAM) and Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) clearly.
Use advanced tools like Clay and Apollo to filter for relevant leads.
Score leads (A-B-C tiers) and prioritize only the most relevant recipients.
Result:
Fewer spam complaints, better sender reputation, and higher deliverability.
Key Takeaways for 2025
Infrastructure Testing: Experiment with multiple providers, tools, and warm-up strategies to find what works best for your campaigns.
Frequent Deliverability Checks: Monitor where your emails land weekly and adjust quickly if problems arise.
Inbox Reserve Management: Keep extra warmed-up inboxes ready to replace burned-out accounts.
AI-Driven Personalization: Abandon basic spin tax in favor of AI-generated email variations.
Targeting Precision: Focus on a narrower, highly relevant audience to reduce spam complaints and improve results.
Additional Resources
Tools Mentioned: SmartLead (sequences, warm-up), EmailGuard/MailMeteor (deliverability tests), Clay (lead scoring/ICP targeting).
General Advice: The deliverability landscape is always changing. Stay flexible and continuously refine your approach.
By adopting these practices, you can navigate the challenges of cold email deliverability in 2024 and achieve consistently better results.
