Emails may go to spam because of poor sender reputation, weak engagement, spam complaints, unauthenticated sending, misleading subject lines, bad list quality, high bounce rates, or content that looks suspicious to mailbox providers. Technical setup matters too: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC help authenticate the sender domain. Deliverability also depends on whether subscribers actually want and engage with the emails. Buying lists, emailing inactive contacts forever, or hiding unsubscribe links can damage performance. A deliverability audit should review authentication, list hygiene, content, complaint rates, bounce rates, and engagement.
Example
If a business changes email platforms and starts sending to an old list without warming the domain or cleaning inactive contacts, inbox placement may drop quickly.