Why Are My Emails Going to Spam?

If your emails are landing in spam folders instead of inboxes, you're not alone. Email deliverability is one of the most common challenges for organizations using email marketing platforms. And given that email platforms are constantly changing how they detect spam, it can be maddeningly challenging to stay ahead.

Understanding why this happens—and what you can do about it—will help you reach your audience more effectively.

Getting Started

In order to send emails from MonkeyPod, you first need to configure your DNS settings. This essentially gives MonkeyPod permission to send emails on your behalf. This is somewhat of a technical process, so you may need to loop in someone from IT or someone that manages your website. Learn more about Email Deliverability and DNS Settings.

An important aspect of this process is that MonkeyPod creates a new subdomain to send email from by creating monkeypod-email.your-awesome-nonprofit.org. That means that even if you have been sending emails from your-awesome-nonprofit.org in the past, you’re going to start from scratch when building your email reputation. 

Understanding Email Reputation

Email providers like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo use sophisticated filters to protect their users from spam. These filters evaluate every email based on multiple factors, with sender reputation being one of the most critical.

Think of sender reputation like a credit score for your email domain. It's built over time based on:

• Engagement rates - How many recipients open, click, and interact with your emails
• Complaint rates - How often recipients mark your emails as spam
• Bounce rates - How many email addresses on your list are invalid
• Sending patterns - Whether you send consistent volumes or sudden spikes
• Authentication - Whether your emails are properly verified as legitimate

Your new subdomain starts with little to no sending reputation, even if your main domain has been around for years. Email providers treat subdomains largely independently, which means you'll need to build trust from the ground up when you start sending emails from MonkeyPod. 

Don’t worry - we’ll walk you through what to do. 

Getting Started: Warming Up Your Subdomain

Because your MonkeyPod subdomain is new, you can't immediately send to your entire list at full volume. Instead, follow this warm-up process:

Week 1-2: Start Small

• Send to your 50-100 most engaged subscribers.
• Choose recipients who know your organization well and are expecting to hear from you, people who are likely to open your emails and click on the links inside it. Think of your volunteers, staff members, and biggest supporters.
• Send 2-3 emails during this period.
• Send simple emails. Keep the message to a short and sweet update with one or two links.
• Encourage recipients to check their spam folder for your messages. If they end up there, tell them to please mark them as “not spam.” 

Week 3-4: Gradual Growth

• Expand to 500-1,000 of your most engaged contacts.
• Monitor your open rates and spam complaints closely.
• Continue sending consistently (2-3 times per week).

Week 5-8: Scale Up Carefully

• Double your audience size every few sends if metrics remain strong.
• Watch for warning signs: sudden drops in open rates or increases in bounces.
• Maintain consistent sending frequency.

After 2 Months

• You should be able to send to your full list.
• Continue monitoring deliverability metrics.
• Never send to contacts who haven't engaged in 12+ months.

Pro tip: If you have a large list, consider segmenting by engagement level permanently. Sending only to engaged subscribers will always improve your reputation.

Essential Technical Setup

Before sending any emails, verify these technical requirements are properly configured:

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

Confirms that MonkeyPod is authorized to send email on behalf of your subdomain. Check your DNS settings to ensure the SPF record is correctly added.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

Adds a digital signature to your emails proving they haven't been tampered with. MonkeyPod will provide you with DKIM records to add to your DNS.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication)

Tells email providers what to do if an email fails authentication checks. Start with a monitoring policy, then move to stricter enforcement once you're confident everything is working.

Best Practices for Staying Out of Spam

Build Your List Organically

• Never purchase email lists - These contacts don't know you and will mark you as spam
• Make sure people know what they're signing up for
• Add an email signup to your website, events, and other touchpoints. Learn how to create a subscription form in MonkeyPod.

Pro Tip: Email subscription forms require users to confirm their subscription, which helps develop a strong sending reputation. Consider asking your closest contacts to sign up via a MonkeyPod subscription form once you get MonkeyPod set up rather than just importing all your contacts. 

Maintain List Hygiene

• Remove hard bounces immediately (MonkeyPod does this for you automatically)
• Suppress contacts who haven't opened in 12+ months (or send them a re-engagement campaign first)
• Make it easy to unsubscribe—it's better than a spam complaint
• Regularly remove duplicate addresses (check out our duplicate manager for help with this!)

Create Engaging Content

• Write compelling subject lines that accurately reflect your content (no clickbait)
• Personalize when possible—insert recipient names using merge tags and reference past interactions
• Ensure your content is relevant to your audience
• Include a clear call-to-action
• Balance text and images (all-image emails often trigger filters)
• Always include your organization's physical address. We recommend including this in the footer of your email templates.

Avoid Spam Triggers

• Don't use ALL CAPS or excessive exclamation points!!!
• Avoid spam trigger words like "free," "guarantee," "act now," or "limited time" when possible
• Don't use misleading subject lines
• Ensure your "From" name is recognizable and consistent
• Sloppy code, extra tags, and code pulled in from Microsoft Word or Google Docs can trigger spam filters.

Send Consistently

• Establish a regular sending schedule (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly)
• Avoid long gaps followed by sudden bursts of activity
• Don't send more frequently than you promised when people signed up

Monitoring Your Performance

Keep an eye on these key metrics. You can find all of these data points by going to Email Outreach > Insights in your MonkeyPod.

• Open rate - Industry average is 15-25%; below 10% is concerning
• Click rate - Shows how engaging your content is
• Bounce rate - Should stay below 2%; higher suggests list quality issues
• Spam complaint rate - Should be below 0.1% (1 per 1,000 emails)
• Unsubscribe rate - Typically 0.2-0.5%; spikes indicate content or frequency problems

If you notice sudden drops in performance, pause and investigate before continuing to send.

What to Do If You're Already in Spam

If your emails are consistently landing in spam folders:

1. Stop sending immediately - Continuing to send will only make things worse
2. Audit your list - Remove unengaged contacts and any purchased or scraped addresses
3. Review your content - Check for spam triggers and ensure quality
4. Verify your DNS setup - Confirm SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are working
5. Start the warm-up process again - Begin with your most engaged subscribers
6. Consider a re-engagement campaign - Send to inactive subscribers asking if they still want to hear from you

Getting Help

Email deliverability can be complex, but you don't have to figure it out alone. If you're experiencing persistent issues, contact our team at support@monkeypod.io, and we’ll do our best to help. 

Remember: Building a strong sender reputation takes time, but it's worth the investment. Organizations that follow these best practices consistently see their emails reach inboxes and drive meaningful engagement with their audiences.

Frequently Asked Questions

An email was marked as "dangerous" by Gmail and ended up in recipients' spam folder. How can I make sure this doesn't happen again?

Sometimes an email will be flagged by Google or Gmail as having a suspicious link despite being totally harmless. To resolve this, you can try to determine what the "suspicious" content in your email is.

The best way to do this is to repeatedly send the email campaign to a test email list, removing elements one at a time until it doesn't trigger the spam filter. That would then help you determine which specific link in the email Google flagged as potentially dangerous, and you can remove that link from future emails.

If you go about this process, you should also make sure to mark messages as not spam in Gmail. Doing so "teaches" Google that the messages you are sending are legitimate, and reduces the likelihood they will go to spam in the future.

If you are sending a legitimate link but it is getting flagged as suspicious, you may be able to get around this by using a link shortening tool such as bit.ly.