If your open rates drop below 20% or your bounce rate exceeds 3%, you have a deliverability problem. Here is how to diagnose and fix it.
Diagnosing the Problem
Go to Reporting → Email Health and check:
- Spam rate: above 0.3% = problem
- Bounce rate: above 2% = problem
- Open rate: below 20% = likely deliverability issue (not just copy)
- Placement rate: below 85% inbox = active deliverability issue
Fix: High Bounce Rate
- Pause the affected campaign immediately
- Export the bounce list from Reporting → Bounces
- Remove all hard-bounced emails from future campaigns (the platform auto-suppresses, but verify)
- If bounce rate came from a purchased list, never use that list source again
Fix: High Spam Rate
- Review your most recent sequence for spam trigger words
- Remove all images and HTML styling — send plain text only
- Reduce daily send volume by 50% for 7 days
- Run a seed test to measure current inbox placement
- If spam rate remains above 0.3%, rotate to a new sending domain
Fix: Low Open Rate (Deliverability Cause)
Low open rates can be caused by deliverability OR subject lines. To isolate:
- Send a test email to your own inbox — does it arrive in inbox or spam?
- Run a seed test (Settings → Email Domains → Seed Test)
- If placement is fine but opens are low, the issue is the subject line — not deliverability