Deliverability Optimisation Checklist for MailerLite Users

1. Authenticate Your Domain

Domain authentication tells email providers you’re a legitimate sender, significantly improving your deliverability.

✅ Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC DNS records for your domain in MailerLite to verify your emails and prevent spoofing

✅ Navigate to the Domains section in your MailerLite dashboard to access authentication tools.

✅ Follow MailerLite’s step-by-step DKIM authentication process, which includes adding specific TXT records to your DNS settings.

✅ Avoid using free email providers (Gmail, Yahoo) for sending campaigns. Always use a custom domain like @yourdomain.co.nz to enhance your compliance and improve your email deliverability.

✅ Verify all authentication is working properly using MailerLite’s built-in verification tool.

Pro Tip: After setting up authentication, send a test email to yourself and check the email headers to confirm SPF and DKIM are passing.

2. Maintain a Clean Email List

A clean list is fundamental to good deliverability. Inactive or invalid subscribers harm your sender reputation.

✅ Schedule quarterly list cleaning by removing inactive or bounced subscribers.

✅ Filter subscribers who haven’t opened your emails in the past 3-6 months and create a re-engagement campaign.

✅ Implement double opt-in for all new subscribers (easily configured in MailerLite’s form settings) to protect your list from fake sign-ups.

✅ MailerLite offers MailerCheck, an instant email verification tool that cleans and optimises your list by identifying invalid or inactive email addresses.

Pro Tip: MailerLite automatically handles hard bounces, but you should manually review soft bounces that occur multiple times.

3. Avoid Spam Triggers in Your Content

Email providers use sophisticated algorithms to detect spam. Avoid these common triggers:

✅ Craft subject lines that avoid spammy words like “free,” “guarantee,” or “urgent”.

✅ Maintain a professional tone and avoid excessive use of ALL CAPS, multiple exclamation marks (!!!), and dollar signs $$$).

✅ Ensure your emails contain a good text-to-image ratio (aim for at least 80% text). Do not have the important text on an image.

✅ Use MailerLite’s testing feature before sending campaigns to any audience.

✅ Use full, original URLs in your email content and avoid using link shorteners.

Pro Tip: Run your email copy through a spam checker tool.

Creating compelling content that avoids spam triggers is crucial. For a deep dive into writing emails subscribers actually want to open, download this free guide here.

4. Monitor Your Sender Reputation

Your sender reputation determines how email providers treat your messages.

✅ Regularly check your MailerLite email campaign reports to track open rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints.

✅ Aim to maintain bounce rates below 2% (industry standard for good deliverability).

✅ Keep spam complaint rates below 0.1% to avoid deliverability issues.

✅ Monitor domain blacklisting using external tools like MXToolbox alongside MailerLite’s reports.

✅ Review the engagement metrics for each campaign to identify content that performs well.

Pro Tip: Set up Google Postmaster Tools to get additional insights about how Gmail users interact with your emails.

5. Optimise Engagement Metrics

Email providers prioritise delivering emails that recipients engage with.

✅ Send emails consistently on a predictable schedule (MailerLite makes this easy).

✅ Use MailerLite’s segmentation tools to create targeted content for different subscriber groups.

✅ Implement a regular re-engagement campaign for subscribers who haven’t opened emails in 90+ days.

✅ Experiment with send times using MailerLite’s delivery time optimisation feature (available on paid plans).

✅ Focus on creating valuable, relevant content that encourages clicks and replies.

Pro Tip: Engagement is a two-way street. Occasionally send emails that explicitly ask for replies to boost this important engagement metric.

6. Provide Clear Unsubscribe Options

Making it easy to unsubscribe improves your deliverability by reducing spam complaints.

✅ Ensure your unsubscribe link is prominently displayed (MailerLite includes this by default in all footers).

✅ Implement MailerLite’s one-click unsubscribe feature for a frictionless opt-out process.

✅ Set up a preference centre using MailerLite’s subscription management tools to give subscribers options beyond unsubscribing.

✅ Process unsubscribes immediately to comply with email marketing regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR.

Pro Tip: When someone unsubscribes, use MailerLite’s exit survey feature to gather feedback about why they’re leaving.

7. Test and Monitor Deliverability

Continuous testing and monitoring are essential for maintaining good deliverability.

✅ Use MailerLite’s email preview tool to check how your email appears across different email clients.

✅ Run A/B tests on subject lines, content, and send times using MailerLite’s built-in testing tools.

✅ Monitor inbox placement rates by occasionally checking where your emails land in test accounts.

✅ Review your deliverability metrics monthly and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Pro Tip: Create a dedicated email account with each major provider solely for testing your email deliverability.

Deliverability Is an Ongoing Process

A strong deliverability strategy ensures your emails reach your audience and with MailerLite, you have all the tools to make it happen. Follow this checklist regularly, and you’ll improve inbox placement, boost engagement, and ensure your subscribers see your emails.

Remember that deliverability isn’t a one-time fix but an ongoing process. Email provider algorithms change, and your sending practices need to evolve accordingly. By implementing these MailerLite-specific deliverability practices, you’ll stay ahead of the curve and maximise the ROI of your email marketing efforts.

👉 Need help optimising your deliverability? Book a call, and let’s fine-tune your email strategy together! 👈

Talk soon, Louise

P.S. Are we connected on LinkedIn? Let’s connect!