Email Trigger Troubleshooting Checklist

I've audited 500+ cold email setups. 90% of campaigns fail because of 3 fixable issues. The exact audit checklist I use to diagnose what's broken (and how to fix it): Step 1: Check Your Reply Rate - Reply rate under 1% = infrastructure problem. - Reply rate 1-3% but no meetings = weak offer. Most people skip this step and waste weeks tweaking the wrong things. If Reply Rate is Sub-1% (Infrastructure Audit): Campaign Setup: → Spintax added for variability? → Copy free of spam trigger words? → Signature has spintax? → No longer then 2 step sequence? → Adjusting start / end times daily? Technical Infrastructure: → Each domain in its own tenant? → Low inbox count per tenant? → Using Hypertype with Google/Azure correctly? → Sending volume per inbox appropriate? → Domain went through 2-week warmup? → Redirect is working? → DNS records are properly setup? → Warmup didn’t get turned off for sending accounts? Data Quality: → SMTP validation via Million Verifier completed? → Catch-all emails separated and validated via Scrubby? → Company name formatting cleaned up? → Too many enterprise security systems in your list? → Minimum of 2500 leads in the campaign? If Reply Rate is 1-3% (Offer/Copy Audit): Copy Structure: → Subject line looks internal (lowercase preferred)? → Using soft CTA instead of direct meeting ask? → Includes relevant social proof? → Has personalization elements? → Avoids overselling? → No links or attachments? Offer Quality: → Is it "cold traffic ready" with low perceived risk? → Helps prospect make or save money? → Solves a massive pain point? → Includes risk reversal/guarantee elements? Targeting: → Prospects match your ICP exactly? → Company size appropriate for your offer? → Targeting actual decision makers? Red Flags to Fix Immediately: → High bounce rates → Campaigns not sending daily → Long, complex copy → No spintax or variability → Generic, non-personalized messaging → Weak offer positioning I use this exact checklist for every client audit. Takes 20 minutes to run through. Saves weeks of guessing what's broken.

Emails going to Spam? Here’s how to fix it If your email open rates are below 25%, your emails are consistently getting filtered into spam and email providers don’t trust you. But here’s the good news: you can fix it. *The 4-Step Framework to Diagnose & Fix Email Deliverability Issues* → Step 1: Check your Sender Reputation Your sender reputation is like your credit score. It determines how trustworthy your emails appear to inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook. ▸ Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools or SenderScore to check your email reputation. ▸ If your reputation is low, it’s often due to high bounce rates, low engagement, or spam complaints. How to Fix it: Clean your email list regularly. Remove inactive subscribers who haven’t engaged in 90+ days and AVOID sending to purchased lists. → Step 2: Authenticate Your Emails Email providers block or filter out emails that seem suspicious. Authentication proves your emails are legitimate. ▸ SPF: Confirms your email is coming from an authorized sender (also blocks UV rays). ▸ DKIM: Ensures the email hasn’t been altered after being sent. ▸ DMARC: Prevents phishing attacks using your domain. How to Fix it: Ask your email provider or IT team to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Without them, your emails will always be at risk. → Step 3: Optimize your Email Content to avoid Spam Triggers Spam filters scan for certain words, formats, and practices that make emails look untrustworthy. ▸ Avoid excessive capitalization and punctuation (🔥 LIMITED TIME OFFER!!!). ▸ Use a branded sender name instead of a generic one (“Ryan from [Dispensary Name]” instead of “info@[dispensary].com”). How to Fix it: Keep your emails natural, balanced, and engaging. If an email looks or feels spammy, it probably is. → Step 4: Improve Engagement Metrics Email providers prioritize senders who get high engagement (opens and clicks) and penalize those who get ignored. ▸ Start with engaged customers. Send emails to your most active list segment first before emailing everyone else. ▸ Monitor your open rates. If it’s consistently under 25%, your emails are likely being flagged. How to Fix it: Segment your audience, remove unengaged contacts, and write subject lines that actually make people want to open. → Test It: Want to see if you have a problem? Send a test email to multiple inbox types (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) and check where it lands. It can take 3-4 weeks to go from a low reputation to medium in Google Postmaster, so be patient. If more people get your emails in their main inbox it will lead to 💵 💵 💵 If you’re seeing issues, or just want to guarantee your emails reach more customers—we can help. Tact Firm specializes in cannabis email marketing that actually gets delivered. Let’s fix this together.

Most senders jump straight to “fixing” email issues without figuring out what broke in the first place. That’s a mistake… one that slows your resolution time and can drag in people who don’t need to be involved (yet, anyway). The reality in most cases is that deliverability issues can be a cocktail of causes. So before you fire off your re-engagement campaigns or start rewriting all your copy, stop and ask yourself: 💌 When did this start? Trace it back to the actual drop, not when you noticed it. In some cases, you step off a cliff. Other times, it’s a slow decline that actually started months ago. Get your goggles out and trace the timeline. 💌 Where is it happening?  Are all mailbox providers affected, or just one? Scope matters. For example, Gmail is very heavily focused on user engagement, so if your open rates are 2% at Gmail while they’re +30% at other top destinations you send to, you’ve likely hit the spam folder. You can now turn your attention toward recipient reactions (spam complaints, opens, clicks, unsubscribes). But if Microsoft is bouncing everything in sight, you’ll want to look more closely at authentication, blocklists, and IP reputation. 💌 What changed upstream? Sure, it could be your ESP or the mailbox provider. But 9 times out of 10, that call is coming from inside the house. So, take a good look around to see if anything (and I mean anything) may have changed on your side. Did you: - Launch a new campaign that got a different reaction? - Add a new segment or acquisition source? - Did you change frequency?  - Switch platforms or mess with DNS? You can’t fix what you don’t understand, and even a small change can ripple downstream. So put down the duct tape. and diagnose first! I break down the full diagnostic process on my Send It Right blog. Check it out if you want to turn a crisis into a blip (or need to convince your boss you’re not just guessing). If this already sounds painful and you want help troubleshooting, hit me up. Sometimes a 20-minute chat beats a 5,000-word rabbit hole (even though I looooove a good deliverability rabbit hole). 💌