Why Emails Land in Spam & How to Fix It (Brevo Guide)

Why Solving Spam Placement Is Critical

If your emails land in spam, everything else — creativity, segmentation, automation — fails. Inbox placement affects open rates, clicks, conversions, and deliverability reputation long-term. Fixing spam means your marketing efforts truly reach people’s inboxes, where they can act on your messages.

Beyond performance, spam placement damages long-term domain reputation. Mailbox providers record signals and apply them across future sends. The faster you fix the underlying causes, the sooner you rebuild trust and improve performance.

Top Reasons Emails Go to Spam

Authentication Problems & How to Fix Them with Brevo

Authentication is the fastest, most technical area to fix. If SPF, DKIM, or DMARC are missing or incorrect, mailbox providers treat your emails with suspicion.

Fix: Confirm DNS Records

Log in to Brevo → Settings → Senders & Domains. Add the domain and copy the DNS records provided. Paste them into your DNS provider (Cloudflare, Namecheap, GoDaddy, etc.). Verify once propagation completes.

Fix: Avoid Multiple SPF Records

Only one SPF record should exist per domain. If you use multiple services, merge them with include: statements instead of creating separate SPF entries.

Fix: DKIM Selector & Hostnames

Follow Brevo’s exact DKIM hostnames. A wrong selector breaks the signature even if the key exists.

Fix: Start with DMARC as Monitor

Use p=none to collect reports without rejecting messages. Review reports, fix issues, then move to stricter policies.

List Quality Problems & Practical Cleanup Steps

Lists degrade naturally. People change emails, abandon addresses, or mark messages as irrelevant. Sending to low-quality lists is the single fastest way to damage deliverability.

Fix: Stop Buying Lists

Purchased lists contain low-value, spam-trap-prone addresses. Always grow organically.

Fix: Implement a Re-engagement Funnel

Identify contacts with no opens in 60 days, send a short reactivation series, then suppress non-responders. Use Brevo segments to automate this process.

Fix: Remove Hard Bounces

Set automation to automatically remove or suppress addresses that hard bounce. These addresses directly harm reputation.

Fix: Double Opt-In Where Appropriate

Double opt-in confirms intent and reduces invalid or mistyped emails entering your list. For high-volume senders, it’s worth the slightly lower signup rate.

Content Issues That Trigger Spam Filters and How to Correct Them

Even authenticated messages can be filtered for content. Focus on clarity, transparency, and technical cleanliness.

Fix: Clean HTML & Lightweight Emails

Avoid excessive inline styles, messy table structures, and large attachments. Brevo’s builder optimizes HTML, but always preview before sending.

Fix: Avoid Common Spam Triggers

Words like “FREE,” “BUY NOW” in excessive caps, too many exclamation marks, or deceptive subject lines increase risk. Use clear, benefit-oriented language instead.

Fix: Provide a Clear Unsubscribe Link

Missing or hidden unsubscribe links raise complaint rates. Make it easy to leave; it’s better to lose an uninterested subscriber than get marked as spam.

Fix: Balance Images and Text

Image-only emails or emails with heavy images and little text increase spam risk. Maintain a healthy text-to-image balance and include alt text for images.

Sending Behavior That Kills Deliverability and How to Stabilize It

Sudden spikes in send volume, sending to unsegmented lists, or repeatedly emailing cold contacts are common behavioral causes of spam placement.

Fix: Warm Up New Domains and IPs

Follow a gradual warm-up schedule. Send small volumes to engaged audiences first, then scale up. Brevo’s warm-up guidance helps automate this pacing.

Fix: Keep Consistent Sending Patterns

Choose predictable sending windows and maintain volume consistency. Avoid random spikes that look suspicious to providers.

Fix: Use Segmentation for First Sends

Always send new campaigns first to your most engaged segment. This creates positive engagement signals and improves broader inboxing when you expand to larger segments.

Technical Problems That Cause Spam Placement & Diagnostics

Not all spam issues are content or lists. Technical misconfigurations are common and fixable.

Fix: Monitor Blacklists

Use Brevo’s blocklist monitoring or third-party tools to check if your IP/domain appears on public blacklists. If listed, follow the removal process and identify the cause.

Fix: Verify Links and Redirects

Broken links, long redirect chains, or click trackers that mask URLs can be flagged. Use clean URLs and monitor click behavior.

Fix: Check Image Hosting

Host images on reliable CDNs. Self-hosted or untrusted hosts can raise flags with mailbox providers.

A Practical Step-by-Step Spam Recovery Plan (Brevo-Centric)

1. Pause large sends. Stop any ongoing campaigns that may be worsening the situation.
2. Authenticate domain immediately. Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correct using Brevo’s authentication dashboard.
3. Segment to engaged users only. Send to the top 10–20% most engaged list first to create positive signals.
4. Run a re-engagement series for warm lists. Identify and suppress non-responders.
5. Fix content issues. Remove spammy language, clean HTML, ensure unsubscribe links are obvious.
6. Monitor bounce & complaint metrics. Set automation to suppress bad addresses.
7. Warm up gradually after recovery. Slowly scale volume while watching engagement and complaint rates.
8. Use seed testing. Send sample campaigns to seed inboxes (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, iCloud) to verify placement before scaling.

Real-World Use Cases: Fixes That Work Fast

Optimization Routine — Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly

Weekly

• Check open and click rates for new campaigns.
• Monitor bounce and complaint rates.
• Suppress addresses with repeated hard bounces.

Monthly

• Run re-engagement campaigns and remove non-responders.
• Review DMARC reports for suspicious sources.
• Audit list growth sources to ensure organic acquisition.

Quarterly

• Review all DNS records and remove unused services from SPF.
• Consider using a dedicated IP if sending high volume and you need full control over reputation.
• Run seed tests across major mailbox providers.

Common Mistakes That Break Recovery Attempts

• Ramping volume too fast after a pause
• Not fixing authentication before resuming sends
• Continuing to email a cold list without reactivation
• Trusting deliverability tools without checking reports
• Using excessive redirects and masked tracking URLs

Pros & Cons — Fixing Spam Placement

Final Verdict

Emails land in spam for predictable reasons. Most problems are fixable with a structured plan: authenticate your domain, clean the list, refine content, stabilize sending patterns, and monitor results. Brevo provides the tools and reporting you need — but the work requires discipline and gradual progress. Follow the step-by-step recovery plan above, and within weeks you will see measurable improvements in inbox placement and engagement.

Recommendation

Next Steps — Recover Inbox Placement

Email Educate offers deliverability checklists, seed testing templates, and sample re-engagement flows tailored for Brevo users. Start with authentication, then run a small, engaged-only campaign to rebuild trust.