In the world of email marketing, the terms delivery and deliverability are often used interchangeably, but they refer to very different concepts altogether.
Delivery refers to whether an email is successfully received by the recipient’s mail server. If the message doesn’t bounce (i.e., it isn't rejected due to an invalid address or server issue), it’s considered "delivered." However, this metric doesn’t tell you where the email landed, it could be in the inbox, spam folder, or even quarantined.
Deliverability AKA inbox placement rate, on the other hand, focuses on placement. It measures whether your email reaches the inbox, bypassing spam filters and other obstacles. High deliverability means your message not only reached the recipient’s server but was also deemed trustworthy and relevant enough to appear in the inbox.
In short:
Tools to check email deliverability
To improve deliverability, you need to focus on list hygiene, sender reputation, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and non-spammy content.
Delivery refers to whether an email is successfully received by the recipient’s mail server. If the message doesn’t bounce (i.e., it isn't rejected due to an invalid address or server issue), it’s considered "delivered." However, this metric doesn’t tell you where the email landed, it could be in the inbox, spam folder, or even quarantined.
Deliverability AKA inbox placement rate, on the other hand, focuses on placement. It measures whether your email reaches the inbox, bypassing spam filters and other obstacles. High deliverability means your message not only reached the recipient’s server but was also deemed trustworthy and relevant enough to appear in the inbox.
In short:
- Delivery = Email reached the recipient's mail server.
- Deliverability = Email reached the recipient's inbox.
Tools to check email deliverability
To improve deliverability, you need to focus on list hygiene, sender reputation, authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and non-spammy content.