Best Practices to Keep Your Emails Out of Spam and Promotions

Inbox placement depends on how inbox providers (like Gmail and Outlook) evaluate your emails across a few key areas — authentication, reputation, engagement, content, and consistency.

Instant AI helps manage the technical setup and automates your content to follow proven best practices, so you’re sending from a strong foundation. While inbox placement is always determined by the recipient’s email provider, the combination of a verified setup, consistent sending, and engaging content gives your brand the best chance of reaching shoppers reliably.

Authentication

Authentication tells inbox providers that your emails genuinely come from your brand. It’s the foundation of trust and deliverability. Instant AI connects through your DNS provider by adding CNAME records. These records allow Instant AI to send authenticated emails on your behalf, without changing your existing setup.

If your main domain is already in use (for example with Klaviyo), Instant AI connects using a dedicated subdomain such as mail.yourbrand.com or send.yourbrand.com. This prevents conflicts and helps protect your primary domain’s reputation.

We also check whether your domain already has a DMARC record. This helps inbox providers know how to handle unauthorised messages and supports long-term deliverability. If you already have DMARC in place, Instant AI uses your existing policy without requiring changes. Emails are only activated once your DNS records verify successfully, ensuring everything is connected correctly before sending.

Reputation

Your sender reputation is like your email trust score. It builds over time based on how consistently you send, how people interact with your messages, and how many are reported, ignored, or bounced.

Instant AI helps maintain this by managing bounce and complaint tracking automatically, and by sending emails at natural, behaviour-based times rather than in bulk. But your sending patterns still play an important role:

• Send regularly — avoid long gaps or sudden bursts of activity.
• Focus on engaged shoppers who open, click, or purchase.
• Remove inactive or bounced contacts from your lists periodically.
• Avoid purchasing or uploading external lists.

Consistency and engagement build trust slowly, but reliably. Every healthy send strengthens your reputation.

Content

Inbox filters don’t just look at technical setup, they analyse your content and engagement patterns. The goal isn’t to force emails into the Primary inbox; it’s to create messages that look legitimate, valuable, and relevant to your shoppers.

Keep your content simple, brand-aligned, and balanced:

• Use clear subject lines that match your message.
• Keep a healthy balance between text and imagery — too many images or links can trigger filters.
• Always include a visible unsubscribe link (Instant AI checks for this automatically).
• Send from a monitored, real “Reply-To” address.

Encourage authentic engagement. Small, natural prompts like: “Need help deciding? Just reply to this email.” or “We’d love to hear what you think — hit reply to tell us.” These help to encourage reply-to's which also help improve deliverability. 

Instant AI also structures your emails for compliance and clarity — with clean HTML, safe tracking links, and balanced layouts that support strong deliverability performance.

Consistency

Inbox providers value consistency and authenticity. Instant AI’s automated flows — like abandoned cart, winback, or replenishment — naturally send at relevant times based on shopper behaviour, which helps maintain a stable sending pattern.

Mixing these automated flows with occasional plain-text emails (for example, a short note from your founder or CEO) can also help strengthen deliverability. Plain-text emails tend to look more personal and conversational, which inbox providers interpret as trusted, one-to-one communication.

Campaigns, on the other hand, are more visual and often appear in Promotions — which is perfectly fine. Together, this mix of automated flows, campaigns, and occasional plain-text sends creates a healthy pattern that inbox providers recognise as natural and brand-led.

Instant AI ensures your emails are technically sound, authenticated, and structured according to recognised best practices. You maintain that trust by sending valuable, relevant content that feels personal and aligned with your brand.