Email Delivery vs Email Deliverability. What’s the Difference?

Discover how email delivery ensures messages reach the intended recipients, while deliverability focuses on successful inbox placement.
Email deliverability can feel a bit like solving a puzzle. You want your emails to land in your recipient's inbox, not get lost in spam folders.

In this blog, we'll unravel the mysteries of email deliverability, helping you understand how it works and what you can do to ensure your emails reach their intended destinations.

It's like having a handy roadmap for successful email communication.
So, fasten your seatbelts, and let's navigate the email landscape!

Definition

email delivery vs email deliverability

Email Delivery Definition

Email delivery is the process of transmitting an email message from the sender's email server to the recipient's email server, ensuring that it reaches the intended recipient's inbox or email folder.

It involves several technical and operational factors to successfully convey the email, including sender reputation, server settings, routing, and authentication, all contributing to the overall efficiency and reliability of the email reaching its destination.

Email delivery is a critical component of email communication and marketing, as it directly impacts the chances of an email being received and read by the recipient.

Email Deliverability Definition

Email deliverability is the measure of an email's ability to successfully reach the intended recipient's inbox or email folder without being filtered into spam or bounced back as undeliverable.

It is a crucial aspect of email marketing and sales, as it assesses the effectiveness of an email campaign in terms of its reach and impact. Email deliverability depends on factors such as sender reputation, content quality, list hygiene, authentication, and engagement, which influence whether an email is accepted by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and delivered to the recipient as intended.

High email deliverability rates indicate that a significant portion of emails are reaching their destination, enhancing the overall success of email marketing and sales outreach efforts.

Main Purpose

Email Delivery Purpose

The main purpose of email delivery is to successfully transmit email messages from the sender's email server to the intended recipient's inbox or email folder.

This process ensures that the email can be accessed and read by the recipient without being filtered into spam folders or bouncing back as undeliverable.

Email delivery aims to provide reliable communication and information exchange, whether for personal or business communication. It is key in ensuring emails reach their destination efficiently, facilitating effective communication and information sharing.

Email Deliverability Purpose

The main purpose of email deliverability is to ensure that email messages are successfully delivered to the intended recipients' inboxes or email folders, while avoiding spam folders and undeliverable status.

Email deliverability focuses on optimizing the chances of an email being accepted and read by the recipient. Its primary goal is to enhance the effectiveness of email communication, marketing, and outreach efforts by maximizing the number of emails that reach their destination and are accessible to the intended audience.

It involves various strategies and best practices to maintain a positive sender reputation, create engaging content, manage email lists, and utilize proper authentication methods to improve the likelihood of emails being delivered and engaged with.

Measurement Formula

Email Delivery Formula

There isn't a single formula to measure email delivery; it involves a combination of various factors and metrics. However, one key metric is Delivery Rate, which can be calculated using this formula:

Delivery Rate = (Total Emails Sent - Bounces) / Total Emails Sent

Delivery Rate measures the percentage of emails that were successfully delivered without bouncing. It's a critical metric for assessing email delivery performance.

Email delivery is like making sure your message reaches your friend's mailbox without getting lost or sent back. To measure this, you can use the Delivery Rate. For example, if you send 100 emails and 5 bounce back as undeliverable (perhaps due to incorrect addresses), your Delivery Rate would be 95%.

This means that 95 out of 100 emails reached their destination successfully, which is a good indicator of email delivery performance. It's essential for businesses and marketers to track this to ensure their messages are getting through to their audience.

Email Deliverability Formula

A common metric used to assess email deliverability is the Inbox Placement Rate (IPR). The formula for IPR is as follows:

IPR = (Number of Emails Delivered to Inbox) / (Total Number of Emails Sent)

This metric measures the percentage of emails that make it into the recipient's inbox, indicating how successful your email campaign is at avoiding spam folders.

Email deliverability is like ensuring that your email not only arrives but lands in your friend's main inbox instead of the spam folder. To measure this, you can use the Inbox Placement Rate (IPR). For example, if you send 100 emails, and 80 of them end up in the recipient's inbox, your IPR is 80%.

This means that 80 out of 100 emails successfully reached the main inbox, demonstrating effective email deliverability. It's crucial for businesses and marketers to monitor this metric to ensure their messages are seen by their audience.
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Main Impacting Factors

email delivery vs deliverability main impacting factors

Email Delivery Impacting Factors

IP Address Reputation
IP Address Reputation is like your email sender reputation score. It tells email servers whether you're a trustworthy sender or not. If your IP address has a good reputation, your emails usually end up in the inbox.

But if it has a bad reputation, your emails might get stuck in spam or not delivered at all.

To keep a good IP reputation, send relevant emails to a clean list and avoid spam complaints. So, it's a big deal for making sure your emails reach the right place – the inbox!
ISPs & MTAs
ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and MTAs (Mail Transfer Agents) are like the guardians of email. They decide where your emails go.

When you send an email, these guardians check your email's credentials, like who it's from and where it's going. If they trust your email, it gets through to the recipient's inbox. But if they're not sure, they might put it in the spam folder or block it.

So, it's like passing through a security gate. To make sure your emails get through, you need to follow the rules, maintain a good sender reputation, and send emails that people want to receive. If you play by the rules, these guardians will help your emails reach the right place safely.
Bounce Rates
Bounce rates in email delivery are like returned letters in regular mail. When you send an email, if it can't be delivered for some reason, like the recipient's address is wrong or the mailbox is full, it "bounces" back to you.

High bounce rates can affect email delivery because if you have too many email bounces, it tells email systems that something might be wrong with your sender reputation or your email list quality.

To make sure your emails reach their destination, you need to manage bounce rates by keeping your email list up to date and removing addresses that consistently bounce. This helps ensure your emails have a smoother journey and a better chance of being delivered.
Message Queues & Delivery Delays
Message queues and delivery delays in email delivery are like traffic jams on the road. When you send an email, it needs to wait its turn in a line or queue before being delivered. Sometimes, this queue can get congested, causing delays.

These delays can affect email delivery because the recipient may not get the email as quickly as expected. If there are long delays, it might even look like the email got lost.

So, to ensure timely delivery, it's important to monitor and manage these queues, making sure your emails move smoothly and reach their destination on time, just like avoiding a traffic jam to get to your friend's house without being late.
List Quality
List quality in email delivery refers to the quality of the email addresses on your recipient list. It affects email delivery because having a clean and accurate list helps ensure that your emails reach the right people.

If your list contains invalid or unengaged email addresses, it can result in delivery problems, such as bounces or being flagged as spam.

To maintain good email delivery, it's important to regularly update and clean your list by removing incorrect or inactive email addresses and only sending emails to those who have shown interest in receiving them. This helps improve the chances of your emails being successfully delivered to your intended audience.

Email Deliverability Impacting Factors

Spam Filters
Spam filters in email deliverability are like gatekeepers that sort out good and bad emails. They scan incoming messages to make sure they're not spam or unwanted junk.

If your email looks too much like spam because of its content or other factors, these filters can redirect your email to the spam folder, making it harder for people to see.

To ensure good email deliverability, it's important to create emails that avoid triggering these filters by following best practices and crafting relevant content. This way, your emails have a better chance of landing in the recipient's inbox, where they're more likely to be seen and read.
Email Content
The content of your email is a critical factor in email deliverability. Email filters and spam detectors scan your email's content to determine if it's legitimate and relevant to the recipient.

If your email content triggers spam filters by including spam-trigger words, excessive capitalization, or suspicious links, it's more likely to be classified as spam and diverted away from the recipient's inbox.

Crafting high-quality, engaging, and relevant content not only enhances the chances of your email being delivered to the inbox but also encourages recipients to open and interact with your message.

To achieve better email deliverability, it's important to follow best practices in content creation, such as avoiding spammy language and focusing on delivering value to your audience. This helps ensure that your emails are not only delivered but also positively received and acted upon.
Authentication Protocols
Authentication protocols in email deliverability are like a set of keys to a secure mailbox. They ensure that the sender of an email is who they claim to be, making it harder for spammers to fake their identity.

By setting up these protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC correctly, you prove to email servers that your emails are legitimate, not fraudulent. This helps improve email deliverability by increasing the trustworthiness of your emails.

Without these "keys," your emails might be viewed with suspicion or even rejected by recipient servers, affecting your ability to reach your audience effectively.

So, using authentication protocols is like using the right keys to ensure your emails safely land in the recipient's inbox.
Sender Reputation
Sender reputation in email deliverability is like your online reputation score. It's based on your email sending history and behavior. When you send emails, email servers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) check your reputation to decide whether your emails should be delivered or marked as spam.

A good reputation means you've sent emails people want and engage with, so your emails are more likely to reach the inbox. A bad reputation, on the other hand, can lead to your emails being blocked or going to spam folders.

So, maintaining a positive sender reputation by sending relevant content and managing your email list helps ensure that your emails get to where they need to go – the recipient's inbox, just like keeping a good online reputation makes you more trustworthy.
Data Quality
Data quality is fundamental to email deliverability. It refers to the accuracy and relevance of the email addresses in your list. High data quality means having valid, engaged recipients, while poor data quality results in bounces and spam complaints.

To improve email deliverability, you must maintain a clean and up-to-date email list by removing invalid addresses and only sending to those who genuinely want to receive your emails. This increases the likelihood that your messages reach your intended audience's inboxes and are viewed as valuable content.

Email Delivery's Impact on Deliverability

Email delivery and deliverability are interconnected in the email communication process, and their synergy plays a crucial role in the success of your email campaigns. Email delivery focuses on the technical aspects of sending emails, ensuring that messages are transmitted from the sender to the recipient. It involves elements like server configuration, IP address reputation, and message routing. Effective email delivery sets the stage for emails to be sent efficiently.

However, email deliverability steps in to determine where your emails land once they're sent. It evaluates whether your emails reach the recipient's inbox or get filtered into the spam folder. This depends on factors like sender reputation, email content quality, list cleanliness, and recipient engagement. Even if your delivery process is optimized, poor deliverability practices can prevent your emails from making it to the inbox.

The connection between email delivery and deliverability is crucial. Effective email delivery ensures your messages have the opportunity to be sent out.

However, the elements impacting deliverability determine whether your emails successfully land in the inbox. By addressing both aspects, you enhance the chances of your emails reaching the right audience and achieving your email communication or marketing objectives. These two components work hand in hand to influence the overall effectiveness of your email campaigns.

If you're using Google Workspace, make sure to read our blog about the latest Google changes on email deliverability.

Tools to Measure & Improve Email Delivery and Deliverability

Unfiltered.ai

unfiltered ai
Unfiltered.ai is an email deliverability service that combines advanced technology, including AI, to enhance various aspects of email delivery. It offers a comprehensive solution to address email deliverability challenges, with a focus on optimizing sender reputation, improving open rates, and enhancing email health scores.

We use the latest technology to prevent emails from ending up in recipients' spam folders, ultimately increasing the chances of successful email delivery. Additionally, we provides robust customer support to assist users in their email deliverability efforts.

This service is particularly valuable for individuals and businesses engaged in sending large volumes of emails, such as salespeople, marketers, founders, and growth-focused professionals. By using Unfiltered.ai, these users can leverage AI-driven techniques to enhance their email campaigns, ensuring that their messages reach the intended audience and achieve better engagement and deliverability results.

GlockApps

glockapps
This platform is an essential tool for email marketers, businesses, and anyone reliant on email communication to measure the effectiveness of their email campaigns.

By using GlockApps, users can gain a deeper understanding of their email deliverability, make necessary improvements, and ensure their messages consistently reach their target audience.

While the service is impressively multi-layered, GlockApps stands out as a tool specifically crafted to offer real-time insights into the fate of your email campaigns. It provides detailed and up-to-the-minute reports on the deliverability of your emails, allowing you to assess how many of your messages successfully land in the recipient's mailbox. GlockApps offers a comprehensive set of features that not only monitor email delivery but also delve into email content analysis, spam testing, and reputation management.

SendPost

sendpost
SendPost.io is a versatile and comprehensive platform designed to be your go-to tool for executing and refining marketing campaigns. It offers a wide range of features and capabilities to ensure the successful delivery of your marketing messages while also optimizing their impact.

With SendPost.io, you can manage various aspects of your campaigns, including email deliverability, content quality, and audience engagement. The platform not only helps you get your messages into recipients' inboxes but also assists in fine-tuning your campaigns for maximum effectiveness. It's an ideal solution for marketers and businesses looking to streamline their marketing efforts and achieve better results.

Whether you're focused on email marketing, content delivery, or other forms of outreach, SendPost.io provides the tools and insights you need to succeed.

SpamCheck

spamcheck
SpamCheck, offered by PostmarkApp.com, is a dedicated platform engineered to dissect email content with precision. Its primary mission is to provide users with valuable insights regarding the potential deliverability of their emails, driven by a meticulous evaluation of the content's quality.

This tool goes beyond a mere content scan; it delves deep into the intricacies of your emails, scrutinizing them to ensure they meet industry best practices.

SpamCheck empowers email marketers, businesses, and senders to optimize their email content, making it more likely to land in the recipients' inboxes rather than being flagged as spam. With this platform, users gain a granular understanding of their email deliverability, allowing them to make informed adjustments for improved communication and engagement with their audience.

Litmus

litmus
Litmus is a well-established marketing service known for its comprehensive suite of tools and features. Among its array of offerings, Litmus provides a highly reliable email deliverability test. This test serves as a valuable compass for users, guiding them in understanding the current state of their email campaigns and where their messages are placed within recipients' inboxes.

With Litmus, businesses, marketers, and email professionals gain access to a detailed assessment of their email deliverability, allowing them to gauge the effectiveness of their strategies and make data-driven improvements. The platform offers not only insights into inbox placement but also provides guidance on enhancing email content, design, and overall campaign performance.

Litmus stands as a trusted resource for individuals and organizations seeking to maximize the impact of their email marketing efforts, ensuring their messages consistently land where they matter most – in the recipient's inbox.

MailTester

mailtester
Mail-Tester.com is a valuable, no-cost resource that focuses on email deliverability assessment. This user-friendly platform serves as an essential tool for individuals and businesses seeking to gain insights into the placement of their emails within the recipient's mailbox.

By utilizing Mail-Tester.com, users can submit their email messages for evaluation, and the platform provides detailed feedback on various factors that influence deliverability, such as spam scores and content analysis.

This information allows senders to make informed adjustments to improve their email campaigns' effectiveness and ensure that their messages consistently reach the recipient's inbox. Mail-Tester.com is a valuable asset for email marketers, businesses, and anyone who relies on email communication, offering a straightforward solution to enhance email deliverability and reach the right audience with their messages.

SenderScore

senderscore
Senderscore.org is an invaluable online resource that plays a pivotal role in helping email senders measure their sender reputation. It delves into the intricate details of your email sending practices and behavior, meticulously evaluating your credibility as an email sender.

The platform assigns a numerical score that reflects your sender reputation, allowing you to understand the level of trust that ISPs and email servers place in your emails. A higher score indicates a positive reputation, enhancing the likelihood of your emails being delivered to recipients' inboxes. Conversely, a lower score may raise concerns and potentially hinder deliverability.

NeverBounce

neverbounce
NeverBounce.com is a trusted and comprehensive platform dedicated to improving the quality of your email lists. It serves as an indispensable resource for businesses, email marketers, and anyone who relies on email communication. With its suite of tools, it enables users to thoroughly validate their email lists, helping to ensure the highest deliverability rates.

The platform's features include real-time verification, which instantly checks the validity of email addresses, and bulk list cleaning to enhance data accuracy on a larger scale. By using NeverBounce.com, users can identify and remove invalid or dormant email addresses, reducing bounce rates and improving email deliverability.

With its commitment to maintaining list quality, NeverBounce.com is a valuable tool for anyone who wants to reach the right audience with their email campaigns and maximize the impact of their email communication.

Conclusion

Understanding the differences between Email Delivery and Email Deliverability is crucial for achieving successful outreach.

Email Delivery acts as the foundation, ensuring your messages are sent from your server to the recipient's inbox. On the other hand, Email Deliverability determines where your emails land – whether they reach the inbox or get flagged as spam.

Throughout this discussion, we've navigated the intricacies of both Email Delivery and Email Deliverability, uncovering the primary factors affecting them, from ISP and MTA influence to IP address reputation, bounce rates, list quality, authentication protocols, sender reputation, data quality, spam filters, and content quality. Each factor plays a vital role in determining whether your messages successfully reach the inbox or face hurdles along the way.

With the latest technology and unwavering support, Unfiltered.ai makes it a breeze to prevent your emails from getting lost in the email seas. It's a versatile email warm-up tool that suits the needs of various email senders, whether you're a salesperson, marketer, founder, or growth enthusiast. Check us out!
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