Email deliverability readiness checklist

Use this checklist before you send from a new domain, move providers, or increase volume. The goal is simple: make sure the right message comes from a trusted sender to a real, engaged audience.

Before the first send

Authenticate the domain. Publish and verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for the sending domain.
Separate sending from your main site. Use a dedicated subdomain so campaign reputation is easier to monitor and protect.
Confirm the provider path. Know which provider will send the campaign and what fallback exists if delivery degrades.
Start with a clean audience. Suppress hard bounces, role accounts, spam complaints, and contacts without a lawful basis to receive the message.
Warm up gradually. Increase volume in steps and watch bounce, complaint, and engagement signals after each send.

Before every campaign

Check the audience. Confirm the segment, exclusions, estimated size, and last engagement window.
Check the message. Test links, sender details, reply handling, rendering, and the unsubscribe path.
Check the timing. Avoid quiet hours, sudden volume spikes, and sends that overlap with another high-volume program.
Check the result. Review delivery, bounce, complaint, click, conversion, and pipeline signals instead of opens alone.

What to do when a send slips

Pause the next send

Give the signal time to settle before adding another volume spike.

Find the source

Compare provider, domain, audience, content, and timing against a healthy send.

Fix the audience

Suppress hard bounces and disengaged contacts before trying again.

Make the checklist part of the send

With Zeluto, preflight checks, sending-domain health, provider control, and campaign results live in the same workspace.

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