Question

Getting amazing results with our ads…but our email deliverability completely flopped on our last launch, seemed like overnight. Why would this happen? It literally halved our revenue

Answer 1

This is a frustrating but common issue—your ads are doing great, but email deliverability tanks, and with it, your revenue. Here’s why this can happen literally overnight, especially during high-intent campaigns like launches:

Top Reasons Your Email Deliverability Flopped Suddenly

1. You Hit a Spam Filter Algorithmically

• ESPs (like Gmail, Outlook) saw a sudden surge in volume and flagged it as spammy.

• Especially likely if:

  • You sent to a cold list or inactive users

  • Your open/click rates dropped sharply

  • You used “salesy” launch language (free, urgent, guaranteed, etc.)
    
    Result: Your domain/IP reputation drops = emails land in spam or promo folders.

2. Poor List Hygiene Before the Launch

• If your list had:

  • Old or bounced emails

  • Low engagement users

  • Purchased/subpar leads from paid campaigns

Then ESPs assume you're not sending to willing recipients and punish your deliverability.

3. New Leads from Ads = Low Engagement

• Leads from high-performing ads are often:

  • Cold

  • Not email-primed

  • More active on social than inbox

If your campaign suddenly hits thousands of these "lukewarm" leads, your email metrics tank (low open/click → high spam complaints).

4. Technical Setup Issues

• Your SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records may not be fully set up or failed during launch.

• Email sending platform IP reputation (especially if shared) could've been blacklisted or throttled.

Use tools like:

• mail-tester.com

• MxToolbox

To scan your domain/IP and get a deliverability score.

5. Too Many Sends, Too Fast

• If you scaled up from 5k to 50k sends overnight, Gmail and others will throttle you.

• Especially if sent from a relatively new domain or IP (even if warmed up, sudden jumps look suspicious).

What You Can Do Now

Short-Term Fix:

• Segment and re-engage only high-quality users: Send to people who opened/clicked in the last 30 days.

• Use a plain-text style “apology email” from the founder, asking if they still want updates.

• Warm up your IP again slowly, don’t blast.

Mid-Term Fix:

• Authenticate your domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

• Build a welcome flow that primes new ad leads (with micro-commitments like quizzes, reply triggers).

• Use multiple sender domains if needed (e.g., promo.brand.com for launches)