The not-so-basic basics: email deliverability in 2026

Welcome to the second blog in our series exploring the not-so-basic basics of email and mobile marketing engagement.

Over the coming weeks, Dotdigital’s channel experts are sharing their top tips for driving standout results in 2026, alongside the latest benchmarks from Dotdigital’s Global benchmark report. Each blog breaks down what the numbers really mean and how you can use them to improve performance across every stage of the customer journey.

In our first blog, we explored what email engagement looks like in 2026 and how to optimize campaigns for stronger opens and clicks. In this blog, Lisa Dixon, Dotdigital’s Deliverability Consulting Lead, turns the focus to email deliverability. Lisa is sharing practical strategies to make sure your emails land in the inbox and get seen by your audience.

What’s the difference between email delivery and email deliverability?

First up, let’s quickly explain the difference between two key terms.

Email delivery is getting an email from your email marketing platform of choice, e.g., Dotdigital, to the receiving mail servers of your recipients, e.g., Gmail.

Email deliverability is about what happens after it is accepted, and can also be known as inbox placement. Email deliverability is the ability for your emails to successfully land in your subscribers’ inbox, instead of spam or junk.

Ultimately, delivery is about acceptance; deliverability is about inbox placement.

Why is email deliverability important?

Even the most beautifully designed email won’t drive results if it never reaches the inbox.

Strong deliverability means:

• Higher open and click-through rates
• Better customer engagement and retention
• More accurate performance reporting
• Stronger ROI from your email program

What is a good email delivery rate?

A good delivery rate is generally considered to be 97% or higher. Dotdigital’s Global benchmark report for 2026 shows that delivery rates among Dotdigital customers are impressively high, with a global average of 99.21%.

Dotdigital’s focus on compliance and customer trust helps keep all of our senders in good standing, maximizing deliverability and customer reach.

How to test email deliverability

While delivery rates are high, inbox placement still depends on ongoing deliverability best practices.

Testing deliverability helps you spot issues before they impact performance. Key ways to do this include:

• Inbox placement testing to see where emails land across providers
• Monitoring bounce rates and spam complaints
• Reviewing engagement metrics like opens and clicks
• Checking sender authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

Using a platform with built-in reporting and deliverability insights makes it easier to diagnose issues early and keep campaigns performing.

How to boost email deliverability

High bounce rates or spam complaints can damage your sender reputation and reduce the visibility of your campaigns. Here are three actionable ways to maintain healthy inbox placement:

1. Acquire contacts carefully
   • Send only to people who have opted in
   • Protect sign-up forms with CAPTCHA to avoid fake addresses
   • Use confirmed opt-in to validate consent and ensure the email belongs to the subscriber
2. Maintain a clean list
   • Implement a sunset policy to filter out inactive contacts or those no longer engaged
   • Regularly review bounce, complaint, and unsubscribe data to identify contacts who should be removed
3. Send emails that your contacts want to receive
   • Align content with subscriber expectations and preferences
   • Monitor negative engagement metrics (bounces, complaints, unsubscribes) as indicators of list health
   • Avoid sending irrelevant or unwanted emails, which can harm deliverability over time

Three rules to boost inbox placement

At the heart of email deliverability are three critical requirements that all marketers should prioritize:

1. Authenticate emails: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to prove your messages are legitimate.
   • SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Lists which servers can send emails from your domain
   • DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Verifies emails weren’t altered in transit
   • DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): Tells receivers how to handle emails that fail SPF/DKIM
2. Make unsubscribing easy: Include a one-click unsubscribe option using a list-unsubscribe header or footer, as well as a visible link in the email body. If opting out is difficult, spam complaints can rise.
3. Only send wanted emails: Beyond having legal consent, make sure you respect your audience’s preferences, interests, behavior, and preferred frequency. This helps maintain a positive relationship and reduces the risk of your emails being marked as spam.

Failure to follow these rules can result in delayed delivery, emails landing in spam, or hard bounces.

What is a good bounce rate?

Global email delivery rates

Here’s a look at the average bounce and delivery rates across Dotdigital customers worldwide.

• Soft bounce rate = 0.74% (Number of soft bounces ÷ number of emails sent) x 100
• Hard bounce rate = 0.05% (Number of hard bounces ÷ number of emails sent) x 100
• Bounce rate = 0.79% (Number of overall bounces ÷ number of emails sent) x 100
• Delivery rate = 99.21% (Number of emails sent ÷ number of delivered emails) x 100

You can get bounce rate benchmarks for your industry and region in the full 2026 Global benchmark report here.

Email deliverability in 2026

Strong delivery rates are the backbone of any successful email strategy as they reflect healthy data, responsible sending, and a platform that works well with inbox providers. Deliverability and delivery rates are something you should monitor and optimize continuously.

Hopefully this blog has given you a clearer understanding of the topic as well as practical tips to take away and action. If you’d like support from myself or another member of the Deliverability team, check out the email marketing services we provide – we’d love to work with you.