How Companies Are Improving Deliverability with ActiveCampaign

Email deliverability is a measure of trust. When mailbox providers see consistent and authentic messages that truly engage users, they reward them.

With growing inbox competition, stricter reputation management, and continuously evolving email standards, trust has never been more important.

ActiveCampaign treats deliverability as more than a background process. It’s built into the platform’s DNA. Powerful infrastructure is combined with proactive guidance to help every customer protect their reputation and send with confidence.

In the stories that follow, we’ll show you how companies across industries have improved their deliverability—and their results—with ActiveCampaign. You’ll also find insights from deliverability experts and practical resources to help you build stronger sender trust, higher engagement, and long-term inbox success.

When MentorShow set out to scale its online learning business, they discovered that consistent deliverability was the foundation of consistent growth. The team used ActiveCampaign to refine every part of their sending strategy, focusing on engagement quality rather than volume, and optimizing how—and when—they connected with subscribers.

By improving segmentation and timing, MentorShow began sending messages that resonated more deeply with its audience. Over time, this approach drove remarkable gains: a 99.88% deliverability rate, a doubled open rate, and a fivefold increase in click-throughs.

These results weren’t the outcome of one quick fix, but of a sustained effort to strengthen sender reputation. Each engaged subscriber and optimized send time helped signal to mailbox providers that MentorShow’s messages were both legitimate and valued, turning deliverability from a technical hurdle into a strategic advantage.

Austin-based nonprofit UN|HUSHED knew their emails could do more—if only more of them reached the inbox. Newsletters had started landing in spam folders, and it wasn’t just an inconvenience. It meant losing touch with educators and communities who relied on their resources.

After moving from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign, UN|HUSHED focused on rebuilding its sending reputation from the ground up. The team authenticated its domain, optimized sending infrastructure, and cleaned its contact lists to remove inactive addresses. Using ActiveCampaign’s tagging and automation tools, they began sending more relevant, timely messages that aligned closely with subscriber interests.

Power Bespoke, a forward-thinking real estate agency, discovered that their deliverability challenges weren’t rooted in content, but in infrastructure. After migrating from their previous email provider to ActiveCampaign, they saw an immediate 10% lift in deliverability, thanks to a more reliable sending environment and improved alignment with authentication standards.

Activating DKIM authentication added another layer of legitimacy to every message. That change alone delivered an additional 15% improvement in deliverability, reinforcing their brand identity and sender reputation.

By syncing behavioral data from Salesforce to trigger automated nurture emails, Power Bespoke also established more consistent sending patterns, keeping engagement strong and bounce rates low. Together, these improvements created a stable foundation for long-term inbox success and deeper, more reliable communication with clients.

Email had always been central to the growth strategy of Brazilian digital education company A Escola de Sites, but limited deliverability was holding them back. After migrating from Mailchimp to ActiveCampaign, the team saw immediate improvements in how consistently their messages reached subscribers’ inboxes.

Using ActiveCampaign’s segmentation tools, they began organizing their audience into more specific, relevant groups. This not only sharpened their sending practices but also helped sustain strong engagement signals that mailbox providers reward with better inbox placement.

With higher deliverability came higher impact. During one major campaign, A Escola de Sites attributed a six-figure revenue day to their improved email performance; proof that messages that reliably reach the right audience drive meaningful results.

Marketing agency AdClients was facing a common but critical problem: dwindling deliverability that limited the reach of their campaigns. To address it, the team focused first on technical fundamentals, properly configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to establish legitimacy and build trust with Internet Service Providers.

Next, they executed ActiveCampaign’s list warm-up strategy, gradually increasing sending volume and signaling to mailbox providers that their emails were legitimate and welcomed. By cleaning and segmenting their contact lists, AdClients further strengthened sender reputation while reducing the risk of being flagged as spam.

Finally, they introduced subscription management workflows, allowing contacts to choose the types of messages they wanted instead of unsubscribing entirely. Together, these best practices not only restored deliverability but also created a more engaged, responsive audience for future campaigns.

theCLIKK leveraged automation to maintain strong, long-term deliverability for their daily marketing newsletter. With audience attention—rather than vanity metrics—in mind, the team used ActiveCampaign’s automation tools to create re-engagement sequences that reach out to inactive contacts before removal, giving the team a chance to retain potentially valuable subscribers without compromising deliverability.

Combined with dynamic segmentation and behavioral triggers, theCLIKK ensures that only relevant content reaches each audience segment, strengthening engagement signals that mailbox providers rely on to determine placement.

By embedding these smart automations into everyday workflow, theCLIKK has created a sustainable system that keeps their emails in the inbox and their audience interactions meaningful. Their proactive, automated, data-driven practices are key to their long-term deliverability success.

We understand that not every business has the time, resources, or expertise to stay on top of evolving email deliverability standards. So we’re going beyond providing powerful tools and infrastructure. By partnering with certified consultants and sharing deep deliverability expertise, we’re building a network that gives every sender access to the guidance they need.

Our partnerships supplement the technical tooling of ActiveCampaign with personalized training, best-practice recommendations, and direct support. This means that our knowledgeable partners are constantly upskilling, and are always ready to help businesses turn complex deliverability challenges into actionable, manageable strategies.

Prospect2 works closely with ActiveCampaign’s deliverability team to ensure clients follow best practices in authentication, engagement, and list health. Through one-on-one training, white-glove support, and direct access to ActiveCampaign experts, Prospect2 helps their clients build strong, consistent inbox placement.

“People think email is just 'press send' and it shows up. But there’s a whole process behind the scenes that affects whether or not it’s delivered—and you may not have control over all of it,” explains Sydney Lynch, Director of Customer Experience at Prospect2. ActiveCampaign’s guidance helps partners navigate those complexities, from domain authentication (DMARC, SPF, DKIM) to warming new domains and monitoring engagement signals.

Prospect2 also leverages ActiveCampaign’s advanced tools to optimize inboxing long-term. Lynch notes: “Because ActiveCampaign lets us save and reuse segments across emails, automations, and split tests, we can consistently target high-intent contacts. That consistency builds trust with mailbox providers.”

Mailblue partners with ActiveCampaign to support deliverability for small-volume European senders. This is a particularly challenging market due to strict mailbox providers and infrastructure limitations. Early on, Mailblue faced a major issue: many newly onboarded accounts were landing in spam, primarily at Microsoft. ActiveCampaign discovered that New Sender IP Pools were being affected by abusive senders, creating reputational challenges for legitimate accounts.

Initially, ActiveCampaign worked with Mailblue on a case-by-case basis, helping move senders to higher-quality IPs. As onboarding grew, the teams implemented a bespoke solution: custom code automatically routes new Mailblue accounts to healthier IP pools upon activation, preventing deliverability issues before they arise.

This intervention is part of a long-term, collaborative partnership. ActiveCampaign continues to provide guidance, transparent insights, and best practices, enabling Mailblue to confidently onboard new senders while maintaining strong deliverability for their entire customer base.

Kay Peacey at Slick Business is an ActiveCampaign expert who provides personalized deliverability coaching for small businesses. Rather than a one-off consultation, Kay’s support focuses on long-term guidance, helping clients refine sending habits, implement proper authentication, and strengthen sender reputation over time.

Kay works closely with each business to translate complex deliverability concepts into actionable steps. This includes segmentation strategies, automation workflows, and engagement-driven tactics that improve inbox placement while keeping subscribers engaged. By pairing expert coaching with ActiveCampaign’s built-in tools, clients gain both the knowledge and the technology needed to maintain strong deliverability as their programs grow.

Through ongoing support, Slick Business helps small businesses turn deliverability from a recurring challenge into a sustainable advantage—showing how consistent guidance and expert oversight can make technical email best practices accessible to any sender.

Even the most well-crafted emails can fail to reach the inbox if key best practices are overlooked. Deliverability depends on a combination of technical setup, engagement signals, and consistent sending habits.

J.T. Beckham, ActiveCampaign’s Senior Manager of Deliverability, discussed these factors in a recent Duct Tape Marketing podcast episode, emphasizing how even the most advanced tools work best when paired with thoughtful practices.

Below are three key pillars that our experts recommend to maintain healthy inbox placement.

Proper authentication is the foundation of deliverability. Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC correctly signals to mailbox providers that your messages are legitimate and helps prevent spoofing.

“It’s really key to make sure that you prove that you are the one sending the email, and that helps your recipients and your contacts that you’re trying to reach know for sure that’s you — that it didn’t get spoofed.”

Authentication requires ongoing attention. When switching providers or domains, update records carefully and remove any old platforms.

“If you change platforms, you really want to be diligent about updating these records and removing any platform you’re not sending from anymore.”

Mailbox providers pay close attention to engagement signals. Sending only to active, interested contacts helps maintain strong inbox placement.

“One-click unsubscribe…has to be part of your header. We’ve had that as part of our platform for years. We make it as easy as possible because we don’t want people to say, ‘this is spam.’ That’s the worst thing we want.”

Automations can help maintain engagement by re-engaging inactive contacts or suppressing those who are no longer interested. Prioritizing real engagement over sheer volume ensures that every send reinforces your reputation with mailbox providers.

Consistency matters for both mailbox providers and subscribers. Sending from the same domains, at regular intervals, and with predictable patterns establishes reliability and fosters trust.

Avoid sudden spikes in send volume or new IPs without warming, as these can trigger spam filters or throttle delivery. By combining regular cadence with careful monitoring, you create a sending pattern that mailbox providers recognize and reward.

Deliverability has been built into the ActiveCampaign platform from day one, and the results speak for themselves. Customers—from small businesses to enterprise teams—consistently achieve high inbox placement, stronger engagement, and measurable campaign results. Plus, ActiveCampaign consistently ranks as #1 in independent deliverability tests.

Built-in tools make it easier for customers to maintain strong sending practices:

• Guided authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
• Reputation monitoring with proactive outreach
• Intelligent list hygiene tools for cleaner, more engaged contacts
• Custom mail server domains for improved sender alignment
• Ongoing deliverability insights
• Built-in compliance with one-click unsubscribe and RFC-compliant sending

On top of the platform, ActiveCampaign’s Certified Consultants and internal deliverability team work proactively with customers: monitoring bounce rates, providing early warnings, and offering guidance before small problems become big ones.

Your emails deserve the inbox, and ActiveCampaign makes sure they get there.

Dive into our deliverability resources and start sending with confidence today.

What is email deliverability, and why does it matter?

Deliverability is the ability of your emails to reach subscribers’ inboxes. High deliverability ensures your messages are seen, clicked, and acted upon.

How does ActiveCampaign help improve deliverability?

AC combines built-in tools, proactive monitoring, and expert guidance to keep emails reaching the inbox consistently.

Do I need technical expertise to maintain good deliverability?

No. ActiveCampaign’s guided authentication setup, automation tools, and Certified Consultant support make best practices accessible to every sender.

Can ActiveCampaign help me recover from poor deliverability?

Yes. Through proactive monitoring, list hygiene tools, and hands-on guidance, AC helps identify issues, restore reputation, and improve inbox placement.

Where can I learn more about deliverability best practices?

ActiveCampaign offers a library of deliverability resources and guides, plus direct access to experts for personalized support.