Email Automation Deliverability Checklist

Email automation works only when the underlying sending program is trustworthy and maintained. A polished sequence cannot compensate for missing authentication, misleading messages, poor list practices, or ignored opt-outs. Use this checklist before activating an automated campaign and revisit it as domains, lists, content, and sending volume change.

1. Define the message and its owner

• Name one accountable owner. Assign responsibility for audience rules, content approval, authentication status, opt-out processing, monitoring, and incident response.
• Classify the message. Document whether each automation is transactional, relationship-based, or commercial. Do not assume a business-to-business audience removes commercial-email obligations; the FTC says CAN-SPAM applies to commercial messages and makes no B2B exception. [3]
• State the expected value and frequency. A recipient should receive the type and cadence of mail they reasonably requested. Yahoo advises sending timely, relevant email to an active, engaged audience and honoring the frequency implied when people joined. [2]
• Record the stop condition. Decide who can pause the automation if authentication fails, complaints rise, consent is unclear, content is wrong, or opt-outs are not processing.

2. Confirm the audience is appropriate

• Keep a documented source for each address and the purpose for which it may be used.
• Do not buy mailing lists or use pre-checked opt-in boxes. Yahoo specifically warns against both practices. [2]
• Separate active recipients from stale, bounced, suppressed, or opted-out records before launch.
• Make frequency and content expectations clear at signup, then keep the automation inside that promise.
• Maintain a suppression process that every sending workflow respects. An address that opted out must not be silently reintroduced by a later import or disconnected system.

3. Authenticate the sending domain

Authentication is foundational, but the exact requirement depends on sending volume and destination. Google requires all senders to personal Gmail accounts to use SPF or DKIM, valid forward and reverse DNS for sending domains or IPs, TLS in transit, properly formatted messages, and low reported spam rates. For senders above its stated daily threshold, Google requires SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. [1]

Yahoo likewise requires SPF or DKIM for all senders and calls for both SPF and DKIM plus a valid DMARC policy for bulk senders. It also requires DMARC alignment for bulk traffic, meaning the visible From domain aligns with the authenticated SPF or DKIM domain. [2]

4. Validate infrastructure and message construction

• Confirm the sending host has valid forward and reverse DNS records. Both Google and Yahoo identify this as a sender requirement. [1][2]
• Use TLS for transmission to Gmail as required by Google. [1]
• Generate messages that follow the relevant Internet message format standards; Google cites RFC 5322, while Yahoo cites RFCs 5321 and 5322. [1][2]
• Use accurate From, To, Reply-To, domain, and routing information. The FTC prohibits false or misleading header information. [3]
• Write subject lines that accurately reflect message content rather than manufacturing urgency or disguising the purpose. [3]
• Run seed and rendering checks across representative mailboxes, but treat those checks as diagnostics—not proof that all future messages will reach an inbox.

5. Make identity and choices clear

Commercial messages need transparent sender information and a usable way to stop future marketing. The FTC guidance calls for accurate headers, non-deceptive subjects, clear identification when a message is an advertisement, a valid physical postal address, and a clear opt-out explanation. [3]

• Display the business identity consistently in the visible From name and message body.
• Include the approved physical postal address where required for the commercial message.
• Place a clear unsubscribe link where an ordinary recipient can recognize and use it.
• Offer a complete marketing opt-out even when a preference center also offers topic-specific choices.
• Do not make opting out depend on login, payment, or unnecessary personal information.

6. Support modern unsubscribe handling

For bulk senders, Google requires one-click unsubscribe for marketing and subscribed messages and a clearly visible unsubscribe link in the body; its guidance says unsubscribe requests should be honored within two days. Yahoo similarly requires a functioning list-unsubscribe header supporting one-click unsubscribe, a visible body link, and honoring unsubscribes within two days. [1][2]

The FTC states that an opt-out mechanism must be able to process requests for at least 30 days after sending, that requests must be honored within 10 business days, and that the recipient cannot be charged or forced through burdensome steps. [3] Use the strictest timeline that applies to the program, and have counsel assess legal requirements for the business and audience.

7. Test the complete automation before launch

• Happy path: a properly eligible recipient receives the expected message at the documented time.
• Suppression path: opted-out, bounced, and ineligible contacts receive nothing.
• One-click and body opt-out: both routes update the suppression state and prevent every later marketing step.
• Reply path: replies reach a monitored destination or receive an accurate, approved explanation.
• Data-change path: corrections to names, addresses, status, or consent are reflected before the next message.
• Failure path: authentication, delivery, or integration failures alert the owner and pause unsafe retries.
• Content path: headers, subject, sender identity, physical address, ad disclosure where applicable, and links render correctly.

8. Monitor after launch

Google and Yahoo both direct senders to keep spam complaint rates below 0.3 percent, but a threshold is not a target. A responsible program watches trends and investigates well before reaching a provider limit. [1][2]

• Review authentication results, complaint indicators, bounce patterns, opt-out completion, and unusual volume changes.
• Compare message frequency with the promise made to subscribers and stop unplanned cadence increases.
• Investigate sudden changes by audience source, campaign, domain, and sending stream.
• Keep marketing and transactional streams clearly governed so a problem in one does not justify ignoring controls in the other.
• Document incidents, decisions, remediation, and the person who approved restart.

9. Set a maintenance cadence

A practical launch decision

Ready: ownership is clear; recipient source and purpose are documented; SPF, DKIM, and applicable DMARC controls pass; identity and required disclosures are present; unsubscribe paths work; suppression is shared; tests pass; and monitoring plus a pause procedure are active.

Not ready: any team cannot explain why a person is receiving the message, authentication is incomplete, opt-outs do not propagate, sender identity is misleading, required information is missing, or nobody owns monitoring and shutdown.

Sources

1. [1] Google: Email sender guidelines
2. [2] Yahoo Sender Hub: Sender best practices
3. [3] Federal Trade Commission: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business