How to test email deliverability: Best tools to use in 2023

Marketers and sales reps are in a constant struggle to maximize email deliverability. The latest estimates place the average deliverability rate at just 81%. That essentially means 19% of your emails disappear in thin air. 

Achieving high deliverability rates involves multiple factors. You have to hit the right spot with your volume per mailbox, correctly configure domains and mailboxes, and navigate the technical settings of your email infrastructure.

But before you throw in the towel, read our guide on email deliverability testing to tackle these challenges head-on.

How to test email deliverability (using Folderly)

Folderly is designed by Belkins as a complex, full-scale platform to test email deliverability and beyond with a suite of tools, like Folderly Core, Folderly Inbox Insights, free SPF Generator, and Spam Words Checker.

The platform follows a full-cycle approach — from setting up your email domain to delivering actionable advice on the best practices for email outreach. When you sign up for a Folderly Premium account, you’re mapped to a designated customer success manager for a white-glove onboarding process.

Now that you know the added advantage of using Folderly, let’s walk you through this five-step process on how to test email deliverability using Folderly:

Step 1: Add email address and select your provider

Once you sign up and get access to a Folderly Premium account, go to the Add email button in the top-right corner of your screen.

Then select your email provider from the list of given options or add a custom option. 

Step 2: Log in with email credentials and complete authentication

After selecting the right provider, log in to your mailbox by entering your username and password. Complete the authentication process if you’ve activated that for your email.

Step 3: Create a new test by clicking on the New test button

Once your email is set up, click the New test button to create a new email campaign.

Step 4: Select the email template and start the test campaign

Then select the right template from your saved templates and click Start Test to launch your email deliverability test.

Step 5: View test performance by pressing the Open test button 

When the test is complete and your scores are in, click on Open test to see the results. This will lead you to a dashboard with various metrics highlighting your email performance.

How to interpret your test results

So, you’ve completed the first round of your email deliverability testing process. When you open the test results, you can see a bunch of numbers splashed across your screen.

You’re wondering: What do these numbers say about your email campaigns? Does this data indicate something good or flag something bad?

Here’s a breakdown of the analytics you’ll find on your Folderly test dashboard:

• Sender score: indicates the overall health score of your mailbox
• Domain and mailbox analysis: indicates the health of your email infrastructure (SPF, DMARC, DKIM, and BIMI)

   

• Email and inbox placement: indicates where your emails land in your recipients’ inboxes

• Blacklists check: indicates blacklists, including your sender IP

So, everything seems simple. But for many people in sales, going through this process means jumping through hoops and wasting time they could have spent on closing a deal. Trust Belkins instead. Email deliverability consultants equipped with Folderly accompany each of our clients’ projects to achieve maximum results for your outreach.

Alternative tools to test email deliverability

It’s possible that Folderly might not meet your exact needs or fit your budget. We reviewed other email deliverability tools to choose the three best options you can consider. Let’s break them down.

1. Lemlist 

G2 rating: 4.1 out of 5 stars (124 reviews)

Pricing: Email warm-up at $29/month, Email outreach at $59/month, Sales engagement at $99/month

Lemlist is an outreach platform built to maximize email deliverability and response rates for sales teams. The tool allows you to handle multiple aspects of an outreach campaign, most significantly, the email warmup process.

Lemlist helps you stay out of the spam folder, increase email deliverability rates, and monitor your reputation at all times. Users like its fast, intuitive interface that makes email outreach a breeze. 

Key features:

• Offers round-the-clock support to tackle any queries or problems right away
• Helps in automating your email workflows for multi-channel campaigns and testing everything end-to-end
• Shares actionable tips to improve your performance and increase audience engagement

2. Litmus

G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (331 reviews)

Pricing: Custom

Litmus is an email service provider with multifaceted capabilities, including email deliverability testing. The tool can help you optimize the testing process and make it 50% more efficient. You can use it as an end-to-end email service provider.

You’ll get comprehensive audit reports for every pre-send QA test. This report will include suggestions to improve content and design aspects for better accessibility. Its Spam Testing feature also maximizes your chance of landing in the primary inbox.

Key features:

• Gives you several renderings of a single email to create adaptive designs for each screen
• Offers data-backed email campaign planning to ensure you achieve the best returns
• Reviews email performance against advanced metrics like accessibility, loading speed, image blocking, and previews

3. Everest 

G2 rating: 4.2 out of 5 stars (181 reviews)

Pricing: Custom

Everest is an email success platform designed to deliver real-time insights and analytics for your email deliverability performance. The fully-integrated tool gives you complete visibility into metrics like sender reputation while helping you personalize content, create responsive designs, and access exclusive audience data. 

The tool also offers competitive intelligence to keep you ahead of competitors and engage your audience effectively. You can also track inbox placement for your emails, among several other metrics. 

Key features:

• Helps in improving conversion rates through in-depth engagement analytics
• Presents reputation monitoring data to handle any red flags proactively 
• Validates your email list, and the team offers actionable guidance 

Get the best out of email outreach with a deliverability testing tool

Email outreach is no cakewalk. From emails getting lost in spam to struggling with content optimization, you never know what challenge you might run into in your next campaign.

Thankfully, you can bookmark this guide on email deliverability testing to create a healthy and strong email infrastructure for the future. With a powerful solution like Folderly, you’re all set to troubleshoot issues and optimize your strategy to earn better returns.

Looking for sales expertise to make your email outreach work? You’ve hit the jackpot. Connect with the Belkins team to learn more about how we can boost your bottom line.