Best practices for avoiding spam filters when using Scaledmail for outreach

If you’re using email outreach tools like Scaledmail, you know the thrill of hitting “send” on a fresh campaign—and the agony of realizing most of it ended up in spam. This guide is for anyone who’s tired of guessing what works, wants to avoid hand-wavy “growth hacks,” and actually needs their messages to land in real inboxes.

Here’s how to keep your emails out of spam, for real.

1. Use a Domain You’re Willing to Warm Up (and Maybe Burn)

Don’t use your main company domain for cold outreach. Ever. If you get flagged as spam, your regular emails could get hurt too.

  • Buy a similar domain, like get[company].com or [company]mail.com.
  • Set up proper email authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Your domain provider has guides for this—do it once, do it right.
  • Warm up your domain: Start slow. Send a few emails a day, reply to yourself, ask friends to reply, and gradually ramp up. There are services that automate this, but manual works too.

Pro tip: If you’re starting from scratch, give your new domain at least 2-4 weeks of slow, real email use before blasting out campaigns.

2. Don’t Get Cute With Sending Volume

Spam filters love patterns. If you go from zero to hundreds of emails overnight, you’ll get flagged.

  • Start at a crawl: 10-20 emails/day, then add 5-10 more each day.
  • Randomize sending times: Don’t fire off all your emails at 8:00am.
  • Limit total daily volume: Under 100-150/day per mailbox is a good ceiling for most new domains.

Ignore anyone promising “unlimited” sending. That’s asking for trouble.

3. Write Like a Human, Not a Marketer

Spam filters (and people) can spot robotic, salesy emails a mile away.

  • Avoid spammy words: “Free,” “guaranteed,” “winner,” “act now.” You know the drill.
  • Ditch ALL CAPS and excessive punctuation!!!
  • Keep it personal: Use the person’s real name, reference something relevant. Don’t just swap {first_name} and call it a day.
  • Short and sweet wins: 3-5 sentences tops. No walls of text, no fancy HTML. Plain text feels real.

What to ignore: Overly-designed templates or “proven” cold email copy from 2017. Everyone’s seen them. They don’t work.

4. Test Your Emails—For Real

Don’t just guess if your template will land in spam. Test it.

  • Send to Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo addresses you own. Check the spam folder.
  • Use online spam checkers, but don’t trust them blindly. They can catch obvious stuff, not the subtle triggers.
  • Check for broken links and typos. Those can trip filters too.

If it lands in spam for you, it’ll land in spam for your prospects. Fix and retest.

5. Mind Your Links and Attachments

Spam filters hate weird links and unexpected files.

  • Keep links to a minimum: 1-2 per email, tops.
  • Use full URLs (not shortened ones like bit.ly) so recipients can see where they’re going.
  • Don’t attach files to cold emails. Use a Google Drive or Dropbox link if you have to share something.
  • Link domains should match: If your sending domain is getacme.com and your links go to acmeoffers.biz, that’s a red flag.

Pro tip: Don’t use tracking pixels if you don’t need them. Some filters flag these as suspicious.

6. Respect Unsubscribes (Yes, Even in Cold Outreach)

Even if you’re not technically sending “marketing” emails, give people a way out.

  • Include a simple opt-out line: “If you’d rather not hear from me, just reply with ‘unsubscribe’ and I won’t email again.”
  • Actually honor opt-outs. Don’t get lazy here—nothing kills deliverability like spam complaints.

What doesn’t work: Hiding or making it hard to unsubscribe. That just leads to “Mark as Spam” clicks.

7. Keep Your Lists Clean

It’s tempting to blast a scraped list of every “CEO” on LinkedIn. Don’t do it.

  • Verify emails before sending: Use a tool to weed out invalid or catch-all addresses.
  • Don’t buy lists. Ever. They’re full of traps and spam seeds.
  • Regularly clean up bounces and unengaged addresses.

High bounce rates and low engagement are big spam signals.

8. Monitor Your Sender Reputation

Even if you do everything “right,” things can go sideways. Keep tabs on your domain and IP reputation.

  • Google Postmaster Tools: Free and gives you good data if you’re sending from Gmail/Google Workspace.
  • Check blacklists: Tools like MXToolbox or MultiRBL let you see if you’re listed anywhere nasty.
  • Watch your open and reply rates: Sudden drops often mean deliverability problems.

If you’re flagged, pause campaigns and troubleshoot—don’t just blast more emails.

9. Don’t Overthink the Tech (But Get the Basics Right)

You don’t need a dozen fancy deliverability tools. You do need:

  • Proper DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC): Set them up once, double-check with a DNS lookup tool.
  • Consistent “From” names and addresses: Don’t switch these up every campaign.
  • Use Scaledmail features wisely: The tool can help with scheduling and personalization, but it’s not a magic wand.

Ignore the hype about “AI-powered deliverability boosters.” If it sounds too good to be true, it is.

10. Stay Out of the “Gray Areas”

Some folks will tell you to use tricks—fake replies, misleading subject lines, or “warming up” with fake engagement. Here’s the truth:

  • Fake reply chains (“Re: Our call last week”) might work once, but it’s risky and can backfire.
  • Never misrepresent yourself or your intent. It’s not just bad form—it hurts your reputation in the long run.
  • Don’t use bots to “open” your own emails. Filters are catching on.

You’re better off sending fewer, better emails than trying to game the system.

Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Panic

Getting into the inbox isn’t rocket science, but it’s not magic either. Stick to the basics: warm up your domain, write like a real person, don’t blast huge lists, and keep your tech clean. If something’s not working, tweak and try again. Most “hacks” are just trouble waiting to happen.

Want better results? Keep it honest, play the long game, and focus on real conversations—not just “deliverability.” That’s what actually works.