If you're a B2B marketer sending email campaigns, you know the pain: you hit "send," cross your fingers, and just hope your emails actually land in people’s inboxes—not the spam folder. But hoping doesn’t cut it. That’s where spam testing comes in. And if you’ve heard of Glockapps, you probably wondered if it’s actually worth it or just another shiny SaaS toy.
This walkthrough is for B2B marketers who want real answers—no fluff. We’ll go step-by-step through running a spam test using Glockapps, explain what actually matters, and call out what you can safely ignore.
Why bother with spam testing, anyway?
Let’s be honest: most marketers have no idea what percentage of their emails land in spam. ESPs like Mailchimp or HubSpot will tell you your emails were "delivered," but that just means they weren’t bounced. Your message could be in spam, promotions, or some black hole. And B2B filters are often even stricter than B2C.
Spam testing gives you a reality check. You see how your emails perform across real inboxes, spot problems before blasting a list, and avoid getting blacklisted. Glockapps is one of the most popular tools for this, mostly because it’s straightforward and doesn’t require you to be a technical wizard.
What you need before you start
Before you run a test, make sure you’ve got:
- A draft of the actual email you plan to send (subject, content, and all links in place).
- Access to your sending platform (ESP, SMTP, or whatever you use to send).
- A Glockapps account (free trials exist, but paid gets you more test results).
- Your sending domain’s authentication set up: SPF, DKIM, and ideally DMARC. If you don’t know what those are, it’s worth a Google—email deliverability is nearly impossible to fix without them.
Step 1: Set up your Glockapps test
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Log in to Glockapps.
The dashboard is cluttered, but don’t get distracted by all the widgets. You want "Inbox Insight" or "Spam Testing." Click that. -
Create a new test.
Glockapps will spit out a list of weird-looking email addresses—these are seed addresses at Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and a bunch of other providers. -
Copy those test addresses.
They’re unique to your test. Don’t reuse them for every campaign; Glockapps rotates these for accuracy.
Pro Tip:
If you’re testing B2B deliverability, know that Glockapps’ seed list is mostly consumer inboxes (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook), with a smattering of lesser-known business domains. It’s not perfect. For true B2B results, consider adding a few of your own test inboxes at customer-like domains.
Step 2: Send your test email
- Paste the Glockapps addresses into your ESP or sending platform as recipients.
- Don’t add anyone else. You want a clean test.
- Send the exact email you plan to use for your campaign.
- Don’t change the subject, content, or links.
- Don’t send a “test send” from your ESP’s preview mode—send it as a real campaign, even if just to these weird addresses.
What can go wrong here?
- Some ESPs (like HubSpot or Marketo) may complain about weird-looking test addresses or throttle your send. If so, try smaller batches or use your SMTP provider directly.
- If you use personalizations (like “Hi {{first_name}}”), Glockapps addresses won’t have names. Use fallback values, or just send without personalization.
Step 3: Wait and review results
- Give it 2–10 minutes. Glockapps takes a little while to process which test inboxes got your email and where it landed.
- Refresh your test report. You’ll see a dashboard showing inbox, spam, or missing for each seed address and provider.
What are you actually looking for?
- Inbox vs. Spam: Glockapps shows you how many providers delivered your message to the inbox, promotions tab, or spam folder.
- Missing: If an address is “missing,” it means the test inbox never got your email. Could be throttling, blocklisting, or just a fluke.
- Authentication: Glockapps checks SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. If it says "fail" for any of these, fix it before sending your real campaign.
Don’t obsess over 100% inbox rates.
Even the best senders see some spam or missing results. Look for trends:
- All Gmail addresses in spam? You have a real problem.
- One Yahoo address missing? Ignore it and move on.
Step 4: Dig into the spam report
Glockapps gives you a lot of info. Here’s what matters, and what’s noise:
What to pay attention to
- Major provider results: If Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo put you in spam, that’s a red flag.
- Spam Assassin and Barracuda scores: These are old-school, but can show if your content is triggering filters.
- Authentication failures: SPF, DKIM, or DMARC fails will tank your deliverability.
- Blacklists: If your sending IP/domain is on a blacklist, fix it ASAP.
What to mostly ignore
- Minor provider results: Some obscure Russian or Polish mailbox you’ve never heard of? Don’t sweat it.
- "Content analysis" nitpicks: Glockapps will flag things like “contains HTML comments” or “missing meta tag.” Unless you see a pattern, these are rarely the cause of spam placement.
- Single missing/inconsistent results: One-off misses happen all the time.
Step 5: Troubleshoot and fix actual problems
Here’s what to do—without making yourself crazy:
If you’re landing in spam for a major provider:
- Check your authentication. This is non-negotiable. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC must pass.
- Review your sending reputation. Are you using a new domain? Did you warm up your IP? If not, start slow with smaller sends.
- Look at your content. Avoid “salesy” phrases, too many links, or sketchy attachments. But don’t obsess—content is rarely the main reason for B2B spam issues.
- Check blacklists. Glockapps links out to blacklist checkers. If you’re listed, follow their removal process.
If you’re missing for all addresses at one provider:
- Provider-specific block: Some filters just don’t like your sender, or you’re on a deny list.
- Try sending from a different domain or subdomain as a test.
- Contact the provider only if you’re consistently blocked (good luck—most never reply).
If everything looks fine but you’re still worried:
- Test again, maybe with slightly different content.
- Don’t chase perfection. If most major inboxes are good, you’re probably fine.
What not to do
- Don’t change everything at once. Tweak one thing (subject, sender, content) and retest.
- Don’t get tunnel vision on content “spam words.” They matter less than authentication and sender reputation.
- Don’t waste hours on obscure warnings unless you see a real pattern.
Pro tips for B2B marketers
- Use your own seed inboxes. If you’re targeting, say, law firms, spin up a Gmail on a law firm-style domain and add it to your tests.
- Test from a “cold start.” If you’re using a new sending domain, don’t blast your whole list—start with small, segmented sends and test every few days.
- Monitor over time. One test is a snapshot. Trends matter more than any single result.
- Don’t ignore technical setup. SPF, DKIM, DMARC, reverse DNS—boring, but crucial. If you’re not sure, ask your IT or domain host.
Keep it simple, and keep moving
Spam testing with Glockapps is useful, but it’s not magic. Use it to catch obvious problems, fix what actually matters, and avoid obsessing over the noise. The goal isn’t “perfect” deliverability—it’s getting your real emails in front of the right people, as often as possible. Test, tweak, and send. Then get back to work.