Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to drive conversions and build brand loyalty. However, if your Mailchimp open rates are stalling or your monthly bill is climbing, your strategy might be held back by technical debt or disorganized data. A comprehensive Mailchimp Audit can uncovers issues with account configuration and marketing strategy, plus solutions to maximize your email marketing success.
What is a Mailchimp Audit?
A Mailchimp audit is a holistic, in-depth review of your entire account, ranging from high-level campaign strategy to granular technical configurations. Rather than just looking at your latest open rate, an audit examines how your audience is structured, how your emails are being delivered, and whether your designs are truly optimized for today’s mobile-first readers. This makes it a great fit for nonprofits and higher education institutions looking to improve their email marketing results.
Think of it as a wellness check for your email marketing ecosystem. We identify the “red flags” that might be sending your emails to spam and uncover hidden opportunities to save money and boost engagement.
What’s Included in a Pure Firefly Mailchimp Audit?
Our team takes a multi-layered approach to ensure every corner of your account is performing at its peak. Every audit includes:
1. Deliverability & Technical Security
We verify that your domain is fully authenticated and check your DMARC policies to protect your sender reputation. We also run your campaigns through spam checkers to test against common B2B and B2C filters, ensuring your messages actually reach the inbox.
2. Audience Organization & Hygiene
A messy list leads to high costs and low engagement. We analyze your use of Mailchimp tags, groups, and segments to streamline how you target your subscribers. Our team provides recommendations for list consolidation and contact management to lower your Mailchimp bill and improve sender reputation. Each audit report also includes a 45-minute training call covering segmentation, design, and marketing best practices.
3. Design & Accessibility Review
We review your templates for design best practices like mobile responsiveness, skimmability, and clear calls to action (CTAs). We also check for accessibility standards, such as alt text for images and high-contrast color palettes, to ensure your message is readable for all subscribers.
4. Legal Compliance
Email regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR are non-negotiable. We ensure your footers, signup forms, and opt-in processes are fully compliant to avoid account blocks or legal issues.
5. Automation Strategy
Are you missing out on “evergreen” engagement? We review your current Mailchimp automations and identify opportunities for automated welcome series, re-engagement campaigns, or date-triggered messages that keep your brand top-of-mind without manual effort.
Who is a Good Candidate for a Mailchimp Audit?
Not sure if you need a professional review? You are an ideal candidate for a Mailchimp audit if:
You’ve noticed a sudden drop in engagement: If your open rates have recently tanked, it may be due to new spam guidelines from major providers like Gmail and Yahoo.
Your monthly bill is higher than expected: Many accounts pay for “ghost” contacts—unsubscribed or disengaged users who are still being counted toward your billing tier.
Your list has grown organically for years without a cleanup: Older lists often contain “spam traps” or invalid addresses that can damage your deliverability.
You are rebranding or launching new services: An audit ensures your account structure can support your new goals and that your design reflects your updated brand.
You feel overwhelmed with your account: If you’re not sure how to effectively categorize your subscribers or move forward with an old account, an expert review can provide the roadmap you need.
Start Optimizing with Pure Firefly
Don’t let technical hurdles or outdated lists stand in the way of your marketing goals. A Mailchimp audit provides the clarity and actionable steps needed to turn your email list back into a high-performing asset. If you’re ready to level up, contact Pure Firefly today to schedule a free intro call. We’ll get your Mailchimp account in good shape.
The Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) is one of the strictest email marketing laws globally, and remaining compliant is a non-negotiable step for any company targeting Canadian subscribers. For U.S.-based email marketing agencies, navigating these rules can be complex. At Pure Firefly, we routinely help Canadian companies improve deliverability and stay compliant with CASL regulations while scaling their email program.
Understanding CASL: The Core Requirements
CASL compliance hinges on three main pillars: Consent, Identification, and Unsubscribe mechanisms. Ignoring these not only risks legal penalties but severely impacts your email deliverability.
CASL Consent: Express vs. Implied
CASL requires express consent for sending commercial electronic messages (CEMs). We assist with ensuring your Mailchimp forms and segmentation reflect these requirements, differentiating between implied consent (e.g., a recent customer) and the mandatory express consent needed for ongoing promotional communications.
Every email must clearly identify the sender and provide contact information. This includes a valid mailing address. Pure Firefly can audit your Mailchimp footers and merge tags to ensure every campaign meets this legal requirement.
Managing Unsubscribes
CASL mandates a functional unsubscribe mechanism that is clear, free, and processed within 10 business days. Mailchimp’s built-in unsubscribe functionality can typically serve this purpose, but you may run into compliance issues if automations are not configured appropriately.
A Mailchimp expert can help you set up robust automation and segmentation practices that satisfy CASL while optimizing your campaigns for results.
Ready to secure your deliverability and attract more leads from Vancouver to Montreal?
Recent Gmail updates are changing how emails appear, are sorted, and ultimately whether they are seen at all. For anyone relying on email marketing, these changes make one thing clear: deliverability relies on relevance, engagement, and trust.
Let’s break down what’s changing and how marketers can adapt their strategy to stay visible in the inbox.
How Gmail Updates Affect Email Marketing
Gmail continuously refines how it organizes the inbox to improve user experience. This year, Gmail is increasingly prioritizing content that subscribers actually engage with, instead of showing emails in the order they were sent.
This means email marketers must focus less on volume and more on value. Sending fewer, more relevant emails can now outperform frequent blasts that don’t get opened or clicked.
One of the biggest impacts of recent Gmail updates is how engagement signals influence deliverability. Opens, clicks, replies, and consistent interaction help Gmail decide whether your emails make it to the inbox, and how they are sorted once they arrive.
To adapt, email marketers should prioritize:
Sending content aligned with subscriber interests
Removing inactive subscribers regularly
Writing clear subject lines that set expectations
Designing emails that are easy to read on mobile
If you’re unsure how engaged your list really is, our guide to list health and engagement on thePure Firefly blog is a great place to start.
Promotional and Transactional Emails Are Treated Differently
Gmail is also becoming stricter about how emails are categorized. Promotional messages are evaluated based on relevance and interaction, while transactional emails are expected to stay focused on their core purpose.
Mixing marketing content into confirmations or receipts can hurt placement and reduce trust. Keep all messages clear and intentional to support long-term deliverability.
Need help structuring campaigns correctly? Contact Pure Firefly’s email experts for a close look at your email strategy.
List Hygiene Matters More Than Ever
Gmail has made it easier for users to review and manage subscriptions. As a result, brands that continue emailing disengaged contacts risk higher unsubscribe rates and weaker performance.
A healthy list supports better email marketing results and protects your sender reputation. Regular cleanup isn’t optional anymore—it’s essential. Consider using a list cleaner like Zerobounce and monitor your email bounces closely.
Pure Firefly can Help You Prepare for the Future of the Inbox
These Gmail updates reflect a broader trend: inboxes are getting smarter, and generic email strategies are getting filtered out. Brands that succeed must respect subscriber preferences and focus on meaningful communication.
If your team needs help adjusting your strategy, improving deliverability, or navigating changes in email marketing, we’re here to help. Our team has 10+ years of experience in marketing, spanning platforms like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, Hubspot and more.
Contact us to get expert support and ensure your emails are ready for the modern inbox.
At some point in their email marketing experience, many organizations will run into deliverability challenges. If you’re seeing a steep drop in engagement or find your campaigns in the spam folder, you may be experiencing low deliverability. In this article, we’ll cover basic deliverability troubleshooting for email marketers.
What is Deliverability?
In layman’s terms, deliverability describes the likelihood your emails will end up in spam.
Emails with high deliverability are likely to make it to the inbox, while emails with low deliverability (or deliverability issues) are likely to get flagged as spam. Deliverability is influenced by several factors, which can make it challenging to identify a singular reason emails start going to spam.
However, there are a few common culprits an email marketer can look for in their domains, account setup, audience, and campaign creation practices.
Why Emails Go to Spam
There are a few common reasons emails end up in spam, including:
Lack of domain authentication
Misconfigured DMARC, SPF, or DKIM Records
Blacklisted domain
Invalid addresses or spamtraps in the audience
Spam reports from recipients
Irregular send frequency
Spammy email content
Large file sizes in emails
In the following sections, we’ll cover reasons why emails commonly end up in spam, as well as a few other tips & tricks to address deliverability.
Authenticate Domain Through Your ESP
Most ESPs (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, etc.) provide a tool to authenticate your domain. Authenticating your domain means adding a handful of records to your DNS in order to prove that you have ownership of the domain and are legitimately sending email through the ESP.
Authenticate your domain in Mailchimp: Log into both Mailchimp and your domain host (Google Domains, Bluehost, GoDaddy, etc.). In Mailchimp, click on your profile picture, choose “Account & Billing,” then choose “Domains.” Mailchimp provides step-by-step instructions on how to add the appropriate records to your DNS.
Authenticate your domain in Klaviyo:Log into both Klaviyo and your domain host (Google Domains, Bluehost, GoDaddy, etc.). In Klaviyo, click on your company name on the lower right corner of the page, then choose “Settings.” Go to the “Email” tab and click “Sending Domains.” Input your sending domain, and Klaviyo will provide prompts to walk you through the process.
Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
Even if you’ve authenticated your domain through an ESP, you may still run into domain configuration issues. The key DNS records for email deliverability are:
SPF: Lists the IP addresses permitted to send emails using your domain.
DKIM: Verifies emails as legitimate using encrypted hash codes. Emails received are checked against what was originally sent to rule out tampering. Here’s how it works.
DMARC: Builds on SPF & DKIM to define how email receivers should respond to non-compliant mail. Learn more on DMARC.org.
How do you know if there’s an issue with your SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records? We recommend a tool like MXToolbox or Dmarcly. Google and Yahoo launched new sender requirements in 2024, so it may be worth double-checking if you haven’t recently.
If there are severe problems with your DNS record configuration, a generalized email marketing expert may be unable to resolve them. Consider working with a DNS specialist who can analyze and correct your records.
Check the Blacklists
Some emails land in spam because the sending domain has been blacklisted. This means the sender’s IP address or domain has been added to a list of known spammers. While being blacklisted can be frustrating, it doesn’t have to spell the end for your email marketing program.
To remove your email from a blacklist, you’ll have to take the following steps:
Use a blacklist checker to identify which list you’ve been added to
Notify the blacklist database and receive their report
Once you’ve crossed domain & blacklist issues off of your checklist, take a close look at your audience list. Where are most of your subscribers signing up? When you look through your contacts, do you see suspicious emails? Keep an eye out for the following red flags:
Contacts with gibberish first and/or last names
Sudden influxes in subscribers from one source
Contacts with invalid domains
Foreign email addresses from markets you do not serve
If you see some odd-looking contacts in your list or have a large audience segment that hasn’t opened any emails in 3+ months, consider using a list cleaner. We like Zerobounce, but many list cleaners are available at various price points.
Once you sign up for a list cleaner, you can take the following steps to check your list hygiene:
Export contacts from your ESP
Import them into the cleaner
Wait for processing
Download your contacts sorted by validity and activity
List cleaners vary, but generally, the contacts to avoid will be marked as invalid, spamtrap, or do-not-mail.
Managing and Avoiding Spam Reports
How you grow your list can matter just as much as what kind of contacts are on it. Make sure all subscribers have actively opted in for your emails. Always include an unsubscribe link in your email footer.
You never want contacts to be surprised they’re getting your emails. When contacts receive emails they did not sign up for, they’re more likely to report you as spam. Over time, spam reports can tank your email deliverability.
Additionally, avoid sending more than 3-4 emails a week and be mindful of aggressive sales tactics like all-caps, repeated exclamation points, and deceptive deals. Sometimes, even unappealing graphic design is enough to get you reported by particularly trigger-happy subscribers.
Send Frequency & Sudden Changes
Can sending too many emails get you sent to spam? Yes. How many is too many? It varies.
As frustrating as that can be, senders may find solace in the fact that deliverability changes are more often caused by a sudden change in send frequency, rather than a specific volume of emails sent. For example, if you leave your email marketing program on pause for 2 years, and then immediately start sending 3 emails a day to 5000 people, your deliverability will likely take a blow.
When it comes to send frequency, try to make gradual, strategic changes. Use segmentation & automation to send emails to the right people at the right times. Remember: When it comes to email, more is not always better!
Optimizing File Size for Email Deliverability
Emails with a very large combined file size are likely to be flagged as spam. When adding images to an email, make sure they are below 500kb each. Check out our guide to email image sizes for more info.
Here are some tools our team at Pure Firefly uses to compress and optimize images:
Senders should also be wary of large attachments. When sending a free download or .PDF, make sure the file size is below 5MB.
Other Tips and Tricks
If you’ve taken the steps above and still aren’t seeing the results you were looking for, there are a few steps you can take to make a small (but positive) impact on your sender reputation.
Personalize your “To” field: By including a contact’s first name, you indicate a more complete (and thus, more legitimate) record of your audience.
Use live text: Never send an email with only images. This can be hard for people to read and may get you caught in spam filters.
Reply to your emails: When contacts reply to your emails, they indicate an interest in your content. This active engagement can help you stay out of spam.
Add to address book: If subscribers add you to their saved contacts or address book, they are less likely to miss your emails.
Never embed videos: Most ESPs won’t even let you do this, because videos don’t usually render in the inbox. Resist the temptation to install any plugins that allow you to embed video – They are likely to damage your sender reputation.
BONUS: What about Machine Clicks?
Seeing contacts click every single link in your email? They may be extremely engaged, or they may be machine clicks. Some spam filters & inbox providers use automated clicks to check suspicious emails. This can even lead to accidental unsubscribes if the machine clicks on the unsubscribe link in your footer.
How do you spot machine clicks? Look for contacts that have clicked on every single link in an email in a very short time. Some ESPs (like Klaviyo) can show you on a click report if the engagement came from a bot or a human. You can also keep an eye out for trends in machine clicks coming from a particular domain.
If you do see machine clicks on several emails, it’s time for an email deliverability review. Unfortunately, there’s no way to 100% prevent automated clicks on your messages, but keeping a strong sender reputation can help limit them.
Escape Spam with Pure Firefly
Pure Firefly is a full-service email marketing agency. Our team has a combined 10+ years of experience, and we pride ourselves on providing cost-effective email solutions for small businesses, nonprofits, and schools. For help with deliverability, contact us any time!
As an email marketer, following Yahoo & Google’s new sender requirements is the first step to getting emails into the inbox and engaging with your subscribers. When Yahoo and Google rolled out their new protocol on Feb 1st, the entire email marketing universe rushed to become compliant. The two webmail providers collectively cater to 2 billion users, an audience that no marketer can ignore.
Why have Google and Yahoo launched these new requirements?
The goal is to protect consumers’ inboxes from spam, unwanted, and phishing emails and make permission marketing the norm. Along with the benefit to users, these requirements prevent spammers from impersonating your brand and damaging your reputation.
Who gets affected by Yahoo & Google’s new sender requirements?
The new policy is particularly meant for bulk senders (who send more than 5000 emails within 24 hours). If you’re a small sender or a sender who only sends transactional emails, you might not feel the impact yet.
But given the current move of making best practices into must-follow rules, experts predict that it’s only a matter of time before Google and Yahoo make these rules mandatory for all senders.
How do you become compliant with 2024 sender requirements?
Here are the top 5 things you should do immediately
Verify ownership of your domain: Whether you’re a business, a freelancer, or a solopreneur, you must own and create sender emails from your domain.
Don’t send from a free email address: If you’ve been using a generic email provided by webmail providers like Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook, it’s time to change. Use free email addresses for one-on-one communication, not bulk emails. Such emails (like example@gmail.com) hide the true identity of the sender, and ISPs reject bulk emails from these addresses for this reason.
Authenticate your emails: Email authentication is a way to reassure webmail providers that you are who you say you are. Not only does it prevent spam emails from entering the inbox, but it also prevents scammers from impersonating your brand. Most large email marketing platforms provide domain authentication to maximize deliverability.
Keep spam complaints below 0.3%: According to the new requirements, Gmail requires that spam complaints stay below 0.3% to land in the inbox. To monitor spam complaints, register your domain for Google Postmaster Tools. It also monitors your IP and domain reputation and helps you take steps when any of these plummet.
Make it easy for users to unsubscribe: The Unsubscribe button just moved to the top! You’ve likely been adding it to your footer. It will now also appear next to the From address at the top of your email. Yahoo and Google have mandated 1-click unsubscribes that are honored within 2 days.
And that’s about it, these are the top 5 steps to optimize your deliverability.
BONUS: Authentication for Google sender protocols
3 authentication protocols are essential for your brand: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
SPF: Short for ‘Sender Policy Framework’, an SPF record confirms to the ISP that the IP the email is coming from is allowed to send emails on your behalf. If your emails don’t have SPF set up, find out how to set up SPF records here
DKIM: Short for ‘DomainKeys Identified Mail’, a DKIM prevents your emails from being impersonated by spammers by attaching a private digital signature to each email going out. Email servers verify this signature and only allow the email into inboxes if there’s a match. For more information on DKIM, check out this helpful article by Google.
DMARC: Short for ‘Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance’, a DMARC record serves as a failsafe and informs the ISP of the steps to be taken if any authentication fails. So even with a valid DMARC record, if an SPF or DKIM fails, a DMARC would fail as well. This provides additional security for your emails. Set up your DMARC record with this help article.
Failing to complete all 3 authentication protocols can stop you from reaching your subscriber’s inbox directly. If you’re a Mailchimp user, a high number of cleaned addresses in your audience may be a sign you should review the protocols above to maintain your deliverability.
Go Beyond Compliance with Pure Firefly
If you have questions on any of Yahoo & Google’s new sender requirements, reach out to contactus@purefirefly.com for personalized support. We offer various deliverability services, including one-on-one training to keep you up-to-date on the latest best practices! Just contact us any time for a quote or intro call.
