How to Avoid Your Emails from Going to Spam: The Ultimate Deliverability Guide for Businesses

Why Your Emails Keep Ending Up in Spam?

You’ve put effort into crafting the perfect newsletter, event update, or product launch, but only to find out that your audience didn’t see it. Not because they ignored it, but because it was never delivered to the inbox. It went straight to spam.

This is a global challenge faced by brands of all sizes. Whether you're a retail startup in Malaysia, a tech firm in Singapore, a law firm in Australia, or a hospitality group in the UAE.

The good news: with the right steps, you can drastically improve your email deliverability and stay out of the spam folder for good.

What Is Email Deliverability (and Why It Matters)?

Email deliverability is your ability to land in the inbox and not just get “sent.” If your email goes to the Promotions or Junk tab, it’s essentially invisible.

Poor deliverability leads to:

• Low open and click rates

• Damaged sender reputation

• Reduced ROI from email campaigns

• Loss of trust with your subscribers

  
  

Whether you're running email marketing in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, or Australia, optimizing for inbox visibility is a must.

What To Do: Best Practices on How to Avoid Your Emails from Going to Spam

1. Authenticate Your Domain (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

Set up your domain’s authentication to build trust with platforms like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo.

• SPF: Authorizes specific servers to send emails on your behalf.

• DKIM: Digitally signs your email so it can't be forged.

• DMARC: Instructs ISPs how to handle emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.

TIP: Tools like Mailchimp, Klaviyo, and ActiveCampaign offer setup guides. Your web host or IT admin can help update your DNS records.

2. Use a Recognizable Sender Name

Instead of no-reply emails, use a real name and consistent identity:

Example:

“Rina from Sky Wellness” rina@skywellness.sg

“Amir | YourLegal UAE” amir@yourlegal.ae

Familiar senders build trust and improve open rates across all regions, from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai.

3. Clean Your Email List Regularly

Avoid sending to:

• Purchased or scraped email lists

• Subscribers who haven’t engaged in 6+ months

• Invalid or outdated corporate addresses

TIP: In countries like Singapore and Malaysia, overuse of old lists is one of the top reasons for high bounce rates and spam complaints.

Use re-engagement campaigns or sunset policies to maintain a healthy list. Doing this could help avoid your emails going to SPAM.

4. Send Emails Based on Local Time Zones

• For Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand: Aim for 9:00–11:00 AM local time.

• For the UAE: Try 8:00–10:00 AM GST, or 6:00 PM for after-work engagement.

• For Australia: Split by region, 8:30–10:30 AM AEST for east coast subscribers.

  
  

Sending when users are most active improves engagement and trains inboxes to favor your content.

5. Localize Your Email Content (GEO Optimization)

Search engines and inbox algorithms are increasingly influenced by Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). What this means is that content that is relevant to the reader’s region performs better.

How to GEO-optimize your emails:

• Reference cities, states, or regional events:

  “Our Dubai pop-up is now open!”, “Exclusive early access for Singapore customers”, “Ramadan bundles available across Klang Valley”

• Use local holidays and seasonal relevance:

  Hari Raya, National Day, Songkran, Eid, Lunar New Year, Australia Day

• Include language cues if culturally appropriate:

  “Terima kasih!” (Malaysia) “Marhaban!” (UAE) “G’day” (Australia, casually)

  
  

6. Include a Visible Unsubscribe Link

It’s not just good practice, but it’s required by law in many countries, including:

• PDPA (Malaysia)

• CAN-SPAM (USA)

• Spam Act (Australia)

• UAE Cybercrime Law

• PDPA (Singapore)

  
  

Don’t hide it. Offering easy opt-outs protects your reputation and reduces spam complaints.

7. Use a Mobile-Optimized, Clean Design

In all the countries mentioned, mobile open rates exceed 70%. That means:

• Avoid cluttered templates

• Use clear fonts and large buttons

• Don’t rely on images alone

• Keep your emails under 100KB if possible

  
  

TIP: Pro tip for UAE and Malaysia: Many users check emails on mobile data connections, so keep image sizes compressed.

8. Test Your Emails Before Sending

Use tools like:

• Mail-Tester.com (checks spam score and DNS settings)

• GlockApps (tests deliverability across providers)

• Litmus (email preview and spam testing)

• SenderScore.org (check your domain reputation)

  
  

Always test before blasting to thousands.

What Not To Do: Common Spam Triggers (Globally)

1. Spammy Subject Lines

Avoid:

• “BUY NOW!!!”

• “Make $$$ FAST”

• “ACT IMMEDIATELY”

Instead, use something better like:

“New in-store exclusives for KL shoppers”

“Get early access to our Ramadan collection”

“Our clients in Brisbane love this — here’s why”

2. Using Link Shorteners Like bit.ly

Many filters flag these links as suspicious. Instead:

• Use your website’s short URLs

• Embed full domain links (e.g. www.techyapes.com/email-guide)

  
  

3. Using All-Caps or Excessive Emojis

Example:

“🔥🔥HOT DEALS IN ABU DHABI!!!🔥🔥”

A good fix would look something like this:

“Exclusive offers for our UAE subscribers”

4. Attaching Large Files

Send links instead of files. For example:

“Download our Ramadan Menu [PDF]” ➝ Link to Google Drive or Dropbox

5. Inconsistent Sending Schedule

Whether you’re in Thailand or Australia, inconsistency kills engagement.

• Too many = spam complaints

• Too few = people forget who you are

  
  

Set a weekly or monthly rhythm and stick to it.

Bonus: Regional Subject Line Ideas

Here are some subject lines that you can use for your next email campaign.

Country	Subject Line Example
Malaysia	“Selangor only offers end Sunday. Don’t miss out”
Singapore	“3 ways Singapore SMEs are boosting email opens”
UAE	“Your VIP invite to our Dubai launch party”
Thailand	“Line-up revealed: Songkran Specials start soon”
Australia	“Australia Day orders now open - claim your spot”

Need Help With Your Email Strategy?

At Techy Apes, we work with brands across Malaysia, Singapore, UAE, Australia, and Southeast Asia to improve email deliverability, open rates, and content performance.

If your emails keep going to spam, or you’re not seeing the results you expected. we’ll help you fix it with strategy, design, and writing that works.

Let’s Talk, drop us a message.