Inbox Placement Checklist

What it does

A checklist you run before every campaign: domains and DNS records set correctly, mailboxes warmed up, sane volumes, clean copy and a placement test. If something fails, the campaign does not go out.

When to use it

• You are launching a new cold email campaign.
• Replies suddenly dropped and you suspect spam placement.
• You are adding new domains or mailboxes.

Steps

1. Send from secondary domains, never your main company domain.
2. Check SPF, DKIM and DMARC on every domain.
3. Warm up every mailbox before prospecting.
4. Set daily limits per mailbox and ramp slowly.
5. Review the copy: no links or images in the first email.
6. Run a placement test and watch bounces and complaints.

The skill

---
name: inbox-placement-checklist
description: Cold email deliverability checklist to run before every campaign (secondary domains, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, warm-up, per-mailbox limits, content, placement tests and monitoring). Use before launching a campaign or when emails are landing in spam.
---

# Inbox Placement Checklist

Run the whole list before every campaign. If an item fails, fix it before sending.

## 1. Domains
- [ ] Sending from secondary domains (lookalikes of the main one), never the company's main domain.
- [ ] Each secondary domain redirects to the main website.
- [ ] Domain is at least a few weeks old before prospecting.

## 2. DNS (per domain)
- [ ] SPF: a single record that includes the mail provider.
- [ ] DKIM: enabled and validated at the provider (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.).
- [ ] DMARC: published (at least `p=none` with reporting) and aligned with SPF/DKIM.
- [ ] Custom tracking domain if the tool tracks clicks; otherwise turn tracking off.

## 3. Mailboxes
- [ ] Real name and photo on every mailbox.
- [ ] Warm-up running for a couple of weeks before prospecting, and kept on during the campaign.
- [ ] A conservative daily limit per mailbox, ramped slowly. More volume = more mailboxes, not more emails per mailbox.

## 4. List
- [ ] Verified list (see the email verification skill). Valid only.
- [ ] No contacts who opted out.

## 5. Content
- [ ] First email in plain text: no images, no links, no attachments.
- [ ] No obvious spam words, no ALL CAPS, no punctuation pile-ups.
- [ ] Copy variations so emails are not all identical.
- [ ] An opt-out line or a clear way to say "not interested".

## 6. Test and monitor
- [ ] Placement test with a seed-test tool (GlockApps or another) before launch.
- [ ] Google Postmaster Tools set up on the domains.
- [ ] Watch bounces, complaints and replies daily. Google asks senders to keep spam complaint rates below 0.3%.
- [ ] If bounces or complaints rise: pause, review list and content, resume at lower volume.

## Deliverable
This list with every box checked or a note on what is missing. The campaign does not launch with open boxes unless the user approves.

For Claude Code, save it as ~/.claude/skills/inbox-placement-checklist/SKILL.md. In Cursor, ChatGPT or another assistant, paste it as project instructions.

Works with