---
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.