Email Deliverability Audit Framework
Email MarketingadvancedClaude 3.5 Sonnet recommended for this prompt. It excels at synthesizing complex technical and strategic information into actionable frameworks, handles multi-dimensional analysis well, and produces structured audit reports with clear prioritization. GPT-4o is a strong alternative if you need more detailed ISP-specific recommendations.
When to Use This Prompt
Use this prompt when your email deliverability metrics are declining, you're experiencing unexpected bounce rates or spam complaints, or you're preparing for a major sending volume increase. It's ideal for CMOs inheriting an email program with unknown technical foundations or when ISP filtering is affecting campaign performance.
The Prompt
You are an expert email deliverability consultant. Analyze the following email marketing program and provide a comprehensive deliverability audit with actionable recommendations.
## Email Program Details
- Email Service Provider (ESP): [YOUR_ESP]
- Current send volume: [MONTHLY_SENDS] emails/month
- List size: [LIST_SIZE] subscribers
- Industry vertical: [INDUSTRY]
- Primary sending domain(s): [DOMAIN]
- Current reported bounce rate: [BOUNCE_RATE]%
- Current reported spam complaint rate: [COMPLAINT_RATE]%
- Unsubscribe rate: [UNSUB_RATE]%
- Average open rate: [OPEN_RATE]%
- Average click rate: [CLICK_RATE]%
## Authentication & Infrastructure
- SPF configured: [YES/NO]
- DKIM configured: [YES/NO]
- DMARC policy: [NONE/QUARANTINE/REJECT/NOT_CONFIGURED]
- Dedicated IP or shared pool: [DEDICATED/SHARED]
- Feedback loops enabled: [YES/NO]
- List validation frequency: [FREQUENCY]
## Campaign Practices
- Typical email frequency: [FREQUENCY_DESCRIPTION]
- Segmentation strategy: [BRIEF_DESCRIPTION]
- Personalization elements used: [LIST]
- A/B testing practices: [BRIEF_DESCRIPTION]
- Unsubscribe process: [DESCRIBE]
- Preference center available: [YES/NO]
## Specific Concerns
[DESCRIBE ANY CURRENT DELIVERABILITY ISSUES, RECENT CHANGES, OR CHALLENGES]
## Audit Scope
Provide analysis across these dimensions:
1. **Authentication & Technical Setup** - Evaluate SPF, DKIM, DMARC configuration and identify gaps
2. **List Health & Hygiene** - Assess subscriber quality, validation practices, and engagement metrics
3. **Sending Practices** - Review frequency, segmentation, and content practices that impact reputation
4. **ISP Relationships** - Identify potential ISP-specific issues (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, corporate domains)
5. **Content & Compliance** - Evaluate email content for spam triggers and regulatory compliance
6. **Monitoring & Feedback** - Review feedback loop implementation and bounce handling
## Output Format
For each dimension, provide:
- Current state assessment (strengths and weaknesses)
- Risk level (Low/Medium/High)
- Specific recommendations with implementation priority (Immediate/Short-term/Long-term)
- Expected impact on deliverability metrics
- Implementation timeline estimate
Provide a prioritized action plan with quick wins first, then strategic improvements. Include specific metrics to track progress.
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Tips for Best Results
- 1.Provide actual metrics from your ESP dashboard rather than estimates. Real data (bounce rates, complaint rates, engagement) produces more accurate and relevant recommendations than hypothetical numbers.
- 2.Include recent changes to your sending program (new ESP, list acquisition method, frequency changes) as context. Deliverability issues often correlate with program changes, and this helps the AI identify root causes.
- 3.Ask follow-up questions about specific ISP performance. Add a second prompt asking: 'Which ISPs show the lowest inbox placement rates?' to get ISP-specific remediation strategies.
- 4.Request a 90-day implementation roadmap in a follow-up prompt. Ask the AI to break down the audit recommendations into weekly tasks with success metrics, making it easier to assign to your team.
Example Output
# Email Deliverability Audit Report
## Executive Summary
Your email program shows moderate deliverability risk with several quick-win opportunities. Current metrics suggest list quality issues and incomplete authentication setup are primary concerns.
## 1. Authentication & Technical Setup
**Current State:** SPF and DKIM are configured, but DMARC policy is set to "none" rather than enforcement mode. This leaves your domain vulnerable to spoofing and reduces ISP trust signals.
**Risk Level:** Medium
**Recommendations:**
- **Immediate:** Move DMARC policy from "none" to "quarantine" within 30 days after monitoring reports
- **Short-term:** Audit all sending sources to ensure they're SPF-aligned
- **Long-term:** Implement DMARC enforcement (reject policy) within 90 days
**Expected Impact:** 3-5% improvement in inbox placement at major ISPs
## 2. List Health & Hygiene
**Current State:** 4.2% bounce rate is elevated (industry standard: 2-3%). Unsubscribe rate of 0.8% is healthy, but suggests list validation may not be catching invalid addresses.
**Risk Level:** High
**Recommendations:**
- **Immediate:** Implement double opt-in for all new subscribers; re-validate existing list against current validation service
- **Short-term:** Remove hard bounces within 24 hours; suppress soft bounces after 3 consecutive failures
- **Long-term:** Establish quarterly list cleaning cadence
**Expected Impact:** Reduce bounce rate to 2.5% within 60 days; improve sender reputation score by 15 points
## 3. Sending Practices
**Current State:** Weekly send frequency with minimal segmentation. Open rate of 18% and click rate of 2.1% suggest engagement is moderate but could improve with targeting.
**Risk Level:** Medium
**Recommendations:**
- **Immediate:** Segment inactive subscribers (no opens in 90 days) into re-engagement campaign
- **Short-term:** Implement RFM (Recency, Frequency, Monetary) segmentation for product emails
- **Long-term:** Develop preference center allowing subscribers to choose send frequency
**Expected Impact:** Increase open rate to 22%; reduce complaint rate by 0.3%
## Priority Action Plan
1. **Week 1-2:** Audit all sending sources for SPF alignment; implement hard bounce suppression
2. **Week 3-4:** Launch list re-validation; begin DMARC monitoring
3. **Month 2:** Implement segmentation for inactive subscribers; update preference center
4. **Month 3:** Transition DMARC to quarantine; establish quarterly cleaning schedule
Related Prompts
Related Reading
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Courses, workshops, frameworks, daily intelligence, and 6 proprietary tools — built for marketing leaders adopting AI.
Trusted by 10,000+ Directors and CMOs.