How One Pet Accessories Webshop Went From 13% to 86% Email Delivery Rate in Just 9 Weeks (And Added 5-Figures Monthly Revenue)

Jun 19, 2025

THE CRISIS: When Email Marketing Almost Killed a Business

In March 2024, a thriving pet accessories webshop faced what can only be described as an email marketing apocalypse. Despite investing thousands in email marketing software and building a substantial subscriber list, they discovered a horrifying reality:

Only 13% of their emails were being delivered.

This wasn't a case of emails landing in spam folders. Gmail and Outlook were flat-out rejecting 87% of their messages before they even had a chance to reach an inbox.

For an ecommerce business heavily dependent on email marketing for customer retention and revenue generation, this was nothing short of a death sentence waiting to happen.

THE SYMPTOMS: Warning Signs Every Webshop Owner Should Recognize

Immediate Red Flags:

  • Dramatically declining open rates over 3-6 months

  • Customer complaints about not receiving order confirmations

  • Revenue attribution from email campaigns dropping month over month

  • High bounce rates on what should be valid email addresses

The Hidden Damage:

  • Brand reputation deteriorating with email service providers

  • Customer lifetime value decreasing due to poor communication

  • Increased customer service inquiries about "missing" emails

  • Competitors gaining advantage through superior email deliverability

The Financial Impact: With an average order value of $75 and a typical email conversion rate of 3%, the difference between 13% and 86% delivery meant the difference between reaching 130 customers versus 860 customers per 10,000-subscriber campaign.

Lost revenue per campaign: $164,250 Annual lost revenue potential: Over $2 million

THE DIAGNOSIS: What Was Actually Going Wrong

Technical Foundation Issues

DNS Configuration Disasters: The webshop's email authentication was fundamentally broken. Their SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records were either missing, misconfigured, or conflicting with each other. This is like trying to enter a secure building without proper ID—email providers simply wouldn't trust their messages.

Domain Reputation Destruction: Years of poor practices had created a negative feedback loop. Low engagement rates led to poor sender reputation, which led to worse inbox placement, which led to even lower engagement rates.

Strategic Mistakes

The "Spray and Pray" Approach: Like most struggling ecommerce brands, they were sending every email to their entire list regardless of engagement history. This approach actively trains spam filters to reject future messages.

Promotional Overload: Their email strategy consisted almost entirely of sales-focused messages. While promotional emails can be effective, an all-promotion approach signals to email providers that you're a spam sender.

Audience Neglect: They treated all subscribers equally, ignoring the fact that engaged subscribers are worth their weight in gold for deliverability improvement.

THE SOLUTION: A 4-Phase Recovery Strategy

Phase 1: Emergency Technical Repair (Week 1)

DNS Authentication Overhaul:

  • Properly configured SPF records to authorize sending servers

  • Set up DKIM signing for message authentication

  • Implemented DMARC policy for domain protection

  • Verified all records through multiple DNS checking tools

Time investment: 5 minutes of configuration, 24 hours for propagation Immediate impact: 15% improvement in delivery rate

Phase 2: Audience Segmentation and Reputation Rebuild (Weeks 1-3)

The Engaged Subscriber Strategy: Instead of continuing to email everyone, we identified and isolated their most engaged subscribers—approximately 30% of their total list who had opened emails in the past 30 days.

New Subscriber Prioritization: Fresh subscribers were treated as VIP contacts, receiving immediate attention and carefully crafted welcome sequences designed to maintain high engagement from day one.

List Hygiene Implementation:

  • Removed hard bounces and complaint addresses

  • Suppressed subscribers with zero engagement over 90 days

  • Created re-engagement campaigns for dormant but potentially salvageable contacts

Result: Smaller sending volume, dramatically higher engagement rates

Phase 3: Content Strategy Transformation (Weeks 2-6)

The 80/20 Value-First Approach:

Monday Emails - Educational Content:

  • "5 Signs Your Dog Might Have Fleas (And What to Do About It)"

  • "Grooming Tips That Keep Your Cat Happy and Healthy"

  • "The Ultimate Guide to Pet-Proofing Your Home for the Holidays"

  • "Why Your Pet's Dental Health Matters More Than You Think"

These emails positioned the brand as a trusted pet care advisor rather than just another seller pushing products.

Friday Emails - Strategic Promotion: After delivering genuine value on Mondays, Friday promotional emails landed in inboxes that were primed and receptive. These weren't aggressive sales pitches but carefully crafted recommendations tied to genuine pet care needs.

Content Quality Standards:

  • Every email had to pass the "would I forward this to a friend?" test

  • Educational content was thoroughly researched and actionable

  • Promotional content focused on solutions rather than just features

  • Subject lines were curiosity-driven rather than sales-focused

Phase 4: Consistency and Scaling (Weeks 6-9)

The Long Game Mentality: Email reputation recovery isn't a sprint—it's a marathon. We maintained unwavering consistency in sending schedule, content quality, and audience targeting.

Gradual List Expansion: As reputation scores improved, we slowly began including more segments of their subscriber base, always monitoring engagement metrics to ensure we didn't slide backward.

Performance Monitoring:

  • Daily deliverability rate tracking

  • Weekly engagement metric analysis

  • Monthly sender reputation scoring

  • Continuous DNS monitoring for any configuration drift

THE RESULTS: Transformation in Numbers

Deliverability Metrics

  • Starting Point: 13% delivery rate

  • 9-Week Result: 86% delivery rate

  • Improvement: 662% increase in successful email delivery

Engagement Improvements

  • Open Rate: Increased from 8% to 34%

  • Click-Through Rate: Improved from 0.9% to 4.2%

  • Unsubscribe Rate: Decreased from 2.1% to 0.3%

  • Spam Complaint Rate: Reduced from 0.8% to 0.1%

Revenue Impact

  • Monthly Email Revenue: Increased from $3,200 to $47,000+

  • Customer Lifetime Value: Improved by 180% due to better communication

  • Overall Business Growth: Enabled 3x increase in advertising spend due to improved email performance supporting customer retention

Operational Benefits

  • Customer Service Inquiries: Reduced by 40% due to reliable email delivery

  • Brand Trust: Measurably improved through consistent, valuable communication

  • Marketing Efficiency: Email became their most profitable marketing channel

THE METHODOLOGY: Your Step-by-Step Implementation Guide

Week 1: Foundation Audit and Repair

Technical Checklist:

  1. Run your domain through MXToolbox.com sender score check

  2. Verify SPF record includes all legitimate sending sources

  3. Ensure DKIM is properly configured and signing messages

  4. Set DMARC policy to "quarantine" (not "reject" initially)

  5. Check your domain against major blacklists

List Health Assessment:

  1. Identify subscribers who haven't engaged in 90+ days

  2. Create segments based on engagement levels (hot, warm, cold)

  3. Remove hard bounces and spam complaints immediately

  4. Set up separate IP/domain for transactional emails if needed

Week 2-3: Audience Strategy Implementation

Engagement-Based Segmentation:

  • VIP Segment: Opened 3+ emails in past 30 days

  • Active Segment: Opened 1-2 emails in past 30 days

  • Re-engagement Segment: Opened emails 30-90 days ago

  • Suppression Segment: No opens in 90+ days (exclude from campaigns)

Content Calendar Development:

  • Monday: Educational/value-focused content

  • Friday: Promotional content with soft sell approach

  • Plan 4 weeks of content in advance

  • Create templates for consistent formatting

Week 4-6: Content Quality Revolution

Educational Content Framework:

  • Address real customer pain points

  • Provide actionable advice

  • Include personal stories or case studies

  • Always deliver on subject line promises

Promotional Content Guidelines:

  • Lead with benefits, not features

  • Include social proof (reviews, testimonials)

  • Create urgency without being pushy

  • Always tie back to customer value

Week 7-9: Scaling and Optimization

Gradual List Expansion:

  • Week 7: Add "Active" segment to regular sends

  • Week 8: Test re-engagement campaign for "Cold" segment

  • Week 9: Implement win-back campaign for suppressions

Performance Optimization:

  • A/B split test subject lines weekly

  • Monitor deliverability metrics daily

  • Adjust sending frequency based on engagement

  • Continuously refine audience segments

THE LESSONS: Key Takeaways for Webshop Owners

Critical Success Factors

1. Technical Foundation Is Non-Negotiable You can't build a house on a cracked foundation. DNS authentication isn't optional—it's the price of entry for professional email marketing.

2. Engagement Quality Trumps List Size Every Time A highly engaged list of 1,000 subscribers will always outperform a disengaged list of 10,000. Focus on engagement before growth.

3. Value-First Content Strategy Works When you help people solve problems, they welcome your promotional messages. When you only pitch products, you train them to ignore you.

4. Consistency Compounds Results Email reputation builds slowly and compounds over time. There are no shortcuts, but the long-term rewards are substantial.

5. Data-Driven Decisions Drive Success What gets measured gets managed. Track your metrics religiously and adjust based on performance, not assumptions.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

The "Quick Fix" Mentality Email deliverability recovery takes time. Businesses that expect overnight results often make desperate decisions that make problems worse.

Ignoring List Hygiene Continuing to send to unengaged subscribers is like pouring gasoline on a fire. Clean your list ruthlessly.

All-Promotion Content Strategy If every email is a sales pitch, you're training your audience to tune out. Balance value with promotion.

Technical Neglect Set up monitoring systems to alert you if DNS records change or deliverability scores drop. Problems caught early are easier to fix.

THE OPPORTUNITY: What This Means for Your Business

Immediate Action Items

Week 1 Priority Tasks:

  1. Audit your current deliverability rate using tools like Mail-Tester.com

  2. Check your sender reputation at Sender Score by Validity

  3. Verify all DNS authentication records are properly configured

  4. Segment your list by engagement levels immediately

Month 1 Goals:

  • Establish baseline metrics for all key deliverability indicators

  • Implement value-first content strategy with educational focus

  • Begin targeting only highly engaged subscribers

  • Set up monitoring systems for ongoing reputation management

Long-Term Strategic Benefits

Revenue Multiplication: When your emails consistently reach inboxes, every other email marketing optimization becomes more effective. Better deliverability multiplies the impact of improved subject lines, segmentation, and automation.

Competitive Advantage: Most of your competitors are probably struggling with deliverability issues. Superior inbox placement gives you disproportionate access to your shared audience.

Customer Relationship Enhancement: Reliable email delivery improves every aspect of customer communication, from order confirmations to support interactions.

Marketing ROI Improvement: Email marketing typically delivers $42 for every $1 invested. But that only works if your emails actually get delivered.

CONCLUSION: Your Next Steps

The transformation from 13% to 86% deliverability didn't happen by accident. It was the result of systematic diagnosis, strategic planning, and consistent execution over time.

Every day you delay addressing deliverability issues, you lose money and damage your long-term email marketing potential. The good news? Most of the competition isn't paying attention to this foundational element, which creates a massive opportunity for businesses that get it right.

The choice is simple:

  • Continue struggling with poor deliverability and watch competitors capture your market share

  • Implement these proven strategies and transform email into your most profitable marketing channel

Ready to fix your email deliverability crisis? The methodology is proven, the tools are available, and the opportunity is massive.

Your customers are waiting to hear from you—but only if your emails can actually reach them.

This case study is based on real client results achieved through systematic email deliverability optimization. Individual results ma