How do I check if my email deliverability is hurting my boutique sales?

Poor deliverability is a silent killer because you never see the emails that land in spam — they just disappear. The fastest diagnostic is your open rate on recent campaigns. If it's consistently below 15 percent, your list health is probably dragging you down.

To get a clearer picture, log into your email platform and create a segment of subscribers who haven't opened or clicked any email in the last 90 days. Compare that segment's size to your total list. If inactive subscribers represent more than 20 percent of your list, internet service providers are likely throttling your sends and routing emails to spam for everyone, including the subscribers who actually want to hear from you.

The fix is a re-engagement campaign: send one honest email to the inactive segment with a single button that says 'Yes, Keep Me On the List' and a note that non-responders will be removed in seven days. Then actually suppress the non-responders. This is especially critical before launching time-sensitive sequences like a post-holiday campaign, where every email that reaches an engaged inbox directly impacts revenue.