Deliverability is the #1 thing that breaks cold email. Emails landing in spam, accounts disconnecting, warmup not ramping correctly, DNS records missing or misconfigured - any one of these can quietly tank your campaigns. SmartAssistant is built to diagnose and walk you through fixing all of them.
This article covers the deliverability issues SmartAssistant can help with, what it actually checks, and how to use it to get your sender setup right.
SmartAssistant covers four major deliverability areas:
Authentication setup - diagnosing and explaining DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
Warmup management - checking warmup status, configuring daily limits, troubleshooting ramp-up
Account connection issues - diagnosing disconnects, OAuth token expirations, SMTP/IMAP failures
Deliverability diagnostics - spam placement, blacklists, bounce rates, copy analysis
For each, SmartAssistant runs a diagnostic against your actual account, tells you what's wrong, and gives you a specific action plan. For some configuration changes (warmup settings, daily limits) it can make the change directly. For others (DNS edits, OAuth reconnection) it guides you to the right place because those happen outside Smartlead.
DNS records prove to receiving mail servers that your domain is authorized to send email. Missing or misconfigured records are one of the top reasons emails go to spam.
"Are my DNS records set up correctly?"
"Check my domain health"
"How do I set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for my sending domain?"
SmartAssistant runs against your sending domain and returns a status for each record:
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) — declares which servers can send on behalf of your domain
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) — adds a cryptographic signature so receivers can verify the email wasn't tampered with
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication) — tells receivers what to do when SPF or DKIM fail (often missing — the most common gap)
"I've checked your deliverability setup:
✅ SPF record: Configured correctly
✅ DKIM record: Configured correctly
❌ DMARC record: Missing — this is likely contributing to spam placement
To fix DMARC, you'll need to add a TXT record to your DNS. Want me to walk you through the values you need?"
SmartAssistant can't edit DNS records for you (those live with your domain registrar - GoDaddy, Cloudflare, etc.) but it tells you exactly what record to add and what values to use.
Warmup gradually builds your sending reputation by simulating natural email patterns. Without it, sending volume from a new account looks suspicious to receivers and lands in spam.
"Is my warmup working correctly?"
"Enable warmup on my new account"
"Set my daily sending limit to 30"
"Why is my warmup placing emails in spam?"
Whether warmup is enabled per account
Current warmup age (days since started)
Ramp-up pace (sending volume increase over time)
Inbox vs spam placement ratio during warmup
Whether your campaign daily limits match your warmup stage
Warmup runs for 4–8 weeks before heavy sending
Maximum 250 emails/day per account
Gradual ramp from low daily volume up to your target
If you ask SmartAssistant to enable warmup or change daily limits, it can make those changes directly. If your warmup is placing emails in spam, it'll surface that and recommend slowing your sending pace.
"Why is my email account disconnected?"
"My campaign stopped sending - what's wrong?"
"Are all my email accounts connected?"
Connection status of all email accounts
Last successful authentication time
Whether OAuth tokens have expired (Gmail's most common failure)
SMTP/IMAP credential validity (custom providers)
Account-specific error logs
Gmail OAuth token expiration - tokens occasionally need to be re-authorized
Outlook authentication failures - usually requires reauthorization
Custom SMTP credentials changed - needs manual update in account settings
Domain blacklisted - rarer but more serious; SmartAssistant flags this separately
It will tell you which specific accounts are disconnected and why. For OAuth-based accounts (Gmail, Outlook), reconnection requires you to authenticate directly with Google or Microsoft - SmartAssistant can't do that for you, but it navigates you to the Email Accounts screen so reconnection is one click away.
When deliverability drops, the symptom is usually "my reply rates dropped" or "my open rates tanked" before you realize emails are going to spam. SmartAssistant runs a full deliverability diagnostic to find why.
"My emails are going to spam, what's wrong?"
"Why did my reply rate drop this week?"
"Is my copy hurting deliverability?"
Authentication: SPF, DKIM, DMARC
Warmup: age, ramp pace, inbox placement during warmup
Sending patterns: daily volume vs. account warmup stage
Domain reputation: blacklist status, sending history
Copy: spam trigger words in subject lines, CTA quality, link density
Lead list health: bounce rates, invalid emails, list age
"I've checked your deliverability setup. Here's what I found:
✅ SPF record: Configured correctly
✅ DKIM record: Configured correctly
❌ DMARC record: Missing — this is likely contributing to spam placement ⚠ Warmup: Your account has only been warming for 6 days — needs at least 4–6 weeks before heavy sending
Recommended actions:
1. Add a DMARC record to your DNS (I can show you how) 2. Reduce daily sending to 20/day until warmup completes 3. Review your email copy for spam trigger words
Want me to help with any of these?"
Note on open rates: SmartAssistant knows that open rates are inflated by Apple Mail Privacy Protection. When diagnosing performance, it focuses on reply rate as the true signal of deliverability and engagement. If you ask "why did my open rate drop?" it may push you to look at reply rate instead.
6. Domain and blacklist health
If your sending domain or IP gets blacklisted, deliverability craters. SmartAssistant checks blacklist status as part of the deliverability diagnostic.
"Check my domain health"
"Am I on any blacklists?"
It'll surface blacklist hits and explain the next step. Blacklist removal happens with the blacklist provider directly - SmartAssistant tells you which list flagged you and points you to the path to request removal.
Some deliverability work happens outside Smartlead's reach:
It can't edit DNS records. Those live with your domain registrar. SmartAssistant gives you the exact values to add.
It can't reconnect OAuth accounts. Google and Microsoft authentication has to happen on their side. SmartAssistant gets you to the right screen.
It can't request blacklist removal. Removal requests go to the blacklist provider directly.
It can't guarantee deliverability. Diagnoses and advises, but final placement depends on receiver-side filters and policies SmartAssistant can't see.
For anything outside its reach, it tells you exactly where to go and what to do. If you hit a wall, it can open a support ticket with the full diagnostic context attached.
