Email Deliverability and Email Security for Creative Businesses (UK)
Introduction
Email deliverability is not about whether an email is sent. It is about whether that email reliably reaches the intended inbox, at the right time, without being flagged as spam or rejected outright.
For creative businesses in the UK, email remains critical to day-to-day operations – from client communication and approvals to proposals, invoices, and file sharing. When deliverability breaks down, the impact is often subtle at first, but it quickly erodes trust, professionalism, and momentum.
At InfraZen, we see email deliverability issues as a systems problem rather than a single technical fault. They usually arise from a combination of authentication gaps, security signals, reputation history, and inconsistent configuration across platforms.
What is Email Deliverability?
Email deliverability refers to the ability of an email to successfully arrive in a recipient’s inbox, rather than being filtered into spam, quarantined, or rejected by the receiving mail server.
It is distinct from email sending. An email can be sent successfully while still never being seen by the recipient.
While poor IT management often causes deliverability issues, inbox placement is governed by email authentication, reputation, and recipient filtering – which we address directly here.
Deliverability is influenced by how receiving systems such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace evaluate trust, reputation, and security signals associated with the sending domain and mail servers.
Why email deliverability matters for creative businesses
Creative businesses depend on timely, reliable communication. Missed emails can lead to:
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Delayed approvals and feedback
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Lost proposals or contracts
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Clients believed messages were never sent
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Damage to professional credibility
Because many creative teams collaborate externally and share links, attachments, and time-sensitive material, email systems are scrutinised more heavily by modern spam-filtering engines.
Good deliverability is therefore not just a technical concern – it directly affects workflow, revenue, and client confidence.
Common causes of poor email deliverability
Email authentication issues
Misconfigured or missing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are among the most common causes of deliverability problems.
These records allow receiving mail servers to verify that emails claiming to come from your domain are legitimate. When they are absent or misaligned, emails are more likely to be treated as suspicious.
Domain reputation problems
Email providers maintain reputation scores based on past behaviour associated with a domain or IP address. Factors such as spam complaints, sending patterns, and historical abuse can negatively affect this reputation.
Reputation issues can persist even after the original cause has been resolved.
Shared platforms and inherited risk
Many businesses use shared email platforms or third-party services. While convenient, these environments can expose you to reputation issues caused by other users on the same infrastructure.
This is particularly common with marketing tools, legacy hosting providers, and poorly managed SaaS integrations.
Compromised or misused accounts
If an email account is compromised or used to send unexpected volumes of mail, deliverability can drop rapidly. Even a single incident can trigger automated defences that are slow to recover from.
Inconsistent configuration and monitoring
Email systems are often configured once and then forgotten. Changes to DNS, domain providers, or cloud platforms can introduce subtle misalignments that gradually undermine deliverability.
The relationship between email security and deliverability
Email security and email deliverability are inseparable.
Security mechanisms such as DMARC are designed to protect against spoofing, impersonation, and phishing. At the same time, they act as strong trust signals for receiving mail servers.
When security controls are weak or incomplete:
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Attackers can impersonate your domain
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Your domain reputation suffers
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Legitimate emails are more likely to be filtered or rejected
Properly enforced email security improves deliverability by clearly signalling that your domain is well-managed and trustworthy.
How IT managed services influence email deliverability
Email deliverability does not exist in isolation. It is influenced by wider IT management practices, including:
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DNS governance and change control
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Identity and access management
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Monitoring of authentication and reputation signals
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Incident response when issues arise
Businesses with proactive IT management are far less likely to experience sudden or prolonged deliverability problems, because issues are detected and corrected early rather than after client impact occurs.
When businesses should seek help with email deliverability
Many organisations assume email issues will resolve themselves. In practice, intervention is usually required when:
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Emails suddenly start landing in spam folders
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Clients report missing important messages
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Mail providers issue warnings or blocks
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Authentication reports show persistent failures
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Reputation metrics decline without obvious cause
Early action significantly reduces recovery time and reputational damage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Explore our email deliverability services, including Email Trust Booster.