What is Deliverability Score?

A deliverability score is a metric used to assess the likelihood that an email will be successfully delivered to the intended recipient's inbox. This score can apply at two levels: the sender level (how healthy is your sending domain and IP reputation) and the recipient level (how likely is this specific email address to accept and receive your message).

At the sender level, deliverability scores are influenced by factors including bounce rate history, spam complaint rate, authentication setup (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sending volume consistency, engagement rates from previous campaigns, and blacklist status. Email service providers like Google and Microsoft track these signals to determine whether to deliver your emails to the inbox, route them to spam, or reject them outright.

At the recipient level, a deliverability score evaluates the quality of individual email addresses. This includes whether the address is verified as valid, whether it is on a known spam trap list, whether the domain is configured to receive email, whether the address is role-based (like info@ or support@), and whether the domain is catch-all. These factors help predict whether a specific email will bounce, land in spam, or reach the inbox.

Maintaining high deliverability is critical for B2B outbound and marketing teams because the consequences of poor deliverability extend beyond individual emails. When your bounce rate climbs above 2-3%, email providers begin throttling or blocking your messages across the board. This means even your legitimate one-to-one sales emails can end up in spam, affecting the entire organization's ability to communicate with prospects and customers.

Cleanlist contributes to deliverability management by providing recipient-level scoring during its email verification process. Each email address receives a deliverability assessment based on verification status, catch-all detection, role-based identification, and historical patterns. Teams can use these scores to segment their lists by deliverability risk, sending only to high-confidence addresses in volume campaigns and handling risky addresses through lower-volume, more targeted channels. This proactive approach prevents the bounce rate spikes that damage sender reputation.