How to Set Up HubSpot Email Sequences That Don't Land in Spam

Step 1: Authenticate Your Email Domain (Required)

Why this matters: Email providers only trust senders with proper authentication. Missing or incorrect SPF, DKIM, or DMARC means your emails may be flagged as suspicious.

Time required: 20-30 minutes

HubSpot tier: Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise (sequences not available on Free or Starter tiers)

What You're Setting Up:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Tells email providers which servers can send email on behalf of your domain
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): Cryptographic signature that proves the email wasn't tampered with
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication): Tells providers what to do with unauthenticated emails from your domain

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. In HubSpot, go to Settings > Marketing > Email
2. Click "Connect an email sending domain"

   You'll see instructions for adding DNS records.

3. Copy the DNS records HubSpot provides

   You'll get 2-3 records: typically CNAME records for DKIM and TXT records for SPF.

4. Log into your DNS provider (GoDaddy, Cloudflare, Namecheap, etc.)
5. Add the records exactly as HubSpot shows them

   Don't modify the values. Copy-paste exactly.

6. Wait 15-60 minutes for DNS propagation
7. Return to HubSpot and click "Verify"

   HubSpot will check if the records are live.

8. Set up DMARC (optional but recommended)

   Add a TXT record to your DNS: `_dmarc.yourdomain.com` with value `v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com`

Step 2: Turn Off Tracking Pixels and Click Tracking

Why this matters: Tracking pixels can trigger promotional or spam filtering. Click tracking replaces URLs with HubSpot redirect links, which look suspicious to spam filters.

Tradeoff: You won't see open rates or click rates in HubSpot, but deliverability improves significantly. You'll still see replies.

Instructions:

1. In HubSpot, go to Settings > Sales > Sequences
2. Scroll to "Email tracking defaults"
3. Turn OFF "Track email opens"

   This removes the tracking pixel.

4. Turn OFF "Track email clicks"

   This stops HubSpot from replacing your URLs.

5. Save settings

Step 3: Remove Unsubscribe Links from Sequences

Why this matters: Unsubscribe links make sequences look like marketing emails, which triggers spam filters.

Legal note: Sequences are 1:1 sales emails, not bulk marketing. You don't legally need an unsubscribe link. Contacts can just reply "not interested."

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings > Sales > Sequences
2. Under "Email footer," turn OFF "Include unsubscribe link"
3. Save settings

Step 4: Suppress Unengaged Contacts

Why this matters: Graymail is email that sits unopened in recipients' inbox, which makes you look like a sender who's sending spam.

Email providers track how people interact with your emails. Low open rates mean they assume your emails aren't valuable. Too many bounces drops your sender reputation. Unsubscribes or spam complaints get your emails flagged.

Instructions:

1. Go to Settings > Marketing > Email
2. Turn ON "Graymail suppression"

   This feature uses the Sends since last engagement contact property to automatically exclude contacts that aren't engaging with your emails.

3. Create a "Cold Contacts" suppression list

   Go to Contacts > Lists > Create list

   Add filter: "Last email engagement date is unknown" OR "Last email engagement date is more than 90 days ago"

4. Exclude this list from all sequences

   When enrolling contacts in sequences, use "Exclude contacts from list" and select your Cold Contacts list.

Step 5: Write Sequences That Look Like 1:1 Emails

Spam filters detect patterns. Vary the email content across sequence steps, including subject lines, greetings, and closing lines, to reduce the appearance of automation.

Best Practices:

• Use plain text formatting: No images, no fancy formatting, no logos. Just text.
• Keep it short: 50-150 words max. Long emails look like marketing.
• Vary subject lines: Don't use the same subject for all 500 contacts. Use personalization tokens: Quick question, {{contact.firstname}}
• Minimize links: Stick to plain text where possible for better inbox placement. If you need a link, use one, max two.
• No attachments: Attachments trigger spam filters. Link to Google Drive or Dropbox instead.
• Personalize beyond first name: Add content relevant to the recipient's business or industry, such as a recent blog post or case study.

Step 6: Verify Your Contact List Before Sending

List quality is the biggest lever for HubSpot deliverability. Before any import, remove invalids, surface spam traps and likely complainers. This prevents hard bounces and complaints, the two fastest ways to tank domain reputation.

What to Remove:

• Invalid emails: Typos, fake addresses, role emails (info@, noreply@)
• Hard bounces: Emails that bounced in previous sends
• Catch-all domains: These often bounce or go to spam traps
• Purchased lists: Never send to purchased or rented lists. HubSpot tools cannot be used to email cold contacts. This is against the Acceptable Use Policy.

How to Clean Your List:

1. Export your contact list from HubSpot
2. Use an email verification tool (NeverBounce, ZeroBounce, or BriteVerify)

   Upload your CSV, run verification.

3. Download the cleaned list

   The tool will mark each email as valid, invalid, or risky.

4. Import the verification results back into HubSpot

   Add a custom property "Email Verification Status"

5. Create a suppression list of invalid/risky emails

   Filter: Email Verification Status is "Invalid" or "Risky"

6. Exclude this list from all sequences

Step 7: Monitor Your Sender Score

The sequences sender score measures the quality and effectiveness of your sequences emails. The sender score is calculated using the reply rate and bounce rate of the emails in the sequence.

Good targets: Reply rate between 7-13%, bounce rate below 3%.

How to Check Your Sender Score:

1. Go to Reporting > Reports
2. Click "Create report"
3. Under "Start with help," click "Template report library"
4. Search for "sequence sender score"
5. Click the report to view your score

   You need at least 100 ended sequence enrollments for a score to calculate.

Common Mistakes That Kill Deliverability

Mistake 1: Sending to Cold Lists

By "cold outreach" we are referring to people who have not given you permission to deliver to their inbox. Putting email in there anyway will likely lead to spam reports, unsubscribes. More long term this practice will result in increased spam foldering, and increased soft bounces for your entire network.

Mistake 2: Sending Too Much, Too Fast

Sequence messaging often hits a 500-1,000/day ceiling due to email providers like Gmail/Outlook restrictions. Don't send 1,000 emails on day 1. Warm up your domain by starting at 50/day, then 100/day, then 200/day over 2 weeks.

Mistake 3: Using Spammy Subject Lines

Avoid: "FREE," "ACT NOW," "LIMITED TIME," all caps, excessive punctuation (!!!), dollar signs ($$$). These are spam triggers.