ActiveCampaign Email Deliverability: Authentication Setup and Troubleshooting

Best Practices

ActiveCampaign combines email marketing with CRM and automation. It's a powerful platform, but deliverability still depends on how you configure it. Authentication, list hygiene, and sending practices matter just as much here as with any other ESP.

Here's how to set up ActiveCampaign for maximum deliverability and fix common issues.

Authentication Setup

Domain Authentication in ActiveCampaign

DMARC Record

ActiveCampaign requires a DMARC record on your domain to meet bulk sender requirements. If you don't have one:

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]

Add this as a TXT record at _dmarc.yourdomain.com. p=none is the minimum — p=quarantine or p=reject provides better protection and deliverability.

Check all your authentication records with our free deliverability checker.

ActiveCampaign Email Validation

ActiveCampaign includes email validation features to prevent sending to invalid addresses. This reduces bounces and protects sender reputation.

How Validation Works

ActiveCampaign can validate contacts at several points:

• On import — When uploading a CSV or syncing from a CRM, validation checks addresses before they enter your list
• On form submission — Real-time validation when contacts sign up through ActiveCampaign forms
• Periodic cleaning — Identify and suppress contacts that show signs of being invalid or inactive

What Gets Flagged

Running validation before major campaigns prevents bounce rate spikes that damage reputation.

Common ActiveCampaign Issues

Emails Going to Spam

Work through this checklist:

1. Authentication — Is your domain authenticated? Check Settings → Domains for verification status.
2. DMARC record — Does a DMARC record exist? This is required by Gmail and Yahoo.
3. Complaint rate — Check Google Postmaster Tools. ActiveCampaign's complaint metrics don't show Gmail-specific data.
4. List quality — Are you sending to contacts who haven't engaged in months?
5. Content — Is the email heavily promotional, image-only, or using aggressive subject lines?

High Bounce Rates

ActiveCampaign automatically suppresses hard bounces. But if you see bounce rates above 2%:

• Recently imported list — Imported contacts may include old, invalid addresses. Validate before importing.
• Old list segment — Sending to contacts who haven't been mailed in a long time will produce bounces.
• Form quality — If signups come from forms without validation, bad addresses enter your list.

Automation Deliverability

ActiveCampaign's automation is a core feature, but automations can create deliverability problems:

• Perpetual automations — Automations that run indefinitely can send to contacts who stopped engaging long ago
• High-frequency triggers — Automations triggered by multiple events can send too many emails in a short period
• No engagement filters — Automations that don't check whether the contact has engaged recently

Fix: Add engagement conditions to your automations. For example, "If contact has opened an email in the last 90 days" before sending an automation email.

ActiveCampaign Best Practices

Segment by Engagement

Create these segments for better deliverability:

Use Lead Scoring for Sending Decisions

ActiveCampaign's lead scoring can inform deliverability decisions:

• High-scoring contacts get more frequent communication
• Low-scoring contacts get reduced frequency or re-engagement campaigns
• Contacts below a threshold are automatically removed from marketing sends

Configure Sending Properly

• Consistent From name — Use the same recognizable sender name across campaigns
• Consistent From address — Don't rotate From addresses unnecessarily
• Send time optimization — ActiveCampaign's predictive sending can improve engagement by sending at times each contact is most likely to open
• Rate limiting — For large sends, spread them over several hours

Manage Unsubscribes

ActiveCampaign handles unsubscribe headers and link generation automatically when domain authentication is configured. Ensure:

• The unsubscribe link is visible in your template
• Unsubscribes are processed immediately (ActiveCampaign does this by default)
• You don't re-add unsubscribed contacts through imports or integrations

Monitoring Deliverability

In ActiveCampaign

Track these per-campaign metrics:

• Send rate — How quickly ActiveCampaign processed the send
• Open rate — Overall engagement signal
• Click rate — Deeper engagement signal
• Bounce rate — Should be below 2%
• Unsubscribe rate — Watch for spikes on specific campaigns

External Monitoring

ActiveCampaign's metrics cover their side. Also monitor:

• Google Postmaster Tools — Gmail reputation and spam rate
• Blacklists — Check your domain and sending IPs regularly
• Authentication health — Verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC haven't broken

DNS changes, provider updates, and team changes can break authentication at any time. Automated monitoring catches issues before they impact deliverability.