Email Best Practices

Guidance for building deliverable, compliant, user-friendly emails.

Architecture Overview

[User] → [Email Form] → [Validation] → [Double Opt-In] ↓ [Consent Recorded] ↓ [Suppression Check] ←──────────────[Ready to Send] ↓ [Idempotent Send + Retry] ──────→ [Email API] ↓ [Webhook Events] ↓ ┌────────┬────────┬─────────────┐ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Delivered Bounced Complained Opened/Clicked ↓ ↓ [Suppression List Updated] ↓ [List Hygiene Jobs]

Quick Reference

Need to... See

Set up SPF/DKIM/DMARC, fix spam issues Deliverability

Build password reset, OTP, confirmations Transactional Emails

Plan which emails your app needs Transactional Email Catalog

Build newsletter signup, validate emails Email Capture

Send newsletters, promotions Marketing Emails

Ensure CAN-SPAM/GDPR/CASL compliance Compliance

Decide transactional vs marketing Email Types

Handle retries, idempotency, errors Sending Reliability

Process delivery events, set up webhooks Webhooks & Events

Manage bounces, complaints, suppression List Management

Start Here

New app? Start with the Catalog to plan which emails your app needs (password reset, verification, etc.), then set up Deliverability (DNS authentication) before sending your first email.

Spam issues? Check Deliverability first—authentication problems are the most common cause. Gmail/Yahoo reject unauthenticated emails.

Marketing emails? Follow this path: Email Capture (collect consent) → Compliance (legal requirements) → Marketing Emails (best practices).

Production-ready sending? Add reliability: Sending Reliability (retry + idempotency) → Webhooks & Events (track delivery) → List Management (handle bounces).