Why Your Customers Aren't Seeing Your Emails
You’ve spent time putting together a great offer or a monthly update for your customers. You hit 'send' on your email software, and you wait for the phone to ring. But nothing happens.
Most business owners think that if they have an email list and a platform to send from, their messages will naturally show up in their customers' inboxes. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works anymore. If you’ve ever wondered why your open rates are bottoming out, or why a long-term client says they "never saw your message," you likely have a delivery problem.
In the marketing world, people call this "email warm-up." In the real world, it’s simply about proving to Google and Outlook that you aren't a dodgy spook or a scammer. If you don't do this right, you are literally throwing money down the drain every time you pay your monthly software subscription.
The Myth: "The More Emails I Send, The More Money I Make"
I see this all the time with businesses here in Brisbane, from landscaping companies to boutique accounting firms. They buy a list or dig up five-year-old contacts, load them into a system, and blast 5,000 emails at once.
This is the fastest way to get your business blacklisted.
When you go from sending zero emails to thousands overnight, Google’s alarm bells go off. They assume you’ve been hacked or you’re a spammer. Once your domain (your business website address) is flagged as "low quality," it is incredibly hard to fix. You’ll find that even your regular one-to-one emails to your suppliers or staff start landing in their junk folders too.
If you want results, you have to start slow. It’s like joining a gym; you don't walk in on day one and try to bench press 150kg. You’ll just hurt yourself and end up back on the couch. You need to build up your "sending muscles" over a few weeks so the big email providers trust you.
How to "Warm Up" Properly (Without the Technical Mumbo-Jumbo)
If you are starting a new email list or moving to a different platform, you need a transition period. Here is the honest, blunt truth: the first month isn't about making sales. It’s about building a reputation so you can make sales for the next five years.
1. Start with your best customers
Don't send your first batch of emails to people who haven't heard from you in years. Start with your most loyal clients—the ones who actually like you and are likely to open your emails. When Google sees people opening your messages and clicking on links, it gives your business a "thumbs up." This makes it easier to reach the rest of your list later.2. Increase your volume slowly
If you have 2,000 people on your list, do not email them all on Monday. Send to 50 people on day one. Send to 100 on day two. Double it every few days. This gradual increase looks natural. It looks like a growing business, not a bot.3. Clean out the "dead wood"
If someone hasn't opened an email from you in six months, stop sending to them. I know it feels like you're losing potential leads, but you're actually saving your skin. Sending to inactive accounts tells email providers that your content is boring or unwanted. By removing people who don't engage, you ensure that your active customers actually see your messages. You should focus on measuring ROI based on who actually buys from you, not how many names are on a spreadsheet.The Hidden Cost of Getting it Wrong
I spoke with a plumber in Coorparoo recently who couldn't figure out why his booking rate had dropped. It turns out he’d hired a cheap overseas "expert" who blasted his entire database with a generic discount offer. His domain reputation was trashed. For three months, even his quotes and invoices were going straight to his customers' spam folders.
He wasn't just losing out on new marketing leads; he wasn't getting paid for the work he’d already done because customers "never got the invoice."
This is why it's vital to stop wasting money on campaigns that never reach the inbox. If you aren't willing to do the warm-up work, you're better off not sending the emails at all.
Myth-Busting: What Actually Matters?
There is a lot of rubbish advice online about email. Let’s clear some of it up:
"You need fancy designs": False. Most small businesses get better results with plain text emails that look like they came from a real person. Big, heavy images make emails load slowly and can trigger spam filters. "Subject lines need to be catchy": Only to a point. If your subject line is "WIN A FREE CAR" but the email is about a plumbing inspection, people will report you for spam. Be honest. "Update on your service" works better than clickbait.
- "The platform doesn't matter": It absolutely does. Some cheap platforms have such bad reputations that your emails are doomed before you even hit send. You need to be careful about email platform costs because the cheapest option often costs you the most in lost sales.
Your 30-Day Action Plan
If you want to start using email to grow your business, here is how I’d tell a mate to do it:
1. Week 1: Verify your settings. Make sure your email is set up correctly so it looks official to Google. (If you don't know how to do this, ask a pro—it takes 10 minutes but saves 10 months of headaches). 2. Week 2: Send a simple "Hello" or a helpful tip to your 20 best customers. Ask them to reply if they have a second. Replies are gold for your reputation. 3. Week 3: Start sending to small batches of your broader list (50-100 at a time). Keep the content helpful, not just "buy my stuff." 4. Week 4: Monitor who is opening. If people are clicking, you can start increasing the volume and getting more aggressive with your offers.
How Long Until You See Results?
If you do this right, you’ll see your open rates climb within 2 to 4 weeks. You’ll notice more people mentioning your emails when they call to book a job. It’s not an overnight fix, but it’s the only way to build a reliable sales channel that you actually own.
Most Brisbane business owners are too impatient. They want 100 leads tomorrow. But the ones who win are the ones who take the time to set the foundation. Once Google trusts you, you have a direct line to your customers' pockets whenever you need to drum up business.
Stop Guessing and Start Growing
Running a business is hard enough without fighting against technology. If you’re tired of sending emails into a black hole and you want to make sure your marketing actually puts money in the bank, we can help.
At Local Marketing Group, we don't care about "vanity metrics." We care about whether your phone is ringing. We’ve helped dozens of local businesses fix their email reputation and turn a dead list into a consistent source of bookings.
Ready to get your emails out of the spam folder and into the hands of paying customers? Contact Local Marketing Group today.