How to run an inbox placement test

A placement test sends an email from your mailbox to a set of seed inboxes SpamCipher keeps at Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and the rest, then reports where each one landed: inbox, promotions, spam, or nowhere. It is the only way to know where your mail goes before a campaign finds out the hard way. Run one before you launch and after any change.

Before you start

• A connected mailbox that can send
• About 5 minutes, including the wait for the result

Run a test

Step 1: Open Inbox Placement

• In the left menu, point to the inbox icon to open Inbox Management.
• Click Inbox Placement.

Step 2: Click Run a test

• The console shows your results so far and how many tests this month you have used.
• Click + Run a test.

Step 3: Choose the mailbox and start

• Under Test a sending mailbox, pick the mailbox to test. Its domain fills in below. Testing a bare domain is allowed too, but a mailbox is what you actually send from.
• Click Start test. The email goes out from that mailbox within a minute.

Step 4: Or test from the mailbox card

• On Email Accounts, every mailbox card has Test now next to its placement line, which runs the same test for that mailbox.
• The result lands on the card as an inbox percentage, so you can see every mailbox's standing at a glance.

Read the result

Step 5: The console

• A few minutes after a test, the console shows how many seeds got the email in the Inbox, in Promotions, in Spam, and how many never received it.
• Provider coverage breaks it down by Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and the rest, which is where you see that one provider treats you differently.
• Needs attention lists tests that fell below your floor.

Step 6: Compare over time

• The range above the tiles sets which tests are counted. Run a test a week after each change you make, and the list under Placement tests shows whether it helped.

Troubleshooting