How email delivery works
Simple Downline sends campaign emails through SendGrid, a professional email delivery service. Here's how it works and what to do if emails aren't arriving.
How emails are sent
When a campaign sends an email:
- The app creates the message with your content and personalization tags
- The message goes to SendGrid's servers
- SendGrid accepts the message for processing and attempts to pass it to your contact's email provider (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.)
- The provider may accept or reject it, and decides whether an accepted message appears in the inbox, promotions tab, or spam folder
This process happens automatically — you don't need to configure anything. Your emails come from your Simple Downline account's sending address. A completed send in the app is not proof that the recipient received or saw the email.
Why emails land in spam or junk
Email providers use filters to protect their users from unwanted mail. Even legitimate emails can get filtered if:
- The contact hasn't emailed you before. Email providers trust senders that recipients have replied to.
- The content looks promotional. Heavy use of images, lots of links, or salesy language can trigger filters.
- The contact's provider is strict. Some corporate email systems block anything from outside the organization.
Simple Downline's emails are sent through authenticated servers with proper SPF and DKIM records, which helps deliverability. But the final decision is always up to the recipient's email provider.
What contacts can do
If a contact tells you they're not getting your emails, ask them to:
- Check their spam/junk folder and mark your email as "not spam"
- Add your sending address to their contacts — this tells their email provider to trust you
- Reply to one of your emails — replies signal that they want your messages
Once they do this, future emails are more likely to reach their inbox.
Account emails vs campaign emails
Simple Downline sends a few different kinds of email:
- Campaign emails — the messages you send through campaigns, using SendGrid
- Subscription invoices and receipts — emailed by Stripe to the billing email on your subscription (manage that under My Account → Manage Subscription)
- Send notifications — next-day send summaries go to your Simple Downline account email via SendGrid
If someone is missing a billing receipt specifically, have them check the Stripe billing email (and spam), not only their campaign inbox.
What you can do
To improve deliverability:
- Write like a person, not a marketer. Conversational emails with minimal formatting tend to reach inboxes better than heavily designed ones.
- Include a clear subject line. Vague or clickbait-y subjects can trigger spam filters.
- Don't send to people who haven't opted in. Sending to people who didn't expect your email hurts your sender reputation over time.