Deliverability
Deliverability is just a word for how reliably your emails reach inboxes. Sunfish looks after this for you in the background, but a little understanding helps you keep it healthy, so the messages you care about actually get read.
Unsubscribes
Every email includes a one-click way for a recipient to unsubscribe. If someone opts out, Sunfish stops sending them future email. This is required, it's good manners, and it protects your reputation as a sender.
You can't email your way back to someone who has unsubscribed, if they change their mind, they'd need to opt back in themselves.
Bounces and suppressions
Sometimes an email can't be delivered at all, the address is mistyped, no longer exists, or the receiving system rejects it outright. That's a bounce.
When an address bounces badly or someone unsubscribes, Sunfish adds it to a suppression list and quietly skips it on future sends. That's why an address might simply stop receiving your email even though everyone else got it.
(Screenshot: a recipient marked as suppressed)
Suppressing bad addresses is a feature, not a failure. Repeatedly emailing dead or unwilling addresses is exactly what causes inbox providers to distrust a sender, so skipping them keeps your good email flowing.
Keeping your sending healthy
A few habits go a long way:
- Send to people who expect it. Reach the right audience rather than the biggest one.
- Send email worth opening. Relevant, well-timed messages get opened; ignored ones train inbox providers to file you as junk.
- Don't work around unsubscribes or bounces. Those suppressions are protecting you.
- Keep your addresses current. Encourage guests to use an address they actually check.
Do these, and your confirmations, payment links, and campaigns keep landing where they should.