Hi @BridgetNZ,
This is a common problem, unfortunately. In the free version of HubSpot, it’s not possible to connect your email domain (this would be HubSpot’s terminology for verifying your email). You would have to upgrade to a Marketing Hub Starter subscription to connect your email sending domain and set up email authentification (SPF, DMARC). Both are considered best practice and should help with your email deliverability and would be the first steps towards better deliverability.
Besides this very technical step, there are other things I’d recommend to keep in mind.
In general, similar to SEO, you want to try to pass on as many positive signals about your content as possible. The eventual decision what to do with that content rests with the service provider. With that in mind, here is a list of things that I’d recommend reviewing:
Connect your email sending domain
Use a DMARC policy with HubSpot
Only email contacts who for whom you have a legal basis to communicate
Validate emails before sending to avoid hard bounces at all costs (e.g. Neverbounce, Zerobounce)
Remove unengaged contacts from list regularly for higher engagement rates
Avoid as many spam trigger words as possible
Test the spammyness of your email
Over time, email service providers should recognize you as a trustworthy sender. The issue could be that in the past, some recipients have already marked your emails as spam or that email service providers noticed high bounce rates from you.
I know, it’s annoying that the only path to a solution includes a paid subscription but unfortunately, that’s what it is.
Best regards!