Email deliverability is one of the most important factors in whether your Mail Mint campaigns, automations, and abandoned cart recovery emails actually convert. A well-designed email that lands in the spam folder generates zero opens, zero clicks, and zero recovered revenue — no matter how good the copy or offer is.
This guide covers:
- Configuring sender settings inside Mail Mint
- Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records on your domain
- Why you need a proper SMTP service — since Mail Mint does not send emails on its own
- Best practices for sender domains and deliverability monitoring
Why Deliverability Matters
Mail Mint is self-hosted by design — every contact stays in your WordPress database, and Mail Mint uses whatever SMTP configuration your WordPress site already has. That’s great for data ownership, but it also means Mail Mint inherits WordPress’s default mail problems if you haven’t set up SMTP separately:
- Emails are sent from your web server IP — often on shared hosting with a poor sending reputation.
- No authentication — SPF/DKIM aren’t configured out of the box.
- Frequently flagged as spam by Gmail, Outlook, and other major providers.
Since Mail Mint doesn’t operate its own sending infrastructure, deliverability is entirely dependent on how well your domain and SMTP provider are configured — this isn’t optional groundwork, it’s the foundation every campaign, automation, and recovery email sits on top of.
Prerequisites
- Mail Mint installed and activated (free or Pro)
- Access to your domain’s DNS records (through your registrar or host)
- A business email address for your “From” sender
- An SMTP plugin or service, since Mail Mint relies on your site’s configured mailer
Step 1 — Configure Sender Settings in Mail Mint
Go to Mail Mint > Settings > Email Sending.
Configure:
| Field | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| From Name | Your store or brand name (e.g., “Sarah from ExampleStore”) |
| From Email | A real address on your domain (e.g., sarah@yourstore.com) — never a free provider address |
| Reply-to Name | Same as From Name, or a monitored support alias |
| Reply-to Email | Same as From Email, or a monitored inbox |
| Bounce Handling | Enabled, so Mail Mint can flag undeliverable addresses — see Setting Up Bounce Handling to connect it to your SMTP provider |
| Sending Frequency | Keep at the recommended 25 emails every 5 minutes unless your SMTP provider supports higher volume — check Email Sending Limits for your specific host’s cap if you’re not on a dedicated SMTP service |
These settings apply globally — to newsletters, automations, and abandoned cart recovery emails alike, since they all send through the same Mail Mint sending pipeline.
Note
Don’t use Gmail, Yahoo, or other free providers as your From address — they will fail DMARC checks and be blocked or filtered by major inbox providers.
Step 2 — Use an SMTP Service (Required, Not Optional)
Mail Mint explicitly does not provide its own delivery service — it hands every email off to whatever mailer WordPress is configured to use. If you haven’t set up SMTP, you’re sending through PHP’s basic mail() function by default, and Step 1’s sender settings won’t be enough on their own. You’re also at the mercy of your host’s raw sending caps — see Email Sending Limits for a breakdown by host — which is one more reason a dedicated SMTP provider is worth the setup time.
Recommended Providers
| Service | Free Tier | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| SendGrid | 100 emails/day | Small-to-medium stores |
| Mailgun | Pay-as-you-go | Developer-friendly |
| Amazon SES | Very cheap | High-volume senders |
| Postmark | 100 emails/month | Excellent deliverability |
| Brevo (Sendinblue) | 300 emails/day | Marketing + transactional |
How to Connect
- Choose an SMTP plugin — see Compatibility With SMTP Plugins for the full list of plugins Mail Mint works with.
- Create an account with your chosen SMTP provider.
- Follow the plugin’s setup wizard to enter your API key or SMTP credentials.
- Send a test email to confirm delivery, then send a test Mail Mint campaign to a personal inbox to confirm the two are working together.
- While you’re set up on your provider, also walk through Setting Up Bounce Handling — Mail Mint has provider-specific instructions for Amazon SES, Brevo, Mailgun, SendGrid, Postmark, and others, so bounces feed back into your contact statuses instead of silently piling up.
Step 3 — Set Up an SPF Record
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) tells receiving servers which IPs are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain.
How to Add
- Log in to your DNS provider (e.g., Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap).
- Add a TXT record for your domain:
- Type: TXT
- Name: @
- Value:
v=spf1 include:YOUR-SMTP-PROVIDER.com ~all - Replace with your provider’s include statement:
- SendGrid:
include:sendgrid.net - Mailgun:
include:mailgun.org - Amazon SES:
include:amazonses.com - Google Workspace:
include:_spf.google.com
- SendGrid:
- Save and wait up to 24 hours for DNS propagation.
Note
Already using Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for regular email? You can combine multiple senders in one record: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:sendgrid.net ~all
Step 4 — Set Up a DKIM Record
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) cryptographically signs your Mail Mint emails so receiving servers can verify they weren’t tampered with in transit.
Your SMTP provider will give you one or more DKIM keys to add as TXT or CNAME records. Follow the exact instructions from your provider — they differ slightly across services.
Example (SendGrid — CNAME style):
- Name: s1._domainkey | Value: s1.domainkey.u1234.wl.sendgrid.net
- Name: s2._domainkey | Value: s2.domainkey.u1234.wl.sendgrid.net
Step 5 — Set Up a DMARC Record
DMARC tells receiving servers what to do when SPF or DKIM checks fail. Start with a monitoring-only policy:
- Type: TXT
- Name: _dmarc
- Value:
v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc-reports@yourdomain.com
This won’t block any email, but it will send you reports about authentication issues. After monitoring for 2–4 weeks and fixing any issues, tighten the policy to p=quarantine or p=reject.
Step 6 — Verify Your Setup
Use free tools to confirm everything is working before you rely on it in production:
- MXToolbox SuperTool — check SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records
- Mail-Tester.com — send a test email and get a spam score (aim for 9+/10)
- Google Postmaster Tools — monitor your domain reputation with Gmail
- GlockApps — comprehensive inbox placement testing across providers
Send your test through an actual Mail Mint campaign or automation, not just the SMTP plugin’s built-in test — this confirms the full pipeline, headers included.
Expected Outcome
After completing all six steps, your Mail Mint emails should:
- Pass SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication checks (verifiable via MXToolbox)
- Score 9+/10 on Mail-Tester.com
- Land consistently in the inbox rather than the spam folder across Gmail, Outlook, and other major providers
Tips & Best Practices
Content Best Practices
- Use a recognizable From Name — e.g., “Sarah at ExampleStore”
- Keep subject lines under 50 characters for better mobile display
- Avoid spam trigger words — “FREE!!!”, “100% GUARANTEED”, all caps, excessive exclamation marks
- Balance text and images — image-only emails often get flagged
- Always include a plain-text version — most SMTP plugins generate this automatically alongside your Mail Mint HTML template
Domain Best Practices
- Use your main domain or a subdomain — e.g., hello@yourstore.com or mail.yourstore.com
- Avoid brand-new domains — they have no sending reputation; warm them up gradually before high-volume sends
- Consider a dedicated sending subdomain (e.g., send.yourstore.com) for high-volume campaigns and abandoned cart recovery emails — this isolates your reputation from your main transactional/support mail
Monitoring
- Watch bounce rates — Mail Mint’s Bounce Tracking setting surfaces this once bounce handling is configured for your provider; treat anything over 2% as a warning sign
- Check spam complaints — keep below 0.1%
- Review unsubscribes regularly — a rising rate can signal targeting or frequency issues, not just a deliverability one
GDPR & Compliance Note
Mail Mint’s built-in double opt-in, preference center, and unsubscribe link handle the compliance side of deliverability — but they only help your sender reputation if the underlying SPF/DKIM/DMARC setup is also in place. Compliance and authentication solve different problems and you need both.
Troubleshooting
Emails Going to Spam
If your Mail Mint emails are still landing in spam after completing the steps above:
- Re-run Mail-Tester.com and check which specific test failed (authentication, content, or blocklist)
- Confirm your SMTP plugin is actually intercepting Mail Mint’s emails and not silently falling back to PHP mail()
- Check whether your sending domain or IP appears on a blocklist via MXToolbox
