How spam-risk checks work
What CarcMail checks before every campaign send — and how to interpret your spam score and fix flagged issues.
A spam score of 0–2 is your target before sending any campaign. If your score is higher, CarcMail will tell you exactly what to fix.
Overview
Before any campaign email is sent, CarcMail runs an automatic spam-risk check on the email content. This check analyses your subject line, email body, and structural formatting for patterns that commonly trigger spam filters at major email providers.
The result is a numeric spam score from 0 (no issues detected) to 10 (very high risk). CarcMail also provides a breakdown of specific signals that contributed to the score, so you know exactly what to fix.
This check happens automatically when you create or edit a campaign’s email. You can also trigger it manually at any time.
The spam check looks at your email content — not your inbox reputation or domain authentication. Both matter for deliverability, but the spam check is focused on what you can control in the message itself.
What the spam check analyses
CarcMail checks the following in your email:
Subject line
- Presence of high-risk words (e.g. “free”, “guaranteed”, “act now”, “limited time”)
- All-caps words or excessive punctuation
- Subject line length — very long subjects get clipped and can look suspicious
Email body
- High-risk marketing phrases that spam filters commonly flag
- Excessive use of capital letters
- Too many links — more than 3–4 links in a cold email is a red flag
- Image-to-text ratio — emails with mostly images and little text look suspicious
- HTML formatting issues — mismatched tags, hidden text, very small font sizes
Overall structure
- Very short emails with only a link (common in phishing)
- Very long emails with many formatting elements
- Missing unsubscribe language (CarcMail adds this automatically)
Interpreting your score
| Score | Risk Level | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Low | Safe to send |
| 3–4 | Moderate | Review flagged items; consider fixing before sending |
| 5–7 | High | Fix flagged items before sending |
| 8–10 | Very high | Do not send — significant deliverability risk |
Step-by-step
Review the spam check on your campaign
When you finish writing or generating your campaign email, the spam score appears automatically below the email editor. The score and individual flags are shown.
Read the specific flags
Each flag is listed with a plain-language description. Example:
- “Subject line contains ‘Free’ — commonly flagged by spam filters”
- “Email contains 4 links — reduce to 1–2 for cold email”
- “‘Guaranteed’ detected in body — consider rephrasing”
Fix the flagged issues
Edit your email to address each flag. Common fixes:
- Replace or remove high-risk words
- Remove unnecessary links — one clear CTA link is usually enough
- Break up long subject lines
- Add line breaks to avoid dense text blocks
Alternatively, click Rewrite for deliverability to have the AI fix these issues automatically.
Re-run the check
After making edits, click Run spam check to get an updated score. Repeat until you reach a score of 0–2.
How to confirm it worked
- The spam score badge updates to reflect your current draft
- All flags listed previously are resolved (shown as cleared)
- The campaign setup screen allows you to proceed to the launch step
Common issues
| Issue | What to check |
|---|---|
| Score keeps coming back high after edits | Look for less obvious issues — links in your email signature, HTML formatting from copy-paste, or a risk word in your subject you missed. |
| Can’t find the specific flagged word | The flag shows the phrase detected. Use your browser’s find-in-page (Ctrl+F / Cmd+F) to locate it in the draft. |
| Score is low but emails still go to spam | Spam filters are not just about content — inbox reputation and domain authentication also matter. Check inbox warmup and SPF/DKIM setup. |
Frequently asked questions
A score of 0 is ideal — no spam signals detected. Scores above 3 indicate content or structure issues worth fixing before sending.
No. CarcMail helps reduce deliverability risk by checking your content and inbox readiness before sending — but inbox placement depends on many factors outside any tool's control.
Each spam check costs 0.2 credits.
Put it into practice
Try CarcMail — free to start.
Set up your first campaign in 4 minutes. AI drafts, spam-risk checks, follow-up automation, and reply classification — all in one workspace.
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