How can you track inbox vs spam placement in cold email?

Tracking inbox placement helps identify deliverability problems before they become severe.

Seed testing:

Maintain test accounts at major providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo)

Include test addresses in campaigns

Manually check where messages land

Test across different account ages and configurations

Inbox placement tools:

GlockApps: Automated seed testing with placement reports

Mail-Tester: One-off deliverability checks

Everest (Validity): Enterprise placement monitoring

These services maintain seed lists across providers

Provider tools:

Gmail Postmaster Tools: Spam rate data for your domain

Reputation indicators suggest placement trends

Aggregate data, not individual message tracking

Indirect indicators:

Open rate drops may indicate spam folder placement

Reply rate changes signal deliverability shifts

Bounce patterns can reveal problems

Limitations:

Seed accounts don't perfectly represent real inboxes

Individual recipient filtering varies

Privacy changes affect tracking accuracy

Regular monitoring catches trends, but perfection is impossible.