How can I fix spam issues after previous cold outreach and improve domain reputation?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that sender reputation is key for email deliverability and suggests using tools to monitor your sender score, sending relevant and engaging content, and segmenting your audience to target the right people with the right message.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that they improved domain reputation after cold outreach by starting with very small, highly engaged segments, closely monitoring bounce rates and spam complaints, and gradually increasing sending volume while consistently providing value to subscribers.
Email marketer from GMass emphasizes the importance of warming up your email address or domain before resuming cold outreach to re-establish sender reputation, sending to engaged subscribers, and A/B testing to optimize email content.
Email marketer from SendGrid shares that focusing on email authentication, list segmentation, and engaging content are fundamental to improving deliverability after a history of cold outreach, alongside consistently monitoring sender reputation metrics.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that domain warmup tools are ineffective and advises against cold outreach. They also point out that the issue is with Gmail's domain reputation, not just blocklists, and that this problem likely extends to other Mailbox Providers (MBPs).
Email marketer from Reddit recommends immediately ceasing all outreach, focusing on list cleaning by removing unengaged subscribers, implementing a strict permission-based opt-in process for new subscribers, and gradually increasing sending volume to warmed-up segments.
Email marketer from Neil Patel explains that repairing domain reputation requires consistent effort and offers strategies like setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records; cleaning your email list; warming up your IP address; and engaging subscribers to improve reputation.
Email marketer from GlockApps emphasizes the importance of using email deliverability testing tools to identify and fix issues that may be causing emails to land in the spam folder, helping to improve overall sender reputation and inbox placement rates.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor explains that cleaning your email list regularly helps maintain a healthy sender reputation by removing inactive subscribers, reducing bounce rates, and increasing engagement. This leads to better deliverability and campaign performance.
What the experts say6Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks advises to stop sending spam, discard suspicious email addresses, focus on users with engagement, and send valuable email with incentives, starting slowly and monitoring results.
Expert from Email Geeks states that warmup tools are a scam and can worsen the spam issue.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that you should authenticate with SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Send wanted mail. Honor opt-outs. Test your mail. Segment your list. Watch your sending reputation. Avoid using URL shorteners. Send from a static IP address.
Expert from Email Geeks advises not to rely on email opens as a true metric of engagement.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that when warming IPs after cold outreach, one should start slow, send wanted mail to engaged recipients, authenticate mail, and monitor deliverability. It's also important to know who your provider is to avoid sending to spam traps.
Expert from Word to the Wise details email deliverability myths such as quantity over quality sending, shared IPs are always bad and dedicated IPs are always good, and the use of purchased lists, and what senders should instead do.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from DKIM explains that DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an email authentication method which is designed to detect email spoofing by providing a mechanism that allows mail senders to digitally sign their messages, indicating that they are authorized to send mail from the sending domain, and allowing mail receivers to verify the signature.
Documentation from Google explains that adhering to Gmail's bulk sender guidelines is critical for avoiding the spam folder, emphasizing authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), list hygiene, managing sending rates, and providing easy unsubscribe options.
Documentation from DMARC.org highlights the importance of implementing DMARC to protect your domain from email spoofing and phishing attacks, specifying that a DMARC policy allows senders to indicate that their emails are protected by SPF and DKIM, and tells receivers what to do if neither of those authentication methods passes – such as reject the message.
Documentation from Microsoft details implementing the Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) for email authentication to verify the sender's identity and reduce the likelihood of messages being marked as spam.
Documentation from RFC describes Sender Policy Framework (SPF) which is an email authentication method designed to detect forging sender addresses during the delivery of email. Specifically, SPF authorizes sending hosts by creating DNS records listing authorized mail servers. Receiving mail servers can then check these records to verify that email is sent from an authorized host.