How do you warm up a new sending domain on an existing warmed IP address?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Quora highlights that consistency in sending volume is key to successful domain warmup. Avoid erratic sending patterns and aim for a steady, gradual increase in volume to demonstrate trustworthiness to ISPs.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that warming up a domain involves gradually increasing the volume of emails sent to establish a positive reputation with ISPs. Start with small, targeted sends to engaged subscribers and monitor deliverability metrics closely. As your reputation builds, gradually increase sending volume and frequency.
Email marketer from SparkPost explains that maintaining a clean and healthy email list is crucial for successful domain warming. Regularly remove inactive subscribers, bounce addresses, and spam complaints to improve your sender reputation and deliverability. Using a double opt-in process can help ensure subscribers are genuinely interested in receiving your emails.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that when switching to a new sending domain on a warmed IP address, it's important to warm up and ramp up the new domain similarly to how you would warm up a new IP address. Having a warm IP can help in this process. For Gmail, monitor the new domain's performance using Google Postmaster Tools (GPT), and for other providers, track open rates per mailbox provider. Start with low sending volumes and gradually increase while monitoring performance.
Email marketer from StackExchange advises segmenting your email list and starting the domain warmup with your most engaged subscribers. This increases the chances of positive engagement signals (opens, clicks), which helps build a positive reputation for the new domain.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that gradually increasing email volume when warming up a domain is crucial to avoid triggering spam filters. Start with a small batch of highly engaged recipients and progressively add more recipients, while closely monitoring deliverability. Segment your list to target active and engaged subscribers first.
Email marketer from Reddit shares a real-world experience about domain warm-up, detailing how starting with 500 emails per day and gradually increasing by 100-200 emails daily over a month helped establish a solid sending reputation for a new domain on an existing IP.
Email marketer from SendGrid emphasizes focusing on sending relevant, engaging content to opted-in recipients to build a positive sending reputation when warming up a new domain. Monitor bounce rates, spam complaints, and engagement metrics (opens, clicks) to identify and address any issues promptly. Using a dedicated IP address can help isolate your sending reputation.
Marketer from Email Geeks responds that depending on the countries you are sending to, there might be local players using antispam systems that also care about domain reputation. However, by following Gmail, Microsoft, and Verizon Media Group's guidelines, it should generally work fine for everything.
Email marketer from Gmass shares that sending engaging emails helps with domain warmup and suggests creating personalized email campaigns with relevant content. This increases the likelihood of opens and clicks, signaling positive engagement to ISPs and improving your sending reputation.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks asks about tracking warmups of IP/Domain combos, wondering if a new warm IP requires domain warmups as the pair, while the marketer from Email Geeks responds that they track IP and some domain-related items. Laura adds that Gmail does the IP/SPF/d= combo hence needing to warmup domains.
Expert from Spam Resource, Steve Jones, answers that warming up a new IP includes using dedicated IPs, a good list, sending consistently, having clear unsubscribe, sending wanted mail and watching reputation metrics and taking action when alerted.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that domain warmup is fundamentally important for Gmail, Microsoft, and Verizon. Other providers may not care as much. For example, one of Laura's clients is warming up a new domain for Gmail by doing 3 sends a day over 5-6 days, reaching 1.5 million emails by the end of the process.
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, responds that the general approach to warming up sending infrastructure is to slowly ramp up volume and monitor your sending reputation using feedback loops and seedlists. She suggests you should be patient and take time to learn the best practices for your organization.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google explains that Google Postmaster Tools provides valuable insights into your domain's reputation and deliverability to Gmail users. Monitor metrics such as spam rate, IP reputation, and authentication status to identify and address any issues that may affect your email delivery. Use this to track your domain warm up success.
Documentation from Microsoft's Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) allows you to monitor your IP and domain reputation with Microsoft email services. Review data on complaint rates, spam trap hits, and other metrics to ensure your sending practices align with Microsoft's guidelines and maintain a positive sender reputation. Use this to track your domain warm up success.
Documentation from DMARC.org clarifies that Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) is an email authentication protocol that builds upon SPF and DKIM. Implementing DMARC allows you to specify how email receivers should handle messages that fail authentication checks, and provides reporting on authentication results to help identify and prevent email spoofing.
Documentation from DKIM.org explains that DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an email authentication method that helps verify the sender's identity. Implement DKIM by generating a public/private key pair, publishing the public key in your DNS records, and signing your outgoing emails with the private key. This helps improve deliverability and prevent email spoofing.
Documentation from RFC 7208, which defines the Sender Policy Framework (SPF), explains that creating and maintaining accurate SPF records is essential for email authentication. Ensure your SPF record includes all authorized sending sources for your domain to prevent email spoofing and improve deliverability. It also covers common mistakes when setting up your records.