How should I target mailbox providers during an email warmup?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks advises to start with the client's list, sort by domain frequency, and identify which domains map to which geos.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that when warming up, segment your list by engagement. Start with your most active openers and clickers, then expand to less engaged segments. This approach helps build a positive sending reputation with mailbox providers.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that when warming up IP addresses, it's crucial to start by sending small volumes of emails to your most engaged subscribers, gradually increasing the volume over time. Focus on recipients who regularly open and click your emails, as positive engagement signals to mailbox providers that your emails are wanted.
Email marketer from Woodpecker.co shares that when warming up an IP address or domain, it's important to target recipients who are most likely to engage with your emails. This includes subscribers who have recently opened or clicked on your messages. By focusing on these engaged users, you can build a positive sending reputation with mailbox providers and improve deliverability rates.
Email marketer from SendGrid shares that a good IP warmup strategy involves segmenting your email list and sending emails to the most active and engaged users first. This helps build a positive sender reputation by demonstrating that your emails are wanted and relevant. They suggest to avoid sending to unengaged or old addresses during the initial warmup phase.
Email marketer from Gmass recommends sending only to the most active and engaged subscribers when starting an email warmup. These recipients have shown interest in your emails and helps build sender reputation.
Email marketer from GlockApps recommends starting the email warmup process by sending emails to a small group of your most engaged subscribers. It is important to increase the sending volume gradually, while monitoring deliverability rates and engagement metrics. This helps establish a good sending reputation with mailbox providers.
Email marketer from MailerLite shares that during the initial stages of warming up, sending to highly engaged users helps establish your credibility with ISPs. These are users who have opened or clicked on your emails in the past.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that a warmup should be done using segments of an existing opted-in email list, sent to the mailbox provider domains on that list. Sending generic emails to multiple providers using made-up accounts is not advised.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign suggests focusing on your most engaged contacts during the warmup phase. These are people who've opened or clicked emails recently. This sends positive signals to ISPs and improves your deliverability rate.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests segmenting your email list based on subscriber activity and engagement levels. Start by sending emails to your most active subscribers and gradually expanding to less engaged users as your sending reputation improves. This strategy helps you avoid sending to inactive or spam trap addresses during the initial warmup phase.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise suggests using seed addresses at different ISPs to monitor inbox placement during your warmup. This provides direct feedback on how different mailbox providers are treating your mail.
Expert from Email Geeks adds that most people examine the client's data to determine breakdown by mailbox provider domain when targeting by MBP/domain.
Expert from Email Geeks agrees with John, advising to take a representative sample of opt-in lists and send slowly with gradual growth over several weeks.
Expert from Spamresource.com recommends segmenting your best subscribers during the warmup process. This ensures that you target recipients who are most likely to engage with your emails, leading to better inbox placement.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that sender reputation is a critical factor in email deliverability. They specify that sending emails to engaged users and avoiding sending to unengaged or spam trap addresses improves sender reputation and helps ensure emails reach the inbox.
Documentation from Microsoft details that to improve deliverability, it's crucial to target active and engaged subscribers during the warmup phase. Focus on sending to users who have recently interacted with your emails and avoid sending to inactive or bounced addresses to build a positive sender reputation.
Documentation from SparkPost states that the key to warming up IP addresses effectively is to send emails to recipients who are most likely to engage with your messages. Target subscribers who have recently opened or clicked on your emails, as this demonstrates positive engagement to mailbox providers and improves your sending reputation.
Documentation from AWS details the strategy of initially targeting your most responsive subscribers during IP warm-up, gradually increasing volume while monitoring delivery and engagement metrics to ensure positive reputation-building.
Documentation from Postmark states that targeting highly engaged users during warmup is critical. Focusing on those most likely to open and click helps establish positive sender reputation. Avoiding unengaged contacts is key.