How should I warm up a new dedicated IP for a new insurance website?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email Geeks advises against using a dedicated IP address for a new insurance website out of the gate, especially if the process involves an application. They anticipate spam issues due to the nature of the industry and suggest using pools until a sufficient subscriber base is established.
Email marketer from NeilPatel.com shares that establishing a good sender reputation is crucial for IP warm-up. Focus on sending relevant content that recipients want to receive. Monitor bounce rates, spam complaints, and unsubscribe rates to maintain a healthy list and positive reputation.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that monitoring key metrics during IP warm-up is essential. Keep a close eye on deliverability rates, open rates, and click-through rates. Use these metrics to identify and address any potential issues that could impact your sender reputation.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares advice from their email marketing course for beginners about using lead magnets to encourage sign-ups. The most effective lead magnet to attract leads to your business is a one-page PDF that answers a few frequently asked questions, or be a set of 3 to 5 tips related to your business. They advise against using discounts as lead magnets, as they attract people only interested in the discount.
Email marketer from Email Geeks suggests incentivizing initial traffic with rewards, freebies, quizzes, or engagement tactics to boost engagement, despite potentially lower lead value. He also recommends focusing on welcome series to benchmark future email performance.
Email marketer from MailerPro recommends starting the warmup with a flat increase in daily volume and mentions you can slowly raise it based on the performance of the emails. As an example: Week 1: 500 emails per day, Week 2: 1000 emails per day, Week 3: 2000 emails per day, and Week 4: 5000 emails per day.
Email marketer from Email Geeks seconds Tiffani's advice, saying that starting new IPs with fresh subscribers is an uphill battle. They suggest leveraging a shared IP to build an engaged audience first, then gradually transitioning to a dedicated IP with those subscribers.
Email marketer from Reddit shares to make sure you authenticate your emails by implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC as this can help improve deliverability and sender reputation during IP warm-up. Also contact your ESP to ask for support.
Email marketer from Warrior Forum recommends segmenting subscribers by engagement and sending exclusively to engaged recipients during the initial warmup phases. You need to gradually introduce less engaged subscribers as your IP's reputation grows. Suppress unengaged emails from your warmup strategy. Otherwise, you will have a harder time warming up the IP because email providers will see a low engagement rate.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign shares that planning your IP warm-up is critical. Develop a detailed schedule for gradually increasing your sending volume. Consider factors like list size, engagement levels, and industry best practices to create an effective warm-up strategy.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from SpamResource.com explains that maintaining consistent sending volumes throughout the IP warm-up process is crucial. Avoid erratic spikes or drops in volume, as this can negatively impact your sender reputation. Gradual, predictable increases are preferred.
Expert from SpamResource.com explains that implementing confirmed opt-in (COI) can positively affect deliverability and reduce complaints, especially during IP warm-up. By ensuring that subscribers genuinely want to receive your emails, you're building a higher-quality list.
Expert from Email Geeks suggests that organic warmup is the best and advises to start with the folks who signup and to do a little bit of ‘priming’ with the servicing emails to ensure that the domain rep is established and monitor the organic growth.
Expert from Wordtothewise.com explains that one important factor that isn't discussed as much with warming up new IPs is frequency capping (aka controlling the number of emails each user receives per week/month). Most people are using far too little frequency capping, especially when subscribers have been onboarded into the database. The higher the frequency capping the lower the risk and the easier it is to achieve your revenue objective.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Mailjet explains that warming up a dedicated IP involves gradually increasing sending volume. Start with your most engaged users and monitor your sender reputation closely. They recommend focusing on sending high-quality content to avoid spam complaints and maintain a good sender score.
Documentation from Google explains that it is important to authenticate your sending email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Also use a consistent sending IP address, keep complaint rates low, and don't send unsolicited email.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that a gradual IP warm-up is crucial for establishing a good sender reputation. Start with small volumes and gradually increase the sending rate over time, monitoring performance metrics closely to avoid triggering spam filters. Consistent volume and engagement are key.
Documentation from SendGrid explains that warming up an IP address effectively requires segmenting your email list. Send to your most engaged subscribers first, gradually adding less engaged segments over time. This helps build a positive sending reputation and prevents deliverability issues.