How to improve email deliverability with domain warm-up, reducing spam rates and managing unsubscribes?

Email marketer from Gmass recommends regularly cleaning your email list to remove inactive subscribers. They explain that sending emails to unengaged contacts harms your sender reputation and increases the likelihood of being marked as spam. Gmass advises using email verification tools to identify and remove invalid email addresses.

Email marketer from Mailchimp recommends using a double opt-in process to confirm subscribers' consent to receive emails. They explain that double opt-in ensures that only genuinely interested subscribers are added to your list, reducing the risk of spam complaints and improving deliverability. Mailchimp advises sending a confirmation email after signup to verify the subscriber's email address.

Email marketer from Litmus advises implementing email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. They share that these protocols verify the sender's identity and prevent spoofing, improving email deliverability. Litmus recommends regularly monitoring authentication reports to identify and resolve any issues.

Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that making unsubscribing easier can significantly reduce complaints, referencing a past experience where a prominent unsubscribe link reduced complaints by up to 70%. He suggests testing a more visible unsubscribe option and then after clearing complaints you can put it back to normal but always make it easy to find.

Email marketer from Email on Acid advises complying with the CAN-SPAM Act by including a physical mailing address and a clear unsubscribe link in all commercial emails. They explain that failure to comply with CAN-SPAM can result in hefty fines and damage to your sender reputation. Email on Acid recommends regularly reviewing your email practices to ensure compliance.

Email marketer from HubSpot advises segmenting your email list based on subscriber behavior and preferences. They explain that sending targeted emails to specific segments increases engagement and reduces the likelihood of spam complaints. HubSpot recommends using data such as past purchases, website activity, and email engagement to create relevant segments.

Email marketer from Sendinblue shares the importance of providing an easy-to-find unsubscribe link in every email. They explain that making it simple for recipients to unsubscribe reduces the likelihood of them marking the email as spam. Sendinblue advises placing the unsubscribe link in a prominent location, such as the header or footer, and ensuring the process is straightforward and requires minimal effort from the subscriber.

Email marketer from Validity shares to use feedback loops (FBLs) to identify and remove subscribers who mark your emails as spam. They explain that FBLs provide valuable insights into spam complaints, allowing you to proactively address issues and improve your sender reputation. Validity recommends signing up for FBLs with major ISPs to receive spam complaint data.

Email marketer from Woodpecker advises that when warming up a new IP address, send emails only to your most engaged contacts first. They explain that high engagement signals to ISPs that your emails are wanted, improving your IP's reputation. Woodpecker recommends gradually increasing the volume of emails as your reputation improves.

Email marketer from Mailjet shares that a domain warm-up involves gradually increasing sending volume to establish a positive reputation with ISPs. Mailjet explains that starting with small batches of emails to engaged subscribers and progressively increasing the volume over several weeks is crucial. They also advise monitoring deliverability metrics and adjusting the sending schedule based on performance and feedback from ISPs.

Expert from Spamresource explains that regular list hygiene is crucial for maintaining good deliverability. They advise segmenting your list based on engagement and removing unengaged subscribers to improve sender reputation. They recommend focusing on subscribers who actively open and click your emails.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that domain reputation directly impacts email deliverability. They explain that building and maintaining a positive domain reputation requires consistent sending practices, proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and engagement with subscribers. They advise monitoring your domain reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools.

Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes that obtaining explicit consent from subscribers is essential for ethical email marketing and good deliverability. They explain that sending emails to people who haven't given their permission can lead to spam complaints and damage your sender reputation. They recommend using a double opt-in process to ensure subscribers genuinely want to receive your emails.

Expert from Email Geeks responds that a spam rate of 1% combined with a medium domain reputation suggests recipients aren't engaging positively with the emails, indicating it's not just a warm-up issue. She advises focusing on meeting recipients' needs and expectations better, also warmup should be done with best data.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that the way to fix reputation at Gmail is to send to your best data and that at Gmail you can't just remove folks who complain so there isn’t really a way to ‘fix’ spam rates, you can only improve permission.

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help emphasizes the importance of authenticating email using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to improve deliverability. They explain that senders should ensure their sending domain or IP address has a valid forward and reverse DNS record (PTR record). In addition they clearly state that you must keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and avoid ever reaching a spam rate of 0.30% or higher.

Documentation from DMARC.org highlights that DMARC builds upon SPF and DKIM to provide a policy for how email receivers should handle emails that fail authentication checks. It also enables senders to receive reports about email authentication failures, helping them identify and address potential issues. DMARC.org recommends implementing DMARC to protect your domain from email spoofing and phishing attacks.

Documentation from RFC explains that SPF records help prevent email spoofing by specifying which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. It shares that configuring SPF records correctly reduces the chance of your emails being marked as spam and improves deliverability.

Documentation from Microsoft Learn highlights the significance of maintaining clean mailing lists to avoid sending to inactive or invalid email addresses. They explain that regularly removing bounced emails and unsubscribed users helps improve sender reputation and reduce spam complaints. Microsoft advises using a double opt-in process to ensure subscribers genuinely want to receive emails and to minimize the risk of spam reports.