Should I use a separate domain or subdomain for bulk email sending?

Summary

The overwhelming consensus from marketers, experts, and documentation across various platforms is that using a subdomain for bulk email sending is a crucial best practice. This strategy effectively isolates the sending reputation of marketing emails, safeguarding the primary domain's reputation and ensuring the reliable delivery of important transactional emails. While subdomains offer protection, consistent adherence to email best practices and, for high-volume senders, the consideration of a dedicated IP address are still vital.

Key findings

  • Reputation Isolation: Subdomains effectively separate the reputation of marketing and transactional emails.
  • Primary Domain Protection: Using a subdomain protects the primary domain's reputation from potential harm caused by marketing campaigns.
  • Transactional Deliverability: Subdomains help ensure the consistent and reliable delivery of critical transactional emails.
  • Industry Best Practice: Utilizing a subdomain for bulk email is widely recognized as an industry best practice.
  • Infrastructure Component: Setting up a distinct subdomain is an integral part of establishing a robust email infrastructure.

Key considerations

  • Email Practices: Good email sending practices remain essential, even with a subdomain, to avoid filtering by ISPs.
  • Dedicated IP: High-volume senders should consider a dedicated IP address to further isolate their sending reputation.
  • Subdomain Impact: Serious issues with email practices on a subdomain can still negatively affect the organizational domain's deliveries.
  • Naming Conventions: Using clear and consistent subdomain naming schemes aids in easy identification by recipients.

What email marketers say
11Marketer opinions

The overwhelming consensus is that using a subdomain for bulk email sending is a best practice. This approach helps isolate the sending reputation of marketing emails from transactional emails, protecting the primary domain's reputation. Maintaining a clean primary domain ensures deliverability of crucial transactional emails and prevents marketing-related issues from negatively impacting overall email performance.

Key opinions

  • Subdomain Isolation: Using a subdomain isolates the sending reputation, preventing bulk email issues from affecting the main domain.
  • Deliverability Protection: Subdomains protect the deliverability of important transactional emails by separating them from marketing campaigns.
  • Consistent Naming: Clear and consistent subdomain naming schemes are recommended for easy identification by receivers.
  • Domain Understanding: Using the same organizational domain, even on a subdomain, can help mail filters understand the content and maintain reputation stability.

Key considerations

  • Email Practices: Even with a subdomain, maintaining good email practices is essential to prevent filtering by ISPs.
  • Dedicated IP: For high-volume sending, consider a dedicated IP address for further reputation isolation.
  • Sender Reputation: Maintaining sender reputation is still key, even on subdomains.
  • Domain Reputation: Must continue to make sure the reputation of your main domain is in good health.
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks recommends using subdomains of the organizational domain and using clear and consistent naming schemes in DNS. They suggest delegating a subdomain of the brand's primary domain to the ESP (e.g., email.customerbrand.com) as the best option.

May 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that a subdomain can affect organizational domain deliveries if there are serious issues with email practices. Using the same organization domain helps mail filters understand content, leading to more stable reputation and campaign performance and avoids unexpected phishing warnings and shared IP reputation issues.

December 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Gmass advises setting up a separate subdomain specifically for sending mass emails. This keeps your primary domain's reputation clean, so deliverability of important emails are not impacted.

June 2021 - Gmass
Marketer view

Email marketer from HubSpot shares that using a subdomain for marketing emails is a best practice as it protects the reputation of the primary domain, helping ensure that important transactional emails are delivered reliably.

January 2022 - HubSpot
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks says even when using a subdomain, you must ensure your brand name or campaign layout is not being filtered by ISPs and good practices must be followed for deliverability.

June 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from EmailToolTester recommends using a subdomain to segment email sending activities. If a bulk email campaign experiences issues, it will not affect the deliverability of other emails sent from the primary domain.

May 2023 - EmailToolTester
Marketer view

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains that using a subdomain for marketing and promotional emails is a best practice to isolate your email sending reputation. They recommend using separate subdomains for different types of email communications.

March 2022 - ActiveCampaign
Marketer view

Email marketer from Web Hosting Talk Forum shares that using a subdomain for bulk email is crucial to protect the main domain's reputation. If you mess up with bulk sending, you don't want it to impact your transactional emails.

November 2023 - Web Hosting Talk Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares that using a subdomain (e.g., mail.yourdomain.com) for bulk emailing is a common practice to separate marketing emails from transactional ones, helping to prevent your primary domain's reputation from being negatively affected if your marketing emails are flagged as spam.

June 2022 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that using a subdomain is a common practice for bulk email sending as it isolates the sending reputation. This way, issues with bulk sending are less likely to negatively impact the main domain's reputation.

October 2021 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from Sendinblue suggests using a subdomain for marketing emails. If you are sending a high volume of emails, consider using a dedicated IP address as well to further isolate your sending reputation.

March 2024 - Sendinblue

What the experts say
3Expert opinions

Experts recommend using a subdomain for bulk email sending to separate reputation and prevent marketing issues from affecting transactional email deliverability. Setting up a distinct subdomain is part of establishing a proper email infrastructure.

Key opinions

  • Industry Best Practice: Using a subdomain aligns with industry best practices.
  • Reputation Separation: Subdomains allow for separate reputation management between marketing and transactional emails.
  • Infrastructure Component: A distinct subdomain is a key element of a proper email infrastructure setup.

Key considerations

Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, explains that using a subdomain for marketing mail allows you to separate reputation. It prevents marketing issues from affecting your transactional email deliverability.

November 2021 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource, Laura Atkins, explains the importance of setting up the proper infrastructure and points out using a distinct subdomain is one element of this.

March 2023 - Spam Resource
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks says industry best practices suggest using a subdomain.

September 2022 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
5Technical articles

Email service provider documentation consistently recommends using a dedicated domain or subdomain for sending marketing emails. This practice is crucial for protecting the primary domain's reputation and ensuring reliable delivery of important transactional emails. Separating email streams by using a dedicated subdomain isolates reputation and prevents marketing-related issues from affecting the deliverability of critical communications.

Key findings

  • Reputation Protection: Using a separate domain or subdomain protects the primary domain's reputation.
  • Deliverability: Separation ensures better deliverability for important transactional emails.
  • Reputation Isolation: Dedicated subdomains allow for isolation of sending reputation.

Key considerations

Technical article

Documentation from Postmark advises using a subdomain for marketing emails as it allows you to separate your email sending reputation. This means that problems with marketing emails will not impact the deliverability of transactional emails sent from your main domain.

May 2021 - Postmark
Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin recommends setting up a dedicated domain or subdomain for sending marketing emails. This helps protect your primary domain's reputation and ensures better deliverability for important transactional emails.

May 2024 - Google Workspace Admin
Technical article

Documentation from AWS SES details that using a separate domain or subdomain for different types of email (transactional vs. marketing) helps maintain deliverability. If marketing emails cause issues, it won't affect the deliverability of critical transactional emails sent from the main domain.

October 2024 - AWS SES
Technical article

Documentation from Mailchimp recommends using a dedicated sending domain for marketing emails. Separating your marketing email activities by using a dedicated subdomain helps protect the domain reputation.

May 2022 - Mailchimp
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost explains the importance of setting up a separate sending domain (subdomain) for marketing and promotional emails to protect the reputation of your primary domain, which should be reserved for transactional emails.

September 2024 - SparkPost