Should I use subdomains for outbound email delivery to improve deliverability?
Summary
What email marketers say13Marketer opinions
Email marketer from SendGrid explains that using subdomains to separate different types of email traffic (transactional vs. marketing) is beneficial. This prevents a poor reputation for marketing emails from affecting transactional emails, which are critical for user experience.
Email marketer from Litmus recommends using subdomains to separate email streams, allowing for better control over sender reputation and minimizing the impact of marketing campaigns on critical transactional emails.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that to not be spam, email can either be solicited & bulk, or unsolicited & not bulk.
Email marketer from Neil Patel highlights that segmenting your email list and using subdomains can significantly improve email deliverability by targeting specific audience segments and preventing your primary domain's reputation from being affected by marketing campaigns.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that using a subdomain is a good idea for marketing emails, especially if you are using a new list or are unsure about the quality of your list. That way if the subdomain gets blocked your main domain will not be affected.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that using subdomains can protect your primary domain's reputation. If your marketing emails, for example, get a high spam complaint rate, it won't affect your transactional emails if they are sent from a separate subdomain.
Email marketer from SparkPost shares that subdomains allow you to isolate the reputation of different email streams. This means if you have a new marketing campaign with unverified recipients, it won't negatively impact your core transactional email delivery.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that If you're using a new subdomain, warm it up slowly. Start with low volumes and gradually increase sending to build a positive reputation with ISPs.
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares that permission to have Personal Identifiable Information (PII) data, and indeed permission to email, is neither transferrable nor inferable.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains that using subdomains allows you to segment email types, such as transactional, marketing, and newsletters, which helps maintain a cleaner sender reputation for each type of communication.
Email marketer from GlockApps shares that it's essential to monitor the reputation of your subdomains. Use tools to track deliverability, bounce rates, and spam complaints specific to each subdomain.
Email marketer from Email Geeks explains that regardless of how facilitated, sending cold emails from sources like Zoominfo or Apollo is considered 'openly spamming' and will eventually burn your reputation.
Email marketer from HubSpot notes that using a subdomain for outbound email marketing can protect your primary domain's reputation. If your marketing emails encounter deliverability issues, your transactional emails will remain unaffected.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise responds that when setting up subdomains for email, it’s crucial to properly configure authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for each subdomain to ensure deliverability and avoid being flagged as spam.
Expert from Email Geeks shares that using subdomains for different mail streams is common and generally good practice.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that subdomains are useful for separating email streams and managing reputation. Using a separate subdomain for marketing mail allows you to protect your core domain reputation if there are issues with a campaign.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains that SPF records need to be specifically configured for each subdomain that sends email. Without a correct SPF record, emails from the subdomain are more likely to be marked as spam.
Documentation from Microsoft emphasizes the importance of proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for all subdomains used for email sending to ensure deliverability and prevent spoofing.
Documentation from DKIM.org explains that Implementing DKIM for subdomains involves generating a new key pair and updating the DNS records for the subdomain with the public key. This allows receiving servers to verify that the email was indeed sent by the subdomain owner.
Documentation from Google explains that setting up subdomains requires creating new DNS records specifically for the subdomain, including SPF and DKIM records. This helps authenticate emails sent from the subdomain and improve deliverability.