Should small senders use a dedicated sending domain?
Summary
What email marketers say7Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that a dedicated sending domain enhances brand recognition, improves deliverability, and provides greater control over sender reputation. They advise that even small senders can benefit from the improved deliverability and branding opportunities.
Email marketer from ExpertSender says that using a dedicated sending domain lets you build a positive reputation with mailbox providers, resulting in higher deliverability and better engagement. This is especially important if you're a smaller sender, or a new sender.
Email marketer from Email Geeks always recommends using a dedicated sending domain because it doesn’t cost anything to set up, it doesn’t have any requirements like a dedicated IP and it allows customers to feel confident the email is truly coming from you. You can also take advantage of Google Postmasters Tools.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that while shared domains are convenient, dedicated sending domains help build your sending reputation, which is crucial for email deliverability, especially for smaller senders who need to establish trust with ISPs.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests that using a dedicated domain is almost always a good idea, even for low-volume senders, because it helps establish your own sending reputation and makes it less likely that your emails will be affected by the actions of other senders.
Email marketer from Email Geeks says using a dedicated sending domain is not only better for deliverability on the front end, but for your customers to recognize your brand, which will boost open rates and that in turn boosts engagement.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign explains that using a dedicated sending domain lets you to control your sender reputation. Dedicated sending domains allow you to separate your email traffic from that of other senders, allowing you to control and build your sender reputation. For smaller senders, this can be a good thing to help with establishing trust.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains that a dedicated IP is about volume and consistency, and having your own sending domain, properly authenticated is vital to maximize deliverability. New senders should also use the Google Postmaster Tools to help monitor the health of their domain and determine if the messages you send have any delivery issues.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that a good sender reputation is about sending emails people want, that engage. It's about your sending domain and having a dedicated IP. It can be easier, especially for smaller senders to protect a dedicated domain reputation.
Expert from Email Geeks says yes to using a dedicated sending domain even for small lists, unlike a dedicated sending IP address, you aren’t “too small” for a dedicated sending domain.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from AWS explains the steps to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your domain. Ensuring that your domain's DNS records are properly configured to authenticate your emails increases the likelihood that email providers will deliver them. This is especially important to do as a smaller sender.
Documentation from DigitalOcean explains that SPF is a DNS record that specifies the mail servers that are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. Implementing SPF is a best practice for any email sender to prevent spoofing.
Documentation from Google recommends setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your emails and help inbox providers verify that messages are genuinely from you. These steps are critical for senders of all sizes, but especially important for newer/smaller senders.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that setting up a dedicated domain involves configuring DNS records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. They also highlight that even smaller senders can benefit from the improved control and deliverability that a dedicated domain provides.