What are the best methods for setting up an email seed list for internal stakeholders?

Email marketer from EmailDiscussions forum recommends using automated tools or services to monitor your seed list results and get alerts when emails are not being delivered to the inbox. This can save time and help you identify deliverability issues more quickly.

Email marketer from StackExchange suggests including a mix of email providers (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.) in your seed list to get a comprehensive view of deliverability across different platforms. They recommend that you can setup your own to be able to review the results.

Email marketer from Reddit recommends creating a separate internal email group for seed list recipients, ensuring they're aware of the purpose and instructed not to mark emails as spam. Also, the poster recommends to educate internal stakeholders as to why this is important.

Email marketer from Email on Acid shares the advice that it's important to keep your seed list updated and remove inactive or invalid email addresses to maintain the accuracy of your deliverability testing. They also suggest segmenting your seed list by email client and device.

Email marketer from Quora explains that the ideal seed list size depends on your audience size and sending volume. A small seed list of 5-10 addresses may be sufficient for low-volume senders, while larger senders may need a seed list of 20 or more addresses to get a representative sample.

Email marketer from Litmus explains that a key use case for seed lists is to check how your emails render across different email clients and devices. This helps you identify and fix any design or formatting issues before sending to your wider audience.

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests a shared mailbox makes more sense than adding individuals if everyone on the seed list needs to receive every email.

Email marketer from GMass explains that seed lists should not include spam trap emails, as they can negatively impact your sender reputation. They recommend cleaning your email list regularly to remove inactive or invalid addresses.

Email marketer from Mailtrap Blog explains that seed lists are valuable for testing email deliverability across different email clients and identifying potential rendering issues before sending to your main audience.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests alternatives to groups or individual emails for seed lists, such as a public folder on the mail server, and notes that groups and individual emails have their own challenges.

Expert from Email Geeks shares how they built an archive to store email copies and make them searchable by recreating the message on demand from metadata and the original template.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests using a central mailbox that all team members can access instead of flooding their individual inboxes with seed list emails.

Expert from Spam Resource explains that seed lists can give you *some* information about inbox placement, but should not be relied on as a full view of deliverability. They are not a statistically valid sample, and the experience of seed addresses may not reflect the experience of your customers.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that one should choose seed list providers carefully. There are a lot of ‘free’ services that are effectively running spam traps, and it is better to choose providers that cost money, but are up front about who runs the seed accounts.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests setting up a VPS with a single mailbox to collect all seed list emails and potentially dropping it into a searchable database.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that a Google Group can work for a seed list, but there are risks such as accidentally unsubscribing the entire group from emails. Also tracking clicks on a per individual basis for those people will not be possible.

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin explains how to whitelist your sending domain or IP address within your organization's Google Workspace settings to prevent internal emails from being marked as spam. This can be helpful for ensuring that your internal seed list recipients receive your emails.

Documentation from Mailchimp explains that while seed lists can provide some insights, they are not a foolproof method for guaranteeing deliverability. Factors such as sender reputation, authentication, and content quality also play a significant role.

Documentation from SendGrid explains that seed lists can help monitor inbox placement and identify potential issues with email content or sender reputation. However, they caution against using seed lists as the sole measure of deliverability.

Documentation from SparkPost explains the importance of actively monitoring seed list results to identify any deliverability problems, such as emails landing in the spam folder or being blocked altogether. They advise using this data to adjust your sending practices and improve your sender reputation.