What is the best approach for transitioning email sending from one domain to another?
Summary
What email marketers say13Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Mailchimp shares the importance of warming up a new sending domain. This involves starting with low sending volumes to engaged recipients and gradually increasing volume over time. This helps establish a positive reputation with ISPs and avoid being flagged as spam.
Marketer from Email Geeks recommends notifying recipients in advance about the change in the 5322.From address to avoid breaking message rules, losing allow-list entries, and being mistaken for spam.
Email marketer from SparkPost highlights the importance of maintaining sender reputation during a domain transition. This involves ensuring that the new domain has a clean IP address and that sending practices comply with best practices to avoid damaging sender reputation.
Email marketer from Reddit user u/DeliverabilityGuru suggests creating a subdomain (e.g., mail.newdomain.com) specifically for marketing emails. This isolates the reputation of marketing emails from transactional emails.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum (User EmailPro) advises thorough planning and documentation during domain transitions. They emphasize documenting all steps, configurations, and monitoring processes to maintain control and traceability during and after the migration.
Email marketer from GMass notes the importance of setting up a custom tracking domain on your new root domain as this will help build reputation.
Email marketer from StackOverflow User456 suggests closely monitoring spam filters. User456 recommends setting up feedback loops and using tools to check if the new domain's emails are being flagged as spam.
Email marketer from SendGrid emphasizes the necessity of authenticating your new domain before sending any emails. Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records is crucial for establishing trust with mailbox providers and ensuring your emails reach the inbox.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests notifying recipients about the domain change, focusing on sending emails to the most engaged clients initially to establish a good reputation, gradually adding the rest of the database, and authenticating the new domain to prevent issues.
Email marketer from Email on Acid recommends segmenting email lists when transitioning to a new domain. Start by sending to the most engaged segments and gradually expand to less engaged segments to build domain reputation gradually.
Email marketer from Litmus suggests testing emails across different email clients during the domain transition. Ensure that emails are rendering correctly and that links are working properly on the new domain.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares deliverability advice for transitioning a client's sending domain, including ensuring both domains have good sending reputation, setting up DMARC reports, moving mail-flows one at a time, and monitoring DMARC reports. Also suggests considering URL and email address redirections and managing volume increases.
Email marketer from Reddit user u/EmailExpert123 advises closely monitoring email deliverability metrics during the domain transition. Monitoring bounce rates, complaint rates, and inbox placement helps identify and address any issues that may arise during the migration process.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource emphasizes building and protecting your domain reputation before, during, and after the domain migration process. They advise monitoring blocklists and taking immediate action if your domain ends up on one. They also recommend working closely with your ESP to manage the transition.
Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) explains that warming up new IPs and domains correctly involves starting with a very small, highly engaged audience and gradually increasing volume. Monitor your reputation, bounce rates, complaint rates, and blocklist status closely and adjust your sending strategy accordingly. Focus on quality over quantity during the initial stages to establish a positive reputation.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from RFC explains the correct syntax for SPF records. Incorrect SPF record syntax can lead to authentication failures and deliverability issues during a domain transition. Ensure that the SPF record is properly formatted and includes all necessary IP addresses and domains.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains the process of implementing a DMARC policy. It is essential to start with a 'p=none' policy to monitor email traffic before moving to a stricter policy like 'p=quarantine' or 'p=reject' during a domain transition.
Documentation from Microsoft Learn outlines different email migration strategies, including staged migrations and cutover migrations. Choosing the right strategy depends on the size of the organization and the complexity of the migration. Gradual migration is generally recommended to minimize disruption and maintain deliverability.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that when migrating email to a new domain, it's crucial to plan ahead. This includes setting up the new domain, configuring DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and gradually moving users and data to the new domain to maintain email deliverability and avoid disruptions.