What is the best domain warming strategy for a small email list?

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that warming up a new domain with a small email list requires sending emails to your most engaged subscribers first, then gradually increasing the volume and frequency of your sends. They recommend monitoring your sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS to ensure that your emails are reaching the inbox and not being marked as spam.

Email marketer from StackOverflow recommends starting with transactional emails to known customers and gradually introducing marketing emails. This helps build a positive reputation with ISPs. Monitor blocklists and immediately address any issues that arise.

Email marketer from Gmass shares that its a good idea to warm up a domain. They highlight that the most important factor is that recipients mark your email as important. You can do this by only sending highly engaging content to those that want it. You also need to make it easy for people to unsubscribe.

Email marketer from Reddit suggests segmenting your list by engagement level and focusing on sending to the most active subscribers first. Then gradually increase volume over a period of weeks. Monitor open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates to gauge the health of your sending reputation.

Email marketer from SparkPost explains that for a small list, it's crucial to focus on sending relevant content to engaged subscribers and to gradually increase sending volume. They mention to Segment your list based on engagement, and prioritize sending to the most active users during the initial warm-up phase. Monitor bounce rates and unsubscribe rates closely, and adjust your sending strategy accordingly.

Email marketer from SendGrid shares that warming up IP addresses is about establishing a positive sending reputation. Starting with low volumes of emails sent to engaged users, and then gradually increasing the volume over time. SendGrid mentions avoiding sudden spikes in email volume, as this can be a red flag to ISPs and negatively impact your deliverability.

Email marketer from EmailGeeks Forum explains to focus on consistent sending habits, send high-quality content that recipients want, ensure subscribers have genuinely opted in. If you have less than 5000 addresses, don't overthink it, ensure your technical settings are correct and your content is good and that's half the battle.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests splitting a small list over a couple of days initially, then migrating to a single day over a few weeks. He proposes sending to 33% of the list each day for three days for a couple of weeks, then 50/50 for a couple more weeks, and finally migrating to one day in about a month.

Expert from Spamresource explains that slow and steady often wins the race when warming up a domain. Sending too much email too fast can be a recipe for deliverability disaster. Patience and a gradual ramp-up are key.

Expert from Word to the Wise shares that consistency in sending volume is crucial during the warm-up period. Inconsistent sending patterns can trigger spam filters and negatively impact your deliverability. Maintain a consistent sending schedule as you gradually increase your volume.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests that warming may not be necessary for such low volumes. If concerned, she agrees with Matt's suggestions. She also adds that spreading sends out over a few days is generally a safe approach, but the volume is so low that it's likely OK regardless of the specific strategy.

Documentation from Google explains that when sending email to Gmail users, it's important to follow bulk sending best practices. Gradually increase sending volume, authenticate your email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and monitor your sender reputation in Google Postmaster Tools. Google recommends starting with a small volume of emails and gradually increasing it over time, as well as monitoring your spam complaint rate and keeping it below 0.10%.

Documentation from RFC-Editor details that using SPF, DKIM and DMARC will help validate the source of email messages which will help improve deliverability. These are essentially used by mailbox providers to ensure that the email that claims to have come from your domain, actually did.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that warming up IP addresses is essential for establishing a positive sending reputation. They recommend starting with low volumes of emails sent to engaged users, gradually increasing the volume over time, monitoring your sender reputation in Microsoft SNDS, and complying with all applicable laws and regulations. Make sure your sending domain is correctly set up, and avoid any sudden changes to your sending behavior, as this can trigger spam filters and negatively impact your deliverability.