What is the best IP warmup strategy for weekly email sends on new IPs?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from EmailOctopus shares the importance of starting with small batches of highly engaged subscribers, and gradually increasing the volume over a period of weeks. They also share the importance of monitoring bounce rates, spam complaints, and unsubscribe rates, and adjusting your sending strategy based on these metrics.
Email marketer from StackExchange advises starting small, monitoring your reputation, and ensuring you're only sending valuable content to people who want it. Ramp up slowly over weeks.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that during IP warming, send emails to your most engaged subscribers first. As your reputation grows, you can begin sending to less engaged subscribers. Also they share the importance of monitoring your sender reputation to spot problems quickly.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares an accelerated IP warmup schedule, suggesting doubling the send volume every few days (1k, 2k, 4k, 8k, etc.) and monitoring performance to adjust the pace as needed.
Email marketer from SendGrid advises beginning with low sending volumes to engaged recipients and gradually increasing the volume. For weekly sends, ensure the list is very clean. If issues arise, reduce volume and address problems before resuming the warmup.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that a 10-week warm-up schedule seems slow and advises starting with a higher volume (e.g., 10K) and doubling every few days.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that warming up a dedicated IP involves gradually increasing sending volume and frequency to build a positive sender reputation with ISPs. This involves starting with your most engaged recipients and slowly scaling up over several weeks, while monitoring deliverability metrics closely. Weekly senders should pay extra attention, making sure to maintain consistency.
Email marketer from Gmass explains that when you start sending email from a new IP address, you don’t have a reputation yet and ISPs are going to be suspicious of your email and that is why you need to slowly establish yourself as a sender.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains throttling during IP warmups depends on the SMTP layer and list composition. With a good reputation, faster sending is possible if the MTA responds to "Slow Down" signals. Sending to Google-heavy lists yields different results than diverse MBPs.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises that it's better for IP reputation to have consistent traffic over time rather than bursty traffic, even if recipients only get the email once per week. They suggest varying the send day for different recipients.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that a slow and steady approach is best. Start with a small segment of your most engaged users and gradually increase the volume. Monitor your deliverability and adjust as needed.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes the importance of consistent sending volumes during IP warming. She recommends starting with a small volume and gradually increasing it over time, aiming for a consistent level of email activity rather than erratic bursts. This helps establish a predictable sending pattern that mailbox providers can trust.
Expert from Spamresource explains that IP warm-up is about establishing a good sending reputation with mailbox providers. He suggests starting with very low volumes to engaged recipients and gradually increasing the volume over several weeks, while monitoring for any deliverability issues or negative feedback.
Expert from Email Geeks points out potential conflicts between email content rules and the sending schedule needed for IP warmups, suggesting prioritizing policy changes with either Gmail or internal colleagues.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft shares to gradually increase your sending volume and to start by sending small volumes of email to your engaged subscribers and increase the volume over time, as you establish a reputation as a legitimate sender. They share to avoid sending sudden bursts of email to avoid being flagged as a spammer.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that a gradual IP warmup is crucial, especially for new IPs. Start with a small volume of high-quality emails to engaged subscribers, gradually increasing the volume over several weeks. Monitor sender reputation and engagement metrics closely. Avoid sending to unengaged or purchased lists during this phase.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that when starting with a new IP address, it’s important to establish a sending history by gradually increasing the volume of emails sent. Start with a small number of emails and slowly increase the volume over time, paying close attention to any delivery issues or bounces. Focus on sending to engaged users.