What is the process and difficulty of switching from a shared IP to a dedicated IP address?

Summary

Switching from a shared IP to a dedicated IP is a process that requires careful planning and execution, with the difficulty being directly proportional to data quality and sending practices. The core of the process involves gradually warming up the new IP by starting with low email volumes and progressively increasing them to build a positive sender reputation. Key factors impacting the success of this transition include list hygiene, email engagement, and proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Tools like Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS are essential for monitoring IP reputation and health. If sending volumes are low, a dedicated IP may not be the best choice due to the difficulty of establishing a good reputation. Cleaning the email list, maintaining a low bounce rate, and sending initially to the most engaged segments are crucial for a smooth transition. Ultimately, while a dedicated IP provides full control over reputation, it also entails full responsibility for maintaining good sending practices.

Key findings

  • IP Warmup: Gradual IP warming is essential to establish a positive sending reputation.
  • Data Quality & List Hygiene: High data quality and a clean email list are critical for a smooth transition.
  • Authentication: Proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is paramount for deliverability.
  • Engagement: Sending to engaged segments initially helps build a positive reputation faster.
  • Monitoring: Monitoring tools like Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS are essential for tracking IP health and deliverability.
  • Volume Considerations: Low sending volumes may make a dedicated IP less effective.

Key considerations

  • Planning & Strategy: Careful planning and a well-defined IP warming strategy are necessary.
  • Risk Assessment: Assess the potential risks and benefits of a dedicated IP based on sending volume and data quality.
  • Full Responsibility: Understand that a dedicated IP means full responsibility for maintaining a good sending reputation.
  • Bounce Rate Management: Actively manage and maintain a low bounce rate to avoid deliverability issues.
  • Proactive Monitoring: Proactively monitor IP reputation and health to identify and address potential problems early.

What email marketers say
13Marketer opinions

Switching from a shared to a dedicated IP address involves a process of warming up the new IP gradually to establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs. The difficulty of this process is directly linked to data quality, sending practices, and email volume. Proper email authentication, list hygiene, and engagement monitoring are crucial for a smooth transition. If you have low sending volumes, a shared IP might be preferable. Maintaining low bounce rates, monitoring deliverability, and sending to engaged segments initially are also important.

Key opinions

  • Data Quality: The quality of your email data directly impacts the difficulty of transitioning to a dedicated IP.
  • IP Warmup: Gradual IP warmup is essential to build a positive sending reputation.
  • Email Volume: Low sending volume may make a dedicated IP less effective due to warmup challenges.
  • Authentication: Proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is critical for deliverability.
  • List Hygiene: Cleaning your email list before the transition is necessary to reduce bounce rates.
  • Engagement: Start by sending to your most engaged segments to improve sender reputation.
  • Deliverability Monitoring: Closely monitor deliverability rates and adjust sending practices as needed.

Key considerations

  • Planning: Careful planning and understanding of the warmup process are essential.
  • Risk Assessment: Assess whether the benefits of a dedicated IP outweigh the risks, especially with low volumes.
  • Responsibility: A dedicated IP means full control but also full responsibility for your sending reputation.
  • Bounce Rate: Maintain a low bounce rate (below 2%) to prevent deliverability issues.
  • Monitoring Tools: Utilize tools like Google Postmaster Tools and Microsoft SNDS to monitor IP health.
  • ESP Capabilities: Consider whether your ESP can programmatically manage the IP warmup process.
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks asks if you send a decent volume, because if your volume’s too low, it’s a challenge to warm up or even be noticed by the mailbox providers.

December 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that factors such as list hygiene, engagement, and authentication directly impact how smoothly an IP warmup progresses. High bounce rates or low engagement can slow down the process.

January 2023 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Email marketer from MailerCheck shares that cleaning your email list before starting the IP warmup is crucial. Removing inactive or invalid email addresses reduces bounce rates and improves engagement metrics.

February 2025 - MailerCheck
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that start by sending to your most engaged segments. This demonstrates positive sender behavior to ISPs and mailbox providers, helping build a good reputation faster.

November 2023 - Email on Acid
Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that typically, the warmup process involves gradually increasing the volume of emails sent over a period of weeks or months, starting with a small number of emails and gradually increasing the volume each day.

December 2023 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from SendGrid Blog shares that moving to a dedicated IP involves warming up the IP address gradually, monitoring sending reputation, and ensuring proper authentication is in place. It requires careful planning.

July 2024 - SendGrid
Marketer view

Email marketer from StackOverflow answers that if you have low sending volume (less than a few thousand emails per week), a dedicated IP may not be worth the effort due to the difficulty of establishing a good reputation. Shared IPs are usually better in this case.

August 2022 - StackOverflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from GlockApps shares that maintain a low bounce rate (ideally below 2%). High bounce rates during the IP warmup phase can significantly damage your sending reputation and lead to deliverability issues.

April 2021 - GlockApps
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that the difficulty is directly proportional to your data quality and sending practices. You’ll need to warm up the new IP, and if your ESP can manage the transition/warmup programmatically, it takes out a lot of manual effort.

July 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that it took about one month to see decent results, and was completely worth it as long as your data is clean.

July 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit shares that the benefit of dedicated IP is full control over reputation, but this also means full responsibility. If you mess up sending practices, there's no shared reputation to cushion the blow.

August 2021 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from Litmus shares that proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is more critical than ever when switching to a dedicated IP. Incorrect authentication can severely impact deliverability.

July 2021 - Litmus
Marketer view

Email marketer from Postmark explains that closely monitor your deliverability rates during the IP warmup. Look for any signs of emails going to spam folders or being blocked. Adjust your sending practices if needed.

December 2024 - Postmark

What the experts say
2Expert opinions

Switching to a dedicated IP requires a gradual IP warmup, starting with low email volumes to establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs, preventing spam flagging. Maintaining good list quality, high engagement, and appropriate sending frequency is critical for both establishing and maintaining a good IP reputation throughout the transition and beyond. Poor email practices can lead to deliverability issues.

Key opinions

  • IP Warmup: Gradual IP warmup is essential for building a positive sending reputation.
  • List Quality: Good list quality is critical for maintaining a good IP reputation.
  • Engagement: High email engagement contributes to a positive sending reputation.
  • Sending Frequency: Appropriate sending frequency impacts IP reputation.

Key considerations

  • Gradual Transition: Transition to a dedicated IP gradually to avoid being flagged as spam.
  • Proactive Reputation Management: Take proactive steps to maintain good sending practices to ensure deliverability.
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that IP warmup is crucial when transitioning to a dedicated IP. Starting with low volumes and gradually increasing sending helps establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs and prevents being flagged as a spammer.

May 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource explains that factors like list quality, engagement, and sending frequency play a critical role in establishing and maintaining a good IP reputation during and after the transition to a dedicated IP. Poor practices can lead to deliverability issues.

September 2024 - Spam Resource

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Switching to a dedicated IP necessitates a gradual IP warming process to avoid damaging your sender reputation by sending large volumes abruptly. Monitoring your IP reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools is crucial for identifying and addressing deliverability issues. Similarly, using Microsoft's SNDS helps monitor IP health, particularly concerning deliverability to Outlook/Hotmail users. Implementing SPF is essential for email authentication, enabling domain owners to authorize mail servers and prevent spoofing, thus improving deliverability.

Key findings

  • IP Warming: Gradual IP warming is essential to protect sender reputation.
  • Reputation Monitoring: Monitoring IP reputation with Google Postmaster Tools is critical.
  • IP Health Monitoring: Monitoring IP health with Microsoft SNDS is crucial, particularly for Outlook/Hotmail.
  • SPF Authentication: SPF is a critical email authentication method for preventing spoofing and improving deliverability.

Key considerations

  • Gradual Implementation: Implement changes gradually to avoid negative impact on sender reputation.
  • Proactive Monitoring: Proactively monitor IP reputation and health to identify and address issues promptly.
  • Authentication Setup: Ensure proper email authentication is set up using SPF and other methods.
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft explains that using SNDS to monitor your IP's health is essential when using dedicated IPs. This provides insight into spam complaints and other issues affecting deliverability to Outlook/Hotmail users.

May 2023 - Microsoft
Technical article

Documentation from RFC explains that SPF is a critical email authentication method that allows domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of their domain. This helps prevent spoofing and improves deliverability.

February 2025 - RFC
Technical article

Documentation from Google explains that monitoring your IP reputation through Google Postmaster Tools is crucial during and after the IP warmup. This allows you to identify and address any deliverability issues quickly.

July 2024 - Google
Technical article

Documentation from SparkPost explains the importance of IP warming, stating that abruptly sending large volumes of email from a new IP can damage your sender reputation. Gradual increases are key.

April 2024 - SparkPost