What should I do if my Mailgun shared IP has a low reputation in Google Postmaster Tools?
Summary
What email marketers say15Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Woodpecker.co shares to clean your email list of inactive subscribers and prioritize engagement and avoid sending to inactive or unengaged users.
Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that misconfigured SPF/DKIM records can lead to deliverability issues. Ensure Mailgun's authentication settings are correctly implemented for your domain.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that Google uses domain reputation more than any other provider. If the domain rep is good, the IP rep is not likely having much impact. However, if that's a dedicated IP and the reputation stays poor, whatever is causing that poor rep may carry over into the domain rep eventually.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares to monitor your domain reputation separately from your IP reputation, as some providers prioritize domain reputation. Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools to track it.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises that if it's a shared IP and the rest are okay, then don't worry about it. If it's not a shared IP, they still wouldn't stress too much as it could be a carryover from the previous user. Also, they state that GPT lies sometimes.
Email marketer from Neil Patel Blog shares that consistent sending volume, proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and list hygiene can help improve IP reputation over time.
Email marketer from Reddit suggests checking if other IPs on your Mailgun account are also affected. If not, the issue may be isolated and less impactful. Also, focus on improving your domain reputation.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests to contact Mailgun support and inquire about moving to a different shared IP pool with a better reputation.
Email marketer from StackOverflow suggests segmenting your email lists and sending to highly engaged users first to improve your sender reputation. Avoid sending to inactive or unengaged users.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that if the emails are product notifications and not marketing related, the low IP reputation may be due to low engagement. Recommends rethinking what notifications are sent.
Email marketer from SendGrid Help Center answers that on shared IPs, good sending practices benefit everyone. Monitor your sending reputation metrics and contact support if reputation declines unexpectedly.
Email marketer from GMass discusses that warming up your IP address will steadily build your sender reputation and avoid being marked as spam.
Marketer from Email Geeks confirms that the IP address is indeed a shared IP. If the domain reputation is High in GPT, then they don't think there's much of an issue sending to Gmail.
Email marketer from Litmus shares to implement feedback loops to understand how recipients are marking your emails (e.g., spam). This provides valuable data for improving your sending practices.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that if it's a shared Mailgun IP, there is very little that can be done. It's not uncommon to have an IP with a bad reputation while the rest are okay, and asks about the domain reputation.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise (Laura Atkins) explains to use DMARC feedback reports to monitor IP address reputation and to check for unauthorized sending by malicious users. Additionally, they highlight that if using a shared IP, it’s important to contact your ESP to find if there is any actions they can take.
Expert from Spamresource.com shares that when you use a shared IP address, you're at the mercy of what everyone else using that IP is doing. It's important to monitor your sending reputation in Google Postmaster Tools and contact your ESP to see if you can move to a different IP address pool.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Mailgun Help Center explains that if using a shared IP, reputation is influenced by other users. Mailgun monitors IP health and takes action if needed. Contact support if concerns arise.
Documentation from RFC shares to ensure your SPF records are correctly formatted and include Mailgun's servers to authorize them to send emails on behalf of your domain.
Documentation from DMARC.org shares to set up DMARC reports to monitor authentication results and identify potential issues with your email setup and unauthorized sending.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help shares that low IP reputation may cause delivery issues. Monitor the reputation metrics and follow Google's sending guidelines for bulk email senders.