Why does Google Postmaster Tools IP reputation decrease on days when newsletters are sent via Mailchimp shared IPs?
Summary
What email marketers say13Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Neil Patel Digital explains that sending large volumes of emails on specific days can negatively impact IP reputation, especially on shared IPs, as it can trigger spam filters. Consistent sending patterns and gradual increases in volume are recommended.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that a yellow reputation in Google Postmaster Tools isn't necessarily bad, as it's labeled as 'good'. Also, if Mailchimp uses separate IPs for engaged and unengaged contacts, lower reputation on IPs sending to unengaged contacts is expected.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that Mailchimp uses separate IP pools based on subscriber engagement. Highly engaged subscribers are sent emails over 'special' IPs, while other subscribers go out over 'normal' IPs. Large campaigns send a higher proportion of emails over 'normal' IPs, which may have a medium-to-high reputation compared to the 'special' IPs' high reputation.
Email marketer from HubSpot shares that one reason an IP reputation can decrease is because of low engagement rates. This is because your emails are not useful to the subscribers.
Email marketer from Woodpecker explains that email servers think you're a spammer if you send emails too quickly, as this is not natural behaviour. This affects your IP reputation.
Email marketer from Mailchimp explains that Mailchimp uses engagement-based sending, so lower engaged users are likely sent through different IPs, and sending high volume to less engaged users on certain days may negatively affect the IP reputation of those IPs.
Email marketer from StackOverflow states that Mailchimp's shared IP structure may isolate less engaged users onto certain IPs. Your newsletters going to these users on set days is the cause.
Email marketer from GlockApps shares that Google Postmaster Tools gives insight into your IP reputation. Sending newsletters and seeing a decrease in IP reputation means your users are not engaging with those emails, or they're being marked as spam.
Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that maintaining consistent sending patterns and avoiding large volume spikes is critical to avoid deliverability issues. Sudden changes raise red flags.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that poor list hygiene (sending to old, unengaged addresses) leads to higher bounce rates and spam complaints, which negatively affect IP reputation. Cleaning lists regularly is essential.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that if engagement is good, not to stress too hard about IP reputation on a shared IP, as it's largely outside of your control.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that volume spikes on shared IPs make email providers suspicious. If you suddenly send much more email than normal, spam filters are more likely to trigger. Consistent sending is key.
Email marketer from SendGrid explains that on shared IPs, your reputation is influenced by the sending practices of other users. Spikes in sending volume from other users can affect your deliverability and IP reputation.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Spam Resource explains that consistently high sending volumes to less engaged recipients will likely damage the sender's IP reputation. This can be a result of low engagement rates and low-quality contacts.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that spikes in email volume (when compared to your regular sending volume) can damage your IP reputation, particularly if you're on shared IP addresses.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Google explains that IP reputation is affected by factors such as spam complaints, sending to invalid email addresses, and sudden spikes in email volume. Sending newsletters to unengaged users can harm IP reputation.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that sender reputation is critical for deliverability to Outlook and Hotmail users. Large sending volumes from new or low reputation IPs are filtered more aggressively. Gradual warm-up is necessary.
Documentation from RFC explains that email servers perform reverse DNS lookups on sending IPs, failing this lookup can negatively affect your IP reputation.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that IP warming is a must when starting to send from a new IP. Suddenly sending out a high volume of emails will result in your emails being marked as spam.