The first thing to keep in mind before running cold email campaigns is how to avoid spam folders and ensure your emails land in the inbox. Whether you’re running B2B email campaigns or B2C cold outreach, it’s crucial to understand how email spam filters work and how to validate your sending servers to ensure your campaigns are delivered.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are designed to detect bot-generated emails and either remove them from priority inboxes or send them directly to spam folders. When mass emails are sent to a large volume of recipients from a new IP address, it can raise a red flag. This means that if you want your emails to consistently reach your customers’ inboxes, you must first establish a good reputation with the ISPs. In simple terms, your emails should feel human.
This reputation is built through email validation.
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What is IP warm-up?
IP (or SMTP) warm-up refers to the process of establishing a good sender reputation, allowing you to send more emails directly to subscribers’ inboxes.
It’s important to note that you only need to warm up your IP if you’re using a dedicated IP address to send emails to your subscribers. If you’re using email marketing services from platforms like Klaviyo or Brevo, which send emails using their own IP addresses, a warm-up isn’t necessary. However, while using their IP is the default option, if these platforms notice that your campaign’s open rates are extremely low or your bounce rate is high, they may ask you to stop using their IP. This could also result in the deactivation of your account and the loss of your data.
With that in mind, it’s crucial to maintain excellent email marketing performance, regardless of the type of IP you’re using.
You should also be familiar with the different types of warm-ups. Warm-ups are classified into two categories: manual and automatic. If your dedicated IP address is brand new, you may need to warm it up manually. On the other hand, if you add a new IP address to an already warmed-up IP, an automatic warm-up should suffice.
Factors that determine the reputation of your IP address
IP addresses are evaluated by ISPs based on three key criteria:
1. Bounce Rates
Bounced emails are those that your intended recipients did not receive and were returned or “bounced” back to you.
Emails can bounce for various reasons, the most common being that the recipient’s email has been inactive for a long time or the recipient no longer has access to the account. Emails may also bounce if the server is undergoing maintenance.
Companies often purchase or rent existing email lists without verifying if the addresses are valid. These lists can contain a high number of invalid email addresses, and sending emails to them consistently can lead to higher bounce rates. To maintain a good sender reputation, you should aim for a 0% bounce rate.
Are you having problems with email deliverability? Turn to TrulyInbox. By helping you build a positive sending reputation, this tool addresses all of your deliverability issues and ensures that your emails reach the inboxes of your intended recipients. Warmup Inbox automates the process of warming up and preparing your IP address for email outreach. Visit the Warmup Inbox website today to streamline your warm-up routine.
2. User Interaction
Your recipients’ responses to the emails you send can have a significant impact on your sender reputation.
When people receive emails from unknown addresses or promotional content that isn’t relevant or important to them, they often mark these emails as spam. This action can harm your reputation as a sender.
If you’re repeatedly flagged as a spammer, ISPs will assign you a low reputation score, meaning your emails may never reach your intended recipients’ inboxes. To avoid this, it’s essential to deliver content that is both valuable and relevant to your audience.
3. Your Copywriting and the Content of Your Emails
You should exercise caution when crafting your emails, as even small mistakes can have serious consequences. If your email includes blacklisted domains, spammy keywords, or suspicious links, it may be flagged as spam. As a result, your sender reputation could suffer.
How to Warm Up Your IP
As previously mentioned, you’ll need to boost your IP address’s reputation to avoid being flagged as a spammer, which can be achieved through IP warm-up.
It’s a good idea to “take it slow.” In other words, start with low-volume email campaigns to earn the trust of ISPs, then gradually increase the number of emails you send until you reach your target. When you begin with a smaller volume and consistently send to valid email addresses, ISPs start recognizing your emails and become more lenient. This helps establish a solid sender reputation.
For example, if your goal is to send 100 emails per day, start by sending 20 emails on day one, 40 on day two, 60 on day three, and so on.
A successful warm-up requires at least four weeks of continuous mailing with a gradual increase in the daily volume. Additionally, the email addresses you send to must be valid and active to avoid bounces.
Identify your most engaged subscribers and target them during your warm-up sessions. Make sure to grow your email list organically to avoid any invalid email addresses.
Do’s for a healthy IP warm-up
Only send value-rich or transactional emails to your target audience.
Ensure you’re sending emails to active users to maintain a 0% bounce rate.
Always add an “Unsubscribe” button to all your emails.
Include your business logo and contact information in your email signature.
Build an existing customer list in advance so you can send emails during your IP warm-up. Your existing customers will likely welcome your emails since they are already familiar with your brand.
Stay on top of your sender reputation score, warm-up schedule, user engagement, and bounce rates.
Don’ts for a healthy IP warm-up
Sending promotional emails during the warm-up process is never a good idea, as they are often reported as spam, which can weaken your sender reputation.
Do not continue sending emails until you achieve a perfect sending score.
Avoid rotating IP addresses—IP rotation involves swapping proxy IP addresses, which should not be applied during the warm-up process.
