IP Warm-up Plan

IP Warm-up Definition

IP warming is a strategic process of gradually increasing email campaign volume week by week to a new IP Address. This is done to establish a positive sending reputation with Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

Summary of IP Warm-up:

ISPs tend to view emails from a new IP Address as potentially suspicious until a positive sending reputation is established. It typically takes between 4 to 8 weeks to achieve maximum deliverability, depending on the targeted volume and recipient engagement.

The warming process may take longer if recipients don't perceive the emails as opt-in. Some ISPs impose limits on senders until they build a sender reputation. For instance, AOL may limit new senders to 5,000 emails per day, and Outlook may limit to 20,000 emails per day during the first week.

It's recommended to start with clean data and focus on warming up the most engaged subscribers initially. As you progress, gradually incorporate older segments, adding them in chunks of 10% to 25% at a time. This gradual approach helps maintain a positive sending reputation without tipping it from good to bad. Consider sending re-engagement or win-back campaigns to segments that have been inactive for six months to a year, depending on your email sending frequency.

Be sure to change up the content to try to re-engage.  The goal during your warm-up process is to send to subscribers who are least likely to complain and bounce.  This would include those that have opted-in most recently and are consistent openers/clickers.

During the Warm-up phase the more consistent you are with volume, frequency, complaint and bounce levels, the faster you will establish a positive sending reputation.

If you send infrequently, anything less than weekly it will take more time to build a positive sender reputation.

IP Warm-up Plan (Key to Success)

Kindly Note: We will share the following plan based on your selected package after the server setup.

IP warm-up plan

(During weeks 1-2 send to the most active Subscribers. Preferably 30 days active).

(During weeks 3-4 send to 60 days active subscribers).

(During weeks 4-6 send to 90 days active subscribers).

Never send more than this threshold to avoid any further problem and for getting good delivery results.

During the last week and onwards keep your inactive subscriber’s list below 25% of overall volumes for better results.

Note: ISPs such as Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc

What to Expect

During the IP warm-up phase, you may encounter bulking and blocking issues, especially with Yahoo, AOL, and Gmail. These issues typically resolve after a few sends with positive metrics, but achieving consistent inbox delivery may take time. The crucial strategy is to maintain a consistent sending pattern.

Possible blocking by ISPs can occur if your email list lacks engagement or if you exceed daily sending caps set by ISPs.

To manage these challenges, segment your email list carefully and consider reducing volume to stay within the allowed delivery limits for a week. Afterward, gradually increase volume to ISPs that were affected. Consistency in sending remains critical throughout this process.

Monitoring metrics is essential during the warm-up period, allowing you to adjust your plan as needed to optimize deliverability.

Why is an IP Warm-up important?

Quick Warm-Up: 1

1. ISPs see volume spikes

2. Unknown Senders

3. Blocks/Filtering/Rate Limiting will occur

Slow Warm-Up:

1. ISPs see the gradual build in volume
2. Good reputation develops over time
3. Blocks/Filtering/Rate Limiting rarely occurs (only occurs when engagement and complaint rate ratios are in poor standing).

IP Warm-up Helps Build Your Sender Reputation

Email reputation controls access to the inbox:

Bad reputation = Spam Folder or Blocks

Good reputation = Inbox

Reputation can affect the Domain and/or IP Address and will be based on:

Spam Complaints

Invalid email addresses (hard bounces)

Spamtrap hits

Authentication (SPF, Sender ID, DKIM, DMARC)

Third-party blacklistings.

Engagement

Positive effects on your reputation are:

Opens

Clicks

Authentication – DKIM, SPF, Sender ID, DMARC

Negative effects on your reputation are:

High recipient complaints (report as spam)

Poor list quality/hygiene – Bad email addresses

IP Address and Domain blacklistings

Spam Trap hits

Large spikes in volume

The Fundamentals of Reputation:

Key Takeaways:

Opt-ins are most important if people do not want your mail, your reputation suffers.

Receivers and metrics are judge and jury when it comes to getting delivered to the inbox.

You can not transfer your reputation from your previously used IP.

If you use the same domain that reputation can follow you, however, ISPs like Gmail use the reputation of the domain coupled with the reputation of the IP, therefore you must follow the warm-up process.

ISPs trust metrics from their users and what they observe therefore no Brand will get special treatment over another.

B2B senders must follow the same warm-up process as B2C senders as many business domains are now hosted by Yahoo, Outlook, Gmail, AOL, etc.

Permission and Engagement are Key

Permission is the cornerstone of building a good sender reputation.

Subscribers complain about mail they are not expecting to receive.

Are you sending more frequently than you said you would?

Did they sign up for exactly what they are receiving?

Are you sending content other than what you said you would?

Are you following best practices by staying up on the Can-Spam Act and the CASAL laws?

Why is Engagement Important?

ISPs track how engaged subscribers are with an email and its sender, and the nature of the engagement.

Positive engagement actions may include opening an email, adding an email address to the contact list, clicking on links, enabling images, and reading the message by scrolling through it.

Negative engagement actions may include marking the email as spam, deleting it, moving it to the junk folder, or ignoring it altogether.

Engagement ratings highlight the importance of using opt-in or confirmed opt-in email marketing lists. Opt-in lists increase the likelihood of engagement as there's already a relationship established with the recipient.

During the IP warm-up phase, anticipate bulking and blocking issues. It's crucial to stick to the plan outlined for IP warm-up and take appropriate actions as needed.

Quality always prevails over quantity. There's a cost associated with the volume of emails sent, and if emails are not opened, that cost is essentially wasted.

Including disengaged subscribers in campaigns can lead to lower ROI. Disengaged subscribers are often associated with complaints, spam traps, and hard bounces, which can impact deliverability and inbox placement for engaged subscribers, thus affecting ROI.

Running regular re-engagement campaigns is essential to win back disengaged subscribers. It's also advisable to send emails to disengaged subscribers less frequently than to engaged subscribers.

How to Keep your List Highly Engaged

Send relevant content to engaged subscribers.

Set subscribers’ expectations from the beginning.

Give people who opt-in to your subscription lists choices on how often they’ll receive emails from you (e.g., once daily, a weekly digest, as items become available or go on sale). If you send infrequently, make that clear. Ask them to whitelist you as soon as they will opt-in.

Deploy a good onboarding program educating them on expectations. Keep your lists clean.

Begin with your registration forms. If you have the option to block spammy, personal, or role-based email addresses, do so.

As your lists aged, weed out non-engaged subscribers.

Spam Traps

Pristine Spam Traps

Email addresses created solely to capture spammers (sometimes referred to as Honey Pots). These email addresses were never owned by a real person, do not subscribe to email programs and of course will never make a purchase.

If you are hitting pristine traps, this typically indicates you have a bad data partner.

Recycled Spam Traps

ISPs may repurpose email addresses that were once active but have been abandoned, turning them into spam traps. Before converting an abandoned email address into a spam trap, ISPs usually return an unknown user error code for a certain period, typically 6 to 12 months.

Encountering a recycled spam trap suggests that your data hygiene processes are ineffective.

How to Avoid and Remove Spam Traps

Do not purchase or rent lists.

Remove hard bounces.

Continuously re-engaged your inactive subscribers.

Remove disengaged subscribers once several re-engagement attempts have been made.