Deliverability: Don't forget to warm up your IP addresses!
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 5:00 am
Have you ever tried to get 15 people into a club for the first time? Chances are Tony at the door will politely invite you to go home and play your JBL speaker for your friends...
On the other hand, if you go a few times alone or as a couple and say a friendly hello to Tony, within a few weeks your new best friend will give you a kiss and be happy to roll out the red carpet for your fellow dancers.
We're talking about email marketing here, but you get the idea... Your friends are the campaign and Tony is the ISPs!
Optimal deliverability relies on a good sender reputation, and reputations are built. When a new domain/subdomain is used to route an email campaign and is therefore associated with a new IP address, or when you haven't sent anything for over a month, your Sender Score (which reflects your good reputation) is at its lowest. Sending a large number of emails under these conditions is likely to cause ISPs to reject them en masse and place them in SPAM folders, or even block them altogether.
To avoid being rejected in this way, it is essential to "warm up" your IP addresses. This "warming up" of IP addresses consists of a series of limited mailings to build up your reputation with ISPs. Kill two birds with one stone by taking advantage of these "sample" mailings to perform A/B testing of your campaigns. Improve the effectiveness of your campaigns while optimizing your deliverability in the medium and long term.
Here are 4 factors to consider for efficient heating
Beware of technical configuration
Once you have configured the DKIM (Domain Key Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework) protocols developed to reassure ISPs, implement all the unsubscribe options for Internet users, as well as alerts in response to spam complaints.
You will be able to effectively eliminate overseas chinese in usa data addresses that do not wish to be included in your mailing process, an operation to which ISPs are particularly sensitive.
Prioritize sending to subscribers who are familiar with your campaigns
Send your first campaigns to subscribers who have already opened emails in your previous campaigns (at 30 or 90 days). This proportion of subscribers who open your emails will ensure better engagement, helping you quickly improve your sender score and reputation with ISPs.
Adapt the content of your first campaigns
As we have shown in previous articles, some campaign types have much higher engagement rates than others. ISPs will appreciate a high open rate and take it into account to improve your reputation.
For your first mailings and to effectively support this warm-up process, prioritize sending campaigns that tend to get better results in terms of engagement with your prospects: welcome emails, highly anticipated special occasions (Black Friday), etc.
Finally, consider analyzing your initial A/B tests to power the most effective campaigns with the best engagement rates.
Ensure a gradual increase in your shipments
To start, opt for regular and limited shipments. Avoid sending "big packages" on a one-off basis. Focus on small volumes (between 2,000 and 5,000) that you send at regular intervals (every two or three days, for example). If you don't have any deliverability problems with these first shipments, gradually increase the volumes while keeping an eye on your KPIs.
If they deteriorate, and in particular the deliverability rate, take a break and reduce the work... until things get back to normal, and then resume your warm-up process.
That's it. Respect these points and you and your IP addresses will be hot from now on. The dance floor will be free and the emails will be delivered!
If you have any questions or would like assistance in this process, our click-matic heating experts are here to help you optimize your deliverability rates for a long time to come.
On the other hand, if you go a few times alone or as a couple and say a friendly hello to Tony, within a few weeks your new best friend will give you a kiss and be happy to roll out the red carpet for your fellow dancers.
We're talking about email marketing here, but you get the idea... Your friends are the campaign and Tony is the ISPs!
Optimal deliverability relies on a good sender reputation, and reputations are built. When a new domain/subdomain is used to route an email campaign and is therefore associated with a new IP address, or when you haven't sent anything for over a month, your Sender Score (which reflects your good reputation) is at its lowest. Sending a large number of emails under these conditions is likely to cause ISPs to reject them en masse and place them in SPAM folders, or even block them altogether.
To avoid being rejected in this way, it is essential to "warm up" your IP addresses. This "warming up" of IP addresses consists of a series of limited mailings to build up your reputation with ISPs. Kill two birds with one stone by taking advantage of these "sample" mailings to perform A/B testing of your campaigns. Improve the effectiveness of your campaigns while optimizing your deliverability in the medium and long term.
Here are 4 factors to consider for efficient heating
Beware of technical configuration
Once you have configured the DKIM (Domain Key Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework) protocols developed to reassure ISPs, implement all the unsubscribe options for Internet users, as well as alerts in response to spam complaints.
You will be able to effectively eliminate overseas chinese in usa data addresses that do not wish to be included in your mailing process, an operation to which ISPs are particularly sensitive.
Prioritize sending to subscribers who are familiar with your campaigns
Send your first campaigns to subscribers who have already opened emails in your previous campaigns (at 30 or 90 days). This proportion of subscribers who open your emails will ensure better engagement, helping you quickly improve your sender score and reputation with ISPs.
Adapt the content of your first campaigns
As we have shown in previous articles, some campaign types have much higher engagement rates than others. ISPs will appreciate a high open rate and take it into account to improve your reputation.
For your first mailings and to effectively support this warm-up process, prioritize sending campaigns that tend to get better results in terms of engagement with your prospects: welcome emails, highly anticipated special occasions (Black Friday), etc.
Finally, consider analyzing your initial A/B tests to power the most effective campaigns with the best engagement rates.
Ensure a gradual increase in your shipments
To start, opt for regular and limited shipments. Avoid sending "big packages" on a one-off basis. Focus on small volumes (between 2,000 and 5,000) that you send at regular intervals (every two or three days, for example). If you don't have any deliverability problems with these first shipments, gradually increase the volumes while keeping an eye on your KPIs.
If they deteriorate, and in particular the deliverability rate, take a break and reduce the work... until things get back to normal, and then resume your warm-up process.
That's it. Respect these points and you and your IP addresses will be hot from now on. The dance floor will be free and the emails will be delivered!
If you have any questions or would like assistance in this process, our click-matic heating experts are here to help you optimize your deliverability rates for a long time to come.