What is email warm-up, and why is it important?
Email warm-up is the gradual process of building a positive sender reputation for a new AI email agent by slowly increasing the number of emails you send. Starting with smaller volumes helps prevent your emails from being marked as spam by Email Service Providers (ESPs) and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
Think of it like starting a new exercise routine. You wouldn’t run a marathon on your first day of training; instead, you’d begin with short runs and gradually increase the distance. This approach allows your body to adapt and reduces the risk of injury.
Similarly, with email warm-up, you start by sending emails to a small group of engaged recipients. Over time, as you steadily increase your sending volume and maintain good engagement (like opens and replies), ESPs recognize you as a trustworthy sender. This means your emails are more likely to land in the inbox rather than the spam folder when you ramp up your campaigns.
What factors affect email deliverability?
Several key factors influence whether your emails successfully reach recipients’ inboxes:
Bounce Rate: High bounce rates from invalid email addresses can harm your sender reputation.
Engagement Metrics: Low open and reply rates signal to ESPs that your emails might not be relevant.
Email Authentication Records: Proper setup of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records verifies your emails as legitimate.
Email Content: Poorly crafted content or spam-like language can trigger spam filters.
Email Provider: The reputation of your email service provider can impact deliverability.
How long does it take to warm up an email account?
Email warm-up is an ongoing process. We recommend maintaining a consistent email campaign that sends messages every working day, even during inactive periods. This keeps your email address “warm” and prevents it from going “cold.” If an address becomes cold, it can take up to two weeks of consistent emailing to warm it up again.
For new email accounts, the warm-up period requires extra care:
Duration: Typically takes 30 to 90 days to properly warm up.
Strategy: Start with low volumes and focus on high-quality engagement with leads who have recently interacted with your emails.
Outcome: Gradually building trust with ESPs ensures better deliverability when you increase your email volume.
What’s the ideal warm-up strategy for a new inbox?
Follow these steps to effectively warm up a new email inbox:
Set Up the New Inbox: Ensure all email authentication protocols are in place (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
Start Small: Begin by sending emails to existing leads who have recently engaged with your company.
Limit Initial Sends: Keep your daily email sends under 20 for the first week.
Monitor and Increase Gradually: Aim for an open rate of 50% or higher.
Replies rate of 10% or higher
If engagement is consistent, increase your daily email limit by 5-10% a day.
This gradual approach helps establish a positive sender reputation, making it more likely your emails will reach the inbox.
How do I monitor my bounce rate and email delivery metrics?
Monitoring your email performance is crucial:
Use Monitoring Tools: Integrate platforms like Google Postmaster to track bounce rates and complaint rates.
Check Engagement Metrics: Regularly review open and reply rates with Conversational Emails
Maintain Healthy Rates: Bounce Rate: Keep it below 5%.
Complaint Rate: Keep it below 1%.
Consistent monitoring allows you to identify issues early and maintain a healthy sender reputation.
How do the leads themselves affect email deliverability?
The quality of your email list significantly impacts deliverability:
Engage with Active Leads: Focus on leads who have recently interacted with your emails.
Avoid Stale Contacts: Sending to inactive or unverified addresses can increase bounce rates and spam complaints.
ESPs Are Smarter: Email providers are adept at detecting spam-like behavior, especially with unengaged recipients.
By ensuring your emails go to interested and active contacts, you improve engagement metrics and sender reputation.
Once the inbox reaches a “Healthy” state, how many emails can the AI Inbox realistically send over the next several months? Is there a maximum limit?
We recommend limiting each inbox to sending 200 emails per day, distributing your total email volume across multiple inboxes if needed. Since Outlook and Gmail are personal email service providers, sending more than 200 emails from a single inbox in a day increases the risk of your account being blocked.
What is the recommended enrollment size for campaigns when using a new inbox?
If the campaign is time sensitive (i.e. a webinar or event follow up), we recommend keeping enrolment per campaign in the first month closer to 100 – This is to ensure all 100 enrolments get the 1st email in the first week, and the second week they would begin getting the 2nd email.