How to Warm Up Email Accounts for Better Inbox Placement Rates
Email warm-up is the process of gradually increasing your email-sending activity to build trust with email providers. This helps improve deliverability and ensures your emails reach recipients’ inboxes. Here’s how to do it:
- Start Small: Send 3–5 emails per day, then increase volume by 15–20% daily.
- Engage Recipients: Focus on emails that encourage replies, opens, and clicks.
- Set Up Proper Authentication: Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your emails.
- Use Tools: Automate the process with email warm-up tools like Warmforge or Warmbox.
- Monitor Metrics: Track deliverability, open rates, and spam complaints to adjust your strategy.
Skipping this step can lead to spam folder placement, blacklisting, or low engagement rates. A proper warm-up strategy can boost open rates by up to 50% and improve click-through rates by 30%. Stay patient - building trust takes time but pays off in better outreach results.
How to Warm Up a New Email Account (Email Warm Up Tutorial)
Getting Ready for Email Warm-Up
Before diving into email campaigns, laying a strong foundation is crucial. This involves picking the right domain and email account, ensuring your starting reputation is clean, and setting up essential configurations like DNS records for authentication.
Setting Up Email DNS Records
To ensure your emails are properly authenticated, configure the following DNS records:
- SPF: Authorize specific servers to send emails on your behalf by adding a TXT record to your DNS.
- DKIM: Use a digital signature by publishing a public key in your DNS, which verifies the email's integrity.
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DMARC: Establish a reporting policy to monitor SPF and DKIM results. Begin with a policy of
p=noneto observe without affecting email delivery, then transition top=quarantineand eventually top=rejectfor stricter enforcement.
Make sure SPF and DKIM are correctly set up for all domains and subdomains before implementing DMARC. Services like DMARCLY can simplify this process with tools like "Safe SPF", which prevents exceeding the 10-DNS-lookup limit by automating SPF record flattening.
Choosing the Right Email Account and Domain
For outreach, avoid using your primary business domain. Instead, opt for an established domain that’s at least one month old, as newer domains are more likely to trigger spam filters. Ideally, wait three months before starting cold email campaigns.
Consider registering a separate domain specifically for outreach purposes. While using a subdomain might seem like a cheaper alternative, it still carries risks to your main domain's reputation.
Start with one email account and gradually add more as your email volume increases. Be mindful of your email provider’s daily sending limits, which can vary - especially for newer accounts.
Testing Domain and IP Reputation
Before launching your warm-up campaign, check the reputation of your domain and IP address. This step helps identify potential issues that could hurt your deliverability. A solid reputation is key to ensuring your emails land in inboxes.
Several tools can help assess your domain and IP reputation:
- MxToolbox: Checks DNS records and identifies potential issues.
- Warmforge's Free Placement Test: Evaluates inbox placement.
- Talos and Spamhaus: Verify your domain/IP status and detect blacklisting.
Reputation tools present their findings in various formats. For example, Sender Score assigns a numerical rating, while BarracudaCentral categorizes IPs as "good" or "poor." Talos can also confirm if your domain or IP is blacklisted.
"Warmforge isn't just an email warm up tool, it's a complete email deliverability command centre." - Warmforge.ai
If any issues arise - such as blacklisting or DNS misconfigurations - address them immediately. Clean up blacklist entries, fix DNS problems, and ensure all authentication records (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) are in place. Starting with a clean slate significantly boosts your chances of reaching inboxes. Once your technical setup is solid, you’ll be ready to explore automated warm-up tools to further improve email deliverability.
How to Warm Up Your Email Account
Once you've set up the technical foundation, the next step is to warm up your email account properly. This process helps build trust with email providers and establishes a solid sender reputation. Rushing through it can harm your email deliverability.
Start with Small Email Volumes
Warming up your email account usually takes about 4-5 weeks, and it works best when done alongside your outreach campaigns. Start by sending just 3–5 emails per day, then gradually increase the volume by 15–20% daily until you reach around 50 emails per day. This slow and steady approach shows email providers that you’re a legitimate sender.
If your domain already has a strong reputation, you can speed things up - sometimes starting cold email outreach in as little as 2 weeks. But if you’re using a brand-new domain for outbound campaigns, you’ll need to wait at least 12 weeks before scaling up to full outreach.
For those managing multiple email providers, begin by sending 100–500 messages per provider, then cautiously increase the volume by 20–50% daily. This prevents sudden spikes that can lead to complaints or bounce issues.
Once your sending patterns are consistent, shift your focus to improving engagement with your recipients.
Get Recipients to Engage
Recipient engagement plays a major role in building your sender reputation. Nick Schafer, Sr. Manager of Deliverability & Compliance at Sinch, explains it best: "Engagement is your lifeline to reputation as a sender. It is extremely important".
Email providers track positive engagement signals like high open rates, clicks, replies, and recipients marking emails as "not spam." On the flip side, negative signals - such as low open rates, spam complaints, or high unsubscribe rates - can hurt your reputation.
To encourage engagement:
- Ask direct questions or offer incentives like discounts, coupons, or lead magnets to spark replies.
- Optimize subject lines and preheaders to grab attention. Use a recognizable sender name that recipients trust.
- Include clickable content like links, surveys, or quizzes. For example, MailerCheck added quizzes to their newsletter in November 2023 and saw their click-to-open rates more than double.
Once engagement improves, focus on avoiding spam triggers to keep your emails out of the junk folder.
Avoid Spam Triggers
Spam filters evaluate several factors, including your sender reputation, email content, and engagement levels. While email providers don’t disclose their exact filtering criteria, steering clear of common spam triggers can improve your inbox placement.
Here’s how to avoid spam triggers:
- Be mindful of your content. Avoid words like "guaranteed", "cheap", "offer", or "deal", which are commonly flagged by spam filters. During the warm-up phase, focus on sending informational or introductory content rather than promotional messages.
- Ensure your emails are grammatically correct and free of errors. Avoid using all caps or excessive exclamation points, as these are typical spam indicators.
- Limit attachments and links. Too many links can raise red flags with spam filters. Only include what’s absolutely necessary, and ensure your links lead to reputable websites.
- Personalize your emails. Keep messages short and relevant to each recipient. Generic or overly long emails are more likely to be flagged as spam.
Start by reaching out to a small group of recipients who are likely to engage - such as existing contacts or warm leads familiar with your brand.
To track your progress, use tools like Glockapps or MxToolbox. Monitor key metrics like inbox placement rate, open rate, reply rate, bounce rate, and spam rate. If you notice any issues, slow down your email volume and focus on improving engagement before scaling further.
Warming up your email account isn’t a one-and-done task. Keep applying these best practices even after the initial phase to maintain your sender reputation and ensure your emails consistently reach the inbox.
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Tools for Automated Email Warm-Up
Why Use Warm-Up Tools?
Manually warming up email accounts can be a real time drain. It requires sending emails at a slow, steady pace, keeping tabs on responses, and maintaining consistent engagement across multiple accounts. Automated tools take over these repetitive tasks, simulating natural email interactions while keeping an eye on deliverability.
Warmforge: Features and Benefits
Warmforge is a standout option for improving email deliverability, thanks to its straightforward approach and reliable performance. It gradually ramps up email activity while mimicking real interactions like opens and replies, helping to build trust with email providers.
Here’s what makes Warmforge a solid choice:
- Heat Score Monitoring: Tracks your account’s health in real-time so you can stay on top of deliverability.
- Full Automation: Handles the entire warm-up process by mimicking natural email behaviors.
- Wide Compatibility: Works seamlessly with major providers like Gmail and Microsoft 365.
- User-Friendly Dashboard: Offers a clear view of your warm-up progress and key settings.
Warmforge has earned stellar reviews, with ratings like 4.9/5 on AiSDR and G2, and 4.8/5 on Product Hunt.
Comparison with Other Tools
Picking the right email warm-up tool often comes down to balancing features, pricing, and your specific needs. Here’s a quick comparison of top tools:
| Tool | Monthly Price | Key Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warmforge | $10/month (quarterly billing) | Heat score tracking, automated warm-up, Gmail/Outlook compatibility, health checks | Businesses looking for a cost-effective, simple solution |
| Mailwarm | $69/month | Daily positive engagement, quick 2-minute setup, up to 15,000 warm-up emails/month | Companies with larger budgets and high email volumes |
| Warmbox | $19/month (solo plan) | Blacklist monitoring, free email health checks, up to 15,000 warm-up emails/month | Users needing extra monitoring tools alongside warm-up |
Warmforge stands out for its affordability, with pricing starting at just $10/month. Bulk discounts can bring costs down to as low as $3 per mailbox, making it far more budget-friendly than Mailwarm’s $69/month plan and competitive with Warmbox’s $19/month solo option. While Warmbox and Mailwarm offer features like blacklist monitoring or high-volume warm-up capacities, Warmforge focuses on delivering a hassle-free, reliable warm-up experience with tools like heat score tracking and an intuitive design. It’s an excellent choice for businesses that want a straightforward solution without unnecessary extras.
Next, we’ll dive into how you can track your progress and fine-tune your strategy using key metrics.
Tracking Progress and Improving Results
Track Key Metrics
Keeping tabs on key metrics is essential to measure the success of your email warm-up efforts. These metrics give you a clear picture of your sender reputation and how well your emails are landing in inboxes.
- Deliverability Rate: Aim for a deliverability rate between 96% and 99%. This ensures that your emails are being accepted by email servers without issues.
- Bounce Rates: Keep your bounce rate below 1%. A rate between 1% and 2% suggests there's work to be done, while anything above 2% demands immediate action.
- Open Rates: On average, open rates hover around 43.33% across industries, with automated emails often seeing rates closer to 55.21%. If your open rates are consistently low, it could mean your emails are landing in spam folders.
- Reply Rates: For cold outreach campaigns, aim for reply rates above 10%, with positive replies ideally exceeding 1%.
- Spam Complaint Rates: Keep spam complaints under 0.01%. Rates between 0.01% and 0.05% indicate room for improvement, while anything above 0.05% requires immediate intervention.
Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools and GlockApps to dive deeper into inbox placement and domain reputation. Heat score monitoring can also help you track these metrics in real time. If you spot any issues, address them promptly to protect your sender reputation.
Find and Fix Problems
When your metrics raise concerns, quick action is crucial to prevent further damage. Here’s how to tackle common issues:
- High Bounce Rates: Investigate the cause of bounces. Invalid email addresses point to poor list hygiene, while DNS failures could signal authentication problems. Remove invalid addresses from your list and increase your email volume gradually - no more than 25% at a time.
- Low Open Rates: Low open rates across multiple domains often mean your emails are being flagged as spam. Use tools like MXToolbox to check if your sending IP or domain is on a blocklist. Also, confirm that your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up correctly.
- Poor Engagement Patterns: If recipients aren’t opening or clicking your emails, suppress inactive users and try running re-engagement campaigns before removing them. Keep in mind that engagement levels can vary - emails to potential customers usually see lower engagement than those sent to existing clients.
- Content-Related Issues: Even with a strong sender reputation, problems like spam trigger words, broken HTML, or formatting errors can hurt deliverability. A/B test different subject lines and email content to pinpoint what works best.
The table below provides a quick reference for when certain metrics need attention:
| Metric | Needs Attention | Room for Improvement | Healthy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bounce Rate | > 2% | 1%-2% | < 1.0% |
| Unsubscribe Rate | > 1% | 0.3%-1% | < 0.3% |
| Spam Complaint Rate | > 0.05% | 0.01%-0.05% | < 0.01% |
Addressing these issues allows you to maintain a strong sender reputation and prepare for scaling your email outreach.
When to Scale Up Email Outreach
Scaling up your email outreach is a delicate process. Moving too quickly can harm your reputation, while scaling too slowly might mean missed opportunities.
Once your metrics are stable and positive, you can start increasing your email volume. After a 2-4 week warm-up period, you can begin cold outreach. However, continue dedicating part of your daily sending volume to warm-up emails. This helps maintain your reputation as you engage with less active recipients.
- Gradual Volume Increases: Start small and increase your volume weekly. Avoid sudden spikes, and closely monitor your deliverability scores during this phase. If metrics like inbox placement (above 96%), open rates, and reply rates remain steady for at least two weeks, you can increase your volume further.
- Domain Diversification: If your volume exceeds what a single domain can handle, consider setting up additional domains. Warming up these new domains ensures you can distribute your sending load without overwhelming any one domain.
Stay vigilant by monitoring your metrics daily. If you notice any negative trends, reduce your volume immediately. Sudden increases in sending volume can lead to blacklisting, undoing all the progress you’ve made.
Conclusion: Better Inbox Rates with Email Warm-Up
Email warm-up is the backbone of effective outreach. As Rob Pellow, digital experience director at Armadillo, explains:
"An IP reputation is hard to build, easy to lose, and hard to regain. Therefore, ensuring you are sending the best emails before they are sent will limit the damage caused, and monitoring, post-send, will allow fine-tuning - and it will allow you to know when further action needs to be taken to protect or improve your IP status".
This underscores why warm-up is a must for anyone aiming to consistently land in their audience’s inbox.
The process demands patience and steady effort. While you might see improvements within 4 weeks, achieving peak deliverability can take anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks. Done right, a warm-up strategy can lead to a 20% boost in open rates, up to 10% better deliverability, and as much as 15% higher reply rates.
The method is straightforward: start small, gradually increase your sending volume, and focus on engagement at every step.
For those seeking a hands-off approach, tools like Warmforge simplify the process. With impressive ratings - 4.9/5 on G2 and 4.8/5 on Product Hunt - Warmforge automates warm-up efforts, offering features like real-time heat score monitoring and placement tests. At $10 per month (billed quarterly), it’s an affordable way to build and maintain a strong sender reputation.
Given that over 20% of marketing emails never make it to inboxes, email warm-up is an investment in your campaign’s future. Whether you rely on automation or handle it manually, consistent warm-up practices will safeguard your sender reputation and amplify your outreach results. It’s a crucial step for ensuring your messages are not just sent, but seen and acted upon.
FAQs
What are the steps to effectively warm up an email account for better deliverability?
To warm up an email account and boost deliverability, start small. Send about 10–20 emails daily to trusted contacts and gradually increase the number by 10–20 each week. This steady pace helps establish a positive sender reputation with email providers. Stick with this process for at least 4–5 weeks to see results.
Ensure your email account is set up correctly with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication protocols. Using a dedicated IP address and a custom domain can also make your emails appear more credible. To further improve your reputation, encourage recipients to engage - ask them to reply or interact with your emails. This kind of activity signals trustworthiness to email providers.
What are the best ways to avoid spam triggers when warming up email accounts?
To keep your emails out of spam folders during the warm-up process, focus on creating clear and professional messages. Steer clear of common spam trigger words like "free" or "guaranteed", and avoid overusing punctuation, such as multiple exclamation marks. Instead, craft subject lines that are short, relevant, and align with the email's actual content.
Make sure your emails have a balanced mix of text and images, with at least 60% text and no more than 40% images. Too many images can raise red flags with spam filters. Use clean HTML coding, always include an unsubscribe link, and send emails exclusively to recipients who have explicitly opted in. These practices help establish credibility with email providers and boost your chances of successful delivery.
Why should I use a separate domain for email outreach instead of my main business domain?
Using a separate domain for email outreach is a smart move to safeguard the reputation of your primary business domain. If outreach emails happen to draw spam complaints or get flagged, your main domain’s sender reputation could suffer, potentially disrupting everyday business communications.
By using a dedicated domain, you can build a sender reputation tailored specifically for outreach campaigns. It also gives you the flexibility to test various strategies without jeopardizing the deliverability or credibility of your primary domain. This way, your core business operations stay secure while you refine and improve your outreach efforts.