When it comes to cold emails, deliverability is crucial. What’s the point of spending hours creating email copies if they never land in the inbox?
Many sales outreach people get too excited and start the outreach campaign right away with their new email accounts. And that’s where the problem occurs; those new email accounts aren’t warmed up. So the first few hundred emails get low open rates, or even worse– get marked as spam.
This is where email account warm-up comes into play. By taking some time to “warm up” your new email account before using it for outreach, you can increase the deliverability of your cold emails and decrease the chance of them being marked as spam.
It’s safe to say that warming up new email accounts is mandatory as Google spam updates are constantly changing. It ensures that your cold emails aren’t marked as spam, so your prospects get your messages in their inbox.
We’ll break down more about email warm-up and some best practices.
What Is Email Warm-Up?
Using a new email account for an outreach campaign is different from using a new social media account– let’s say, a TikTok account for TikTok marketing. You can create a new TikTok profile and start using them to post tons of content, spread likes, and comment on other users’ posts right away just fine.
But, when you use new email accounts, not even the email provider is familiar with you. You also have a smaller limit of emails that you can send using the new email. Blasting out tons of emails from day one is a quick way to be seen as spam.
That’s why you need to show that you’re a legit user to establish a reputation and increase the email sending limit.
Simply put, email warm-up is the process of sending emails from the new account– starting with small numbers of recipients and gradually increasing the number of recipients each day. It’s basically a process to use the new email account to its full potential.
It can take 8-12 weeks to warm up new email accounts before you can accomplish maximum deliverability. Engagement and email volume play a key role in getting the new email account completely ready for use.
How to Warm Up A New Email Account Effectively?
Now that we understand what email warm-up is all about. The burning question would be, “how to do it?” Let’s find out.
1. Monitor the Email Sending Limits
Every email provider has its own limits on how many emails you can send per day. For instance, Gmail has a limit of 500 recipients per day, while Outlook only allows 100. That’s why the first few steps are to understand how many emails you are allowed to send each day and warm up your account accordingly.
2. Start with a Low Volume of Emails
When you’re starting to use a new email account, it’s essential that you begin by sending a low volume of emails– maybe 10-20 per day. It allows the ISP to get familiar with your sending behavior without raising any red flags.
You can send them to your colleagues, friends, or even yourself. Just make sure that the emails are sent to real people who will engage with your email (i.e., open, click, reply).
3. Increase Email Volume Gradually
Once you’ve sent a few low-volume emails without any issues, you can start to increase your email volume gradually. This will help build your reputation as a sender and improve your deliverability rate. Still, be careful not to send too many emails at once, as it can trigger the spam filter.
4. Maintain a Time Gap Between Two Consecutive Emails
Keeping a time interval of two emails while you’re warming up with your new email accounts can inform your email provider’s algorithms that you’re not a robot.
So, if you want to send more than two emails, make sure there is at least a 10-minute time difference. This also helps with your click-through rates as you’re not spamming your contacts’ inboxes.
5. Keep an Eye on Engagement Rates
Engagement rates are essential when you’re trying to improve your deliverability. If people are engaging with your emails (i.e., opening, clicking, replying), it signals to the ISP that you’re not a spammer. This engagement will help improve your sender reputation, which is key to a successful email warm-up.
To boost engagement rates in the warm-up process, try sending emails with personalized subject lines and interesting content. Also, segment your list, so you’re only sending emails to people who are interested in what you have to say.
6. Add New Contacts Gradually
When you’re starting to use a new email account, don’t immediately add all the contacts from your previous email account. Instead, add them gradually over time. This will not only help create a more natural sending pattern and improve your deliverability but also help prevent your account from being suspended for suspicious activity.
A good rule of thumb is to add no more than 10 new contacts per day. You can always increase this number as you build your reputation as a sender.
7. Use a Dedicated IP Address
Using a dedicated IP address is one of the best ways to improve your deliverability rate. When you use a shared IP address, you’re sharing it with other users who could be sending spammy emails. This can hurt your sender’s reputation and make it harder for your emails to reach the inbox.
However, you don’t have to worry about other users impacting your deliverability when you use a dedicated IP address. It also allows you to build up your sender reputation faster, as you’re the only one using the IP address.
8. Avoid Including Too Many Links And Media
When you’re starting to use a new email account, don’t add too many links or media (i.e., images and videos) in your emails. This can trigger the spam filter and hurt your deliverability. Instead, focus on sending short but engaging and personalized email copies. You can also opt for GIFs to add some personality to your emails without being too spammy.
9. Subscribe to Newsletter
Subscribing to newsletters is a great way to keep your email account active and improve your deliverability. Not only will you be able to engage with the content but also show the ISP that you’re using your email account regularly.
To find relevant newsletters, try searching for terms like “daily digest” or “newsletter” in Google. You can also subscribe to the newsletter of a company you’re interested in or follow on social media.
10. Monitor Your Email Deliverability
Throughout the warm-up process, it’s important to monitor your email deliverability. This will give you a good idea of how well your account is performing and whether or not you need to make any changes. There are a few different ways to do this, but one option is to use an email deliverability testing service.
11. Be Patient
The warm-up process can take some time, so be patient. Following the steps above is essential, and not trying to shortcut the process.
If you do, it could result in deliverability issues down the road. Take your time, follow the steps, and you’ll be on your way to a successful email warm-up for a better email outreach campaign.
Summing Up
Warming up new email accounts should be an integral part of your cold email outreach itself. After all, good email deliverability starts with a clean and well-prepared email account.
By following the steps above, you can be sure that your new email account is ready for outreach before you even start adding contacts. This will help you improve your deliverability rate and increase your chances of success with cold emailing– or even your overall online campaign, in general.
