In this webinar, you'll hear the following:
- Importance of warming IP/domains
- How to warm-up an IP/domain
- Realistic expectations
Here's the webinar's Q&A answered by our speaker (*We'll update these as we find the best answers for you):
- How do you reboot reputation when the main mailbox providers are not willing to communicate? Example, one of my campaigns got considered as spam when they were subscribed users whom we were contacting... but Gmail does not even reply to our queries...
- Even if you have subscribed users, there could be several reasons why subscribers are discontent with campaigns and marking them as spam. It could be something in your infrastructure, spam trap counts, disengaged audience, etc. Be sure to do a deeper dive with all metrics available. Not surprised they're unresponsive, they don't have the bandwidth to address every ticket they get. However, Gmail is pretty good about reacting to positive behavior once changes have been implemented. Keep digging.
- Do you have a list of the things that we need to test and make sure are set up correctly? We are using Return Path with SFMC.
- We absolutely have more thorough documentation, unfortunately it's part of a paid engagement with my team. You can also work with your ESP to ensure you have everything you need.
- When changing IPs, are there any potential issues when carrying domains over to a new IP? Should new subdomains be created or does an established domain reputation benefit a new IP warm up?
- An established domain benefits the migration, absolutely. The only caveat is, if that domain reputation was a poor one, you may not want it to carry over. Additionally, be sure you have the right permissions to carry over the sending domain. Because the migration is done in parallel on both platforms, you may need to create a new subdomain.
- if I have a B2C audience but I have corporate emails on my database, should I keep them for the ramp up or incorporate them later on?
- Incorporate the B2B domains as part of the "Other" bucket, which does not include the top 4-5 Providers on your list.
- Does the seed list functionality of Return Path help with IP warming? If I’m going to start my IP warming, should I select this checkbox?
- Yes, once you go live on the new IP with actual deployments, I would start incorporating them. Helps with transparency into inbox delivery at each provider.
- Our company buys email addresses from 3rd party vendors (unfortunately). Would you recommend we dedicate an IP to prospecting specifically? Right now, we do everything on the same IP. Our reputation is good, but I am definitely weary of prospecting via email.
- It's a tough spot. The unfortunate part here is that, if you put the prospecting email list on its own IP, will it be able to sustain itself with a good enough reputation to get in the inbox? The case might be that the other campaigns are keeping it afloat on the shared IP. At the very least, separate it by subdomains. The time to separate might be decided when you notice that the other campaigns on that IP are starting to be affected.
- Any suggestions on warming up QQ.com? We found this domain to be the hardest to warm up.
- The only time I've personally dealt with them was for a client that noted their list was too small. I don't have any direct recommendations other than to gauge priority of that domain since it may not be worth the effort that it takes. It is a tricky one.
- I have 3 different brands on the same IP. And I send 4 emails a week approximately. Most weeks, 2 of the 4 emails are sent on the same day but to different brands and subscribers, is that ok?
- Having multiple brands on the same IP is not a problem. Pay attention to volume as the lists hopefully continue to grow in size. At some point you may need a second IP to load balance with the initial one because of how much you send per day.
- If my data base is small: 12000 for brand A, 7000 for brand B, 300 for brand C, should I start really small or can I finish my IP warming faster by only dividing engaged subscribers first and then adding everyone else? What is the minimum time for IP warming when having a small data base?
- This is a loaded question since I'd prefer to have more details. I always recommend starting off small, it's just safer. Yes, you should start with most engaged; what concerns me is the "adding everyone else". Be sure you are ramping up consistently, remember the ramp-up is to get the provider accustomed to your typical volume. It's not about giving them a few engaged subscribers first and then adding on the rest of the bulk after the "know you". Just making sure that was clear. The timing very much depends on other factors like campaign-type, frequency, etc. Hard to provide a blanketed statement on minimum time.
- Should I have a ramp-up plan for each brand even though we use the same IP for all 3?
- In general, there should be a plan on how you want to migrate all subscribers for all 3 brands, so the answer is: technically yes. You are ramping up to your typical IP volume, so, that would include all 3 brands. If each brand has its own domain, you might not have to start from scratch, but I would be careful when a new domain is introduced.
- Any advice for a new company starting from scratch?
- My suggestion is to start conservative on the volume and to clean the database as much as possible. It will be tough because everything is new, it can be hard to know whether the issues that may arise are due to the new program or the IP warming process. How long has the database bee sitting there? If it's a cross promotional effort, are the subscribers aware that they will be receiving this new program? I would have to know so much more about the situation but concern yourself the most with the quality of your program and list which is usually the biggest hurdle. From there, starting off from scratch is not much different than an established program.
- In which way can Return Path help me with the IP warming?
- Depends on the services you have with the company. I would reach out to your rep to get more information.
- Hello, I’m interested to know more about the position of warming up both IPs and domains. Historically, I've been told to just focus on IPs. Can more information be provided on why it's recommended to warm up both IPs and domains?
- The simple answer is that mailbox providers also track domain reputation. A hard cutover from one domain to another can have negative repercussions.
- You mentioned "filters". Assuming that those are managed by the postmasters, what are the typical filters that postmasters have?
- Mailbox Providers and the filters they use look at three main aspects of mail: the reputation of the sender, the source of the mail (the IP and/or sending network), and the content of the mail they send.
- Do you have any data that shows how certification helps?
- There is plenty of data about certification value and uplift. That naturally applies to the migration process, when a program is most vulnerable and likely carries no reputation.
- For general questions on Cert value, and even getting an analysis for your actual potential uplift, contact an RP representative.
- Should you use the same cohort throughout the IP warming?
- Typically, migrations go through the entire database. I don't recommend increasing frequency to engaged subscribers for the sake of a warm-up.
- Any advice for moving out of Google's spam folder after a warming process?
- No matter where you are in the process, focus on subscribers that want your email. Cut back on your engagement window. If you started with engaged to least engaged throughout your warm-up, you should have noticed a change at some point. Investigate the list/segments you added when deliverability started to drop.
- With the re-emergence of Cloudmark, do you recommend throttling providers that use Cloudmark as one large major provider? (AT&T, Comcast, Spectrum, Earthlink, etc.)
- Typically, those are so small that they get added to the "Other" bucket. Because you are ramping up that bucket, which also contains all of our other domains, we don't usually find any issues.
- How do you resolve being in a spam trap?
- A spam trap is an inactive account. It is no longer run by a valid user, so removing subscribers that haven't opened in a long period is the best way to address that.
- My current issue is one domain receiving 10-20k variation in a day, is this good?
- Yeah, I think that variation is fine. Most senders use segmentation in their sends, so fluctuations are common.
- Does Postmasters and Microsoft SNDS confirm that the DNS was set up properly?
- They do not focus on infrastructural checks; however, Gmail Postmaster tool does show authentication checks (SPF, DMARC, DKIM).
