Start Strong, Finish Stronger: A Guide to Effective Email Account Warm-Up
According to a report from SuperOffice, more than 20% of emails come up short to reach the inbox. At Saleshandy, we see time and time again that new email accounts used to send cold emails get blocked as soon as they start reaching out.
The Problem Is That The New Email Account Is Not Pre-Warmed.
With Google's spam update, accessing your inbox is becoming more and more difficult because the majority of emails are marked as spam.
To avoid this, before launching a cold email campaign, it is essential to restart your new email account. In this blog, we will tell you how to warm up your e-mail account before sending cold emails so that your emails land in your inbox instead of spam.
What Is an Email Warm-Up?
Email verifier is a way to build a new email account's reputation and increase email-sending limits.
The warm-up email account process involves sending emails from the new e-mail account, starting with a smaller number of emails and then gradually increasing the number of emails per day.
When a user creates a warm up email account, the email service provider sets a daily sending limit. However, a new account cannot be used completely.
For example, Google provides 2,000 emails/day for G Suite accounts. But from day one, you can't send everything; you get a smaller limit.
To get the most out of it, you need to build a good reputation, which can be done through email.
Ideally, it takes 8-12 weeks to reach maximum delivery capacity. Depending on email volume and engagement during the launch process, emails will be ready faster. Email launches can take longer than expected if recipient engagement is too low.
Use Sales handy to automatically start your email account without any manual effort.
Why Is an Email Warm-Up Important?
Warm up email account is an essential process to build your reputation and get higher delivery rates. It is essential when you plan to launch a random email blast with a new account to ensure that the emails reach the inbox.
In a cold email campaign (sequence), the first thing you need is to reach your recipient's inbox. Then, good engagement will help build a more meaningful relationship.
If an email is warmed up well before sending, it will avoid spam filters, get delivered to the inbox, and have a higher open rate.
So, without further ado, let's dig deeper and learn how to warm up your email account before sending cold emails to make your email account more effective, improve your sender reputation, and improve your e-mail deliverability.
How Do I Warm Up an Email Account Before Sending A Cold Email?
You can start your email account using two methods.
Methods
- Start your account manually.
- Automate email startup. (recommended)
Steps
- Verify your account.
- Send personal email.
- Maintain the topic of conversation.
- Sign up for the newsletter.
- Maintain intervals between two consecutive emails.
- Set up a personalized test campaign.
- Bonus best practices.
1. Verify Your Account
With a new email account, the first thing to do is authenticate the account. Authentication protects your account from spam filters and allows your emails to be delivered directly to your inbox.
There are four required email authentication:
FPS
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a verification procedure that makes a record in your DNS (Domain Name System) that lists all the servers authorized to send email on behalf of a domain. Whenever the receiver's ESP finds SPF authentication on the sender's side, it provides a clear signal to the sender's domain.
DKIM
DKIM (Domain Key Identified Mail)is a confirmation strategy that includes an advanced signature to your space, helping prevent email spoofing and allowing your emails to reach the right place.
DMARC
Domain-based Mail Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) records to utilize your SPF and DKIM records to ensure recipient ESPs that there is no phishing activity associated with the email.
Optional Domain Name
Add a custom domain to your emails, and make your links and documents more authentic by giving them your domain. This allows the sender, as well as the ESP, to ensure that links and documents come from an authentic source.
2. Send Personal Email
The email preparation process starts with manually sending emails to your companions and colleagues to construct a discussion.
At first, you should send 10 to 20 individual emails from the new email account. Make sure your initial emails have consistent engagement. This will help you increase your email volume.
With the increase in conversations, your email service provider is assured about your real activities and gradually prepares your email account for email campaigns.
During this manual process, make sure to send emails to various email services such as Yahoo, Outlook, iCloud, Godaddy, Zoho, Aol, Exchange, and Yandex. This will help you build a good reputation with all the major email service providers' spam filters.
Postscript
Write custom subject lines manually to get better responses.
3. Maintain The Topic Of Conversation
Email accounts aren't just for sending messages; you should have the answer.
To achieve maximum deliverability, it's essential to create engagement in your prepared emails. So, start the conversation by sending emails from your other email accounts and replying to those emails from the new email account.
Regular communication is important here as this is a continuous 8-12 week process. So, if possible, add a new email address on your website for incoming emails and respond to them quickly for better chat rates.
This simple process assures the e-mail service provider of your genuine email activities. Continuous email conversations will increase your email-sending limit and gradually make your account eligible for bulk emailing.
4. Sign Up For The Newsletter
If you work in sales, marketing, recruiting, or any other profession, many publications send out weekly newsletters.
Go out and sign up for a minimum of 10-15 newsletters. Each newsletter requires confirmation; go back to your inbox and confirm each subscription.
This will authenticate your account and increase email traffic. Receiving regular emails is just as important as sending them to kickstart your new email account.
5. Maintain Intervals Between Two Consecutive Emails
Each email service provider has its own algorithms to test how emails are sent and received.
So let these algorithms know that you're not a robot and avoid sending too many emails at once. If you continuously send many emails, it will affect your domain reputation. The best way to avoid this is to keep the two emails a few seconds apart while you launch your new account.
Avoid sending too many emails at once. Such activities trigger spam filters, which may result in your account being incidentally or for all time blocked.
6. Set Up a Personalized Test Campaign
After completing the 12 weeks of manual startup, your account will be ready to send cold emails. You can choose a tool like Saleshandy to send your cold emails. However, it's good to start small and simple. Start your first campaign (sequence) with a small list of 20-30 trusted recipients, along with friends and colleagues, so you can get feedback.
Personalize Your Emails
When your main goal is to launch your email account, you need to get the recipient to open the email and reply to it. Personalizing your emails will help.
Using Saleshandy, write emails that are personalized and sound human-like. Along with that, create personalized subject lines for the best open rates. Personalized messaging is essential to increase responses.
Avoid Spam Content
Including spam content in your emails will make your account more vulnerable to spam filters. Avoid using words like FREE, GRAB, 50%, etc. in your emails because they attract the attention of spam filters. Avoid content that damages the sender's reputation. Keep content clean, simple, and clear with a limited number of links to get the best distribution.
Add An Unsubscribe Link
Even if you're sending a test campaign (sequence) to a small list, you should still include an unsubscribe link in your email.
When preparing your email account, you should limit any possibility of recipients spamming your email. Even one spam report about a new account can damage your reputation. Adding an unsubscribe link to your emails allows recipients to choose whether they want to receive your emails or not. This feature not only makes recipients happy but also keeps your emails away from SPAM filters.
Start sending personalized cold emails after starting your account with Saleshandy.
- Add an unsubscribe link
- Personalize each email
- Maintain high email deliverability
7. Bonus Best Practices
Following the best practices above to warm up your email account before sending cold emails will help you activate a long list of cold email campaigns in your account.
Below, we list some other additional tips that will be helpful for maintaining your sender reputation and email deliverability.
- Write like a real person
- Use limited links in your email content
- Choose your email service provider wisely based on your needs
- Use limited media files such as images, videos and GIFs.