🔥 What exactly is "warming up an email account"?

Email warm-up is the process of gradually increasing the number of emails sent from a new or inactive email account to build its reputation and avoid being marked as spam. When an email account is freshly created or hasn't been used for a while, sending a large volume of emails right away can raise red flags for email service providers (like Gmail or Yahoo or Outlook). This could cause emails to land in the spam folder or even get the account blacklisted.

To warm up an email account, small batches of emails are sent initially, then slowly ramped up over time. These emails are also sent to known recipients who are likely to engage (open, reply, etc.), which helps signal to email providers that the account is trustworthy.

The goal is to establish a positive sending reputation with email providers so that future campaigns reach inboxes instead of spam folders.

New email accounts that immediately start blasting off a huge volume of emails will trigger spam filters at email service providers. Once your domain or IP address is flagged as a spammer, it is almost impossible to shake off that reputation.

Email warm up - The DIY (do it yourself) way.

There are a lot of services that promise to warm up your email account for you in return for a payment. I have not tested any of these services. What i can only tell you is warming up your email is easy and you can do it yourself without spending $$$$. All that is needed is a little patience from you.

Here are some steps I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you follow in order to warm up your email account. Whether using a paid service or doing it yourself, the email warm up process will take a few weeks. Avoid anybody promising quick results

Week 1 - 2

1. Send a Few Emails Initially: Start by sending a small number of emails (10-15 per day) to friends, colleagues, or yourself. Make sure you send them to as many email services as possible - Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, iCloud, Zoho, Protonmail, Yandex, etc.

2. Personalize Your Emails: Make sure your emails are personalized and relevant to the recipients. Do not use ALL CAPS subject lines, excessive punctuation, or clickbait headlines.

3. Include Unsubscribe Link: It's always advisable to include an unsubscribe link in your email. It keeps the recipients happy and is an important signal to the email service providers that you are are a serious adherent to best practices.

4. Engage With Your Audience: An email is designed to be a two-way conversation. Encourage your recipients to respond and engage them with your replies.

5. Monitor These Initial Emails: Many email service providers randomly send the first few emails into spam folders. Look out for such emails and mark them as 'Not Spam'.

Week 3 - 4

Here you will continue doing everything you did during the first two weeks plus the following.

1. Increase Volume Gradually: Slowly increase the number of emails you send each day by 10-20% every few days. Avoid sudden spikes in volume.

2. Monitor Engagement: Track open rates, click rates, and responses. Adjust your sending volume and email content based on the engagement you receive.

Week 5 Onwards

By now your email account would have been sufficiently warmed up. You must still follow these best practices to maintain your reputation.

1. Send Relevant Content: Always ensure your emails are relevant and valuable to your recipients.

2. Stay Consistent: Maintain a consistent sending schedule to build trust with email service providers.

How SENDUNE helps.

For those of you who haven't heard about it, SENDUNE is a free and open source Email Platform built for anyone using AWS SES.

Every account on SENDUNE is automatically enrolled in their InboxVISA program - a collection of email sending best practices (including email warm ups) and real-time heuristics adopted by SENDUNE to protect you and guide emails safely into user inboxes. While these practices create trust with email service providers, the final decider in inbox placement is the content of your email. Ultimately, the only one who can guarantee safe inbox placement is YOU.