You want to reach your desired audience? Looking to avoid the spam flag? If so, take note: you’ll need to warm up that email account! The secret to avoiding spam filters lies in convincing email providers like Google that your account is legitimate and operated by a human. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to warm up your email manually and set the foundation for successful cold emailing.
Step 1: Set Up Your Email
Before warming up your email account, you need to create one that is ready for business.
- Buy a Domain: Purchase a domain through Google if you don’t already have one. Using a business domain typically offers better deliverability than an @gmail.com account.
- Use G Suite: Set up G Suite for your domain. This Google service is tailored for businesses, providing a professional email platform that enhances reputability.
- Link a Website: Ensure your email address is associated with a website. Even a simple link to your company’s site legitimizes your new email account and avoids penalties associated with bad reputations.
Keep in mind that new domains come with neutral reputations. It usually takes time for your reputation to build, so avoid sending out emails until your account is adequately warmed up. For new domains, aim for at least 12 weeks of warming up before launching cold outreach campaigns. If you’re using an existing reputable domain for new email accounts, you may start after 2 weeks.
Step 2: Personalize Your Account
Personalization establishes credibility in your email account, further proving to Google that you’re a real user.
- Add a Profile Picture: Go to your G Suite account and upload a friendly image to accompany your new email.
- Create an Email Signature: Navigate to the settings and create a signature that includes:
- Your name
- Job title
- Company name
- Address
- Phone number
- Website link
This level of personalization minimizes the likelihood of your emails landing in spam.
Step 3: Authenticate Your Domain
Authentication is critical for reliable email delivery. There are two primary methods:
- Sender Policy Framework (SPF): You can implement SPF by adding a specific TXT record to your domain’s settings.
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM): This requires generating a key pair and integrating the keys into your domain settings.
Log into G Suite, access ‘Settings for Gmail’, and verify everything using available tools like Mail Tester to ensure the process is accurate.
Step 4: Live in Your New Account
Now that your email is set up and personalized, it’s essential to use your account like a normal user would.
- Sign Up for Services: Use your new email to join social media networks, subscribe to newsletters, or register on different platforms. Aim for at least ten subscriptions to signal a genuine user.
- Engage with Contacts: Reach out to friends and colleagues, encouraging them to reply to your emails. This interaction reinforces the legitimacy of your email account. Avoid sending the same messages to everyone, as this can quickly get flagged as spam.
Step 5: Set Up an Automated Test Campaign
While waiting for your email to warm up, develop your first cold email campaign. After following the previous steps and waiting at least 12 weeks, it’s time to test out your setup.
- Choose Real Email Addresses: Select 10 to 20 known email addresses for testing.
- Launch an Automated Test Campaign: Familiarize yourself with your cold emailing tool and practice avoiding Google’s spam filters. Encourage your test contacts to reply to your emails and ensure you respond to them as well. This interaction further proves to Google that your emails are engaging and relevant.
Step 6: Find High-Quality Prospects
Once your testing phase is successful, it’s time to focus on high-quality leads.
- Target the Right Companies: Identify potential customers at reputable companies to uphold your sender reputation and limit bounce rates.
- Use Reliable Data Providers: Utilize renowned contact data providers, such as LeadIQ or Cognism, to get quality contacts.
- Validate Emails: Employ third-party email verifiers like Voila Norbert to check the validity of your email addresses. This crucial step reduces hard bounce rates and prevents your domain from getting flagged.
Step 7: Start Sending Emails (But Not Through a Third-Party SMTP)
With everything in order, it’s finally time to send out your cold email campaigns. One vital point to remember:
- Avoid Third-Party SMTPs: Don’t use external SMTP providers like SendGrid or Amazon SES at this stage. Doing so can lead your emails to be flagged as spam due to the lower reputation associated with unknown domains. Stick with G Suite’s internal SMTP for now and begin sending emails.
Step 8: Launch Your Campaign, But Act Human
With your email warmed up, you’re ready to dive into cold emailing. However, remember that your email activity is under scrutiny.
- Maintain a Steady Pace: Rushing your campaigns or sending too many emails at once can damage your sender reputation.
- Personalize Each Message: Take the time to ensure that emails are personalized, further balancing your sender’s credibility.
Tip: The current sending limit for G Suite accounts is around 2,000 emails per 24 hours. While this may change, staying updated with Google’s regulations is crucial for maintaining effective outreach.
If you’re employing automated tools like Mailshake, consider managing your sending schedule:
- Space out your sent messages to avoid overwhelming responses.
- Consider running your campaign over an extended time to limit the daily recipient count.
- Create a custom tracking domain for monitoring performance.
- Disable open tracking for very short messages to keep your report clean.
Step 9: Don’t Forget the Disengagement Trigger!
One crucial element that is often overlooked is the disengagement trigger. This feature, provided by platforms like Mailshake, removes contacts from your outreach flow after a specified number of unanswered attempts:
- Automatic Pausing: If a contact has not replied after ten emails, the tool will pause the flow, protecting your sender score and ensuring you don’t risk spam violations.
Step 10: Monitor Performance Closely
After launching your cold email campaign, keeping a watchful eye on performance metrics is essential.
- Track Key Metrics: Pay attention to sending patterns, click-through rates, open rates, and bounce rates.
- Assess Sudden Changes: If there’s a sudden decline in metrics or they exceed the average 90-day median, your email address may be warming up too quickly. If it does, it’s wise to revert to G Suite’s internal SMTP and limit sending to 1,000 emails per 24 hours.
- Manage Bounce Rates: If your bounce rate escalates, halt your outreach and incorporate an email validation process to mitigate future issues.
Conclusion: Treat Your Email Processes with Care
Manually warming up your email ensures a higher likelihood that your messages will find their way into inboxes rather than spam folders. Following each step diligently builds credibility with email providers, ultimately leading to successful cold emailing campaigns.
If you’re serious about enhancing your email deliverability, experience the benefits of Apello Email Warmup Services. Apello is the only live call center dedicated to email warmups, domain warmups, and IP warmups, guiding business leads to engage effectively with your messages.
For tailored solutions that boost your inbox reputation and accelerate your cold emailing results, visit Apello Email Warmup Services today! Let’s ensure every email you send paves the way for success!
