Did you know that 85% of emails never reach the inbox due to poor deliverability? That's where SMTP warm-up comes in.
By gradually building your sending reputation, you can improve poor domain reputation and trust and ensure your messages land where they belong—right in your recipients' inboxes.
What is SMTP Warm Up?

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) warm-up is the process of gradually increasing the number of emails you send from a new email account or IP address.
By starting slow, you allow your email to build a solid sending reputation. This helps ensure that your messages land in your recipient’s inbox rather than getting marked as spam. Email warm-up can take several weeks, but it's vital for building a good reputation
When you send too many emails at once from a new domain or IP, mailbox providers like Gmail might see it as suspicious. They could block your emails or send them straight to the spam folder. That’s why SMTP warm-up is essential.
The domain warm-up process ensures your emails are trusted by mailbox providers over time.
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Importance of a Good Domain Reputation in Warm-Up
A good domain reputation is the key to successful SMTP and domain warm up. Building a solid sender reputation protects your domain from being blacklisted. Here’s are some other reasons why it is important:
1. Foundation of Trust with ISPs
Your domain reputation is like your online report card. If your scores are high, ISPs trust you. They will allow your emails to reach more people.
But if your domain's reputation is low, ISPs will flag your emails as spam. Slowly warming up your domain and IP shows ISPs that you send emails responsibly.
2. Influence on Engagement Metrics
Engagement metrics include how many people open, read, and click on your emails.
A positive domain reputation improves these metrics because your emails are more likely to end up in the inbox, not the spam folder. The more people engage, the better your sender reputation becomes.
3. Enhances Credibility in Recipient’s Eyes
When your emails don’t land in spam, your audience sees them. This makes your domain look professional and trustworthy.
If people see your emails regularly in their inbox, they start to recognize and trust your brand.
4. Ensures Better Deliverability Rates
A strong domain reputation improves your chances of hitting the inbox. This means more of your emails reach your recipients instead of getting lost or blocked.
Over time, this leads to positive engagement, more sales, better deliverability rates and higher success for your campaigns.
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How to Optimize Your IP Warm Up for Better Deliverability

1. Start Slow with Low Email Volumes
When you begin using a new IP address, don’t send thousands of emails on day one. Sending too many emails too quickly can trigger spam filters, which hurts your IP reputation. Instead of sending limits much, start sending emails in small volumes.
How to Do It:
- Start Small: Begin with around 50 to 100 emails per day. Gradually increase this number over the next few weeks. For example, if you send 100 emails on the first day, raise it to 150 on the second day.
- Monitor Performance: Track how well your emails are doing. Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools to see if your IP is being marked as spam. If there are issues, adjust your sending strategy.
- Avoid Spam Traps: Make sure your email list is clean. Don’t buy email lists, as they may contain spam traps, which can damage your IP reputation.
Creating a proper warm-up plan will prevent sudden spikes and maintain a consistent sending pattern.
2. Target Engaged Recipients First
The people who are most likely to open and click on your emails are your engaged recipients. These are customers or contacts who have shown interest in your brand.
Sending your initial emails to them can improve your IP reputation because ISPs see high engagement as a positive sign.
How to Identify Engaged Recipients:
- Use Engagement Metrics: Check your email service provider’s dashboard to find contacts who regularly open or click on your emails. These are the people you want to start with.
- Segment Your List: Create a list of your most active subscribers. Focus on sending your first batch of emails to this group. Gradually expand as your reputation grows.
3. Maintain Consistent Sending Patterns
Consistency is key when warming up your IP. If you suddenly send a large batch of emails one day and then stop, it can look suspicious to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Gmail and Yahoo.
They might think you are spamming, which hurts your sender reputation. Instead, you need to keep your email sending steady and predictable.
How to Do It:
- Stick to a Schedule: Decide how many emails you will send each day. For example, if you start with 100 emails on day one, send 150 on day two. Slowly increase this number over several weeks.
- Avoid Big Spikes: Don’t go from sending 100 emails one day to 1,000 the next. Sudden jumps can trigger spam filters. Increase the volume by around 10-20% per day.
- Track Engagement: Monitor how people react to your emails. Are they opening them? Are they clicking on links? If engagement is low, make adjustments.
4. Authenticate Your Emails
Authentication is like proving your identity when you send an email. It shows ISPs that your emails are safe and genuine.
Without proper authentication, there are many factors that make your end up in the spam folder. Authentication helps to improve your IP reputation and domain reputation, ensuring better deliverability.
What to Do:
- Set Up SPF (Sender Policy Framework): SPF is a way to show that your IP is allowed to send emails for your domain. It prevents others from pretending to be you. Make sure your SPF record is set up correctly.
- Use DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): DKIM adds a digital signature to your emails. This lets ISPs know that your emails are authentic and haven’t been changed. It’s like adding a seal to your letter.
- Implement DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): DMARC helps you monitor how well your authentication is working. It provides reports, so you know if there are any problems. DMARC is crucial for protecting your brand from phishing attacks.
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5. Use Multiple IP Addresses for Large Volumes
If you plan to send a lot of emails, using multiple IP addresses is a smart move. When all your emails come from a single dedicated IP name, it can quickly get overwhelmed, and your emails might end up in spam.
By spreading the load across sending emails from multiple IPs, you can manage your sending better.
How to Do It:
- Distribute Email Traffic: Assign different IPs for different tasks. For example, one IP can be used for sending newsletters, while another handles marketing campaigns. This keeps your main IP from being overloaded.
- Prevent IP Blocking: If one IP has an issue or is flagged, it won’t affect the others. This ensures your emails continue to be delivered from other IPs.
- Maintain Reputation: Each IP builds its own reputation. By using multiple IPs, you can grow the reputation of all your sending IPs, making it less likely for your emails to get blocked.
A dedicated IP address can help maintain consistent email sending practices and patterns, reducing the risk of being flagged.
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6. Warm Up for Each New IP Separately
Every time you add a new IP address, you need to warm it up and send messages individually. You can’t just start sending thousands of emails from a fresh IP, or ISPs will likely block it. Warming up each IP tells ISPs that you are a genuine sender receiving email and not spamming.
How to Warm Up a New IP:
- Start Small: Begin by sending around 50 to 100 emails per day. Over the next few weeks, slowly increase the volume. If your emails get good engagement (like opens and clicks), ISPs will trust you more.
- Monitor Each IP’s Performance: Keep an eye on how well each IP is doing. Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools to track performance and watch for any issues.
- Target Engaged Recipients First: When warming up a new IP, send your emails to people who regularly open and engage with your content. This improves your reputation early on.
7. Avoid Overloading for IP Reputation
When warming up your IP, it’s important not to send too many emails at once. Overloading your IP with cold emails can make Internet Service Providers (ISPs) suspicious. They might see a sudden increase in emails as a sign of spam, which can harm your IP reputation.
What to Do:
- Send Emails in Small Batches: Start by sending around 50-100 emails a day. Gradually increase the volume over the weeks. For example, if you start with 100 emails on the first day, raise it to 150 the next day. This shows ISPs that your sending pattern is consistent and responsible.
- Set a Sending Limit: Stick to a daily limit and avoid big spikes. If you send 1,000 emails today and 10,000 tomorrow, ISPs might block your IP, thinking you are a spammer.
- Spread Emails Across Multiple IPs: If you need to send a large number of emails, use multiple IP addresses. This helps balance the load and keeps any one IP from being overwhelmed.
8. Regularly Check Spam Folder Feedback
Checking feedback from spam folders can help you understand if your emails are being marked as spam. ISPs like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook have feedback loops (FBLs) that can notify you if recipients report your emails as spam.
Regularly monitoring this information allows you to make adjustments and improve your sender reputation.
How to Do It:
- Sign Up for Feedback Loops (FBLs): Many email service providers offer feedback loops. When someone marks your email as spam, you get a report. This lets you see which emails are causing issues.
- Analyze the Feedback: Look for patterns. Are certain subject lines triggering spam complaints? Are emails sent at specific times getting flagged? Use this data to adjust your strategy.
- Update Your Contact List: If you notice repeated spam complaints from certain addresses, consider removing them from your list. This reduces the risk of hurting your IP reputation.
How Alore Enhances Your SMTP Warm-Up Process

When it comes to optimizing your email deliverability, Alore CRM can be a game changer, especially during the critical SMTP warm-up phase.
Alore’s sophisticated email marketing automation, combined with its AI-powered analytics, offers you a streamlined way to properly warm up your IPs and maintain a healthy domain reputation—all while focusing on engagement-driven strategies.
Why Alore Stands Out for SMTP Warm-Up
1. Personalized Warm-Up Plans
Alore allows you to customize and automate your warm-up process by setting personalized schedules for email volume increases. Rather than following generic templates,
Alore helps you warm up your IPs by gradually increasing email volume in a way that aligns with your specific audience and engagement metrics.
2. Comprehensive Domain and IP Monitoring
Alore's CRM platform continuously monitors your domain reputation and IP performance, ensuring you don’t encounter setbacks like landing in the spam folder or getting blacklisted.
This monitoring allows you to react quickly to any potential issues, making adjustments to maintain high deliverability rates.
3. Engagement-Driven Strategy
With Alore, you can easily segment your most engaged recipients to start your warm-up process. Alore’s analytics help you identify these high-engagement contacts, allowing you to build a positive sender reputation from day one.
This is a crucial step for making your IP a good reputation and avoiding early pitfalls like spam complaints or high bounce rates.
4. Automation for Consistency
Maintaining a consistent sending pattern is key in any SMTP warm-up process, and Alore’s automation ensures you never miss a beat.
By automating repetitive tasks like scheduling your email campaigns, you can focus on crafting high-quality, personalized content, which further strengthens your business and domain reputation.
Conclusion
Warming up your IP is the key to better email deliverability. Start slow, use multiple IPs, and always monitor your results. This process builds trust, strengthens your email domain and reputation, and helps your emails avoid the spam folder. Follow these steps, and you’ll see more emails reaching your recipients' inboxes.