Much like it used to be necessary to heat up a car on a cold day before driving, email marketers must warm up their IP addresses to ensure smooth delivery of holiday emails. If like most merchants you’re gearing up to increase your email sending volume over the holidays, now is the time to begin the warming process in order to establish your sender reputation and ensure maximum delivery rates.
Basically, you must begin by sending to a smaller number of subscribers on a conservative schedule and gradually increase email volume and frequency as your sender reputation begins to be established. Much like respect, sender reputation must be earned, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
Below is a checklist to get you started. Together, these steps will help eliminate the major spam signals for IPs – heavy volume, high bounce-back and complaint rates and spam trap hits.
As Greg Kraios, founder and CEO of 250ok and a deliverability industry thought leader, says, email delivery is a privilege earned based on the continued responsibility of the sender. Even if you’re working with a reputable email service provider, much of the responsibility still falls on you.
If you begin now to warm your IP address, you will be in the best position to achieve maximum inbox delivery of your holiday emails.