Summary
Recovering from spam issues after previous cold outreach and improving domain reputation requires a comprehensive strategy involving technical adjustments, list management, and behavioral changes. Experts and documentation sources converge on several key steps: immediately ceasing cold outreach; implementing robust email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC); cleaning email lists of unengaged subscribers; gradually warming up IP addresses or domains; sending valuable, engaging content; and closely monitoring sender reputation metrics. Other important actions include segmenting audiences, honoring opt-outs, and actively testing email deliverability. Experts also caution against common myths surrounding deliverability and highlight the ineffectiveness (and potential harm) of domain warm-up tools. Understanding email provider guidelines, especially those of Gmail and Microsoft, is also critical.
Key findings
- Cease Cold Outreach: Immediately stop all cold outreach activities.
- Implement Authentication: Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for email authentication.
- Clean Email Lists: Remove unengaged subscribers to improve sender reputation.
- Warm-Up Gradually: Slowly warm up IP addresses/domains before resuming outreach.
- Engage with Content: Focus on sending valuable and engaging content to recipients.
- Monitor Deliverability: Regularly monitor sender scores and deliverability metrics.
Key considerations
- Warm-up Tools: Warm-up tools may be ineffective and could potentially worsen deliverability.
- Gmail Reputation: Address Gmail's domain reputation specifically, as it is a major factor.
- Engagement Metrics: Avoid relying solely on email opens as a measure of engagement.
- Know Your Provider: Understand your email provider's policies to avoid spam traps.
- Segmentation: Segment your audience for targeted and relevant communication.
What email marketers say
9 marketer opinions
Recovering from spam issues after cold outreach and rebuilding domain reputation requires a multifaceted approach. Experts and marketers agree that ceasing cold outreach is the first step. Authentication using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential. Cleaning email lists by removing unengaged subscribers and implementing permission-based opt-in processes is crucial. Warming up IP addresses or domains and gradually increasing sending volume to engaged segments is recommended. Monitoring sender scores, engagement, bounce rates, and spam complaints, along with A/B testing content, helps optimize deliverability. Utilizing deliverability testing tools can pinpoint and resolve issues causing emails to land in spam.
Key opinions
- Stop Cold Outreach: Immediately cease all cold outreach activities that contributed to the spam issue.
- Authenticate Email: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify sender identity and improve deliverability.
- Clean Email List: Remove unengaged subscribers to reduce bounce rates and improve engagement metrics.
- Warm-Up IP/Domain: Gradually warm up IP addresses or domains to re-establish a positive sender reputation.
- Monitor Reputation: Continuously monitor sender scores, engagement, bounce rates, and spam complaints to track progress.
- Content Engagement: Sending relevant content improves deliverability.
Key considerations
- Tool Effectiveness: Domain warm-up tools may not be effective and can sometimes worsen deliverability issues; proceed with caution.
- Segmentation: Segmenting email lists ensures that recipients receive content relevant to their interests and engagement level.
- Testing is Critical: Deliverability testing tools can help identify and fix issues causing emails to land in the spam folder, improving overall inbox placement rates.
- Incremental Approach: Slowly increase sending volume whilst warming up IP and domain.
- Authentication First: Configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC before list cleaning or warm-up activity.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that sender reputation is key for email deliverability and suggests using tools to monitor your sender score, sending relevant and engaging content, and segmenting your audience to target the right people with the right message.
8 Feb 2023 - Mailjet
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that they improved domain reputation after cold outreach by starting with very small, highly engaged segments, closely monitoring bounce rates and spam complaints, and gradually increasing sending volume while consistently providing value to subscribers.
23 Mar 2024 - Email Marketing Forum
What the experts say
6 expert opinions
Experts advise a strategic approach to fixing spam issues after cold outreach and improving domain reputation. The initial step is to cease spamming activities and remove suspicious email addresses. Emphasis is placed on engaging users, sending valuable content, and authenticating emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Warming up IPs slowly and monitoring deliverability are crucial, as is knowing your email provider to avoid spam traps. It's also important to disregard email opens as a reliable engagement metric and to avoid common email deliverability myths such as quantity over quality sending, and reliance on purchased lists. List segmentation, honoring opt-outs, testing emails, and maintaining a static IP address are also suggested.
Key opinions
- Cease Spamming: Immediately stop all practices that could be considered spamming.
- Engage Users: Focus on sending valuable email to users who have shown genuine engagement.
- Authenticate Email: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify sender identity.
- Warm IP Slowly: Gradually warm up IP addresses while carefully monitoring deliverability.
- Segmentation & Testing: Segment email lists, test emails, and monitor sender reputation.
Key considerations
- Warm-up Tools: Be cautious of warm-up tools, as they can be ineffective or even detrimental.
- Engagement Metrics: Do not rely solely on email opens as a true measure of engagement.
- Deliverability Myths: Avoid common email deliverability myths and focus on quality over quantity.
- Email Provider Awareness: Understand your email provider's policies to avoid spam traps.
- Opt-out Compliance: Always honor opt-out requests promptly.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks advises to stop sending spam, discard suspicious email addresses, focus on users with engagement, and send valuable email with incentives, starting slowly and monitoring results.
1 Dec 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks states that warmup tools are a scam and can worsen the spam issue.
2 Jul 2024 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Documentation emphasizes the importance of email authentication, particularly SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, to improve deliverability and protect against spoofing and phishing. Adhering to bulk sender guidelines, especially those of Gmail, is critical. Maintaining list hygiene, managing sending rates, and providing easy unsubscribe options are also key. SPF authorizes sending hosts by creating DNS records, DKIM provides a mechanism for digitally signing messages, and DMARC allows senders to specify how receivers should handle unauthenticated emails.
Key findings
- Email Authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are essential for verifying sender identity and preventing spoofing.
- Bulk Sender Guidelines: Following guidelines from providers like Gmail improves deliverability.
- List Hygiene: Maintaining a clean and engaged email list reduces spam complaints.
- Sending Rates: Managing sending rates prevents overwhelming recipient servers and triggering spam filters.
- Unsubscribe Options: Providing easy unsubscribe options is crucial for compliance and user experience.
Key considerations
- Implementation Complexity: Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC can be technically complex and requires careful configuration.
- Testing Authentication: It is important to test that email authentication is setup correctly after deployment.
- DMARC Policy Enforcement: DMARC allows you to specify what actions receiving servers should take if email fails authentication, from 'none' to 'reject'.
- Evolving Guidelines: Email providers' bulk sender guidelines can change, so staying updated is essential.
- Impact on Deliverability: Failure to adhere to authentication standards and sender guidelines can significantly harm deliverability.
Technical article
Documentation from DKIM explains that DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) is an email authentication method which is designed to detect email spoofing by providing a mechanism that allows mail senders to digitally sign their messages, indicating that they are authorized to send mail from the sending domain, and allowing mail receivers to verify the signature.
23 Apr 2025 - DKIM
Technical article
Documentation from Google explains that adhering to Gmail's bulk sender guidelines is critical for avoiding the spam folder, emphasizing authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), list hygiene, managing sending rates, and providing easy unsubscribe options.
17 Oct 2021 - Google
Are cold outreach 'best practices' actually illegal spam tactics?
How can I improve email deliverability and open rates for a client with a bad domain reputation, especially with Gmail, and what strategies should I use for unengaged users?
How can I improve my domain reputation with Gmail?
How can I improve my email and domain reputation and overall deliverability?
How can I improve my primary domain reputation after sending cold outreach emails?
How can I prevent cold emails from harming my domain reputation?
How can I recover my domain's reputation after a spam attack blocked it on Gmail?
How can I recover my email domain reputation after a drop in open rates?
How do I recover domain reputation after a sudden high volume email send to unengaged users?
How to fix bad domain reputation and best IP strategy for low volume sender?
