Summary
Cold outreach to influencers, if not carefully executed, poses significant risks to email domain deliverability. Experts, marketers, and documentation sources concur that sending unsolicited emails in bulk, employing misleading subject lines, neglecting personalization, and practicing poor list hygiene can lead to low engagement, high bounce rates, spam complaints, and ultimately, blacklisting. Additionally, technical issues like inadequate email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), exceeding sending limits, and using shared IP addresses exacerbate these problems. The combination of these factors damages sender reputation, leading mailbox providers to distrust the sending domain, resulting in reduced deliverability and potential blocks.
Key findings
- Deliverability Risk: Mass cold outreach poses a significant risk to email domain deliverability.
- Spam Trigger: Unsolicited emails are frequently flagged as spam, damaging sender reputation.
- Engagement Impact: Low engagement rates signal irrelevance and harm deliverability.
- Authentication Failure: Inadequate email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) increases the likelihood of spam flagging.
- Blacklisting Consequence: Aggressive or poorly executed outreach can lead to blacklisting, severely limiting deliverability.
- Shared IP Risks: Using shared IP addresses can be detrimental due to the actions of others.
Key considerations
- Personalized Outreach: Personalize email content to increase engagement and reduce spam complaints.
- Clean Email Lists: Maintain a clean and up-to-date email list to minimize bounce rates.
- Authentication Implementation: Implement and properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
- Sending Volume Management: Manage sending volume to stay within provider limits.
- Content Relevance: Ensure that email content is relevant to the recipient to encourage engagement.
- Avoid Spam Tactics: Avoid using tactics known to trigger spam filters, such as misleading subject lines and overly promotional content.
- Obtain Permission: Prioritize obtaining explicit permission whenever possible to minimize complaints and enhance deliverability.
What email marketers say
13 marketer opinions
Cold outreach to influencers, when not executed carefully, can significantly harm email domain deliverability. Sending unsolicited mass emails, using misleading subject lines, failing to personalize outreach, poor list hygiene, and neglecting email authentication can all lead to low engagement, high bounce rates, spam complaints, and blacklisting. These actions damage sender reputation and result in mailbox providers distrusting the sending domain, leading to decreased deliverability.
Key opinions
- Deliverability Impact: Mass cold outreach significantly impacts domain deliverability.
- Domain Blocking: Domains can be blocked as a result of poor cold outreach practices.
- Sender Reputation: Cold outreach damages sender reputation if not personalized.
- List Hygiene: Poor list hygiene leads to spam complaints and decreased engagement.
- IP Warmup: Failure to warm up IP addresses can trigger spam filters.
- Shared IPs: Using shared IPs can be detrimental due to the actions of other users.
- Engagement Metrics: Low engagement signals irrelevance to mailbox providers.
Key considerations
- Personalization: Personalize outreach to avoid low engagement and spam complaints.
- Email Authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to improve deliverability.
- Email List Quality: Maintain a clean and up-to-date email list to reduce bounce rates.
- IP Reputation: Monitor and maintain a good IP reputation to ensure deliverability.
- Sending Volume: Warm up your IP address before sending large volumes of emails.
- Stop sending spam: The best solution is to not send any spam
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says it's very likely that the practice of sending mass cold outreach emails will impact domain deliverability.
19 Jun 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks says you'll get both domains blocked.
31 Oct 2021 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
7 expert opinions
Experts agree that cold outreach to influencers, especially when executed aggressively or without proper consent, relevancy, and engagement, negatively impacts email domain deliverability. Practices like sending unsolicited mass emails, using cousin domains, and generating spam complaints damage sender reputation and can lead to blacklisting, causing mailbox providers to distrust the domain and significantly reduce deliverability.
Key opinions
- Deliverability Impact: Mass cold outreach has a definite negative impact on domain deliverability.
- Reputation Damage: Poorly executed cold outreach damages sender reputation through complaints and low engagement.
- Blacklisting Risk: Sending unsolicited emails can lead to blacklisting, severely impacting deliverability.
- Spam Classification: Cold outreach, regardless of justification, is often considered spam.
Key considerations
- Consent and Relevancy: Ensure emails are sent with permission and are relevant to the recipient to maintain engagement.
- Domain Protection: Avoid using cousin domains, as blacklists are attentive to such tactics.
- Engagement Metrics: Monitor and improve engagement metrics to avoid being flagged as spam.
- Avoid Spam: Avoid sending unsolicited emails to maintain a good sender reputation and avoid blacklisting.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks states that allowing someone to use your domain to send spam will absolutely ruin your deliverability.
30 Sep 2021 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource (Steve Linford) explains that sending unsolicited commercial email, including cold outreach to influencers, can lead to blacklisting, directly and severely impacting deliverability.
3 Sep 2023 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Technical documentation consistently indicates that cold outreach to influencers can negatively affect email domain deliverability. Sending bulk, unsolicited emails can lead to spam flagging, high complaint rates, exceeding sending limits, and potential restrictions from providers like Google and Microsoft. Failure to implement email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) makes domains vulnerable to spoofing and blocklisting, further harming deliverability across various email providers.
Key findings
- Spam Flagging: Bulk, unsolicited emails are often flagged as spam, especially with high complaint rates.
- Sending Limits: Exceeding sending limits leads to temporary or permanent restrictions.
- Authentication Failure: Lack of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC results in emails being flagged as spam.
- Blocklisting: Being listed on a blocklist negatively impacts deliverability across providers.
- Spoofing Vulnerability: Absent or unenforced DMARC policies make domains vulnerable to spoofing and phishing.
Key considerations
- Sending Practices: Avoid sending bulk, unsolicited emails to minimize spam complaints.
- Sending Volume: Stay within sending limits set by email providers to avoid restrictions.
- Authentication Implementation: Implement and properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for email authentication.
- Blocklist Monitoring: Regularly check blocklists to ensure your domain isn't listed.
- DMARC Policy Enforcement: Implement and enforce a DMARC policy to protect against spoofing and phishing.
Technical article
Documentation from Google explains that sending unsolicited emails in bulk can be flagged as spam, particularly if recipients mark them as such. High spam complaint rates from cold outreach negatively affect domain reputation and deliverability to Gmail users.
8 Oct 2021 - Google Workspace Admin Help
Technical article
Documentation from Spamhaus indicates that being listed on a blocklist due to spam complaints from cold outreach to influencers will negatively impact domain deliverability across various email providers.
26 Mar 2024 - Spamhaus
Are cold outreach 'best practices' actually illegal spam tactics?
How can I fix spam issues after previous cold outreach and improve domain reputation?
How can I prevent cold emails from harming my domain reputation?
How does cold email impact warm email deliverability and sender reputation?
How does cold outreach impact domain reputation and deliverability?
Should I use a subdomain or separate domain for marketing emails and cold outreach?
