Summary
Sending monthly newsletters to a large list on a dedicated IP can negatively impact IP reputation due to the resulting inconsistent sending patterns. ISPs often interpret these infrequent, high-volume sends as suspicious, potentially leading to deliverability issues, throttling, or blocks. To mitigate these risks, experts recommend strategies such as using shared IP pools, throttling sends over several days, prioritizing highly engaged users, implementing proper IP warming procedures for new IPs, maintaining consistent sending volume and frequency, cleaning email lists, and ensuring proper email authentication.
Key findings
- Inconsistent Sends are Detrimental: ISPs view infrequent, high-volume sends as a red flag, damaging IP reputation.
- Engagement is Paramount: High recipient engagement can help offset the risks, but relies on an enthusiastic audience.
- Warming is Necessary: New IPs require a gradual warming process to establish a positive reputation.
- Consistent Volume Matters: Maintaining consistent sending volume and frequency is crucial for a good IP reputation.
- Shared IPs as Alternative: Consider using a shared IP pool if maintaining consistent sending is not feasible.
Key considerations
- Establish Sending Schedule: Develop a consistent sending schedule to avoid sudden volume spikes.
- Implement IP Warming Strategy: Gradually increase sending volume to warm up the IP address before large sends.
- Practice List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove unengaged or inactive subscribers.
- Prioritize Engagement: Focus on sending to highly engaged recipients to build positive reputation signals.
- Authenticate Your Emails: Ensure proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) for improved deliverability.
- Consider Throttling: Throttle newsletter dispatches over several days to distribute the volume.
What email marketers say
12 marketer opinions
Sending monthly newsletters to large lists can negatively impact a dedicated IP's reputation due to the inconsistent sending patterns. ISPs often view these infrequent, high-volume sends as suspicious behavior, potentially leading to deliverability issues. Maintaining consistent sending schedules, warming up IPs gradually, segmenting lists for more frequent sends, and ensuring high engagement are crucial for mitigating these risks.
Key opinions
- Inconsistent Sending: ISPs flag infrequent sending to large lists as unusual, impacting IP reputation negatively.
- Engagement is Key: High recipient engagement can offset some risks associated with infrequent sending, but it's difficult to achieve without an enthusiastically opted-in audience.
- Dedicated IP Challenges: Dedicated IPs require consistent sending habits; sparse sends to large lists can lead to filtering issues.
- Warming is Crucial: New dedicated IPs require a gradual warming-up process to establish a positive reputation before sending large volumes.
- Segmentation: Segmenting your email list and sending smaller volume emails more frequently helps to maintain consistent IP reputation.
Key considerations
- Sending Schedule: Establish a consistent sending schedule to avoid sudden spikes in volume followed by inactivity.
- IP Warming: If using a new dedicated IP, implement a gradual IP warming strategy before sending to the entire list.
- List Hygiene: Maintain a clean email list by removing unengaged recipients to improve engagement metrics.
- Engagement Levels: Assess recipient engagement levels and prioritize sends to the most engaged users to build positive signals.
- Authentication: Ensure proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to improve deliverability and sender reputation.
- Shared IP Pool: Consider using a shared IP pool if consistent sending volumes cannot be maintained on a dedicated IP.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks recommends using a shared IP pool for monthly newsletters due to inconsistent results on a dedicated IP with sparse sendings to large lists.
5 Oct 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from GMass shares that one of the most important aspects of maintaining a healthy IP reputation is to ensure that you are maintaining a proper sending schedule. For newsletters, it is key to ensure that the IP has enough time to warm up, especially when sending to large lists.
10 Dec 2022 - GMass
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Sending monthly newsletters to large lists significantly impacts dedicated IP reputation negatively due to inconsistent sending patterns. Experts suggest throttling newsletter dispatches over several days, prioritizing engaged users, and soft-suppressing inactive ones. Infrequent, large-volume emails are flagged as spam-like behavior by mailbox providers, damaging IP reputation as it indicates poor list hygiene or list buying. Consistent sending habits are vital to avoid being perceived as a spammer and maintaining a positive IP reputation.
Key opinions
- Throttling Sends: Throttling newsletter sends over multiple days can help mitigate negative impacts.
- Spam Signal: Infrequent, large volume sends are a strong indicator of spam-like behavior to mailbox providers.
- Poor Reputation: Inconsistent sending damages IP reputation and labels you as a potential spammer.
- Engaged Users: Prioritizing sends to highly engaged users helps maintain positive engagement metrics.
Key considerations
- Sending Frequency: Maintain a consistent sending frequency to avoid triggering spam filters.
- List Hygiene: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive subscribers and reduce bounce rates.
- Engagement Monitoring: Monitor engagement metrics closely and adjust sending strategies based on recipient behavior.
- Throttling Implementation: Implement a throttling mechanism to gradually send emails over time.
- Suppression Strategy: Develop a soft-suppression strategy for inactive subscribers to avoid sending to unengaged recipients.
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource details that inconsistent sending habits damage your IP reputation. Sending monthly to a large list makes you look like a spammer.
15 Mar 2024 - Spam Resource
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, explains that sending infrequent, large volume emails after periods of silence looks like spam behavior to mailbox providers. This negatively impacts IP reputation because providers assume that the sender is buying lists or has poor list hygiene. Consistent sending is key to maintaining a positive reputation.
24 Apr 2025 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Sending monthly newsletters to a large list negatively affects dedicated IP reputation, according to various email service provider documentation. Consistent sending volume and frequency are crucial for building a positive IP reputation. Sudden changes in sending patterns, such as infrequent large blasts, can lead to filtering issues, especially with low engagement or new IPs. Proper IP warming strategies are necessary, and sending without an established reputation can damage the IP address's reputation, causing messages to be marked as spam.
Key findings
- Consistency is Key: Maintaining a consistent sending volume and frequency is essential for a positive IP reputation.
- Sudden Changes Harmful: Sudden changes in sending patterns, like infrequent large sends, negatively impact deliverability.
- IP Warming Required: A proper IP warming strategy is necessary for dedicated IPs, especially when starting.
- Reputation at Risk: Sending without an established reputation damages IP reputation and leads to spam marking.
Key considerations
- Establish Consistent Volume: Maintain a consistent sending volume over time.
- Implement IP Warming: Gradually increase sending volume to warm up the IP address before sending to the entire list.
- Follow Sender Practices: Adhere to good sender practices such as authentication and list hygiene.
- Monitor Engagement: Monitor engagement metrics to ensure recipients are actively engaging with emails.
- Avoid Sudden Spikes: Avoid sudden spikes in sending volume after periods of inactivity.
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft SNDS shares that consistent volume and good sender practices are vital for dedicated IP reputation. Sending infrequent large blasts to a list can lead to filtering issues if engagement metrics are low or the IP is new.
2 Sep 2024 - Microsoft
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost explains that with dedicated IP addresses, a proper IP warming strategy is necessary. If you send monthly newsletters to a large list without an established reputation, your IP will likely face deliverability issues. Gradually increase volume over time.
14 Mar 2025 - SparkPost
Do email unsubscribes negatively affect sender reputation?
Do spam complaints from different email domains have different weights in deliverability?
How can I improve my email and domain reputation and overall deliverability?
How do I warm up a new IP address for transactional emails?
What are best practices for warming up a new subdomain for email sending, and how does it impact DKIM alignment?
What is a good bounce rate percentage to aim for in email marketing?
