Summary
The overwhelming consensus from marketers, experts, and documentation across various platforms is that using a subdomain for bulk email sending is a crucial best practice. This strategy effectively isolates the sending reputation of marketing emails, safeguarding the primary domain's reputation and ensuring the reliable delivery of important transactional emails. While subdomains offer protection, consistent adherence to email best practices and, for high-volume senders, the consideration of a dedicated IP address are still vital.
Key findings
- Reputation Isolation: Subdomains effectively separate the reputation of marketing and transactional emails.
- Primary Domain Protection: Using a subdomain protects the primary domain's reputation from potential harm caused by marketing campaigns.
- Transactional Deliverability: Subdomains help ensure the consistent and reliable delivery of critical transactional emails.
- Industry Best Practice: Utilizing a subdomain for bulk email is widely recognized as an industry best practice.
- Infrastructure Component: Setting up a distinct subdomain is an integral part of establishing a robust email infrastructure.
Key considerations
- Email Practices: Good email sending practices remain essential, even with a subdomain, to avoid filtering by ISPs.
- Dedicated IP: High-volume senders should consider a dedicated IP address to further isolate their sending reputation.
- Subdomain Impact: Serious issues with email practices on a subdomain can still negatively affect the organizational domain's deliveries.
- Naming Conventions: Using clear and consistent subdomain naming schemes aids in easy identification by recipients.
What email marketers say
11 marketer opinions
The overwhelming consensus is that using a subdomain for bulk email sending is a best practice. This approach helps isolate the sending reputation of marketing emails from transactional emails, protecting the primary domain's reputation. Maintaining a clean primary domain ensures deliverability of crucial transactional emails and prevents marketing-related issues from negatively impacting overall email performance.
Key opinions
- Subdomain Isolation: Using a subdomain isolates the sending reputation, preventing bulk email issues from affecting the main domain.
- Deliverability Protection: Subdomains protect the deliverability of important transactional emails by separating them from marketing campaigns.
- Consistent Naming: Clear and consistent subdomain naming schemes are recommended for easy identification by receivers.
- Domain Understanding: Using the same organizational domain, even on a subdomain, can help mail filters understand the content and maintain reputation stability.
Key considerations
- Email Practices: Even with a subdomain, maintaining good email practices is essential to prevent filtering by ISPs.
- Dedicated IP: For high-volume sending, consider a dedicated IP address for further reputation isolation.
- Sender Reputation: Maintaining sender reputation is still key, even on subdomains.
- Domain Reputation: Must continue to make sure the reputation of your main domain is in good health.
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks recommends using subdomains of the organizational domain and using clear and consistent naming schemes in DNS. They suggest delegating a subdomain of the brand's primary domain to the ESP (e.g., email.customerbrand.com) as the best option.
19 Apr 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that a subdomain can affect organizational domain deliveries if there are serious issues with email practices. Using the same organization domain helps mail filters understand content, leading to more stable reputation and campaign performance and avoids unexpected phishing warnings and shared IP reputation issues.
6 Jun 2022 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Experts recommend using a subdomain for bulk email sending to separate reputation and prevent marketing issues from affecting transactional email deliverability. Setting up a distinct subdomain is part of establishing a proper email infrastructure.
Key opinions
- Industry Best Practice: Using a subdomain aligns with industry best practices.
- Reputation Separation: Subdomains allow for separate reputation management between marketing and transactional emails.
- Infrastructure Component: A distinct subdomain is a key element of a proper email infrastructure setup.
Key considerations
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, explains that using a subdomain for marketing mail allows you to separate reputation. It prevents marketing issues from affecting your transactional email deliverability.
23 Jul 2022 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Spam Resource, Laura Atkins, explains the importance of setting up the proper infrastructure and points out using a distinct subdomain is one element of this.
20 Aug 2022 - Spam Resource
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Email service provider documentation consistently recommends using a dedicated domain or subdomain for sending marketing emails. This practice is crucial for protecting the primary domain's reputation and ensuring reliable delivery of important transactional emails. Separating email streams by using a dedicated subdomain isolates reputation and prevents marketing-related issues from affecting the deliverability of critical communications.
Key findings
- Reputation Protection: Using a separate domain or subdomain protects the primary domain's reputation.
- Deliverability: Separation ensures better deliverability for important transactional emails.
- Reputation Isolation: Dedicated subdomains allow for isolation of sending reputation.
Key considerations
Technical article
Documentation from Postmark advises using a subdomain for marketing emails as it allows you to separate your email sending reputation. This means that problems with marketing emails will not impact the deliverability of transactional emails sent from your main domain.
24 Nov 2023 - Postmark
Technical article
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin recommends setting up a dedicated domain or subdomain for sending marketing emails. This helps protect your primary domain's reputation and ensures better deliverability for important transactional emails.
6 Mar 2023 - Google Workspace Admin
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