Should I allow an IP warming service to guest post on my email marketing blog?
Michael Ko
Co-founder & CEO, Suped
Published 16 Apr 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
8 min read
The prospect of a guest post on your email marketing blog can be exciting, offering fresh perspectives and expanding your content. However, when the offer comes from an IP warming service, it warrants careful consideration. The world of IP warming, while crucial for legitimate senders, is also closely associated with practices that can harm sender reputation, such as unsolicited bulk email or cold outreach. This makes the decision complex, requiring a clear understanding of what these services often promote versus the principles of good deliverability.
My email marketing blog focuses on legitimate, permission-based email practices, deliverability best practices, and building a strong sender reputation through ethical means. Many IP warming services, particularly those advertising for cold email, operate in a grey area, if not outright black, when it comes to email deliverability. They often facilitate practices that lead to blocklists and poor inbox placement, directly conflicting with the core mission of a reputable email marketing blog.
Allowing such a guest post could inadvertently lend credibility to services that undermine the very principles of good email marketing. It risks confusing your audience and, more importantly, could damage your blog's hard-earned reputation within the email deliverability community.
Understanding legitimate IP warming
IP warming is a fundamental process for any new sending IP address or even a new domain, designed to gradually build a positive sender reputation with internet service providers (ISPs). This involves sending small, increasing volumes of email to engaged recipients over time. The goal is to demonstrate to ISPs that you are a legitimate sender of wanted mail, thereby ensuring your emails consistently land in the inbox, not the spam folder.
A proper IP warm-up strategy is built on several key components, including sending to highly engaged lists, monitoring engagement metrics, and adjusting sending volume based on performance. It's a nuanced process that prioritizes quality over quantity, laying the groundwork for long-term deliverability success. More on this can be found in a guide on the best approach to IP warming.
Many email marketers want to know what IP warming is and why it matters. The effectiveness of IP warming relies heavily on the quality of interactions with the recipient. Engaged recipients opening, clicking, and replying signal positive behavior to ISPs, which in turn helps build a strong reputation. Conversely, sending to disengaged or old lists can lead to spam complaints and bounces, hindering the warming process and potentially leading to a blocklist (or blacklist) listing.
The issue with many 'IP warming services'
The term "IP warming service" often implies a tool or platform that automates the process of sending emails to a network of inboxes, aiming to artificially inflate engagement metrics. While some legitimate ESPs offer managed warming programs as part of their service, dedicated "warming services" often target cold emailers or spammers. These services typically route emails through their own networks, attempting to mimic organic sending behavior. However, they frequently send to unengaged or bot-controlled inboxes, which doesn't reflect true recipient interest.
The primary issue is that most reputable ISPs (such as Google and Yahoo) are sophisticated enough to detect and penalize such artificial warming attempts. They look for genuine engagement from real users, not simulated interactions. Using these services can lead to:
Reputation damage: Your IP and domain reputation can suffer if caught using these tactics, potentially leading to widespread inbox placement issues. Learn more about understanding your email domain reputation.
Blocklisting: IPs associated with such services are often quickly added to public and private blocklists (or blacklists), making it impossible to reach inboxes. This is explained in more detail in an in-depth guide to email blocklists.
Violation of terms of service: Many email service providers (ESPs) and ISPs explicitly prohibit the use of automated warming services that don't reflect genuine consent and engagement.
It's important to distinguish between legitimate IP warming and these often-misleading services. Legitimate warming is about gradually increasing sending volume to a highly engaged, permission-based list. Automated warming services, particularly those marketed for cold email, frequently bypass consent and engagement, leading to deliverability pitfalls.
Protecting your blog's reputation
Your blog's credibility is its most valuable asset. If your content consistently advocates for ethical email marketing and deliverability best practices, allowing a guest post from a service that operates in a questionable manner creates a significant disconnect. It suggests a lack of understanding or, worse, an endorsement of practices you typically advise against. This can erode trust with your loyal readers who rely on you for accurate and ethical guidance.
Furthermore, search engines and industry peers pay attention to the types of content you publish and the entities you associate with. Partnering with a service that has a reputation for facilitating spam or unsolicited mail could negatively impact your blog's standing. It might lead to your content being viewed with skepticism by authoritative sources and could even affect your search engine rankings, as Google prioritizes trustworthy and authoritative content. This is a critical factor for any blog aiming to maintain a strong online presence and serve its audience effectively. Building a strong email reputation with IP warm-up requires adherence to best practices.
Consider the potential backlash from your community. Readers who follow your blog for guidance on ethical email practices may be disappointed or confused if they see content promoting something that contradicts your established philosophy. This can lead to a loss of subscribers and trust, which are far more valuable than any short-term gain from a guest post.
Ethical considerations and long-term strategy
The long-term success of your email marketing depends on sustainable, ethical practices. This includes obtaining proper consent, managing subscriber expectations, and consistently delivering valuable content. These are the cornerstones of good sender reputation and deliverability, not shortcuts or workarounds.
It's better to reinforce these ethical principles than to compromise them for a guest post that might introduce conflicting ideologies. Your blog is a resource for best practices, and maintaining that standard is paramount. Instead of guest posts from questionable sources, seek contributions from recognized deliverability experts or those who genuinely align with your blog's values.
Maintaining a strong domain and IP reputation is vital for email deliverability. This means having proper authentication records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configured correctly, ensuring your emails are not spoofed and appear trustworthy to recipients and ISPs. A strong DMARC policy, for example, helps prevent unauthorized use of your domain, a common issue with cold email services that often originate from varied or suspicious IPs.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Always prioritize ethical email practices over perceived shortcuts for quick gains.
Thoroughly vet any guest post proposal to ensure alignment with your brand’s core values and content strategy.
Educate your audience on legitimate IP warming methods and the risks associated with automated services.
Maintain strong authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to protect your sender reputation.
Focus on building engaged, permission-based email lists for sustainable deliverability.
Common pitfalls
Compromising blog credibility by publishing content from services that promote spam or cold outreach.
Failing to recognize the true intent behind some IP warming services, which often target spammers.
Allowing content that might lead to your domain or IP being listed on a blocklist.
Underestimating the negative impact on audience trust when content contradicts your core message.
Ignoring red flags like mismatched sending domains in outreach emails from guest post seekers.
Expert tips
If a service's email sending practices are murky, it's best to decline the guest post to protect your reputation.
The goal of true IP warming is to demonstrate legitimate sending behavior, not to bypass spam filters for unwanted mail.
Always verify the sender's actual email address and the company they claim to represent.
Consider offering to write a piece on ethical warming principles instead of accepting problematic guest posts.
Charge an exorbitant fee to deter services that don't align with your values.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says they found the request humorous given the blog's stance on email deliverability.
August 10, 2023 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks says they were tempted to reply that they don't work with spammers, linking to their own post about cold email being spam.
August 11, 2023 - Email Geeks
A thoughtful decision
The decision to allow an IP warming service to guest post on your email marketing blog ultimately comes down to aligning with your values and protecting your platform's credibility. If the service promotes practices that contradict ethical, permission-based email marketing, the potential risks to your reputation far outweigh any perceived benefits.
My recommendation is to decline such offers from services that facilitate cold email or mass unsolicited sending. Focus instead on amplifying voices and content that reinforce genuine email deliverability best practices. Your audience will appreciate the consistent, trustworthy advice, and your blog's reputation will remain intact, serving as a reliable resource in the email marketing community.
