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What email volume is needed to build and maintain sender reputation in Gmail Postmaster Tools?

Summary

Establishing and maintaining a healthy sender reputation in Gmail Postmaster Tools requires consistent and sufficient email volume. While there isn't one universal number, the key is to send enough email for Gmail to gather meaningful data and evaluate your sending patterns. Insufficient or inconsistent volume can hinder reputation building, making it difficult for Google to accurately assess your sender behavior and trust your mail. This can lead to lower inbox placement rates, with emails landing in spam folders or being outright rejected.

What email marketers say

Email marketers often find themselves grappling with the question of optimal sending volume, particularly when Postmaster Tools data isn't showing the expected improvements in reputation. Many suspect that insufficient email volume to Gmail recipients is a primary culprit for stagnant or declining reputation, even when other best practices are followed. This perception is influenced by the practical observation that reputation metrics tend to worsen when volume drops below certain perceived thresholds, or when sending is too infrequent.

Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that a daily volume of 10,000 emails to Gmail is more than enough to establish and maintain a good sender reputation in Google Postmaster Tools. This volume provides sufficient data for Gmail to assess sending patterns effectively.

19 Apr 2019 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks states that even with 10,000 total emails, where only 30-40% are sent to Gmail, and Postmaster Tools has only registered data for 10 out of 120 days, the reputation may not improve due to insufficient mail volume over time.

19 Apr 2019 - Email Geeks

What the experts say

Experts in email deliverability emphasize the critical role of consistent and appropriate sending volume for building and maintaining sender reputation, particularly with major mailbox providers like Gmail. They highlight that insufficient volume can lead to a lack of meaningful data in Postmaster Tools, making it challenging to assess and improve deliverability. Furthermore, experts often point out that reputation, once built, can decline if sending volumes become too low or erratic, underscoring the need for sustained activity. The quality of the volume (e.g., sending to active users) is also paramount.

Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks confirms that a send volume of 10,000 emails is indeed sufficient for Postmaster Tools to register and analyze data, provided these are predominantly to Gmail recipients.

19 Apr 2019 - Email Geeks

Expert view

Expert from Spam Resource highlights that low email volumes can prevent a domain from appearing on reputation monitoring services or building a solid reputation score. Consistent, moderate volume is essential for a reliable assessment.

10 Mar 2024 - Spam Resource

What the documentation says

Official documentation from major email providers like Google emphasizes the importance of consistent sending for reputation, though specific volume thresholds are rarely (if ever) published. They focus on maintaining a steady flow of high-quality mail, ensuring proper authentication, and monitoring user engagement. The general consensus from technical documentation is that sufficient volume is necessary for their systems to accurately assess sender behavior and assign appropriate reputation scores. Without it, their algorithms have insufficient data to make informed decisions about your email traffic.

Technical article

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools states that the tool provides data for senders of high volumes of email. While specific numbers are not given, this implies that a certain minimum threshold of daily Gmail-destined mail is necessary for metrics to populate.

15 Mar 2024 - Google Postmaster Tools Help

Technical article

Documentation from WP Mail SMTP notes that Postmaster Tools functions optimally for bulk email senders, which Google defines as domains sending over 5,000 emails daily. If senders are below this volume, data might be less comprehensive.

01 Feb 2024 - WP Mail SMTP

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