Summary
Emails from new dedicated IPs and domains frequently land in spam folders because they lack a sending history and an established reputation with Internet Service Providers (ISPs). ISPs are naturally cautious of unknown senders and will initially treat their emails as suspicious, often filtering them to junk or throttling volume. To overcome this, a gradual 'warm-up' process is critical, involving slowly increasing sending volume to engaged subscribers while ensuring all essential email authentication methods, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, are correctly configured from the outset.
Key findings
- Lack of Reputation: New dedicated IP addresses and domains have no prior sending history, meaning ISPs and mailbox providers treat them with caution and suspicion, often filtering emails to spam or throttling volume due to an absence of established trust.
- ISP Scrutiny: Internet Service Providers naturally trust established senders more. They heavily scrutinize new IPs and domains, often viewing initial sends as potential spammer tests, even if the content is legitimate.
- Warm-Up Necessity: A gradual warm-up period is essential for new IPs and domains to build a positive sending reputation. Attempting to send high volumes too soon will almost certainly result in poor deliverability.
- Authentication as Foundation: Properly configured email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is foundational for new senders. It proves legitimacy to recipient servers and is critical to avoid being flagged as spam or spoofing attempts.
Key considerations
- Implement a Cautious Warm-Up Plan: Start with very low sending volumes to highly engaged segments, gradually increasing the volume over weeks or months. This consistent, slow build is crucial for establishing trust with ISPs, especially Google.
- Configure Email Authentication: Set up and verify SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records correctly from day one. These authentication methods are fundamental for proving your legitimacy to recipient mail servers and are often required to avoid immediate spam filtering or rejection.
- Ensure Reverse DNS (PTR Record): For new IP addresses, a correctly configured PTR record that resolves back to your sending domain is a common requirement. Its absence can lead to emails being rejected or landing in spam.
- Prioritize Positive Engagement: Initially send emails only to your most engaged subscribers. ISPs monitor engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and spam complaints. Good engagement helps build a positive reputation, while poor metrics can quickly damage it.
- Maintain Consistent Sending Volume: Avoid sudden spikes or inconsistent sending patterns. Unpredictable volume can trigger spam filters, especially for new senders trying to establish trust.
- Monitor Deliverability Metrics: Continuously track bounce rates, open rates, spam complaint rates, and inbox placement. Early issues can quickly derail reputation building.
What email marketers say
8 marketer opinions
When emails from new dedicated IP addresses and domains are routed to spam folders, it's primarily because these new sending infrastructures have yet to build trust with Internet Service Providers. Without a pre-existing reputation, ISPs view initial sends with suspicion, often leading to immediate filtering. To counteract this, a strategic warm-up period, coupled with rigorous adherence to email authentication standards and careful monitoring of sending practices, becomes indispensable for establishing a positive sender reputation.
Key opinions
- New Sender Disadvantage: New IP addresses and domains possess no established sending history, causing ISPs to be inherently suspicious and prone to filtering their emails into spam or junk folders.
- Reputation Vacuum: The absence of a prior sender reputation means ISPs lack data to trust a new sender, making early deliveries highly susceptible to spam filters.
- Warm-Up Imperative: A cautious and gradual warm-up strategy is essential for new senders to incrementally build a positive reputation and avoid immediate deliverability issues.
- Authentication as Trust Signal: Proper email authentication, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, is critical from the outset to signal legitimacy to recipient mail servers and bypass initial spam flags.
- Reverse DNS Requirement: For new IP addresses, a correctly configured Reverse DNS (PTR record) that resolves back to the sending domain is often a prerequisite for mail server acceptance, preventing rejections or spam placement.
- Engagement's Role: Poor engagement metrics, such as high bounce rates or low open rates, can quickly damage a new sender's nascent reputation, pushing subsequent emails to spam.
- Consistency Prevents Flags: Inconsistent sending volumes or sudden spikes in email quantity for new senders can trigger spam filters, hindering reputation building.
Key considerations
- Implement a Gradual Warm-Up: Start with low volumes to highly engaged segments, slowly increasing the send rate over time to build trust with ISPs. This approach is crucial to avoid issues with major providers like Google.
- Prioritize Email Authentication: Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records correctly from day one. These are fundamental for proving sender legitimacy and preventing emails from being flagged as spam.
- Ensure Proper Reverse DNS: Verify that your new IP address has a correctly configured PTR record resolving to your sending domain, as this is a common requirement for deliverability.
- Target Highly Engaged Users: Initially send only to your most active and engaged contacts to generate positive engagement signals, which are vital for establishing a good sender reputation.
- Maintain Consistent Sending Patterns: Avoid large, sudden increases in sending volume or erratic sending schedules, as these can trigger spam filters for new domains and IPs.
- Monitor Deliverability Metrics Closely: Pay constant attention to open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints to quickly identify and address any issues that could harm your burgeoning reputation.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks responds that it is positive news if the email is landing anywhere in recipients' inboxes. They advise following a very cautious warm-up plan, warning that failure to do so can lead to significant issues with Google.
21 Jul 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
Email marketer from Email Geeks shares their successful warm-up strategy, which involved starting with 10 emails sent to Gmail and carefully increasing the volume from there.
23 Sep 2022 - Email Geeks
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
New dedicated IPs and domains are commonly flagged as spam because they lack a sending history and a positive reputation, which leads Internet Service Providers to view them with suspicion. Without an established track record, these new senders are often treated as potential threats, causing emails to be throttled or directed to junk folders. The path to better deliverability involves a careful, gradual reputation-building process, often called IP warming, which helps to establish trust over time.
Key opinions
- Lack of Reputation: New IP addresses and domains have no prior sending history, causing mailbox providers to view them with caution and suspicion.
- ISP Scrutiny: Internet Service Providers, such as Gmail, will initially treat emails from new senders as suspicious due to the absence of a known, positive history.
- Deliverability Impact: This absence of a sending reputation means mailbox providers are likely to throttle or junk emails from new IPs and domains, directing them to spam folders.
- IP Warming Necessity: Building a positive sending reputation is a gradual process through IP warming, which is essential to establish trust with mailbox providers and ensure inbox placement.
- Test Content Risk: Using test content during initial sends can further make your emails appear like spammer tests, exacerbating deliverability issues for new IPs and domains.
Key considerations
- Gradual Reputation Building: Understand that new IPs and domains require a slow, deliberate process to build a positive sending reputation with mailbox providers, as they start with no history.
- Implement IP Warming: Consistently increase email volume over time, specifically sending engaged content to engaged recipients, to gradually establish trust and a positive sending history.
- Avoid Test Content: Refrain from using typical 'test' content during initial sends, as this can negatively impact how Internet Service Providers perceive your new sending infrastructure, making it appear suspicious.
- Prioritize Engaged Recipients: During the initial warm-up phase, focus on sending emails only to your most active and engaged subscribers to generate positive interaction signals and help build reputation.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that it is not unexpected for emails from a new domain or IP to land in spam, especially if an ISP like Gmail has never seen it before, as they will treat it as suspicious. She notes that test content can further make it appear like spammer tests.
10 Dec 2024 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from SpamResource explains that new IP addresses lack a sending reputation, causing mailbox providers to throttle or junk mail due to the absence of a known, positive history. Senders must build a reputation gradually through IP warming to establish trust with mailbox providers.
27 Oct 2021 - SpamResource
What the documentation says
6 technical articles
The initial challenge for new dedicated IP addresses and domains is their absence of a sending history, which often causes emails to be directed to spam. Internet Service Providers are naturally cautious of unknown senders, leading them to treat new senders with suspicion and filter their messages. Overcoming this requires a strategic warm-up period, gradually increasing email volume to engaged recipients to build a positive reputation and establish trust. Crucially, foundational email authentication protocols, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, must be correctly implemented from the outset.
Key findings
- Absence of Sending History: New dedicated IPs and domains lack any prior sending history, leading Internet Service Providers to view them as potential risks.
- ISP Caution: ISPs are inherently wary of new senders due to the absence of an established positive reputation, often resulting in emails being filtered to spam or rejected.
- Warm-Up Requirement: A gradual 'warm-up' process, involving slowly increasing email volume to engaged subscribers, is essential for new IPs to build a trustworthy sending reputation over time.
- Authentication as Legitimacy Proof: Correctly configured SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are fundamental for new IPs and domains to prove their legitimacy to recipient mail servers and avoid immediate spam classification.
- Engagement's Role: Positive recipient engagement, such as opens and clicks, is vital during the warm-up period to signal good sender behavior and accelerate reputation building.
Key considerations
- Implement a Controlled Warm-Up: Develop and execute a plan to gradually increase sending volume to highly engaged subscribers over an extended period to build trust with ISPs.
- Prioritize Email Authentication Setup: Ensure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are correctly configured and validated before initiating significant email campaigns.
- Focus on Engaged Audiences: During the initial phases, send emails exclusively to your most active and engaged contacts to foster positive interactions and improve reputation.
- Maintain Sending Consistency: Avoid sudden, large spikes in email volume or erratic sending schedules, as consistency helps establish reliability for new senders.
- Continuously Monitor Deliverability: Regularly track key metrics like inbox placement, open rates, and complaint rates to quickly identify and address any deliverability issues.
Technical article
Documentation from SendGrid explains that new dedicated IP addresses lack a sending history, causing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to be wary. Gradual volume increase, consistent sending, and positive recipient engagement are crucial during IP warming to build reputation and avoid spam folders.
17 Oct 2022 - SendGrid Blog
Technical article
Documentation from Mailchimp emphasizes that ISPs naturally trust established senders more. New dedicated IPs need to 'warm up' by gradually sending small, consistent volumes of email to engaged subscribers, slowly increasing the volume over time to build trust and prevent emails from being marked as spam.
30 Nov 2024 - Mailchimp Help
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