Warm-Up Plan for Email Marketing

Modified on Wed, 27 May at 11:20 AM

Purpose

The goal of this warm-up plan is to build a strong domain reputation, enhance email deliverability, and minimize the risk of emails being marked as spam.

Please find below a refined warm-up plan for promotional emails:
1. The effectiveness of the warm-up plan can change based on your current domain's health, the type of emails you’re sending, and how users interact with them.

2. You should adjust the warm-up plan by increasing or decreasing the volume based on delivery rates and domain health after every campaign. Monitor performance metrics (e.g., open rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints) and adjust the volume accordingly. Refer to Google Postmaster metrics.

3. Start with Your Most Engaged Audience - Start the warm-up with a list of repeat customers or highly engaged recipients, and keep an eye on performance every day.

4. Monitor and Adjust Daily - Evaluate daily performance and adjust the sending volume as needed to maintain a positive trajectory. If issues arise (e.g., low delivery rates), pause or reduce volume temporarily to protect domain reputation. Gradually increase the sending volume based on positive engagement and delivery rates.

5. For transactional emails, use a separate email account or domain. These emails do not require a warm-up process, however increase the number of journeys gradually.

6. Be Patient with the Process - Avoid rushing or cutting the warm-up short, as this can harm your domain's reputation and impact future deliverability from the email servers. Consistency and gradual increases are key to a successful warm-up.

Key Takeaways:

Start with a low volume and scale gradually.
Prioritize engaged recipients to build a strong foundation.
Monitor results daily and make adjustments as necessary.
Keep transactional and promotional emails separate.
Take your time—rushing can lead to long-term deliverability issues.

Please note that the below warm-up plan serves as a general guideline and should be customised based on specific requirements and observed results. Regular evaluation and adjustments are key to achieving optimal results during the warm-up period.

Days	Volume	Lists / Segments
Day 1	100	List of repeated/most engaged customers (or even internal audience)
Day 2	200	List of repeated customers with more than 2-3 orders in last 30 days
Day 3	400	Visited the website but didn't purchase in last 30 days
Day 4	800	Checkout Abandoners: 30 Days
Day 5	1200	Checkout Abandoners: 45 Days
Day 6	1600	Order placed within last 30 days
Day 7	2200	+Email clickers + Openers
Day 8	2800	Order placed within last 60 days
Day 9	3400	Order placed within last 90 days
Day 10	4500	Overall order placed

Suggestions / Best Practices:

Ensure that the domain used is 100% compliant with authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC). Without this, the warm up would not yield a positive result.
After sending every campaign, performance needs to be evaluated.
As and when, there is an increase in spam rate above 0.3% & bounce is more than 3% - cooling period must be given
Use Subject Line Tester for testing SL score and optimizations tips {https://sendcheckit.com/email-subject-line-tester}
Email footers must have social media icons and an unsubscribe button at the bottom.
All the images must have redirection link with UTMs
CTA must be there in the first fold of the email.
Email must have more of text and less of images {80:20}
Complete email must not be more than 3 MB.
Sending plain text email, if once sent in between, breaks the monotony & has high chances to land directly into the inbox.
Additional sub-domain can be added for separate kinds of emails