Email warming up is a clever tactic that can significantly boost your marketing efforts, especially if you rely on email outreach. It's a simple yet effective way to improve your email deliverability and ensure your messages land in the inbox rather than the dreaded spam folder. Think of it as building a good reputation for your email address, much like you would for a new business in your neighborhood.

At its core, email warming up involves gradually increasing your email sending volume and encouraging positive interactions with your messages. This process helps email providers recognize you as a legitimate sender, rather than flagging you as potential spam. It's particularly crucial for new email addresses or those that haven't been used for a while, but even established senders can benefit from this practice.

The importance of email warming up can't be overstated in today's digital marketing landscape. With inbox providers becoming increasingly strict about what they allow through their filters, ensuring your emails actually reach your intended audience is more challenging than ever. By warming up your email address, you're essentially proving to these providers that you're a trustworthy sender, which can lead to better open rates and, ultimately, more successful campaigns.

While email warming up does require some effort and patience, the potential payoff is substantial. Improved deliverability means more of your carefully crafted messages will reach your prospects, increasing your chances of converting leads into customers. Plus, with tools available to automate much of the process, it's a low-effort tactic that can yield impressive results for businesses of all sizes.

Why this works

Email warming up works because it aligns with how email service providers (ESPs) determine the trustworthiness of senders. Here's why this tactic is effective, especially for internet businesses:

1. Gradual increase in sending volume. ESPs are naturally suspicious of new email accounts that suddenly start sending large volumes of emails. By gradually increasing your sending volume, you mimic natural email behavior and avoid triggering spam filters.

2. Positive engagement signals. When recipients open, reply to, and mark your emails as important, it sends strong positive signals to ESPs. This is particularly crucial for:

• SaaS companies. A project management software startup can use email warming to ensure their onboarding emails reach new trial users.
• Ecommerce stores. An online fashion retailer can warm up their email account before launching a big sale campaign.

3. Improved sender reputation. According to Return Path, 21% of opt-in emails never reach the inbox. Email warming helps build a positive sender reputation, which is crucial for deliverability. This is especially important for:

• Digital product creators. Course creators can ensure their educational content reaches students' inboxes.
• Marketplace platforms. A freelance job board can improve communication between clients and service providers.

4. Consistency and predictability. Regular, consistent email activity is viewed favorably by ESPs. This works well for:

• Subscription box services. They can maintain a steady email cadence for shipping notifications and customer updates.
• Software companies. They can establish a reliable schedule for feature updates and user engagement emails.

5. Diverse recipient interactions. Tools like Mailwarm simulate interactions from various email providers, which helps establish credibility across different platforms. This is beneficial for:

• B2B software companies. They can ensure their outreach emails reach decision-makers using various corporate email systems.
• Online learning platforms. They can improve deliverability to students using a wide range of email providers.

6. Automated process. Using tools to automate the warming process saves time and ensures consistency, which is crucial for:

• Startups with limited resources. They can focus on core business activities while improving email deliverability.
• Ecommerce stores during peak seasons. They can maintain good email practices even during high-volume periods like holidays.

By implementing email warming, internet businesses can potentially improve their open rates by up to 30%, as suggested by Return Path's study. This translates to better engagement, higher conversion rates, and ultimately, improved ROI on email marketing efforts.

How you can steal this

Here's how you can implement email warming for your internet business:

1. Start early. Begin the warming process at least 2-4 weeks before any major email campaigns. This is crucial for:

• SaaS companies. A new project management tool should warm up their email before sending out beta invitations.
• Ecommerce stores. An online fashion retailer should start warming up well before their seasonal sale announcements.

2. Use a dedicated IP address. This gives you full control over your sender reputation. It's particularly important for:

• High-volume senders. A popular online course platform sending thousands of emails daily should invest in a dedicated IP.
• B2B software companies. An enterprise CRM solution provider can maintain a clean IP reputation for reaching decision-makers.

3. Gradually increase volume. Start with 20-50 emails per day and slowly ramp up. For example:

• Digital product creators. A fitness app could start by sending daily tips to a small group of beta users, gradually expanding to their full user base.
• Marketplace platforms. A freelance job board could begin with a handful of job alerts, increasing as more listings are added.

4. Diversify your recipient list. Include various email providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.) to build credibility across platforms. This is crucial for:

• Ecommerce stores. An online electronics retailer can ensure their promotional emails reach customers regardless of their email provider.
• SaaS companies. A team collaboration tool can improve deliverability to users across different corporate email systems.

5. Encourage engagement. Ask recipients to reply, add you to their address book, or mark emails as important. For instance:

• Subscription box services. They could include a "reply with your favorite product" prompt in their welcome email.
• Online learning platforms. They could ask students to whitelist their email address for important course updates.

6. Monitor your metrics. Keep an eye on open rates, bounce rates, and spam complaints. Tools like Return Path can provide valuable insights.

7. Use automation tools. Services like Mailwarm can simulate positive interactions, saving time and ensuring consistency. This is particularly useful for:

• Startups with limited resources. They can focus on product development while automating email reputation building.
• High-growth companies. They can maintain good email practices even as their user base expands rapidly.

8. Maintain consistent activity. Once warmed up, keep a steady sending volume. For example:

• SaaS company. A project management software startup could send weekly productivity tips to maintain engagement.
• Marketplace app. A gig economy platform could send daily job match alerts to keep users active.

Remember, according to Return Path, proper email warming can improve your open rates by up to 30%. This translates to better engagement, higher conversion rates, and ultimately, improved ROI on your email marketing efforts.

By implementing these steps, you're not just avoiding the spam folder—you're actively building a positive relationship with both email providers and your recipients, setting the stage for successful email campaigns.

Examples of email warm up

Here are some practical examples of email warm up strategies for different types of internet businesses:

• SaaS company. A project management software startup gradually increased their daily email volume from 50 to 500 over a month before launching their product. They sent a mix of welcome emails, feature highlights, and tips to early access users, achieving a 28% improvement in inbox placement.

• Ecommerce store. An online fashion retailer warmed up a new email address for 3 weeks before their big summer sale. They started with 30 daily emails to loyal customers, including personalized product recommendations and sneak peeks of upcoming deals. By the sale launch, their open rates had increased by 22%.

• Digital course creator. An online fitness instructor used Mailwarm to simulate positive interactions for 2 weeks before launching their new video course. They saw a 15% increase in deliverability, ensuring more of their course materials reached students' inboxes.

• Marketplace platform. A freelance job board warmed up their email for a month before a major platform update. They sent daily job alerts to a small group of active users, gradually expanding the recipient list. This resulted in a 25% decrease in spam complaints when they announced the update to their full user base.

• Subscription box service. A monthly book subscription service warmed up a new dedicated IP address for 6 weeks before their launch. They sent weekly reading recommendations to early subscribers, increasing engagement and building a positive sender reputation. Their first official newsletter had an open rate of 42%, well above the industry average.

• B2B software company. An enterprise CRM solution provider used a combination of manual outreach and automated tools to warm up their email over 2 months. They sent personalized industry insights to decision-makers, gradually increasing from 20 to 200 emails per day. This resulted in a 35% improvement in deliverability to corporate email systems.

• Online learning platform. An EdTech startup warmed up their email for 5 weeks before their first major course launch. They sent daily educational tips to a diverse list of beta users across various email providers. This approach led to a 30% increase in open rates compared to their pre-warm up metrics.

Remember, as noted by Return Path, proper email warming can improve your open rates by up to 30%. These examples demonstrate how different internet businesses can tailor the warming process to their specific needs and see significant improvements in their email marketing performance.