Never Send Mass Mailings Before Warming Up an IP Address: A Story in 3 Parts

You should never send mass or bulk email through a new IP address before you warm up that new IP address. Warming up an IP address is a critical step towards not only having good deliverability, but also to making sure that your email isn’t tagged as spam, or blocked. To illustrate the importance of warming up an IP address, we’re going to tell you a story in three parts.

Warming Up an IP Address: A Story in 3 Parts

Part 1: The Spammer

Once upon a time there was a spammer. And because she was sending out spam, her IP address got blocked.

So guess what she did.

She went out and got a new IP address.

And guess what she did with it.

That’s right, she started sending out more spam.

And guess what the inbox providers and ISPs did? Yep, they blocked that IP address too.

Wouldn’t you?

Now let us tell you another little story.

Part 2: The Email Marketer

Once upon a time there was an email marketer. And even though his mailing lists were all opt-in, his mailings generated a lot of complaints, and so his IP address got blocked.

So guess what he did.

He went out and got a new IP address.

And guess what he did with it.

That’s right, he started sending out the same email to the same mailing lists, and generating the same complaints.

And guess what the ISPs and inbox providers did? Yep, they blocked that IP address too.

Ok, one last story.

Part 3: The Smart Email Marketer Who Still Got Blocked

Once upon a time there was another email marketer. And because his business was doing so well, his email system was maxed, and he needed more capacity to be able to send out his mailings to his completely legitimate, confirmed (double) opt-in email lists that generated no complaints.

So guess what he did.

He went out and got a new IP address.

And guess what he did with it.

That’s right, he started sending out his mailings to his completely legitimate, confirmed opt-in email lists that generated no complaints.

And guess what the inbox providers did?

Yep, they blocked that IP address.

Because, you see, to the inbox providers and ISPs, the pattern of email marketer #2’s behavior was indistinguishable from email marketer #1’s behavior, which was indistinguishable from the spammer’s behavior. In each instance, what the ISP and spam filters see is a brand new IP address suddenly spewing massive amounts of bulk mail.

So they block it.

If you don’t want this to happen to you, then you need to plan ahead when you bring a new IP address online, and let it gradually build up a reputation over the course of a few weeks. Start out small – sending transactional 1-to-1 email and the maybe the occasional small bulk mailing. Work up to sending larger mailings with more frequency (of course, this doesn’t mean to change the frequency of your mailings, just have already-established IP addresses sending them while you are bringing the new IP address online. You can see our recommended IP address warmup schedule here. (To read about the perils of having an inconsistent mailing frequency, read The Top 5 Mistakes Email Senders Make in Scheduling Their Mailings.)

With a little forethought and planning, you can avoid this painful and costly mistake that legitimate email senders all too often make.

By the way, did you find the use of the pronouns “she” and “her” incongruent, or even jarring, when talking about a spammer? Most people think of spammers as being men, but there are plenty of female spammers too. Spamming is an equal-opportunity crime.