“Why Did My Emails Stop Working?”

Meet Sarah, a savvy entrepreneur who runs a cold email outreach agency. She was excited to launch her new email campaign for a big client. But then, a nightmare struck: despite her perfect email templates and lists, open rates plummeted and responses became non-existent. Frustrated, Sarah soon discovered that her emails were consistently landing in the spam folder.

What went wrong?

Sarah’s campaign lacked a critical element: Email Warming.

The Big Misconception About Cold Emails

Most business owners think they can buy a new domain, plug in an email list, and start blasting away! They send thousands of cold emails, but fail to build their sender reputation. The result? Gmail and other providers treat their messages like an unwanted guest—straight to the spam box or, worse, their domain gets blacklisted.

The truth is, no matter how great your cold email copy is, it’s worthless if it never makes it to the inbox. This is where Email Warming and Domain Reputation Management come in.

What is Email Warming?

Email Warming is the gradual process of building your sender reputation. Think of it like going to the gym. You don’t walk in on day one and deadlift 300 lbs. You build up slowly over time, and so should your email sending volume.

Why Does Email Warming Matter?

When you start sending emails from a new domain, it’s like a “new kid on the block” to email service providers (ESPs) like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. These ESPs don’t know you yet, so they’re cautious.

If you suddenly send 5,000 emails on day one, Gmail assumes you’re up to no good (spammers do this all the time). But, if you start with a smaller number—say 50 per day, then 100, and gradually work your way up—Gmail starts trusting you. It’s a gradual relationship-building process.

A strong sender reputation = better inboxing rates. This helps you avoid the spam folder and protect your domain from getting blacklisted.

Email Warming Best Practices

1. Start Small, Grow Gradually Send around 20-50 emails per day for the first few days. As your domain builds its reputation, you can double that number every week.
2. Mix in Engagement Send emails to addresses that are likely to reply, click, or engage with your content. Send 70% to leads, 20% to existing clients or past customers, and 10% to teammates who can engage positively (by opening and responding).
3. Monitor Your Deliverability Rates Use tools like GlockApps or MXToolbox to monitor whether your emails are hitting the spam folder. If your engagement starts to dip, slow down your sending rate or adjust your list.
4. Use a Dedicated IP for High-Volume Sending If you’re scaling up to thousands of emails a day, separate your high-volume sending from your everyday business emails. Use a dedicated IP to protect your main domain’s reputation.

Understanding Domain Reputation Management

Domain Reputation Management goes hand-in-hand with email warming. It’s about continuously maintaining and improving your sender reputation with ESPs. Remember, email providers watch everything you do. So, your job is to stay on their good side.

Key Factors That Influence Domain Reputation

1. Spam Complaints: High complaints mean poor reputation. Keep your emails relevant and valuable.
2. Bounce Rate: Clean your email lists often to reduce hard bounces.
3. Engagement Rates: ESPs love emails that get opened and responded to. Keep your content engaging.
4. Blacklists: Don’t get blacklisted! If your domain lands on a blacklist, it will impact your deliverability globally. Use services like Spamhaus and Barracuda to check your blacklist status.

How to Manage Your Domain Reputation

1. Authenticate Your Emails Use standards like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to authenticate your emails. This tells ESPs, “Hey, these emails are really from me!” Without proper authentication, your emails may get flagged.
2. Consistent Domain Monitoring Use domain monitoring tools to stay informed about your domain health. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
3. Warm Up with Consistent Sending Patterns Don’t start-stop your campaigns abruptly. Consistency is key for ESPs to trust you.
4. Clean and Segment Your Lists Stop blasting emails to everyone. Instead, segment your lists by targeting specific groups with tailored messages.

What Happens if You Don’t Warm Up?

Sarah didn’t know about email warming, and her campaign crashed. She sent 5,000 cold emails on day one with no sender reputation. Gmail saw the huge volume, didn’t trust her domain, and flagged her account as suspicious. This blacklisting hit Sarah’s business hard, causing her to lose her biggest client.

The fix? Sarah had to purchase a new domain, re-authenticate everything, warm it up slowly, and rebuild her reputation—costing time, money, and credibility.

Tools to Help You Warm Up and Protect Your Domain

• Lemwarm by Lemlist – Automate email warming with real, organic-looking interactions.
• Mailshake Warm-Up – Keeps your inbox “warm” with real-time email activity.
• Warmbox.ai – Automatically engages with your email account to build reputation.
• ZeroBounce – A great email list cleaning tool to keep your list healthy.

Conclusion: Slow and Steady Wins the Inbox

The key takeaway here is that building your sender reputation is a marathon, not a sprint. Start slow, build trust, and scale up gradually. By using proper email warming techniques and managing your domain reputation, you’ll ensure your cold emails land where they should—the inbox.

To avoid Sarah’s mistakes, take these principles seriously and invest the time to do it right. Trust me, the ROI of staying out of spam is worth every effort.