We have seen in the previous section how to implement a cold emailing strategy,but before you start sending cold emails, you need to have a series of questions well configured .
If you've ever wondered...why do my emails go to spam?...then read on!
We all know that sending cold emails remains one of the most efficient ways to acquire customers in B2B.
Let's dive into How to Warm Up Your Email Account and Keep It That Way for Perfect Deliverability.
Let's see how to act in different scenarios:
1- You just bought your domain and now you want to send emails in bulk
Your email address hasn't warmed up yet. That means there is a super high risk of being blocked if you try to send an email to thousands of people at the same time.
So what should you do?
First, you shouldn't try to send everyone.
Focus on sending emails to the right people and try to personalize your message as much as possible.
These are the two options you have:
If your current domain is mycompany.com, you can use mycompany.co, for example. This will allow you to protect your domain in case it is blacklisted or marked as spam.
The problem is that using another domain can also send false signals to your audience and requires more setup work.
2.The second option
Personalize your emails as much as possible while maintaining your current domain. If you plan to send less than 75 emails a day, this is the most recommended option.
2- You are a fast-growing startup with a "big" sales team
If you are a fast-growing company, it means, by definition, that the number of emails sent by your domain will increase considerably.
If this is the case for you, you are onboarding more and more sellers who will get new and not properly warmed up email accounts.
The risk if you use your own domain?
Getting blacklisted quickly and seeing a drop in deliverability for all your emails.
Including the transactional ones!!!
In that specific case, we recommend using another domain and taking the time to do all the steps below.
3- You're an established business that's been around for years, with a great domain reputation
If you've been sending a decent amount of email for years, that usually means your domain reputation is high. In my opinion, you should use it as your strength.
When sending cold emails, the risk of being blacklisted or marked as spam is very low if you are doing things the right way.
It's always a good idea to personalize your message because this practice will maximize the number of responses and meetings booked.
A domain reputation is exactly what it claims to be.
That your messages are delivered.
How do you make sure your domain is good?
To get started, follow a few rules:
So how can you make sure you have the best domain reputation?
Domain authentication is a critical component of any email strategy.
When an email provider performs an "ID check," they want to verify that the email actually came from you and not from someone else.
This is the Internet's way of fighting spammers.
There are two main ways to configure email authentication: SPF and DKIM.
To correctly configure these two features follow the Google guides if you use GApss :
Even if you have another email provider, the configuration is similar.
Let's take Gmail as an example, but you should do it with the provider you have. You have created your address and need to fill in the blanks.
Don't be lazy, it literally takes a minute to set up and you'll look "human".
Email warm-up is a process that involves gradually increasing your sending volume. A heated email address is one that you have been sending and receiving messages like a real person would, when creating your email.
Essentially, an email address can be at a different stage depending on how you've been using your account.
Remember when we talked about domain reputation?
To build a good reputation, your email address must be heated.
This boils down to you sending manual emails to your friends and acquaintances.
That said, you should also ask your friends to email you and then reply.
Ideally, you should gradually increase this number if you want to ship at scale.
Manual warm-up schedule:
The big drawback of this method is that it is very time consuming.
This approach allows you to relax while your email address is automatically warmed up.
It's a service included in Lemlist's paid plans and it will warm up your email account automatically.
Essentially, since your account is connected to the lemwarm list, emails are sent to other lemlisters using your account with uniquely generated content (every message and subject line is unique and generated through a smart content algorithm).
Since other emailers also have their account connected to the list, conversations are created by replying to those emails with more unique content (just as if you were doing it manually).
How is lemwarm configured?
The optimal time is one month, although it can be done in less time if you add manual submissions.
Email deliverability is a way to measure whether or not your emails reach prospects' inboxes.
There are 5 parameters that have the biggest impact on deliverability:
This means you shouldn't send a lot of emails out of the blue (or at random intervals).
Why? Because that's what spammers tend to do.
You should use a tool that allows you to spread out the sending of emails so they don't go out like a blast.
A bit like a real human would.
two. Complaints
This is the number of people who put your message in the spam folder. The only solution to this is to fully personalize your message.
3. Bounce
Rate If you send emails to addresses that don't exist, your emails will bounce.
The higher your bounce rate, the lower your domain reputation.
To maintain the lowest bounce rate possible, you should always use verified email addresses.
Four. Blacklists
If a domain is identified as a "spammer", ESPs (Email Service Providers) will blacklist you.
You will notice a big drop in deliverability.
Tool:
When you run the test, one of two things will happen:
1) You have a perfect reputation.
2) You have been blacklisted. Well, a job. You will have to try to talk to them or use another domain.
5. Links and signature
Include signatures in your emails (name, company, telephone,...) Do not include a photo.
Do not include external links.
It's that simple.
Let's face it, when we send cold emails, our ultimate goal is to increase sales.
However, sales is relationships and attention. You will not attract the attention of your potential customer by going into their inbox and offering your products or services. Personalization is the difference between good and average salespeople.
You have the entire digital channel to learn about your prospects, investigate! Then, based on that research, create your communication style and talk about them, not yourself, that way you'll get a lot more responses.
With more responses, your deliverability will stay high as you will be identified as a legitimate sender.
A successful cold emailing strategy requires strategy, time, and patience, but spending a few extra hours building your database will pay off in the long run.