What exactly is 'warming up an email account' ?
Email warm-up is the process of gradually increasing the number of emails sent from a new or inactive email account to build its reputation and avoid being marked as spam. When an email account is freshly created or hasn’t been used for a while, sending a large volume of emails right away can raise red flags for email service providers (like Gmail or Yahoo or Outlook). This could cause emails to land in the spam folder or even get the account blacklisted.
To warm up an email account, small batches of emails are sent initially, then slowly ramped up over time. These emails are also sent to known recipients who are likely to engage (open, reply, etc.), which helps signal to email providers that the account is trustworthy.
The goal is to establish a positive sending reputation with email providers so that future campaigns reach inboxes instead of spam folders.
New email accounts that immediately start blasting off a huge volume of emails will trigger spam filters at email service providers. Once your domain or IP address is flagged as a spammer, it is almost impossible to shake off that reputation.
Email warm up — The DIY (do it yourself) way.
There are a lot of services that promise to warm up your email account for you in return for a payment. We have not tested any of these services. They may or may not work. So we cannot definitely recommend any specific service. What we can tell you is warming up your email is easy and you can do it yourself without spending $$$$. All that is needed is a little patience from you. The email warm up process will take a few weeks (something like 45 days at least). Avoid anybody promising quick results.
Here are some steps we HIGHLY RECOMMEND you follow in order to warm up your email account. We've broken them down into weekly activities.
Weeks 1 - 2.
Send a Few Emails Initially
Start by sending a small number of emails (10–15 per day) to friends, colleagues, or yourself. Make sure you send them to as many email services as possible — Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, iCloud, Zoho, Protonmail, Yandex, etc.
Personalize Your Emails
Make sure your emails are personalized and relevant to the recipients. Do not use ALL CAPS subject lines, excessive punctuation, or clickbait headlines.
Include Unsubscribe Link
It’s always advisable to include an unsubscribe link in your email. It keeps the recipients happy and is an important signal to the email service providers that you are are a serious adherent to best practices.
Engage With Your Audience
An email is designed to be a two-way conversation. Encourage your recipients to respond and engage them with your replies.
Monitor These Initial Emails
Many email service providers randomly send the first few emails into spam folders. Look out for such emails and mark them as ‘Not Spam’.
Weeks 3 - 4.
Here you will continue doing everything you did during the first two weeks plus the following.
Increase Volume Gradually
Slowly increase the number of emails you send each day by 10–20% every few days. Avoid sudden spikes in volume.
Monitor Engagement
Track open rates, click rates, and responses. Adjust your sending volume and email content based on the engagement you receive.
Week 5 onwards.
By now your email account would have been sufficiently warmed up. You must still follow these best practices to maintain your reputation.
Send Relevant Content
Always ensure your emails are relevant and valuable to your recipients.
Stay Consistent
Maintain a consistent sending schedule to build trust with email service providers.
