Email domain warm up: how to start sending from a new domain

How to warm up a new sending domain#

1. 1

   Authenticate the domain first

   Publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC records before you send anything. Gmail requires authentication from every sender and DMARC from senders of more than 5,000 messages a day ^S1.

2. 2

   Choose your most engaged contacts

   Start with recent buyers and people who opened or clicked in the last month or two. Engaged recipients rarely complain, and mailbox providers notice how people react to your mail ^S1S3.

3. 3

   Send small and on a steady rhythm

   Send a modest first campaign, then repeat on a regular schedule. Gmail notes that frequent senders can increase volume faster than weekly senders ^S1.

4. 4

   Watch bounces, deferrals and complaints

   Check every send for bounces and spam complaints, and connect Google Postmaster Tools to see Gmail’s view of your domain ^S2.

5. 5

   Grow volume only while the signals stay clean

   Add the next tier of your list when the last send went well. If bounces or deferrals climb, cut volume, wait, and grow again more slowly ^S1.

Why a new domain needs a warm-up#

Mailbox providers decide where a message lands partly on the sender’s track record. A domain that has never sent marketing email has no record, so your initial large send looks the same as a spammer who just registered a domain. Amazon describes the same effect for sending addresses: providers are less likely to accept mail from a source with little or no history, and that mail can be sent to junk or blocked ^S3.

A warm-up is the period in which you build that record on purpose: small, regular sends to people who want your email, so that the earliest signals providers see are opens, clicks and very few complaints. Yahoo notes that each IP address and DKIM domain carries its own reputation ^S6, so moving to a new domain or a new provider resets part of the history you had, even if your list is the same.

Measure progress by what recipients and mailbox providers report back, such as complaints, bounces and clicks, rather than by days elapsed. By the time you send to your full list, your sender reputation should already reflect your normal sending habits.

Shared or dedicated sending addresses: what small shops need#

Most of what you read about warm-up schedules is written for dedicated IP addresses, where one sender owns the address and must build its reputation from zero. Small shops almost never need one.

SendGrid states that customers on its shared pools do not need an IP warm-up ^S4. That does not make warm-up irrelevant: your domain still has its own reputation with Gmail, Yahoo and Outlook, and a sudden jump in volume from a domain with no history is exactly what Gmail asks senders to avoid ^S1. For a shop with a few thousand contacts, warm-up means pacing your domain, not buying infrastructure.

What a gradual ramp can look like#

There is no universal schedule. Amazon notes that building a reputation can take around two weeks with some providers and up to six with others ^S3, and Gmail says the right pace depends on your volume, how often you send and how recipients respond ^S1. A useful way to plan is by audience tier rather than by fixed daily counts: each step adds people who are slightly less engaged than the last.

The sizes above are illustrative. Use your own segments and let the results of each send decide when you move on. If a stage goes badly, stay there or step back.

What to watch while you warm up#

• Spam complaints. Gmail asks senders to keep the rate reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and never reach 0.30% ^S1. Yahoo sets the same 0.3% ceiling for bulk senders ^S6. See spam complaint rate.
• Bounces. A burst of hard bounces usually means old or mistyped addresses. Remove them and keep them on a suppression list.
• Deferrals and throttling. Temporary rejections are a request to slow down. Amazon advises sending less when blocking or throttling notices rise ^S3.
• Google Postmaster Tools. After you verify your domain, it shows spam rate, reputation, authentication and delivery errors for mail to Gmail addresses. Some data stays hidden until daily volume is high enough ^S2.
• Engagement. Opens are a rough signal; clicks and replies are stronger. A drop in clicks between stages is a reason to pause.

Mistakes that undo a warm-up#

• Buying or renting a list. Yahoo’s guidance is direct: do not purchase mailing lists ^S6. Bought addresses bring bounces, spam traps and complaints on day one.
• Cold sends to people who never opted in. Old trade-show contacts or scraped addresses produce the complaints that a warm-up is meant to prevent.
• Sending to everyone on day one. A sudden spike from a domain with no history is what Gmail asks senders to avoid ^S1.
• Long gaps. SendGrid recommends warming an address again if it has not sent in more than 30 days ^S4. A domain that sends once a quarter never settles.
• Skipping authentication. Without SPF, DKIM and DMARC aligned to your From domain, a good list cannot fix poor placement. See how to set up DMARC.

Warming up a domain with Tellnod in Claude or ChatGPT#

Tellnod is an MCP connector for sending marketing email from Claude or ChatGPT. Two parts of the warm-up are handled for you: new accounts ramp up gradually, and sending pauses automatically if complaints pass a safe threshold. Each account sends in isolation.

You can send right away from an address named after your shop on the shared domain tellnodmail.com, such as hello@yourshop.tellnodmail.com, with no DNS setup. That address is limited to 500 recipients per campaign and 1,000 emails a month. When you are ready for your own domain, Tellnod gives you the DNS records and checks them before your first send. Verifying your own domain lifts those limits, and it is the point to start your own ramp.

The tiers in the example above become plain-language prompts:

• “Email customers who ordered in the last 90 days or clicked in the last 30 about the new knitwear. Show me how many people that is first.”
• “Next week, send the same campaign to people who opened in the last 60 days and haven’t received it yet.”
• “How did Tuesday’s campaign do? Show me bounces and unsubscribes.”

Before anything goes out, Tellnod shows the real email on desktop and mobile, then a confirmation card with the audience, the exclusions and the send time. The AI can prepare the send, but only you can press Confirm on the approval card. To start, connect Tellnod; plans and sending limits are on the pricing page.

FAQ#