Maintaining a good sender reputation is crucial for ensuring your emails reach your subscribers’ inboxes. However, mistakes happen, and sometimes, you may find your domain and IP reputation damaged, leading to your emails being marked as spam, especially by providers like Gmail. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to repair your email reputation effectively.

Understanding the Situation

When your IP and domain reputation suffer, it can feel tempting to switch to a new IP or domain. However, this can often do more harm than good, as switching can appear suspicious to email providers and lead to further issues, a practice known as “snowshoe spamming.” Instead, it’s crucial to focus on rebuilding your reputation with a strategic and gradual approach.

Common Pitfalls Leading to Bad Reputation

Even if you’re not a spammer, you might end up with a bad sender reputation due to innocent mistakes:

1. Uploading the Wrong List of Data
   • Accidentally sending emails to the wrong list can result in high bounce rates and spam complaints.
2. Data Manipulation Errors
   • Correcting typos in your CRM can sometimes invalidate email addresses, leading to massive bounces.
3. Overzealous New Employees
   • New team members might scrape the internet for email addresses or buy inappropriate data, adding it to your lists and causing reputation damage before you realize it.

Step-by-Step Guide to Rebuild Your Reputation

1. 1. Stop All Email Sending
      • The first and most crucial step is to stop all email sending immediately. This allows the negative reputation cycle to reset. You need to wait for a full 30 days without sending any emails. This period helps clear the negative marks from your reputation score.
   2. Prepare for the Warm-Up Process
      • Once the 30-day period is over, you can begin the warm-up process. This involves gradually increasing your email sending volume to rebuild your reputation. Here’s a recommended warm-up schedule:
        • Day 1: Send 50 emails
        • Day 2: Send 100 emails
        • Day 3: Send 100 emails
        • Day 4: Send 500 emails
        • Day 5: Send 1,000 emails
        • Day 6: Send 2,000 emails
        • Day 7: Send 5,000 emails
        • Day 8: Send 8,000 emails
        • Day 9: Send 12,000 emails
        • Day 10: Send 16,000 emails
   3. Focus on Engagement
      • Engagement is a critical factor in rebuilding your reputation. Aim to send emails that encourage positive actions such as:
        • Replies: Ask questions or include call-to-actions that prompt a response.
        • Clicks on Links: Include engaging and relevant links that subscribers will want to click on.
        • Marking as Important: Encourage subscribers to mark your emails as important or star them in their inbox.
      • Craft your email content to be highly engaging and valuable to your subscribers to increase these positive interactions.
   4. Segment Your Email List
      • To avoid overwhelming your subscribers and causing high unsubscribe rates, segment your email list. Each segment should receive emails according to the warm-up schedule without individuals receiving too many emails too frequently. For example, if you were sending weekly newsletters, continue to do so, but rotate different segments of your list to match the warm-up volume.
   5. Monitor Your Progress
      • Use tools like Gmail Postmaster Tools to monitor your email performance and reputation. Keep an eye on metrics such as spam complaints, bounce rates, and engagement rates. Adjust your strategy as needed based on these insights.
   6. Maintain Consistency
      • Consistency is key. Stick to your warm-up schedule and gradually increase your email volume while maintaining high engagement rates. Avoid sudden spikes in email volume, which can trigger spam filters.

Recommended Tools for Rebuilding Reputation

1. • Google’s Sender Guidelines (support.google.com/)
     • While this isn’t a “tool” per se, it’s important to understand the content of this post. If you send 5,000 messages in a single day, you’ll be labeled a “bulk sender” and have additional rules to follow. Read and understand this post before you tackle your reputation repair project (or sooner, ideally.)
   • Google Postmaster Tools (postmaster.google.com)
     • This is essential for getting an accurate view of your reputation with Gmail. Relying solely on the reputation score provided by your email service provider can be misleading. For example, SendGrid might show a high score while Google’s Postmaster Tools indicate a low reputation.
   • Deliverability Testing Tools (Mail-tester)
     • These tools help ensure your email content avoids words and phrases that can trigger spam filters. While we have no affiliation with any specific tool, using them can significantly improve your deliverability.
   • Email Validation Tools
     • Validating your email lists is crucial to (among other things) avoid sending to honeypot traps. Email honeypots are dormant email addresses set up to catch spammers. Sending to these addresses can severely damage your reputation. There are many providers available, so shop around for the best pricing and service.

Adjusting the Warm-Up Period for Weekly Newsletters

If you send weekly newsletters, adjust the warm-up period accordingly. You don’t want to suddenly start sending daily emails to subscribers expecting weekly or monthly updates. Optimize for the daily send volume while ensuring each address only receives one email per week. This can be done with proper list segmentation and rotation. For a detailed example of how you might do this, check out this blog post.

Conclusion

Repairing your email reputation is a manageable process that requires patience and a strategic approach. By stopping all sends for 30 days, gradually increasing your volume, focusing on engagement, and closely monitoring your progress, you can effectively rebuild your reputation and ensure your emails reach your subscribers’ inboxes. Remember, consistency and high-quality content are your best allies in this journey.