Why you shouldn’t send bulk campaigns from a new domain

For sending bulk emails, a key factor is deliverability — the ability of emails to successfully reach the recipient’s inbox without being marked as spam or ending up in the junk folder. One common issue and question is why a newly purchased domain can’t be used as a quick fix for deliverability problems, for example when the original domain has a poor reputation or campaigns sent from it end up in spam more often than others.

Domain reputation not available

A new domain has no sending history—neither for bulk nor other messages—so its reputation is effectively zero. Email deliverability is closely tied to the reputation of the sending domain and IP address. Mail providers like Gmail or Microsoft Outlook track where emails come from, and if a domain or IP has no sending history, messages may be treated as suspicious and routed to the spam folder.

We at Boldem handle IP reputation and a solid sending history for deliveries, but you must manage your own domain. The simple fact is a new domain lacks trust, which can lead to lower deliverability.

What affects a domain’s reputation?

Once you know that domain reputation plays a key role in email deliverability, it’s important to understand the factors that influence it. Below are the main aspects that contribute to a good or bad domain reputation in bulk email deliveries.

It’s worth noting that not all of these factors carry the same weight — for example, the unsubscribe rate doesn’t have a big impact on domain reputation, but excessive marking of your messages as spam matters more.

Recipient engagement rate

• Open Rate: A higher open rate signals to email service providers that your emails are relevant and welcome.
• Click-through rate (CTR): If recipients not only open emails but also click links, it’s another positive signal that the email content is interesting and relevant.
• Email replies: Replying to emails from your campaign helps build a positive reputation, as it shows a high level of engagement.

Delivery failure rate (aka bounce)

• Delivery failure for a serious reason (hard bounce): When emails are dispatched to invalid mailboxes, mailboxes on non-existent domains, and the like, email providers consider it a negative signal. A high rate of hard bounces can significantly damage your reputation.
• Undelivered due to a minor reason (soft bounce): These are typically temporary email delivery issues (e.g., the recipient’s mailbox is full), which can also have a slight negative impact on domain reputation, but not as significant as hard bounces.

Unsubscribe requests

• A high number of unsubscribe requests may indicate that your emails aren’t relevant to recipients. This can negatively affect your domain’s reputation, because email providers see it as a sign of low-quality content.

Spam complaints

• If recipients mark your emails as spam, email service providers may track this behavior and harm your sender reputation. Too many spam complaints can cause your emails to be automatically delivered to the junk folder.

Moves to Trash/Spam folder

• Even if a recipient doesn’t mark an email as spam directly but manually moves your email to the Trash or Spam folder, some major providers record this action and it can negatively affect the domain’s reputation.

Inactive recipients

• Repeatedly sending emails to inactive recipients (users who haven’t opened your emails in a long time) can harm your reputation, because mailbox providers prefer high engagement.

Mailing list quality

• Sending emails to recipient databases that have questionable origins, haven’t been cleaned, or are outdated can lead to high bounce rates and spam complaints, which will damage the domain’s reputation.
• Using purchased lists: This negative practice warrants special mention. Using email lists purchased from third parties is extremely risky (and also illegal and against Boldem’s terms of use), because they’re likely to contain invalid or inactive addresses, which can lead to a higher number of permanently undeliverable messages and spam complaints.

Message frequency and volume

• Dispatching a large number of emails at once without first warming up the domain can cause those emails to be marked as spam. A rapid increase in dispatch volume is suspicious and can hurt your reputation.
• Too frequent sends: Sending campaigns too often can tire the recipient and lead to more unsubscribes or spam reports.

Dispatch consistency

• Consistent dispatch of emails at regular intervals is key to building a positive reputation. Increases or sudden spikes in email volume may be viewed as suspicious.
• Long pauses between deliveries: If you haven’t sent any emails for a long time and suddenly start a large campaign, it can negatively affect deliverability because your domain may be considered inactive or suspicious.

Misconfigured authentication protocols

• Without properly configured verification elements like SPF, DKIM, or DMARC, which tell mail servers how to handle emails, sending bulk deliveries is impossible. Therefore the presence of these records is required to use Boldem.

Email content

• Content quality and relevance: Email providers typically analyze the content of your messages. Using overly aggressive marketing techniques (e.g., excessive use of words like “free” or “discount”) can increase the risk that your emails end up in the spam folder.
• Text-to-image ratio: Too many images and too little text can appear suspicious, especially if images are used to hide content that might be flagged as spam.
• Deceptive or misleading subject lines: Subject lines that mislead recipients can lead to more unsubscribes and spam complaints.

For details on how to prevent email content issues, see our article with tips for a successful email campaign.

How do I start using a new domain for bulk deliveries?

Everyone naturally starts somewhere, and if you have no choice but to use a brand-new domain with no history for bulk sending, a proven practice is to so-called warm up the domain.

Domain warming means you can’t start sending large volumes of email right away. You should first send campaigns with fewer messages so email providers get used to the new domain and build trust in it. Gradually increasing the number of emails sent from the new domain is critical to building a good reputation.

Recommended warm-up plan for a new domain

These recommendations are for guidance only and you don’t have to follow them strictly, you should set your own target email volume and make sure to gradually increase the weekly sending volumes based on how successful your campaigns are.

1. First week:
   • Days 1–3: Start with very small volumes, for example 50–100 emails per day. Send them only to your most active users who regularly engage with your emails. If you don’t have active users yet, choose users who completed a purchase in your online store or took another action that suggests they may be interested in your content.
   • Day 4–7: Gradually increase to 200–500 emails per day, depending on user engagement. Keep the focus on active users.
2. Week 2:
   • Increase volume to 1,000–2,000 emails per day if you see positive signals (e.g., low email bounce rate and good open rates). Continue to focus on active users.
3. Third week:
   • Continue gradually increasing your sending volume to 5,000–10,000 emails per day, based on engagement and deliverability. Here you can start mixing more active and less active users.
4. Week 4 and beyond:
   • Gradually increase the volume to the maximum target capacity, always monitor deliverability metrics, and adjust dispatch volumes accordingly.

How long does it take to warm up a new domain?

It’s not possible to determine an exact timeframe, but it’s typically 30–90 days depending on the volume you handle and the quality or success of the messages you send.

Key guidelines for heating:

• Focus on active users: During the first weeks of the warm-up, send emails only to users who regularly engage with them, providing email service providers with positive signals that your messages are relevant and wanted.
• Monitoring deliverability signals: If you notice problems (e.g., an increased email rejection rate, a drop in open rate), slow down the process and adjust your strategy.
• Gradual ramp-up: It’s important not to increase volumes too quickly. Email service providers monitor how your dispatch volume develops, and a sudden increase in the number of messages may be considered suspicious.

By following this plan and monitoring your target audience’s responses, you can gradually build trust in the new domain and improve deliverability.

Why not switch to a new domain when experiencing deliverability issues?

Switching to a new domain to replace a problematic one can carry over the same issues, especially if you don’t identify the root cause of the original deliverability problems. It’s important to first identify and fix the issues causing poor deliverability before you consider changing domains.

Best practices for improving deliverability on an existing domain

• Review and clean your email lists: Regularly remove inactive recipients to reduce the risk of your messages being marked as spam and increase engagement rates.
• Track deliverability metrics: Deliverability monitoring tools help you determine whether your emails are landing in the inbox or ending up in spam.
• Regularly analyze email content: Some types of content can increase the likelihood of being flagged as spam, such as using certain keywords or an excessive number of images and links.

Although it can be tempting to use a new domain to immediately fix deliverability problems, this is a process that takes time and careful planning. High-quality, trustworthy email campaigns depend on a strong reputation for both your domain and IP address. We recommend focusing on long-term deliverability improvements rather than quick fixes.