Your email list is full of potential leads, but if you've left it sitting idle, sending campaigns right away can lead to disaster. 

The chances are you will face high bounce rates, spam complaints, or worse—your emails landing straight in the junk folder. This is why email deliverability and following the best practices (sending warmups, keeping a clean list, gradually increasing sending volume, etc.) is crucial. 

This guide will walk you through a simple, proven process to warm up your cold email list the right way. These steps will help you build trust with recipients and improve deliverability, ensuring that your emails land where they matter—inside the inbox.

Let’s get started! 

What is Warmup in Cold Email?

Email warmup is the process of gradually increasing the number of emails sent from a new or inactive email account.

The aim is to build trust with email service providers (ESPs) and improve your email deliverability by ensuring that your emails reach recipients' inboxes instead of their spam folders.

When you start sending emails from a new account, sending too many emails at once can trigger spam filters. ESPs are cautious with new accounts, and sudden spikes in email activity can raise red flags. To avoid this, you begin by sending a small number of emails and slowly increase the volume over time. This steady approach helps you build a positive sender reputation, which is crucial for getting better results from your cold email campaigns.

Tools like Smartlead automate this entire process, gradually increasing your email sending volume, ensuring natural email activity, and helping you maintain a strong sender reputation. This automation allows you to focus on your outreach while keeping your deliverability high. 

How to Warm Up Email Accounts for Cold Email List in 2024

There are two primary methods for warming up an email account: manually and automatically. Here's how each approach works:

Manual Warmup

• Create an Email List: Start by building a list of contacts who are likely to assist you—former colleagues, business partners, friends, or family. Including domain-specific email addresses (e.g., john@domain.com) will yield better results.
• Segment Your Contacts: Group contacts into different segments—business owners, personal contacts, and customers.
• Set Mail Exchange (MX) Record: Configure your domain’s MX record to route emails properly. This ensures your emails are sent and received through the right server.
• SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Setup: Implement these authentication protocols. SPF validates the mail server, DKIM adds a digital signature, and DMARC protects your domain from unauthorized use.
• Write Authentic Email Content: Create clear, concise email content without spammy words. Ensure your emails are under 150 words, and include a signature to enhance credibility.
• Send 20 Emails per Day: Keep the volume low at first (20 emails/day) and slowly increase it after two weeks.
• Optimize Send Times: Spread out your emails, sending them at varied times to avoid triggering spam filters.
• Create Email Threads: Ask your contacts to reply and forward emails to create ongoing conversations.
• Ask to Whitelist: Request your recipients to add your email to their contacts, signaling their email provider that you’re a trusted sender.
• Subscribe to Receive Emails: Sign up for newsletters and other mailings to demonstrate you’re an active, legitimate user.

Automated Email Warmup with Smartlead: Streamlined lead Generation

Manually warmup makes sense for one or two mailboxes, but how do you warmup multiple mailboxes for your cold outreach? This is where automated email warmup comes in. Smartlead, with its AI-based fully automated warmup process, you can make the entire warmup process efficient and hands-free.

Below is a step-by-step guide to enable email warm-ups in Smartlead. This intelligent process also moves emails from spam to the primary inbox and marks them as important, so you can rest assured your emails always land in the primary folder.

1. Set Up Your Account

Begin by signing in to the Smartlead app. Navigate to the “Email Accounts” tab, which you can find on the dashboard.

Step 1: Click on the “Add Account” button located in the top right corner.

Step 2: A pop-up will appear. Choose the email provider (Gmail, SMTP, Outlook) based on the email address you plan to use. If you need technical help, you can follow the provided setup guide for each provider.

2. Configure SPF, DKIM, DMARC, & MX Records

Before enabling warm-up, ensure that the following authentication records are set up correctly:

- SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)

- MX (Mail Exchange Record)

Smartlead provides detailed instructions on how to complete these steps, and it's crucial to get them right before proceeding.

Read more: Complete Guide to DKIM, DMARC, SPF Setup

3. Select the Email to Warm Up

Once you've configured SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and MX, return to the Smartlead app. Go to the “Email Accounts” tab and select the email account that you wish to enable for warm-ups.

4. Fill the Warm-up Configuration Settings

In the configuration settings section, you'll need to fill in a few details to customize the warm-up process. Here are the important things to keep in mind:

Daily Warm-up Email Limit: Ensure the total number of warm-up emails per day doesn't exceed 40.

Daily Ramp-Up: If you're warming up a new domain, enable “Daily Ramp-Up” so that the number of emails gradually increases day by day. This helps prevent bulk sending, which can trigger flags from Email Service Providers (ESPs) like Gmail or Outlook.

Randomized Sending: Randomize the number of emails sent each day to mimic natural human behavior.

Reply Rate: Set the reply rate to between 30-40% to improve your deliverability and boost the sender's reputation.

Custom Warm-up Identifier Tag: Use this tag to filter out warm-up emails from your inbox and distinguish them from real emails.

5. Save Your Configuration

After filling in the configuration details, click on “Save” at the bottom right corner. If you’ve already warmed up this email previously, the option will appear as “Update” instead of “Save.”

6. Monitor Warm-Up Performance

Once the warm-up is enabled, you can track the progress from the Smartlead dashboard. The app will give you updates on how well the warm-up is going and its impact on deliverability.

By following these steps, you can automate the entire email warm-up process, ensuring better deliverability and your emails avoiding spam filters.

Mistakes to Avoid While Warming Up a Cold Email List

When learning how to warm up a cold email list, it's crucial to steer clear of common mistakes that can harm your sender reputation and email deliverability. Here are the most important pitfalls to avoid:

1. Sending Too Many Emails Too Soon  

Jumping into large-scale sends right away is a fast track to the spam folder. Start small and gradually increase your sending volume over weeks, not days. This process allows inbox providers to view your domain as trustworthy.

2. Ignoring Engagement Metrics  

It’s easy to focus solely on sending emails, but engagement is what really matters. If your list has too many uninterested or inactive contacts, your open and click rates will plummet. Remove inactive recipients regularly to keep your list clean and improve your reputation.

3. Using Unverified Domains  

Warming up your email list without proper authentication is risky. Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records before sending. This ensures that your emails are verified as coming from your domain, protecting against deliverability issues.

4. Overlooking Personalization  

Sending generic emails to a cold list is a recipe for failure. Personalize the emails to improve engagement and show recipients that you value their time. A lack of personalization often leads to lower open rates and higher spam complaints.

5. Not Monitoring Feedback Loops  

Feedback loops give you insights into how mailbox providers are handling your emails, especially if users are marking your messages as spam. Ignoring these insights can cause long-term harm to your sender reputation. Always review feedback loops and take action when necessary.

By avoiding these common mistakes, you’ll be on your way to effectively warming up a cold email list and ensuring long-term email deliverability.

Conclusion

Warming up a cold email list is a crucial step in building trust with email service providers and ensuring that your emails land in the inbox, not the spam folder. By gradually increasing your sending volume, maintaining engagement, and properly configuring your email authentication, you can significantly improve your email deliverability.

Following a structured warmup process may take time, but the benefits are well worth the effort. With a properly warmed-up list, you'll increase the chances of converting leads into customers while maintaining a strong sender reputation.

If you're ready to streamline your email outreach and ensure impeccable deliverability, Smartlead offers automated warmups that save time and ensure your campaigns reach their full potential. Sign up today to start your journey toward better email marketing results!

FAQs

Why is it important to warm up a cold email list?  

Warming up a cold email list builds trust with email service providers, improving deliverability and reducing the risk of your emails landing in spam. It helps protect your sender reputation.

How long does it take to warm up a cold email list?  

Typically, it takes 2-4 weeks to properly warm up an email list, depending on your email volume and domain reputation.

Can I use a cold email list without warming it up?  

Using a cold email list without warming it up risks high bounce rates, spam complaints, and poor deliverability. Always warm up first.

What are the best tools for warming up an email list?  

Tools like Smartlead, Lemlist, and Mailwarm offer automated solutions for efficiently warming up cold email lists.

What should I do if my emails are still going to spam after warming up?  

Check your domain authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), clean your email list, and adjust your sending volume. You may also need to review your email content for spam triggers.

How can I track the success of my email warm-up process?  

Track key metrics like open rates, bounce rates, and reply rates. Tools like Smartlead offer real-time insights to monitor your warmup progress.