Glossary: deliverability
What is domain warm-up (email warm-up)?
Domain warm-up, also called email warm-up, is the practice of sending small amounts of email from a new domain or mailbox and raising the volume gradually over several weeks. It gives mailbox providers time to see normal behavior and build a reputation for the sender.
What a warm-up is made of
Low start
A handful of emails a day
Gradual rise
A little more each week
Real replies
Mail that gets opened and answered
Steady pace
No sudden jumps
A warm-up has three parts.
A new domain has no history, and mailbox providers treat unknown senders with caution. A low start, a gradual rise, real replies and a steady pace are how a domain earns a history.
Volume starts low and rises slowly.
The low start is a handful of emails a day from each mailbox. The gradual rise adds a little more each week, with no sudden jumps.
The mail gets engagement.
Warm-up sends mail that gets opened and answered. Those real replies show providers the mail is wanted.
It continues after launch.
Warm-up activity keeps running beside real campaigns at a steady pace, so the positive signals do not stop.
Here is a four-week warm-up for an invented company.
Imagine Tavelock, an invented payroll software company. It registers a new sending domain with three mailboxes and sets up SPF, DKIM and DMARC. In week 1 each mailbox sends 5 a day. In week 2 it sends 10 a day, in week 3 it sends 20 a day and in week 4 it sends 30 a day.
By the end of week 4, three mailboxes at 30 a day give Tavelock a combined 90 emails a day, with no jump along the way. Only then does it start its cold email campaign, at a daily volume the domain has already shown it can carry.
Emails a day from each Tavelock mailbox during warm-up
Warm up a new domain in four steps.
Warm-up cannot be rushed, so it belongs at the start of the project plan.
The four steps in order
- 1Authenticate
- 2Start small
- 3Raise weekly
- 4Keep it on
- 1
Authenticate the domain first.
Publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC before any mail is sent. Warm-up without them builds nothing.
- 2
Start small.
Begin with a few emails a day and let the first week pass at low volume.
- 3
Raise weekly, in small steps.
Increase week by week, and hold or step back if mail starts landing in spam.
- 4
Keep it on during campaigns.
Leave warm-up running alongside real sends to keep engagement steady.
Prymatica sets up your sending domains and mailboxes, then warms them up for a few weeks before sending at volume. Setup takes a few days, and your campaign goes live in about a month. See how Prymatica's cold email process works.
Teams make these mistakes with domain warm-up.
The campaign starts on day one.
A brand-new domain sending hundreds of emails is the pattern spam filters look for.
Warm-up stops at launch.
Turning it off removes the steady engagement that supports the domain's reputation.
Warm-up is used to rescue a bad list.
No amount of warm-up offsets bounces and complaints from unverified addresses.
These glossary terms sit next to domain warm-up.
These Prymatica pages go deeper on domain warm-up.
Questions
People ask these questions about domain warm-up.
How long does domain warm-up take?
Plan for a few weeks. The exact length depends on the volume you want to reach: the higher the target, the longer the climb. Rushing it risks the reputation the warm-up is meant to build.
What is the difference between domain warm-up and email warm-up?
They describe the same practice at two levels. Domain warm-up builds a reputation for the domain name. Email warm-up, or mailbox warm-up, builds a sending history for each address on it. A new setup needs both, and they happen together.
Do you need to warm up a new mailbox on an old domain?
Yes. The domain's history helps, but the new mailbox has no record of its own. Start it at low volume and raise it gradually.
Can you skip warm-up?
Not without paying for it in spam placement. Providers judge senders on history, and a new domain has none. Warm-up is how that history is made.
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