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Domain Warm-up Guide
Warming up a new domain means proving to inbox providers that your emails are wanted before you send at full volume. Start with your most engaged users, send consistently, and increase volume only when bounces, complaints, and spam placement stay low.
Before you begin, complete DNS Setup, confirm your account is approved in Account Approvals, and check your current cap in Sending Limits.
Why Warm-Up is Necessary
When a domain starts sending through a new provider or IP pool, it needs to be warmed up correctly. Warming up means gradually increasing send volume to build a good reputation with inbox providers like Gmail, Yahoo, Microsoft, and others.
Domain reputation and IP reputation both matter. Bento manages the IP pool, while you control the domain, list quality, content, and sending pace.
What to Expect
Sometimes during the initial stages of the warm-up, you may experience lower deliverability rates. It's common for the first few campaigns to land in the Spam folder, especially with Gmail or Hotmail. However, if you are sending wanted and expected emails, ISPs will eventually recognize your domain and IP as trustworthy.
Our goal is always to be sending emails that people expect and want to receive. If you keep that as your north star, you'll have amazing engagement rates for years to come on our platform.
Warmup Health Signals
Keep going if opens, clicks, replies, and conversions are stable for the audience you are sending to.
Slow down or pause if you see:
- A sudden drop in Gmail, Yahoo, or Outlook engagement.
- More soft bounces, deferrals, or throttling than usual.
- Spam blocks in the Bounce Guide.
- Complaints from people who do not recognize your brand.
- A DNS failure after records were previously verified.
Do not increase volume just because a campaign technically sends. Warmup is about healthy engagement, not only throughput.
Steps to Warm Up Your Domain
Begin by sending a small amount of email each day using automations. Automations usually have strong engagement because people just signed up, bought something, or took an action on your site.
Do this for a period of 1 to 2 weeks.
When you are ready for your first broadcast, send only to recipients who recently clicked, purchased, signed up, logged in, or interacted with your brand. Avoid old, inactive, unclear-source, or previously bounced users.
Throttle sending so inbox providers see a gradual ramp. Start slower than feels exciting. For a new or recently migrated domain, a broadcast spread over 7 to 14 days is often safer than sending the whole list at once.
Simple example: for a list of 20,000 you could send it at a speed of 100 emails per hour (20000/(7*24)).
If you are a higher volume sender then aim for a speed that delivers them over a period of 8-12 hours (list/(8*1)).
Use Bento's Deliverability Monitor, campaign metrics, and bounce reasons during warmup. If something looks suspicious, pause broad sends, review Bounces, and contact support@bentonow.com with the campaign, segment, and target volume.
Summary
Warmup protects your domain reputation while Bento protects the sending infrastructure. Move slowly, send first to people who expect your email, and use Sending Limits as your pacing guardrail while volume grows.