What does it actually mean to warm up an IP address?

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2 page1 The IP Warm-up Process Explained Whether you are new to the game or an accomplished mailer, you have probably run across the idea of warming up an IP (Internet Protocol) address to improve delivery performance. o explore and explain the topic. What does it actually mean to warm up an IP address? New IP addresses that have never been used have no sending history and need to earn their reputation with ISPs (Internet Service Providers). AOL, Yahoo!, Gmail or Hotmail need to see that you are sending relevant, permission-based s before they begin to allow your bulk mailings through to inbox folders. ). When an ISP observes suddenly coming from a new or cold (ie, recently dormant) IP address, they will take notice of it and immediately begin evaluating the traffic coming from that IP. ISPs have complex algorithms in place that analyze the quality of your s and assign a particular rating to each and every sending IP address. In order to ensure the highest deliverability and IPR (inbox placement rate), official documents released by their Postmaster Teams encourage bulk senders to always start at lower volumes and gradually increase the traffic. In the meantime, they scrutinize the number of factors that your s generate (e.g. spam complaints, user-unknown bounces, opens, clicks)

3 page2 Since volume is perhaps the most telling factor in the eyes of ISP SPAM filters, it is best to begin sending low to moderate volume and to follow a Sending Plan where you gradually ramp up volume over time. This gives the ISP s a chance to closely observe your sending habits and the way your customers treat the s they receive from you. Of course, just warming up IP s is not the only key to success. It remains very important to follow all other best practices send matching content that your subscribers want to read, perform list management to protect the quality of your lists and send your s on a consistent basis.

4 page3 So What do I need to do Exactly? Follow a recommended sending plan Your sending reputation will determine whether or not your s will get past their SPAM filters, it s obviously pretty important to aim for an excellent sender reputation. You should make the warmup process a priority in order to start off on the right foot. When commencing the IP warm up process, you should follow a sending plan which is designed specifically with an eye on building your sending reputation over time. The addresses you are selecting for the implementation of the sending plan, should follow these guidelines It is essential that the first batch you import is carefully selected. You should import only those subscribers who have been recently active, i.e. opened your last s and/or clicked on the links. It is vitally important that there are no bad addresses (non-existent s) on this list. Route fresh leads from your site Double opt-in mode Recommended!

5 page4 When commencing the IP warm up process, it is always best to start sending s to high quality active subscribers, best would be routing the fresh traffic from your websites to your new INinbox account (through sign up forms). Organic list growth is highly recommended during the warming up process as it generates more responsive and active subscribers.

6 page5 How do I create my sending plan? Since we realize that IP warm up is crucial your ongoing bulk mailing success, we have optimized a sending schedule and highly recommend that you follow it during the first few days of mailing to subscribers. 1. Here is a breakdown of an import batch that you should be importing daily during the first 5 days: 450 Yahoo addresses 500 Hotmail addresses 650 AOL addresses 1,000 other ESPs TOTAL: 2,600 subscribers The day-by-day schedule should have the following shape: DAY 1: sent to ~ 2,600 subscribers DAY 2: sent to ~ 5,200 subscribers DAY 3: sent to ~ 7,800 subscribers DAY 4: sent to ~ 10,400 subscribers

7 page6 DAY 5: sent to ~ 13,000 subscribers DAY 6: sent to ~ 20,000 subscribers DAY 7: sent to ~ 25,000 subscribers DAY 8: sent to ~ 30,000 subscribers DAY 9: sent to ~ 45,000 subscribers DAY 10: sent to ~ 60,000 subscribers DAY 11: sent to ~ 80,000 subscribers DAY 12: sent to ~ 100,000 subscribers Furthermore you it s recommended to throttle the number of s evenly over the day instead of sending them all as fast as possible. You should be able to gradually increase your outbound traffic from about 1,000 s/hour (at the outset) up to 10-20,000 s/hour when the process is complete. The IP warming schedule above is recommended by us, however there are also alternative warming up methods that are commonly used like: Conservative Approach: Estimate your total monthly volume and divide that number by 30 and then try to spread your sending evenly over the first 30 days, based on that calculation.

8 page7 Example: if you will send 90,000 s/month, you should start off sending 3,000 per day over the first month. Aggressive Approach: Instead of dividing total monthly volume by 30, divide it by 15. Example: say you still need to send the same 90,000 /month, but you need the s to reach your recipients in half as long of a time frame, send 6,000 per day for the first 15 days. Can I skip the IP warm up process? Your INinbox dedicated account is technically capable of sending the amount of purchased s from day one. The sending schedule which we recommend is not obligatory yet, based on our experience, we know that sending e.g. 100,000 s without building the IP reputation first frequently results in an IP block and temporary inability to deliver any s to a particular ISP. The IP warm up is a necessary process in today s marketing reality and managing it the right way with our ongoing assistance can help you reap more benefits from marketing in both the short and long runs. ISPs keep monthly histories of all the being sent to their systems. Therefore, you can expect to accomplish a sufficient warmup within

9 page8 about 30 days. You should be able to gradually increase your outbound traffic from about 1,000 s/hour (at the outset) up to 10-20,000 s/hour when the process is complete.