Email is still one of the best ways to connect with customers. If your sender reputation isn’t strong, however, your emails might not reach their intended audience. By implementing a warm-up strategy, focusing on engagement, and using tools like Audience Builder, you can rebuild and maintain a solid sender reputation.
Who uses this featureRole
Marketing managers, business owners, and other marketers on your team
Primarily for Residential Service and Replacement business types and Commercial Service and Replacement business types
Applies to all trades
Feature configuration
To get started with Marketing Pro, request a demo on our Pro Products page, or reach out to your Customer Success Manager (CSM) or Pro Account Manager (PAM).
Things to know
Repairing your sender reputation takes time and requires a consistent commitment to best practices. If you restore your reputation but then revert to bad practices, your reputation will suffer.
Why email deliverability is all about trust
Every time you send an email, inbox providers decide whether your email is useful or spam. If customers open, click, and enjoy your emails, inbox providers trust you more. But if your emails are ignored or marked as spam, your reputation takes a hit. A bad sender reputation means fewer emails get delivered.
Rebuild trust gradually
Rebuilding trust with inbox providers takes time and consistent effort. For example, if your sender reputation suffered due to practices like sending mass emails to unengaged recipients, you can’t just send thousands of emails overnight to fix your reputation.
To recover, implement a warm-up strategy to rebuild your sender reputation. This approach begins with sending emails to your most engaged subscribers. As you observe strong engagement rates, you can slowly expand your audience. Over time, inbox providers will recognize that your content is valuable and worth delivering to recipients.
Audience Builder is your go-to tool for making this strategy work. It lets you filter your audience based on specific behaviors to build targeted lists of engaged recipients. For more, see Create audiences.
To implement a warm-up strategy:
Start small using smart targeting: Start by sending content to your most engaged customers to improve your engagement rates.
Slowly expand your audience: Slowly send content to more customers as your metrics improve.
Focus on engagement: Prioritize customers who have engaged with your content while building your audience lists.
Send valuable content: Make sure your emails are worth opening by providing helpful information like personalized offers.
Start small using smart targeting
Engagement is the key to success. Inbox providers rely on metrics like opens, clicks, and complaints to decide whether your emails are worth delivering. Clicks are the most important metric because they show that customers are taking action.
To rebuild your reputation, start by emailing your most engaged customers, such as those who clicked or opened your emails within the last 30 days. This focused approach helps you rebuild trust with inbox providers and sets a strong foundation for future outreach.
Slowly expand your audience
After you see good results with your first group, like higher open and click rates, gradually expand your reach. You can monitor these metrics directly in Marketing Pro. For more, see Use marketing analytics.
For example:
Add customers who engaged with your content in the last 60 days.
Then include those who engaged in the last 90 days.
Continue until you’ve included customers who engaged within the last 180 days or more.
Focus on engagement
Engagement is everything. Inbox providers look at how many customers open and click on your emails to decide if your messages are worth delivering. Clicks are especially important because they show that customers are taking action. When building your audience lists, prioritize subscribers who have engaged with your content.
Send valuable content
Make sure your emails are worth opening. Provide helpful information, personalized offers, or something your audience truly cares about. Avoid generic promotions or emails that feel like spam. The more value you provide, the more likely your subscribers will engage.
Maintain email best practices
Fixing your email reputation isn’t a one-time job. To keep your reputation strong, follow these best practices:
Track engagement: Regularly check your open and click rates. Low engagement can hurt your reputation. For more, see Use marketing analytics.
Maintain your audience list: Remove inactive or invalid email addresses to keep your audience healthy.
Send fewer, better emails: Focus on quality over quantity. A smaller, engaged audience is better than a large unresponsive one.
For more, see Master email marketing: Automation, deliverability, and engagement for home services success.