How to warm up a new sending domain
A step-by-step warm-up plan for a fresh sending domain: authentication first, then a volume ramp that builds reputation instead of tripping spam filters.
A new domain has no reputation, and inbox providers treat 'unknown' as 'suspicious'. Warming up is how you earn trust before you need it.
Step 1: authenticate before you send a single email
SPF, DKIM and DMARC in place, verified, passing. Skipping this makes every later step pointless.
Step 2: start with your most engaged people
Your first sends should go to the addresses most likely to open and reply — recent customers, your own team, hand-raisers. Early engagement is the signal that builds reputation fastest.
Step 3: ramp on a schedule
Grow daily volume gradually over two to four weeks rather than jumping to full blast. If a day's sends exceed the ramp, the extra should wait for tomorrow — never get dropped, never force through.
Step 4: watch the signals, not the vanity metrics
Complaint rate and bounce rate tell you if you're going too fast. Back off if either climbs. Opens are nice; a clean complaint rate is what keeps you in the inbox.
Let the platform do it
Solstral runs this ramp for you — over-budget sends defer automatically instead of failing. It's part of treating deliverability as a feature, and it's on the deliverability checklist.