As a mid-level web developer freelancing with a few small SaaS clients, I'm responsible for their websites, basic marketing automation, and transactional emails using a Node/Next stack and services like SendGrid and Brevo. Recently, I've been getting complaints about onboarding and password reset emails ending up in spam or the Promotions tab, despite having SPF, DKIM, and DMARC properly configured, and ensuring the content is clean and the sending volume is low. New domains and fresh IPs seem to get flagged immediately. I've seen suggestions about using email warm-up tools like Inboxally to help increase deliverability instead of just gradually increasing traffic and hoping for the best. As someone who does web development and manages light email infrastructure, I'm curious whether investing in warm-up tools is worth it or if I should focus on improving list hygiene and sending patterns. Are there any real-world examples of how much inbox placement improves with these tools, or is it just a placebo effect? Also, how should I bundle and charge for email deliverability work to clients?
5 Answers
I get how frustrating IP reputation is, but I agree with the others' points. Warm-up can help, but focusing on good list management is key.
You might want to check out mail-tester.com; it could highlight things that aren't working right. I had an instance where my email landed in junk even after many years of use and setup because a mistake in my SPF record was dragging my score down. It’s definitely worth a shot to dig deeper into your settings!
From my experience, it was definitely worth warming up my domain. I didn't do it initially, and all my emails were landing in spam before switching to Email Octopus.
I think warm-up tools are mostly unnecessary these days. If your transactional emails are going to spam and you have clean authentication and low volume, it's likely just your new IP's reputation or issues with the sending domains. Focus on basics: keep your transactional and marketing domains separate, monitor bounces, and deal with hard bounces promptly. Just be patient for a couple weeks before increasing your sending volume. I recommend charging a one-time fee for email infrastructure setup and not overthinking it afterwards!
Honestly, new domains usually struggle with initial reputation, leading to their emails landing in spam or Promotions despite proper authentication. The best strategy is to start with a clean email list by removing invalid addresses and then gradually increasing your sending volume. I typically improve list hygiene while ramping up with a schedule (like sending 100 emails on day one, 250 on day two, etc.). For charging clients, I usually go for a one-time fee for a deliverability audit with ongoing support for a modest monthly rate to monitor and make adjustments as needed. This approach helps boost overall inbox placement more effectively!
Yeah, I totally agree! Sometimes, emails just go to junk for random reasons, even if everything looks good. Filters can be really unpredictable.