Email is without a doubt an insanely effective tool when it comes to marketing your business. Among email providers, Gmail stands out with over 1.8 billion active users globally. In the United States, Gmail holds a dominant 75.78% market share, equating to roughly 130.9 million users.
These numbers reveal that many of your prospects and customers are probably using Gmail. However, reaching their inbox is not always straightforward. There are a lot of things that can happen from the moment you hit “Send.” The spam filters and deliverability requirements in Gmail can send your emails to spam or the promotions tab.
From a business perspective, especially small companies, freelancers, and eCommerce brands, poor deliverability when it comes to Gmail can mean missed opportunities, poor email engagement, and revenue left on the table.
The importance of email warm-up for Gmail deliverability
Using Gmail as part of an email outreach strategy is super-important in order to maintain the best possible deliverability rates. You want to make sure your emails are as visible as possible, and are landing in inboxes instead of the spam folder or the promotions tab. Email warm-up has a lot to do with this cycle because it allows you to earn a positive reputation with email providers so that your IP will not get blacklisted and your emails will not be sent to spam.
Gmail uses advanced spam filters which are backed by machine learning to recognize different signals related to sender reputation, email content, and user engagement among other things. So if your email has a few of these things, it might trigger the spam filters even if it’s not spam.
Gmail uses a wide array of signals to decide whether to send an email to a spam folder, from global spam reports to whether or not you use hyperlinks in that message, or certain phrases and keywords that are often used in spam and phishing. If an email meets some of those criteria, it could be tagged as junk even if it isn’t. The spam filters in Gmail are built to protect the users from the unwanted and unsolicited emails. They specifically respond to new or dormant domains, email spikes, and unengaged emails.
Q: What are spam filters?
A: Spam filters are tools used by email providers to identify and block unwanted or potentially harmful emails. They look at incoming emails according to a number of criteria (including sender’s past behavior, the quality of the content, and the user engagement) to decide whether the email should be allowed to land in the inbox or be classified as spam instead.
🔖 Relevant Reading: Spam filters: everything you need to know
It builds a positive sender reputation with Gmail
Gmail doesn’t take deliverability lightly. Google Postmaster Tools gives senders insights into the reputation of their domain, their current spam rates, and other key metrics. Senders now have the ability to track how Google sees their sending habits and reputation with Postmaster.
You could also be having a deliverability problem (in other words, your emails are getting pushed to spam/promotions folders), thanks to a bad sender reputation. Conversely, a good standing with Gmail results in improved inbox placement.
Email warm-up helps you gradually build this reputation, signaling to Gmail that you are a legitimate sender who provides value to your recipients.
It prevents occurrences of being blacklisting
When you suddenly send a high volume of emails from a new or inactive domain, Gmail’s filters treat this as suspicious activity. Your email marketing efforts may be rerouted to spam—or worse, this can lead to being blacklisted.
Being blacklisted can cause your emails to never make it into inboxes, even outside of Gmail, and it can take weeks or possibly months to be removed from the list. Gradual warm-up builds trust over time, ensuring that you don’t jeopardize your deliverability or sender reputation by being blacklisted.
🔖 Related Reading: Are Blacklists Killing Your Emails? A Deep Dive into How They Influence Email Providers is a report from the Warmy Research Team lays out how different mailbox email service providers (including Gmail) uses third-party blacklists when it comes to determining spam.
What is email warm-up?
Email warm-up is the process of gradually increasing the volume and frequency of emails sent from a new or inactive domain or email account.
With Gmail, in particular, email warm-up helps establish a positive sender reputation by demonstrating that your emails are legitimate, expected, and engaged with by recipients. Without a properly done warm-up process, sending a high volume of email campaigns suddenly can trigger spam filters and harm your email deliverability.
🔖 Related Reading: The Science and Process of Warming Up Newly Created Email Domains
Manual vs. automated email warmup
- Manual warmup: This involves the sender sending small batches of emails to an existing contact list which can be existing customers or a tight knit group of associates who plan to help the sender improve sender reputation. This volume of emails is slowly increased week by week.
- Automated warmup: This involves the use of specialized tools to handle the entire warm-up process. These tools send and receive emails, adjust sending speed and volume, and monitor deliverability metrics automatically.
Top 5 email warm-up tools for Gmail
Using an email warm-up tool is one of the best action items senders can take to improve Gmail deliverability. Such tools automate the process—gradually increasing email sending volume, managing engagement, and building trust with inbox providers like Gmail. Below, we will explore some of the top email warm-up tools available to Gmail users.
Mailreach
Mailreach is a straightforward, easy-to-use tool designed to help increase email deliverability by gradually warming up your Gmail account.
Key features:
- Fast and easy to set up with minimal configuration, even for beginners.
- Provides a free email spam test to ensure your emails are not being flagged as spam.
- Easy-to-understand dashboard with real-time email performance tracking.
- Ideal for users who prefer simplicity over advanced customization.
Limitations:
- Customization and reporting limitations
- Reporting and available analytics are basic
- No available free trial
- Per inbox pricing can ramp up costs when scaling
🔖 Related Reading: MailReach alternative. Warmy vs MailReach
Instantly.ai
Instantly.ai offers unlimited inbox placement testing alongside automated warm-up. It also looks at content, presence on blacklists, and authentication records.
Key features:
- One click activation to connect your email account
- Displays a deliverability score and statistics on inbox placement
- Leverages Instantly’s network of over 1,000,000 real email accounts for warmup
Limitations:
- Access to more advanced features are at a higher pricing tier
- Basic plan has restrictions on number of leads that can be added, may be too limiting for those who want more room to scale
🔖 Related Reading: Instantly.ai alternative. Warmy vs Instantly.ai
Lemwarm
Lemwarm, part of the Lemlist suite, offers a personalized warm-up strategy tailored to your Gmail domain’s needs. It automatically crafts a tailored warm-up strategy based on sender’s answers to a few questions upon set up.
Key features:
- Leverages more than 10,000 real users with domain ages up to 25 years
- Clean user interface which is easy to navigate
- Dashboard shows insights on inbox placement, spam percentages, and suggestions for deliverability improvements
Limitations:
- Free plan is not available
- Advanced features come at a higher cost
🔖 Related Reading: LemWarm alternative. Warmy vs LemWarm
Mailwarm
Mailwarm is a reliable and easy to use email deliverability tool. With Mailwarm, senders gain access to their reputable list of over 5,000 email domains.
Key features:
- Monitor blacklists and alerts senders of any presence
- Up to 50 warm-up emails per day on basic plan, and up to 500 warm-up emails sent daily on higher plan
- User-friendly interface for no-frills set up
- Chat support available
Limitations:
- Expensive compared to alternatives given its capabilities
🔖 Related Reading: MailWarm alternative. Warmy vs MailWarm
Warmy.io
Warmy.io is the most advanced and comprehensive email warmup tool available. It integrates seamlessly with Gmail, providing real-time insights into domain health, inbox placement, and engagement metrics.
Key features include:
- Ability to send up to 5,000 emails per day
- Customizes sending volume and timing based on domain history and performance.
- Engages with real mailboxes to generate authentic interaction signals like opens, clicks, and replies.
- Provides detailed metrics on inbox placement, bounce rates, and domain health.
- Adapts to various recipient locations and languages for personalized warm-up.
- Auto-archives emails used in the warmup process to ensure clutter-free warm-up
How Warmy sets the foundation for Gmail deliverability success
Whether you’re a small business, freelancer, or enterprise, Warmy’s suite of tools adapt to your unique needs. Here is a closer look at Warmy’s features:
AI-powered warmup that can be customized
Warmy’s AI-driven warm-up process can intelligently adjust based on key factors like mailbox and domain age. For example, new domains or recently created inboxes require a gentler warm-up to avoid spam filters, while established domains can ramp up faster.
Since Warmy supports multiple languages, the warm-up emails come across as more natural and more relevant—which fosters additional engagement and trust. With the auto-archive feature, your inbox remains clean while all valuable data is still available via the dashboard.
With the addition of the WarmUp Preferences feature, senders can also customize warm-up settings such as the distribution of warmup across different providers and even the engagement patterns (B2B or B2C engagement).
Free SPF and DMARC Record Generators
Proper email authentication is critical for Gmail deliverability and Warmy caters to this need by providing free tools to generate and configure SPF and DMARC records quickly and correctly. These authentication protocols protect your domain from spoofing and phishing, strengthening your sender reputation and ensuring your emails are trusted by Gmail.
Access the free tools here:
Real mailboxes and real email interactions with advanced seed lists
Unlike other services that rely on fake or bot-controlled email addresses, Warmy uses advanced seed lists which are composed exclusively of real, active mailboxes. This guarantees genuine engagement—such as opens, replies, and forwarding—which Gmail values highly.
In case some emails land in spam, these are removed and marked as important to let the ESPs know you are credible. The result is a natural, sustainable email reputation boost that no spam filter can flag as suspicious.
Domain Health Hub and free deliverability test
Warmy’s powerful Domain Health Hub tracks key metrics like domain reputation, blacklist status, and inbox placement analysis. Senders can access real-time insights they can apply right away to improve their sending practices.
Furthermore, Warmy’s free email deliverability test gives a breakdown, percentage-wise, on where your emails are landing (spam, promotions, inbox and not received at all). So with these detailed insights, you know where you are and what you can put your best effort into.
Email Template Checker to steer clear of spam filters
Warmy’s free template checker helps solve the issue of content that triggers spam filters. This nifty tool analyzes your emails so you know if they align with best practices for avoiding the spam folder.
With its Chrome Extension version, it’s easier than ever to assess whether an email is likely to be flagged by spam filters. You can make necessary adjustments and watch the template checker give its feedback.
Achieve Gmail success with the best email warmup tool
Optimizing your Gmail deliverability is critical to the success of your outreach campaigns, whether you’re sending cold emails, newsletters, or marketing communications. By using the right email warm-up tool, you can ensure that your emails land in the inbox, improve your sender reputation, and avoid the dreaded spam folder.
Ready to improve your email deliverability? Start warming up your Gmail account today to ensure your outreach reaches the right audience. Try Warmy for free today.
