Email Warmup Alternatives: When Traditional Warmup Isn’t Enough

What is traditional email warmup?

Traditional email warmup is the process of gradually increasing the volume of emails sent from a new or inactive email account to establish a positive sender reputation with email service providers (ESPs) like Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo. This will help you prove that you are the real deal and your emails will not end up in spam

For companies and individuals who use cold outreach, newsletters, or transactional emails, proper warmup makes sure their messages land in recipients’ inboxes, instead of being marked as spam. Instantaneously sending a high volume from a different or less active email (without warmup) can send red flags to ISPs—marking you and your messages untrustworthy.

How does traditional warmup work?

The traditional email warmup process typically follows a gradual, staged approach over several weeks:

• It starts with low-volume sending, like 5-10 per day to a list of recipients.
• The number of emails sent each day slowly increases while monitoring engagement.
• The focus is on avoiding spam triggers and increasing metrics like open rates. 
• After 2-4 weeks, the transition into regular campaigns can occur while maintaining a strong sender reputation.

When it comes to the recipients involved in the warmup process, businesses go about it differently. Some prefer to implement the warmup process with a list of their most engaged recipients. That way, there’s a higher likelihood of them opening emails and engaging with the emails. Meanwhile, some take the time to create their own lists of recipients, and some buy pre-made lists from external parties.

Why traditional email warmup may not be enough

This is not to say traditional email warmup doesn’t work. It does—but depending on your goals, it may not be enough. Because while traditional email warmup is a crucial first step in improving deliverability, it doesn’t always guarantee inbox placement and long-term deliverability success. Additionally, traditional warmup doesn’t work with some email providers like Klaviyo, Omnisend, Mailchimp, and Shopify—which limits a lot of businesses that want to invest in warmup.

Many businesses still struggle with emails landing in spam, inconsistent results across different providers, and reputation issues that persist despite following warmup best practices.

One of the biggest limitations of automated warmup tools is they simulate engagement but they don’t really replicate real-world recipient behavior. Other limitations include:

Strict spam filters (even warmed up emails may land in spam)

• Email providers constantly update their spam filters to detect and block unwanted (or deemed suspicious) emails. 
• Many email providers rely on advanced AI-based spam detection, which can identify automated interactions. 
• Even if an email account has been warmed up, sudden spikes in sending volume or using the wrong content can still result in spam placement. 

Low engagement or lack of genuine engagement

• ESPs evaluate engagement metrics, such as open rates, replies, and interactions to determine deliverability. Automated warmup services often rely on pre-set patterns rather than organic, real interactions. 
• If engagement isn’t authentic, ESPs may ignore warmup interactions, making it harder to establish true credibility. 
• Most automation actions only involve opening emails, and not really engaging with them.

Inconsistent inbox placement

• Not all email providers handle incoming emails the same way. What works for Gmail may not work for Outlook or Yahoo. 
• Traditional warmup tools don’t always test across multiple ISPs, so it’s hard to understand inbox placement across different providers. 

Stagnant IP & domain reputation

• Some warmup services rely on low-quality mailboxes for engagement, which may not influence major ISPs.
• If other factors like SPF, DKIM, DMARC, or previous domain history are not properly configured, warmup alone won’t fix reputation issues.
• Poor email content or aggressive sending behavior after warmup can still result in deliverability problems, even if the initial warmup was successful.

The need for a better solution: Warmy’s seed list warmup strategy

Automated warmup tools help improve sender reputation, but they often fail to provide real-world insights into how emails are treated by different email providers. Without visibility into data, businesses risk sending their campaigns blindly.

This is where Warmy’s seed lists come in. Our seed list warmup strategy goes beyond automated engagement and provides real-time inbox placement data, allowing senders to proactively identify and resolve deliverability issues before scaling their email campaigns. 

What is a seed list and how does it work?

A seed list is a collection of test email addresses spread across different email service providers (ESPs) like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and corporate email domains. These addresses are not real customers but are used to warm up the sender’s domain before engaging in a full on campaign. 

Warmy’s seed list vs. traditional email warmup services: key differences

Traditional email warmup relies on automated opens, but Warmy’s seed lists take it up a notch by simulating actual human behavior. Plus, instead of blindly warming up an email domain using a simple list and hoping for the best, senders can see exactly where their emails land and why—giving them the ability to proactively optimize deliverability.