Email Deliverability vs Email Warmup: Uncover The Difference

Do you still think that email warmup tools can ensure your emails will land in inboxes? 🤔

If so, this post could change your decision.

New leads interested in Folderly often confuse email deliverability optimization with warmup, expecting the latter to improve email deliverability. Our clear stance is: “Absolutely not; an email deliverability solution is a much more complex approach that encompasses far more than mere warmup.”

Yes. Both email deliverability tools and email warmup tools play a role in delivering emails to inboxes, but they serve distinct purposes. While email warmup software can temporarily boost email activity, it doesn't solve the problem of email performance.   

In this article, we want to make a clear statement so everyone stops confusing two different processes: email deliverability fix and email warmup.

What’s Wrong with Email Warmup Solutions?

Email warmup solutions, including various tools, services, and software, primarily focus on gradually increasing email sending volume by sending emails from your domain to fake and free email accounts. This method is aimed at increasing the email sender reputation before launching significant email campaigns.

Okay, that sounds quite logical.

BUT! Email warmup tools fall short in SO many areas:

Insufficient to improve sender reputation

For clarity, let's examine how most warmup solutions work:

Basically, the process is the following:
1. You connect your mailbox to a warmup tool, providing your credentials.
2. The automated workflow sends emails from your mailbox to free fake accounts.
3. People or bots managing free fake accounts open and reply to emails sent from your domain to increase your sender's credibility.

But the problem is that such simple back-and-forth emails within a limited group of free accounts do not build a long-lasting email reputation. Yes, it might help at the beginning. But Google's anti-spam policies are much more sophisticated than that (we’ll talk about this in the next few paragraphs).

Sender reputation is a sum of mailbox health, IP reputation, and domain reputation, which in turn depend on many components. Warmup touches only one component of domain reputation and ignores addressing other issues significant for building a strong sender reputation.

No Guarantee for spam rate decrease

Even with a warm-up process, emails can still land in the spam folder. 

Here are just a few reasons that usually trigger spam filters and are ignored by warmup tools:

• Poor email content with spam-triggering words

• Failures in your DNS settings (SPF, DMARC, DKIM)

• Your IP or domain got listed in a blacklist

• Low engagement metrics like opens, replies, and interactions

And beyond. (FYI: You can check out more in our articles on How to improve email deliverability and Why are my emails going to spam).

So, you might rely on email warmup solutions to temporarily fix email deliverability (with no guarantee, to be honest). But they don’t help you either understand or troubleshoot the spam triggers that make your emails land in spam. They don’t work with the nitty-gritty of email infrastructure—IP addresses, domains, and mailboxes.

Don’t imitate real outreach

In most cases, cheap warmup solutions send emails from your address to free email accounts (which is a never-do-it practice for cold outreach!) and ignore such things as using the real templates you use when reaching leads, minding the period between sending emails, etc.

That’s why, when you start doing real outreach, the chances are that you will see yourself landing in spam again. Email spam filters are smart enough to detect suspicious activity.

Violate Google anti-spam policies

Long story short, earlier this year, Google banned automated email warmup services to prevent spam. Many factors contribute to this, including spam, abuse, security risks, and API user data misuse. Certain email services send emails without prior engagement or established relationships, which Google considers spamming.

Marketers also use email warmup tools to bypass Google's security protocols and send promotional messages that look natural. This practice contradicts Google's commitment to email security and integrity.

What Makes Email Deliverability Tools Different

Here’s a small recap before we’ll dive deeper and explain every point:

Focus on every aspect of email infrastructure

Email Deliverability Products is about working with the nitty-gritty of email infrastructure: IP addresses, domains, mailboxes, and content.

The goal? To build and maintain a solid reputation for these elements. The process is clear-cut: identify any problems, fix them, and then keep monitoring to ensure everything runs smoothly. Only such focus ensures 99.9% of email deliverability.

For instance, when you launch Folderly, it starts with a comprehensive email deliverability audit and Folderly score that considers all email infrastructure components and offers you a detailed review of your domain health.

Spotting and troubleshooting spam triggers

Impeccable email deliverability starts with 100% awareness. Unlike warmup tools, email deliverability solutions can detect causes that make your emails land in spam or spam triggers. By knowing these causes, you can address them either manually or automatically with email deliverability tools, and ensure they will not disrupt your future campaign.

​​For instance, Folderly excels in identifying why emails might land in spam and provides expert steps to fix these issues. This proactive approach to identifying and resolving deliverability problems is crucial to maintaining a healthy email reputation​​, adhering to the best email compliance standards).

FYI: Earlier this year, we at Folderly were proud to get the support fund (and trust) from Google as a sustainable business.

Guaranteed email deliverability

By using AI-powered automation combined with a human touch, proactive monitoring, and a complex approach, email deliverability solutions optimize email campaigns to ensure high inbox placement, thus guaranteeing better email deliverability.

Addressing content Issues

Email deliverability tools often give you the best recommendations for creating spam-free content. For instance, Folderly includes an email templates dashboard, allowing users to craft, fix, and manage email copies to mitigate deliverability issues related to content, a feature often overlooked by simple warmup tools​​.

End-to-end solution ensuring email effectiveness

These solutions provide an end-to-end solution for email deliverability, from technical setup to ongoing monitoring and adjustments, ensuring consistent email effectiveness​​, including (but not limited to):

• Real-time email placement scores

• Management of domains, mailboxes, and DNS records configurations: SPF, DKIM, DMARC, BIMI

• Template analysis for spam triggers

• Blacklist monitoring and spam trap analysis

• Steering clear of spam triggers and adhering to best practices

Aligning with all email compliance regulations

Email deliverability platforms are designed to cater to various industries, including healthcare and finance, by understanding and adhering to industry-specific regulations, requirements, and best practices. This alignment with compliance standards is a key differentiator from basic warmup tools​​.

Long-Term Reputation Building

Instead of just temporarily increasing email volume, email deliverability solutions focus on fixing and growing your domain reputation steadily, ensuring a long-term and sustainable email sender reputation​​. You can’t expect that your problem will be fixed with a one-time fix. Reliable results need much more time and effort. 

Bottom Line: Beyond Warmup

So, long story short, while some may argue that it's acceptable to use email warmup services or tools, we strongly believe your email outreach will be SO much better if you don't.

If you want to stop your emails from landing in spam, stay a compliant sender, fix email deliverability issues, and get a long-term, steady email reputation, always opt for email deliverability tools.

Yes, email warmup tools are beneficial for starting the email activity. But they are not sufficient for ensuring emails reach inboxes effectively. Real success lies in comprehensive email deliverability solutions that encompass much more than just warming up.