The Easiest Way to Launch Cold Email With Confidence

The best cold email performance starts before the first email is sent. Following best practices is important, but in reality, inboxes are becoming smarter, and stricter - making it harder to stand out and land in the inbox.

Due to the NDA agreement, our client wished to remain anonymous and therefore will be further referred to as The Client. 

That’s why our client, U.S. pharmacy chain (company name under NDA), came to Folderly. They already had a strong product offering and value proposition, but lots of their messages, or even follow-ups were being flagged as spam or ignored due to low visibility. They needed an outreach system that didn’t just comply, but performed.

The Challenge

The client’s cold outreach efforts were initially yielding:

~12% open rate <2% reply rate ~7% bounce rate ~60% inbox deliverability

Key issues included:

Misconfigured DNS (missing or broken SPF, DKIM, no DMARC) Brand-new sending domain with no warm-up history Overly complex messages and follow-ups with too many links No warm-up campaign at all

They reached out with one goal:

Build cold email infrastructure the right way, from scratch, and never land in spam again.

The Folderly Plan

Creating a Named Domain (the Right Way)

Many outreach programs use generic domains like @gmail.com—but for serious B2B engagement, that’s a red flag. We helped the client set up a named domain via Google Workspace and configured it to match the industry’s trust standards.

Even more importantly, we segmented sending domains to separate cold email from internal and marketing communication. This way, each domain had a clear purpose, and clear deliverability metrics.

DNS + Email Authentication Protocols

We didn’t stop at domain setup. Our team rebuilt DNS records from scratch:

Verified and regenerated DKIM Created a custom SPF record Applied a proper DMARC policy Added BIMI to authenticate the sender visually

These weren’t just technical details, they became the foundation of inbox trust. With BIMI in place, recipients could see the brand logo directly in their inbox, increasing engagement and credibility.

Template Audit and Optimization

Before any outreach began, we performed an audit and scan the pharmacy’s email templates. As the result, we:

Removed spam trigger phrases Reduced the number of links per email Streamlined long messages into shorter, actionable content Ensured every email had clear sender info and a real reply-to

Too often, template mistakes only show up after campaigns fail. We made sure our client never got that far.

Domain Warm-Up Campaign

Without warm-up, outreach campaigns are dead on arrival. We ran a custom warm-up sequence across all mailboxes - it followed a defined ramp-up schedule to simulate authentic sender behavior, setting the stage for scalable campaigns.

Monitoring and Maintenance

Once the foundation was built, our team provided:

Ongoing domain health monitoring Custom mailbox performance reports Real-time alerts for dips in open or reply rates

We also trained the client’s marketing and sales teams on sustainable outreach best practices, because cold email isn’t static, and what worked last month may not work today.

The Results

41% open rate from launch 95%+ deliverability across all domains Steady engagement from healthcare B2B targets

Key Takeaways

✅ Use custom DNS settings Default records aren’t good enough. Customize SPF, DKIM, and DMARC based on your tools and goals.

✅ Warm-up is mandatory Skipping it guarantees problems. Do it slowly, correctly, and consistently.

✅ Audit your templates regularly Spam filters evolve. So should your content.

✅ Stay proactive, not reactive Monitor constantly. Fix small issues before they become big ones.

✅ Ask for expert help early The client avoided months of trial-and-error by working with Folderly from Day 1. The result? A fully optimized outreach engine with long-term ROI.