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Cold emailing is a tried-and-tested strategy to generate qualified leads for your business and increase revenue.
However, the majority of ESPs (Email Server Providers) have imposed certain restrictions on daily email distribution.
If you violate their rules, Gmail and other ESPs may block your email account if your emails trigger any Spam filters or go over daily email sending limits.
The good news is, it is possible to send cold emails without getting your email account blocked.
How to Send Cold Emails : Table of Contents
- What is cold email?
- Why do email accounts get blocked by sending cold emails?
- The best way to send cold emails without getting blocked
- How to send bulk cold emails effectively using Saleshandy?
- Conclusion
- FAQs
What is cold email?
Cold emailing is a popular outreach strategy that involves sending hyper-personalized emails to your potential prospects with whom you’ve no prior contact.
The goal of sending cold emails is to build a relationship with your prospects and eventually turn them into paying customers.
For example, if you’re an IT services company looking to find new clients for your business, you can consider launching a cold email outreach campaign to generate qualified leads and increase your sales.
Why do email accounts get blocked by sending cold emails?
Sending cold emails can get your email account blocked is nothing but a misconception.
The truth is, email accounts never get blocked if you send cold emails.
If your email account got blocked, it’s not because you were sending cold emails – it’s because you violated some guidelines.
For example, if your emails are frequently marked as Spam or moved to the Spam folder by your recipients, your ESP might consider your emails inappropriate and block your email account.
But this is just one reason, there are 7 other reasons why an email account can get blocked.
7 reasons why your email account gets blocked:
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are not updated
- Sending emails with multiple recipients in CC or BCC
- Multiple recipients mark your email as spam
- Sending cold emails to an unverified list
- Frequently exceeding the daily email quota
- Using spam-triggering words in your email
- Not choosing the right email service provider
1. SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are not updated
SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (Domain Key Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) are the set of records that are used by various email service providers to verify the authenticity of the sender and their emails.
If you send bulk cold emails without setting up these records, your email account is most likely to get blacklisted by email service providers.
2. Sending emails with multiple recipients in CC or BCC
Keeping too many recipients in the CC and BCC fields is another common mistake people make.
Nowadays, ESPs monitor the number of recipients you keep in CC and BCC of your outgoing emails and evaluate if it aligns with your typical email-sending patterns.
So, if you keep a long & unusual list of recipients in the CC and BCC of your cold emails, it may trigger spam filters and result in account blocking.
3. Multiple recipients mark your email as spam
If you send a cold email that’s irrelevant, poor in quality, and not properly personalized for your recipients, they may find your email inappropriate or promotional and mark it as spam.
If multiple recipients mark your email as spam, it can increase your spam complaint rate significantly, and negatively impact your sender’s reputation.
Furthermore, when your spam complaint rate exceeds a certain threshold, ESPs take this into account and may decide to block your email account altogether.
4. Sending cold emails to an unverified list
Sending cold emails to unverified lists can instantly result in a high email bounce rate.
An email bounce basically means your emails have failed to reach the intended recipients.
There are two types of email bounce: Soft and Hard.
- A soft bounce happens if the recipient’s mailbox is full or if there is any technical glitch on the recipient’s side.
- A hard bounce occurs if the email address is not found or the domain name doesn’t exist.
If your email bounce rate suddenly increases, ESPs may interpret it as a sign of potential spamming or poor list management.
If you don’t resolve the issue by removing invalid & inactive email addresses from your list, your ESP may block your email account.
5. Frequently exceeding the daily email quota
All Email Service Providers have a daily email sending limit to prevent spam and abuse.
If you exceed the daily email-sending limits consistently, it can raise suspicions of spamming or unauthorized email activity.
When this happens, your ESP may begin to closely monitor your email-sending patterns and block your email account if you exceed your daily email-sending quota too frequently.
To prevent this, use multiple email accounts using our Sender Rotation feature to stay within the daily email sending limit.
Also Read: What is the Gmail sending limits per day? [Updated 2023]
6. Using spam-triggering words in your email
With technological advancement, email service providers have integrated machine learning and artificial intelligence to understand the email content, the recipient’s behavior, and the intent of the communication.
If your email contains multiple spam-triggering words like “DEAL”, “OFFER”, “FREE”, etc., then the email service provider may flag your emails as potential spam.
This, in turn, can negatively impact email deliverability and increase the risk of account blocking.
7. Not choosing the right email service provider
The choice of your email service provider plays a crucial role in email deliverability and account security.
If you opt for an unreliable email service provider, it can negatively impact your sender’s reputation and increase the likelihood of account blocking.
That’s why it’s essential to select a reputable and reliable email service provider that strictly complies with industry standards, implements robust security measures, and provides a high email deliverability rate.
How to send cold emails without getting blocked?
When sending cold emails, it’s crucial to follow the most effective techniques to ensure your emails are delivered successfully and to avoid the risk of being blocked.
Let’s explore the cold email best practices to avoid getting blocked.
12 best practices to send cold emails without getting blocked
1. Use a reputable email service provider
2. Authenticate your emails
3. Warm up your email account
4. Create a hyper-targeted prospect list
5. Verify email addresses before sending
6. Personalize your emails
7. Avoid spam-triggering words
8. Limit the number of links in your emails
9. Keep your sending volume low
10. Maintain proper text-to-HTML ratio
11. Include an unsubscribe link
12. Monitor deliverability and track key metrics
1. Use a reputable email service provider
The first step towards ensuring a successful cold email outreach is to choose a reputable email service provider (ESP).
Reputable ESPs have highly-evolved algorithms for detecting spam and phishing emails and are compliant with email laws and regulations. It means when you use a reputable ESP, they help to identify if your emails can appear as spam.
More importantly, a reputable ESP can also help in establishing trust with your recipients’ ESP and appear as an authentic sender.
2. Authenticate your emails
Email authentication is an essential aspect of email deliverability.
It involves setting up SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) records.
For the uninitiated, SPF validates that the sending server is authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain, DKIM adds a digital signature to verify your email’s integrity, and DMARC provides an additional layer of authentication and reporting.
Implementing these protocols helps to establish credibility with ESPs and lowers the chances of your cold emails being marked as spam.
3. Warm up your email account
When you create a new email account or suddenly increase your email sending volume, it increases the likelihood of your emails going to the spam.
This is because increasing your email sending volume suddenly can raise red flags for ESPs and may consider you as potential spam. As a result, your emails may get delivered to the Spam folder instead of the Primary inbox.
That’s why it’s essential to warm up your email account by sending a small number of emails per day and gradually increasing the email-sending volume over time.
Additionally, consider sending emails to already engaged contacts before initiating your cold email outreach campaign.
This approach will not only signal ESPs that your email account is legitimate and trustworthy, but it will also help to establish a positive sender reputation and improve the deliverability of your cold emails.
Also Read: 10 Best Email Warm-Up Tools in 2023 (Features + Pricing)
4. Create a hyper-targeted prospect list
If you’re sending cold emails to a large, generic audience, it’ll not yield the results you had hoped for.
That’s why we always recommend our Saleshandy users to create a hyper-targeted prospect list.
To do this, you should invest time in research and create ideal customer profiles to understand your prospects’ needs, interests, and pain points.
This information can help to better personalize your cold emails and improve your engagement rate while minimizing the risk of being marked as spam.
5. Verify email addresses before sending
After creating a hyper-targeted prospect list, there is just one thing left to do before you can initiate your cold email outreach campaign – Verify email addresses of your prospects.
Remember, this step is extremely important as it can make or break the overall performance of your cold email outreach campaign. This is because when you send cold emails to invalid or inactive email addresses, it can increase your email bounce rate, which can hamper your sender’s reputation and affect email deliverability.
On the other hand, when you verify email addresses beforehand, it helps to ensure that it reaches your recipients’ inbox and eliminates the risk of bounced emails.
6. Personalize your emails
Personalization is a crucial element in successful cold email outreach.
Therefore, you must take time to understand your recipients and personalize your cold emails accordingly.
To personalize your cold emails for each prospect, start by addressing them by their names, mention specific details regarding their interests or industry, and demonstrate that your value their time and want to help honestly in resolving an issue they’re facing.
Implementing this practice will help to establish a genuine connection with your prospects, instill trust, and increase engagement, which decreases the chances of getting your email account blocked.
Best part? – Saleshandy lets you personalize cold emails at scale so that you don’t have to manually personalize your cold email for each prospect individually.
7. Avoid using spam-triggering words
When you’re writing cold emails, make sure to avoid using certain words and phrases that are commonly associated with spam. Some common spam-triggering words include “Free”, “Guaranteed”, “Urgent”, “Deal”, “Discount”, “Sale”, and so on.
Instead, always use clear and concise language that conveys professionalism, helpfulness, and relevance to the recipient to avoid spam filters and maximize your campaign’s performance.
8. Limit the number of links in your cold emails
Another best practice to keep in mind is limiting the number of links you include in your cold emails.
When your recipients see an unsolicited email with a lot of links, they may get suspicious about your email’s legitimacy. Worse yet, they may even mark your email as spam, which could affect your email deliverability and the sender’s reputation.
That’s why you should always focus on providing valuable content and directing your prospects to a single, relevant link.
Following this approach will not just ensure your cold emails reach the intended recipients’ inboxes, but it will also enhance the overall user experience.
9. Keep your email sending volume low
When you’re sending cold emails, it’s a best practice to keep your sending volume low, typically under 50 emails per day per email account.
The reason for this is simple – when you limit your cold email sending volume to 50 emails per day, it achieves optimum email deliverability.
So even though most ESPs have higher sending limits per day, you should keep your sending volume up to 50 emails per day.
If you want to reach out to more than 50 prospects in a day, it’s best to use multiple email accounts.
We understand that managing multiple email accounts and inboxes is not an easy feat. That’s why in Saleshandy, we allow our users to connect unlimited email accounts to send recipients higher email deliverability.
10. Maintain proper text-to-HTML ratio
If you want to send cold emails without getting your email account blocked, it’s super important to maintain a proper text-to-HTML ratio.
When an email contains excessive HTML code compared to the actual text content, it can raise suspicions and may trigger spam filters.
To prevent this, make sure the content of your cold emails is balanced and predominantly text-based. In fact, try to keep your cold email content text-only if possible.
If you have to use HTML code, add it sparingly and only for essential formatting or visual enhancements. This way, your cold emails will be less likely to be caught by spam triggers and ESPs will be more likely to trust your email content and let it pass through.
11. Include an unsubscribe link
Including an unsubscribe link in your cold emails is beneficial to avoid getting your email account blocked.
This is because when you send a cold email, there is always uncertainty about the recipient’s behavior. So, in case a recipient is not interested in receiving your emails, they can easily request to opt out of your email list.
Besides, respecting opt-out requests is not just helpful in establishing a good reputation but it is also a legal requirement.
If you neglect to respect opt-out requests, it can easily lead to increased spam complaints and potential email account blocks.
So, make sure to include an easy-to-find unsubscribe link in your cold emails and promptly process and honor their opt-out requests.
This will help to establish a positive sender reputation and foster long-term relationships with your prospects.
In Saleshandy, you can add an unsubscribe link to your emails. If your recipients don’t want to receive emails, they can easily unsubscribe to opt out.
12. Monitor deliverability and track key metrics
Monitoring deliverability is of utmost importance to get the most out of your email outreach campaign. To monitor email deliverability, keep an eye out for your email bounce rate.
The ideal email bounce rate is 2% or less. That means if you send 100 cold emails and have 2 or fewer bounces, your email deliverability will not be impacted.
On the other hand, if your email bounce rate is higher than 2%, it’s a clear sign that you need to verify the email addresses of your prospect list before sending another email.
Apart from monitoring deliverability, it is equally important to track key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, reply rates, and spam complaints.
If you notice low open rates, it’s a clear indication that you need to improve your subject line, email content, and sender reputation.
Also Read: Saleshandy’s Cold Email Masterclass
How to send bulk cold emails effectively using Saleshandy?
Saleshandy is a cold email outreach tool that lets you send successful cold email campaigns (sequences).
With Saleshandy, you can easily automate your email sequences using a handful of features to avoid your email account getting blocked.
If you want to send bulk cold emails using Saleshandy and ensure your emails land in the Primary inbox, follow the below steps.
1. Verify your prospect list
Your prospect list is an imperative factor to consider while sending cold emails. In simple words, you need to have a clean and verified list of email addresses before launching your cold email campaign.
When you upload your prospect list to Saleshandy, it automatically verifies each prospect’s email address and shows the number of invalid email addresses.
Additionally, it gives you the option of removing those invalid emails from the list before activating your email sequence.
2. Personalization with merge tags
As explained earlier, personalization not only helps in your email deliverability but also gives you a good reply rate.
Saleshandy allows you to add merge tags to personalize your cold emails. You can add various merge tags like {{first name}}, {{last name}}, {{phone number}}, and more to personalize your email for each prospect.
For example, if you write a personalized email to Dan with Hi{{First Name}}, the email will drop in Dan’s mailbox as Hi Dan in the mail body as well as the subject line as shown in the image.
Apart from this, Saleshandy is also equipped with an AI-powered email writing assistant that offers valuable inputs and suggestions to make your emails spam-free and deliverability-friendly.
3. Add a custom domain
Saleshandy allows you to set up your own custom domain, which makes your links unique. This helps to avoid spam filters, stay out of many blacklisted domains, and prevent your email account from getting blocked.
In addition, the custom domain is visually more authentic, and it holds your domain link. The chances of your recipient clicking the links become high.
Apart from this, Saleshandy also allows you to:
- Add an unsubscribe link in your email sequence
- Add multiple variations of words or sentences in your email copy using Spintax
- It helps you to set up your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
- Send your campaign (sequence)to multiple users without showing email addresses
- Completely automate your email sequence and also schedule them at a particular time
4. Easy reply management
Once you have sent your cold email sequence you can efficiently manage the replies in Unified Inbox.
With Unified Inbox, you don’t need to switch between multiple inboxes to access replies to your cold emails.
Instead, you have a centralized view of all emails where you can track and access all replies in one place, improving your response time.
You can also use Saleshandy’s Unified Inbox Bulk selection and take control of your inbox like never before and use advanced AI filters to categorize and prioritize any email replies.
Watch the following video to learn how to send cold emails without getting blocked using Saleshandy.
Key takeaway
Sending cold emails can be a powerful strategy for expanding your network, reaching potential clients, and driving business growth.
However, the increasing spam filters and email blocking measures are making it extremely difficult to generate optimum results.
To yield your desired results, it is crucial to follow best practices to ensure your cold emails are delivered to the Primary inbox of your prospects and avoid being blocked.
FAQs
1. How do I send an email without being blocked?
There are certain best practices you need to follow to send an email without being blocked. These practices include:
- Use a reputable email service provider
- Authenticate your emails
- Warm up your email account
- Verify the email addresses of your email list
- Personalize your emails
2. Is it legal to send a cold email?
It is legal to send a cold email as long as you don’t adhere to applicable laws and regulations such as CAN-SPAM Act, GDPR, and other governing email communication.
3. How many emails can you send before being blacklisted?
There is no fixed threshold that universally determines when you will be blacklisted. However, sending a high volume of unsolicited or spammy emails can increase the likelihood of being blacklisted.
4. Does sending cold emails work?
Cold emailing does work if you follow its best practices. While the results may vary depending on various factors, a cold email campaign (sequence) launched using Saleshandy receive an average of 50% open rate and a 9% reply rate.
5. What makes a good cold email?
A good cold email is one that effectively captures the prospects’ attention, ignites their interest, and prompts a positive response.
6. What should I avoid when writing a cold email?
When writing a cold email, avoid being overly salesy or pushy. Maintain a professional and respectful tone throughout. Generic emails are a no-no; always strive for personalization. And of course, always proofread for any spelling or grammar errors before sending.
