This article covers 1. How to connect Sendgrid to Dubb, and 2. Best practices for email deliverability
***NOTE
If you are purchasing lists or acquiring lists or contacts through means other than them directly opting in through your own efforts (cold contacts), and plan on sending emails to cold contacts there are additional steps to follow. Proceed to Step 4 below, before starting with Step 1
Also if you are sending to cold contacts it is not recommended to send more than 50 cold emails per day, per email address used for sending.
You can verify multiple domains on sendgrid and connect them all to Dubb for sending. However, if your cold emails are not performing well (bounced emails, marked as spam, DNS records misconfigured) this may put your sendgrid account access at risk.
For Example: If you want to send 100 cold emails per day, we recommend using 3 sending addresses across three different domains. Sending thirty-three per email address to cold contacts, and the other 17 should be sent through a warmer (see step 5)
Using tools like Sendgrid or even Gmail, you can send more than 50 cold emails in day, however, according to email deliverability guidelines, your deliverability would suffer after exceeding the limit.
**If you plan on using Sengrid follow steps 1 and 2 to get set up and connected to Dubb. If you do not plan on using Sendgrid, instead connect the email service provide of your choice to Dubb (Gmail, Outlook, etc)
1 . First you must authenticate your Domain on Sendgrid
This is so that you can send emails directly from your own domain
(It shows the email is coming from you and not Dubb/Sendgrid)
UPDATE! In the video below, For Google Domain specifically, you guys just need to copy the first part of the host name, such as em8084, s1._domainkey, s2._domainkey - Do not copy the dubb.com part. This is specific for Google Domains, as they are already adding the domain, for most other DNS providers you want to copy the full host
2. Next, connect your Sendgrid account to Dubb using the API Key
3. Send Bulk Email Campaigns and Automations on Dubb using Sendgrid
4. If you are planning on sending cold emails you will want to purchase a new domain for example: yourdomain.biz or yourdomainemail.com or any variation that is inexpensive to purchase
There is a higher risk of being marked as spam when sending cold emails, so to protect the reputation of your main domain, you buy a secondary domain dedicated to sending email
5. When you purchase a new domain, the domain needs to be "warmed up" before you can use it for bulk sending
Spam emails make up almost half of all email traffic, so email service providers (ESPs) — like Gmail, Outlook, have all developed effective filters to protect their users from spam.
Email warm up tools generate activity on your email account to prove to ESPs that you’re a trustworthy sender.
There are many resources for this service (Typically around $9 per month)
Warmup typically takes at least 2 weeks, though if you are sending higher volume, it may take longer
If you are using Sendgrid, Return to Step 1 and Authenticate your New Domain on SendGrid, then you will connect Sendgrid to an Email Warm Up service.
If not sending cold email, you can connect your Authenticate your primary domain (Step 1) and skip Step 4 and Step 5
6. Anytime you are sending bulk emails, it is ALWAYS recommended that you clean your list prior to sending
This ensures you get as few Bounces and Undeliverables, etc, that typically harm the sending reputation of your email.
Wait right up until you are about to send your emails, then validate them so your list is as up to date as possible
Import into the tool, clean then export the clean contacts and import them into Dubb
This service varies in price, and sometimes great deals are available:
https://appsumo.com/products/email-list-validation/
7. After you have Warmed up your new domain (2-4 weeks minimum recommended), you are ready to connect it to Dubb (Step 2)
8 Set up DMARC SPF and DKIM Records for the best email deliverability
Set up these records before sending emails to contacts.
(this video does not include DKIM, for that reference this link https://dmarcly.com/blog/how-to-add-dkim-record-in-godaddy-godaddy-dkim-setup-guide)
9 Email Sending Limits-
If you are sending cold emails, it is not recommended to send more than 50 emails per day per domain
If the domain is new, it should be closer to 25 emails sent through your Warmup tool, and 25 emails sent to cold
If the domain has been warmed, it can be closer to a 40/10 (40 cold, 10 warmups)
Unless the domain is suffering from poor reputation, then it should be warmed up more
If you need to send higher volume it is recommended to get additional domains and emails (the most common in using Google Workspaces)
Get an email, a workspace, and connect to warmer for each 50 emails you want to send per day
There are some cold email specific platforms that offer Email warmup and domains you purchase through them, as part of their solution.
If you are not sending to cold contacts, then you can send much more per day
Free Gmails can send around 100 per day (if they have been warmed up) and Paid Gmails or Outlooks typically can send around 300 per day per email
Sendgrid offers a plan for $19 per month to send up to 50,000 emails per month- but this is not for cold emails
You will want to consistently monitor your domains activity, removing bounced emails, and performing the deliverbility tests below to make sure you are not on black lists
10 Check your email deliverability score here; 1 https://www.mail-tester.com/ 2 https://www.warmy.io/free-tools/email-deliverability-test
10. Check your IP Address/Domain Reputation https://talosintelligence.com/