Email deliverability is fundamentally shaped by your sender reputation, message consistency, and compliance with industry standards. The IP address you use to send emails plays a vital role in each of these areas. While domain reputation has taken center stage, the reputation of your sending IP still matters, particularly for new senders or when sending to cold contacts. The best results come from choosing a model that gives you the right balance of control and stability for your circumstances.
Before making a decision, thoroughly assess your sending realities. Evaluate email volume, likelihood of complaints, the cleanliness of your lists, and your regular sending habits. Align your IP selection with a detailed warm up process and robust authentication practices.
With shared IPs, multiple senders use the same pool of IP addresses. The collective reputation of this pool influences inbox placement for all senders using it. Typically, your email service provider manages the technical aspects, such as deliverability controls, reputation monitoring, and complaint handling. This means you benefit from the provider’s established infrastructure and reputation.
Shared IPs are a strong fit for new senders, those with seasonal or low volumes (e.g., periodic campaigns of a few thousand per day with idle weeks or months), smaller teams, and transactional communications with moderate consistency.
With a dedicated IP, your organization has sole use of the address, making your email program fully responsible for its reputation. You determine the sending cadence, ramp up schedule, and email volume. This brings complete control, and with it, complete accountability.
Dedicated IPs are ideal for high-volume (e.g., tens of thousands per day or more), predictable sending, or when a brand, geographic region, or specific mailstream requires isolation and control.
If you’re unable to keep complaints low and maintain consistent volume, shared IPs are usually best. If you can, dedicated IPs provide lasting benefits.
Mailbox providers are suspicious of sudden spikes in sending volume (e.g., jumping from hundreds to tens of thousands per day overnight). They carefully monitor your emails before granting inbox access. A gradual warm up, where you slowly ramp up volume and demonstrate good engagement, shows that your sending patterns are legitimate. Carefully monitor complaints, bounce rates, and spam folder placement each step of the way.
Automation can make this process more reliable. Warm up tools and networks can simulate genuine engagement signals, such as opens, replies, moving messages out of spam, or tagging them as primary. Applications like Mailwarm focus exclusively on building technical credibility, not marketing, by generating positive signals across a trusted network.
If you need a plan, consult our comprehensive email warm up guide with step-by-step tasks. It provides practical schedules, risk controls, and essential checkpoints to ensure a smooth ramp up.
Email authentication is the starting point for trust. Always implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on every sending domain, and ensure your visible From address matches authenticated identities. BIMI and TLS are also important for boosting brand trust and email security.
Stay up to date and meet the evolving requirements of major mailbox providers. Adopt features like one‑click unsubscribe where needed, maintain low complaint rates, and only send to clean, opted-in lists. Thoroughly document your opt-in processes and ensure compliance with relevant laws and company protocols.
While essential, authentication and compliance are not replacements for a proper warm up process. They are foundational steps that prepare you for ramping success.
On dedicated IPs, your ramp up strategy significantly dictates your email deliverability outcomes. On shared IPs, ramping is still important, though the shared pool mitigates some immediate risks. Whichever model you choose, patience and gradual growth are key to sustained inbox placement.
If your answers reveal caution or uncertainty on several points, start with a shared IP. If you’re structured, resourced, and disciplined, a dedicated IP may offer greater rewards.
Establish specific thresholds that trigger a halt in campaign growth if crossed. Only resume growth using smaller batches after addressing the root causes.
Select shared IPs for streamlined operation and greater flexibility. Opt for dedicated IPs when you desire full control and can consistently apply best practices. In either scenario, blend strong authentication, a proper warm up plan, and steady sending habits for optimal long-term deliverability.
If you’re uncertain, it may be worthwhile to consult with a deliverability specialist for a practical review and guidance on next steps.
No, dedicated IPs work well for consistent, disciplined senders, but can negatively impact erratic or poorly managed programs.
Opt for a shared IP if you have a low or variable email volume (e.g., hundreds to a few thousand emails per day), lack in-house deliverability resources, or need to initiate sending without an extensive warm-up process. It is also suitable for modest transactional emails (e.g., order confirmations and alerts under a few thousand/day).
A dedicated IP gives you complete control over your sending practices, allowing for precise sending rate management and risk isolation. It is beneficial for high-volume senders (e.g., tens of thousands per day or more) who can maintain consistent sending patterns and list hygiene.
Only temporarily. Email providers now monitor domain-level reputation very closely.
Yes. Gradual ramping is important to protect both your domain and the shared pool.
Consider your email volume, list quality, and need for control over sending practices. If you are structured and capable of maintaining disciplined sending habits and regularly send tens of thousands of emails per day or more, a dedicated IP may provide better results; if you send hundreds to a few thousand per day with fluctuations, a shared IP is often more forgiving.
Yes, the collective reputation of a shared IP can impact your emails. Poor practices by others can negatively influence your deliverability, although the infrastructure management by a provider may mitigate some risks.
