Domain Warm-Up Plan for New Senders in 2025

Category: Brevo Deliverability & Inbox Success — Written by Email Educate

Domain warm-up is one of the most important steps when you start email marketing on a brand-new domain. Without a proper warm-up, mailbox providers treat your domain as untrusted, which often leads to spam placement, poor engagement, and unstable inbox performance. In this guide, you'll learn the exact warm-up strategy to follow using Brevo, based entirely on 2026 deliverability standards and mailbox provider expectations. This framework helps you build a healthy reputation from day one, ensuring consistent inbox placement as you scale.

Key Tip — A warm domain earns trust slowly. Send small batches to engaged contacts, increase volume gradually, and keep engagement high throughout the first 30 days.

Why Domain Warm-Up Is Essential

Mailbox providers such as Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, and iCloud rely heavily on sender reputation. A new domain with no sending history has no established trust, meaning mailbox algorithms must evaluate your emails cautiously.

Domain warm-up helps you:

build trust with mailbox providers gradually
improve inbox placement for future campaigns
avoid early spam filtering
create positive engagement signals
protect your long-term deliverability

Brevo fully supports the warm-up process by giving you authentication tools, engagement insights, and recommended sending limits.

What Makes a Warm-Up Successful?

SPF, DKIM, DMARC Alignment

Warm-up fails instantly if authentication is missing.

Engaged Contacts First

High-engagement recipients create positive signals early.

Gradual Volume Increases

Avoid sudden jumps; follow a structured weekly plan.

Consistent Sending Patterns

Mailbox providers trust stable behavior.

Clean List Hygiene

Zero tolerance for bounces and spam complaints.

Brevo Warm-Up Support

Brevo provides reputation safeguards and automation tools.

The 3 Phases of a Proper Domain Warm-Up

Every domain warm-up includes three essential phases. Skipping any phase damages deliverability, even with strong content.

Phase 1 — Authentication & Setup

Add domain to Brevo
Set up SPF, DKIM, DMARC
Verify DNS propagation
Prepare high-engagement contacts

Phase 2 — Initial Sending (Days 1–10)

Send small batches to your most engaged subscribers
Monitor open, click, and bounce rates
Keep content simple

Phase 3 — Scaling (Days 11–30)

Increase volume gradually
Add semi-engaged segments
Slow down if engagement drops

Complete 30-Day Warm-Up Schedule for 2026

This is the Email Educate recommended warm-up schedule built specifically for 2026 mailbox behavior standards.

Days 1–3

Send 25–50 emails/day
Only to the most engaged users
Use highly relevant content

Days 4–7

Increase to 100–150 emails/day
Expand to warm contacts
Monitor spam complaints closely

Days 8–14

Increase to 300–500 emails/day
Send simple content only
Pause scaling if engagement drops

Days 15–21

Send 600–1200 emails/day
Add mixed segments
Continue monitoring bounce rates

Days 22–30

Send 1500–3000 emails/day
Reach the rest of your list
Begin using automation workflows

If engagement remains strong, you can scale further after day 30.

Brevo-Compatible Best Practices During Warm-Up

Use Brevo’s Engagement Segments

Create segments based on open and click history. Start with the highest-engagement group.

Enable Real-Time Analytics

Monitor performance daily using Brevo dashboards.

Use Brevo Automation for List Hygiene

Automatically suppress hard bounces, unengaged contacts, and risky emails.

Keep Templates Simple

During warm-up, avoid heavy images or complex layouts.

Use Cases Where a Proper Warm-Up Makes a Major Difference

New Business Launch

A fresh domain needs 30 days of gradual trust-building.

Migrating from Another Service

The domain might have mixed history; warm-up resets trust.

Reactivating a Dormant Domain

If you haven’t emailed in months, mailbox providers treat you as new.

High-Volume Senders

Warm-up prevents reputation damage when scaling volume.

Optimization Routine — Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly

Weekly

Monitor spam complaints
Check open rates daily
Slow down scaling if engagement drops

Monthly

Analyze DMARC reports
Clean inactive contacts
Review bounce trends

Quarterly

Update warm-up strategies based on performance
Review authentication records
Refresh engagement segments

Common Warm-Up Mistakes to Avoid

Sending too much volume too soon
Skipping authentication setup
Sending to low-engagement lists on day one
Using complex HTML during warm-up
Ignoring bounce and complaint data

Pros & Cons of Warm-Up

Pros

Builds strong sender reputation
Improves inbox placement
Reduces spam risk
Helps maintain healthy engagement
Supported fully by Brevo tools

Cons

Warm-up takes time
Requires consistent monitoring
Scaling too fast can reverse progress

Final Verdict

A warm-up is not optional — it’s an essential foundation for long-term email success. With the right structure, authentication, segmentation, and gradual volume increases, your domain earns trust steadily. Brevo’s analytics, automation, and deliverability tools make warm-up predictable, measurable, and far easier than doing it manually. Follow this plan consistently, and you’ll build a strong sender reputation throughout 2026.

Recommendation

Follow Brevo’s warm-up guidelines, use engagement-based segments for early sends, and rely on Brevo’s authentication tools to build trust. Brevo’s reputation-focused systems help new domains gain stable inbox placement faster. With consistent pacing and clean lists, Brevo gives you the strongest path to a safe, high-performing warm-up throughout 2026.

Next Steps — Build a Healthy Sender Reputation

Email Educate offers structured warm-up calendars, checklists, and Brevo automation templates to help you stay on track.

Get Warm-Up Templates More Brevo Deliverability Guides

Pro tip: If engagement dips for 3 days, pause scaling until metrics improve.