r/email

The r/coldemail subreddit has been banned (yay!) and there is now a dedicated email deliverability subreddit. Should we change the direction of this community to discussions, questions and help requests from end users of individual inboxes instead of focusing exclusively on high volume senders?

I am writing to seek expert opinion / advice on best practices to follow when it comes to cold-outreach, what works for you, what does not work for you.

Bit of context: I am planning an initial cold-email outreach campaign with a sample size of about 50 businesses (I plan on increasing the sample size in the future if the outreach yields some results). However, since this is my first time doing a cold-outreach I am looking for practical tips. Based on some of the advice I saw earlier, I have separated my cold-outreach domain from main business domain, have created a google workspace / mailbox given that my scale is really small I thought cold email platforms are an overkill. I have been trying to warm the mailbox by send 1-2 emails to my other personal addresses and noticed consistently that my emails land in spam for outlook consistently (for google addresses it is fine). Any tips or practical advice would be highly appreciated.

Hey all,

I finally committed to a new email provider and I’m working out how I want my inbox flow to function. I’m stuck between two organizational approaches and would love feedback from people who’ve lived with either system.

Option 1: Structured aliasing
I’d use a small, intentional set of aliases to keep my digital life organized:

• me@ — trusted personal
• business@ — professional/business (separate domain)
• finance@ — banking
• services@ — retailers/subscriptions
• socialmedia@ — platforms
• newsletter@ — mailing lists
• gaming@ — gaming platforms
• system@ — personal server notifications (send‑only)

Plus‑addressing would help me track specific services (e.g., services+netflix@).

Option 2: Catch‑all
Enable catch‑all and use service‑specific addresses directly (e.g., netflix@, chase@) without creating aliases, except for the ones I need for sending.

If you’ve used either approach, how did it feel long‑term? Did catch‑all become chaotic, or did structured aliases feel too rigid? I’m trying to build something sustainable and would appreciate any insight.

Thanks!

Hey,

i wanted to ask if there are any tips for someone new to increase deliverability.

I have my first subscribers which i am really excited about but they are on pending, i just tested signing up with another email of mine and i found myself in spambox....

Since it's not allowed under GDPR to contact a subscriber throught another email about it to tell them to check their spambox, i dont really know how to solve this problem. Google says i my sending subdomain just needs to get aged, but its very demotivating to see that people are actually interested but cannot join my newsletter unless they check their spambox.

Any tips?

Does anyone know of a free email provider that requires only a password to login and use? I don't want my phone number associated with my email. I don't want to use facial recognition. I don't want to use a fingerprint scanner. I don't even want to have to use a second email for verification. Today I found myself locked out of an eemailI've been using for five decades and had to solve a literal puzzle, match photos, and then submit a second email to reset the password only for the system to tell me I can't use an existing password. This is getting out of hand and makes no sense to me. This fills more like a sneaky underhanded way to get more data and access to my information than it does a company trying to protect me.

I run a small business and I'm struggling with email management.

I currently manage three different email accounts (customers, business, and personal), and switching between providers every day is becoming frustrating.

My biggest problem isn't reading emails—it's making sure I don't miss the ones that actually need my attention first while everything else keeps piling up.

I'm curious how other small business owners handle this.

Do you use Gmail rules, another email client, or some other workflow?

Is there any solution that helps prioritize important emails across multiple inboxes instead of just combining them into one?

Hey! Ive sending a good amount of emails for some time now and my subject line is really good so its getting alot of opens, but I have never gotten a reply.

I was told to give inquiry emails at first and build familiarity as you go along the sequence and even though I am doing that and Im getting good open rates I havent gotten a single positive or even a negative reply.
(I have no case studies since I have never landed a client)

I'm running my email campaign on smartleads total sequences are 3 in this campagin: Opener, Follow Up and Closing. . Open rate is 80.84% The 3 replies I have recieved are either OOO or not interested. Sender bounce is 1 in percentage it's 0.16% . I have yet to book a meeting. What am I doing wrong can you guys rate my copy as well and how I can improve it?

Here's an example of our opening copy:

"Hey {first name},

Are you trying to sign up CISO protecting sensitive data from insider threats and ransomware ?

Asking because most Securitytech founders at your stage are still closing those deals through their network. Works for a while, until the pipeline gets unpredictable and you realize the network has a ceiling.

How are you currently bringing in new customers outside of referrals?

Regards

PS Not interested right now? Reply "Pass" and I won't follow up"

I’m wondering if there’s a free or cheap way to, I don’t know, clean my phone? I have a new IPhone 17 pro, I got it only 3-4 months ago. I’ve never had this much junk emails with attachments and random stuff so I’m kind of just worried about my security. I don’t use sketchy websites or do anything like that, I’m rarely on the actual internet explorer or safari. Mostly social media or mobile games. What can I do? If this is the wrong place to ask this, I’m sorry. Thanks!

Why no lifetime email service by startups who are looking for cash? I know the usual answers will be like its a lifetime expense for the company or lifetime doesnt mean its your lifetime or the company has to keep servicing the accounts when they no longer get revenue from the customer. I understand that but if we look at the cloud storage business, many startups still offer GBs or TBs of lifetime storage alongside regular subscription. Once they reach a profitable stage they stop offering lifetime. But we dont see that for email services and the sweet thing is unlike cloud storage lifetime email can be given with even 5 or 10 GB. Why is it still not something pursued by startups to get funds? Rarely companies like Proton had done this but this strategy is not seen as frequent as in cloud storage business. Why?

Note: The question is related to privacy friendly emails only. There are “lifetime” accounts by data harvesting companies which is not what I am talking about.

Hey everyone, long-time lurker, first time posting with an actual emergency.

**Our setup:**

We run a small B2B digital services company. We have two business domains — one `.com` and one `.us`. We've created business email addresses on both (e.g., `hello@ourdomain.com` and `contact@ourdomain.us`) using these for outreach to potential clients.

**What we did (and probably shouldn't have):**

Initially we were sending cold emails in batches of 300–400 per day. We eventually realized that was too aggressive and scaled all the way down to 10–15 emails per day, sent one by one manually — not via bulk tools, not CC'd, fully individual sends.

**The problem:**

Despite the drastic cooldown, every single email we send now lands in spam. Doesn't matter if it's:

- A 1-sentence email

- A manually typed, personalized message

- Sent to someone who knows us

Zero inbox placement. 100% spam, across both domains.

**What I suspect / have checked:**

- We never properly warmed up either domain before sending cold emails

- Not sure if SPF, DKIM, DMARC are correctly set (haven't verified)

- Don't know if we've been blocklisted

- Both domains seem to be affected simultaneously

**What I need help with:**

1. How do I diagnose *exactly* what's wrong? (Which tools, which checks?)

2. Is domain reputation recoverable, or are these domains essentially burned?

3. Should I abandon these domains and start fresh, or is there a rehabilitation path?

4. If I start fresh — what's the correct warm-up protocol from Day 1?

5. Are there email providers that handle cold outreach better

Any help appreciated —

Hey everyone, just wanted to ask what email platform you're using for your nonprofit.

We're currently on Mailchimp Essentials with about 3k contacts. It's been okay, but we're starting to think about other options as we grow. We've looked at Brevo, but we're not really sold on it yet.

Most of what we send are newsletters, event emails, and a few simple automations. We're also trying to keep costs down.

If you're working with a nonprofit, what are you using? Would you stick with Mailchimp or move to something else? Any tips or things you wish you knew before switching would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Saw a nice example of newsjacking done well from a car parking company today: note, I have no link to the company in question!

The new Premier League fixtures were released on fri and this morning, they sent an email saying:

"Next season's Premier League fixtures dropped at 10am Friday, so now's the time to lock in your matchday parking before someone else does."

I quite liked this approach. There was forced storytelling, no "football brings communities together" and in particular, no attempt to convince me that booking a parking space will change my life.

Just a nice, genuinely relevant link to an event, sent at exactly the right time for some footy fans, with a clear action for customers.

It reminds me that effective marketing doesn't always need a big creative leap. Sometimes it's just about spotting the moment your audience is going to be receptive about needing your product and showing up.

What's the best example of well-timed marketing you've seen recently?