Mailboxes with a domain check, ramp-up and bounce pause
Connect your own sending mailboxes over SMTP and IMAP, and check the domain's SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX records. Let each new mailbox send a little more every day. A mailbox stops by itself when too many of its emails bounce.
PLANSEvery plan
Built and tried on our test systems with test mailboxes; not yet sending for a customer.
The problem it solves
- A new mailbox sends 300 cold emails on its first day and lands in spam for months.
- Nobody checked the domain's SPF or DMARC record, so Gmail and Yahoo reject or bin the mail.
- A bad lead list bounces one email in five, and the mailbox keeps sending until the domain is burnt.
- Replies and bounces sit in someone's mail program, away from the sequence that sent them.
How it works
- Your administrator opens Marketing > Outreach > Mailboxes > New. They type the sender name, the address, the SMTP server and the IMAP server with their users and passwords. For Gmail or Google Workspace that is an app password.
- Check the Domain reads SPF, DMARC and MX from DNS, and DKIM when you type the selector your provider signs with. What is missing goes into What to Fix, with the record to add.
- Start Sending makes the mailbox's outgoing server, tries the connection and gives it a place in the inbox. The status moves from Not Checked to Sending.
- From Sending Since, the mailbox sends 10 emails on the first day and 5 more each day. It stops at its Emails a Day (40 to start with). Limit Today and Sent Today show where it stands.
- Every 5 minutes its new mail is read over IMAP: replies come into the inbox and bounces are marked. Above 5 % bounces in the last 7 days (once 20 emails went out), sending stops until you press Resume.
Everything it does
Connection
- Sender Name and email address; SMTP server, port 587, STARTTLS (or SSL/TLS or None), user and password
- IMAP Server, IMAP Port (993), IMAP User and password; without IMAP, replies and bounces are not seen
- Passwords are kept as hidden values and only Marketing Administrators can see or change them
- Start Sending tries the SMTP connection; a failure sets the status to Problem with the error
- Google and Microsoft sign-in are not built: you use the mailbox's SMTP and IMAP settings
Domain check
- SPF: a TXT record starting v=spf1 on the domain, with the include line for Google or Microsoft suggested
- DMARC: a TXT record on _dmarc.<your domain>, with an example p=none record suggested
- MX: the domain must receive mail, or replies are lost
- DKIM: checked at <selector>._domainkey.<your domain> once you type the DKIM Selector (google, selector1...)
How much it sends
- Emails a Day: 40 to start with (30 to 50 is safe for a normal mailbox)
- First Day: 10; More Each Day: 5; counted from Sending Since
- No warm-up pool: ramp-up and the bounce pause protect the mailbox
- Signature: added to every email from the mailbox
Health
- Bounced, 30 Days (%) and Replied, 30 Days (%) on each mailbox
- Pause Above Bounces (%): 5 to start with; it looks at the last 7 days once at least 20 emails went out; 0 never pauses
- A pause writes how many bounced and a note on the mailbox; Resume starts it again
Reading replies
- Every 5 minutes each sending mailbox's inbox is read, up to the last message read
- A reply to an outreach email ends that person's sequence (when Stop When They Reply is on) and opens a conversation in the inbox
- A bounce marks the email Bounced and takes the person out of the sequence
Who uses it
Marketing AdministratorAdds mailboxes, checks domains, starts, pauses and resumes them.
Marketing UserSees the mailboxes and picks them on sequences; answers replies in the inbox.
Where you use it
- Web: Marketing > Outreach > Mailboxes
- Web: replies arrive in Marketing > Inbox
- Not in the phone app: this is done on the web. The SmartMy Marketing app covers chats, contacts, posts, leads and campaigns
What you control
Settings
- Emails a Day: 40; First Day: 10; More Each Day: 5 (per mailbox)
- Pause Above Bounces (%): 5; 0 to never pause
- SMTP Port 587 with STARTTLS; IMAP Port 993
- DKIM Selector and Tracking Domain: empty until you fill them
- Owner: the person who made the mailbox; Entity: the current one
Notifications
- No notification event of its own: a bounce pause is written on the mailbox, with the numbers
- With blocklist watch (Growth): Mailbox on a Blocklist, to the mailbox owner, in-app and by email
Questions
Can I sign in with Google or Microsoft instead of typing SMTP settings?
Not yet. You use the mailbox's SMTP and IMAP settings; for Gmail and Google Workspace that means an app password.Is there a warm-up network that sends emails between mailboxes?
No. A new mailbox starts at 10 emails a day and adds 5 a day up to its daily limit. It pauses itself on too many bounces. You can change all three numbers.What happens when a mailbox reaches its limit for the day?
The sequence uses another of its mailboxes that still has room. When every mailbox is full, the person waits for the next day's sending hours.Related features
OUTREACHEmail sequences over many mailboxes, with tracking and one-click unsubscribeCold and warm outreach as plain, personal emails. Each sequence sends from a pool of your mailboxes, a little at a time. It keeps follow-ups in the same thread and stops for a person when they reply. Every email carries an unsubscribe link and the one-click unsubscribe header.OUTREACHOutreach results for email and WhatsAppEvery outreach email and WhatsApp message is kept with its sequence, step, version and sender. You see sent, replied, bounced, clicked and read for each one, and where each person stands.OUTREACHInbox placement testsSend the same email from each of your mailboxes to your own test accounts at Gmail, Outlook and other providers. Within the hour you see inbox, spam or not arrived.OUTREACHBlocklist watch for your sending domainsEvery day each sending mailbox's domain, tracking domain and own mail server are looked up on the main spam blocklists. A new listing pauses the mailbox and tells its owner.CHANNELS AND INBOXOne inbox for every channelWhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, web chat and replies to your outreach emails come into one inbox. Your team assigns, tags, notes and answers every chat in one screen, with the 24-hour reply window shown on each chat.
See your inbox and campaigns on it.
Tell us which channels your customers use, how leads reach you and how many people answer them. We will connect a channel with you and run your first journey.