SimplyCast Blog: Should you send from a shared IP or dedicated IP?

Should you send from a shared IP or dedicated IP?

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dedicated IP

The SimplyCast Compliance department "delivers" once again with very important tips on improving your deliverability and overall happiness. Yes, they are that good.

Should you send from a shared or dedicated IP?

Ah, the question that haunts us all. Okay, not really, but it is a very important question if you do any type of online marketing and care about your deliverability.

Dedicated IP

Are you an email marketer that sends a high volume of email each month? If the answer is yes, it may be beneficial to send from a dedicated IP address. A dedicated IP address is an IP which is only used by you, allowing you to build and maintain your own reputation with the various ISPs (Internet Service Providers).

It is important to note that with a dedicated IP it takes your provider (in this case SimplyCast) some time to "warm-up" the IP. This is a delicate process to show the ISPs that a bot or a spammer is not using the IP to send out a large volume of email.

If an ISP views a particular IP sending out large amounts of mail with no reputation history, they are most likely to block all mail from that IP going forward. It is kind of like a credit card company seeing a blank card that has not been used for years, all of a sudden having thousands of dollars charged to it. Huge red flag.

To avoid this situation, we send at a low volume and slowly build up the volume over time. This will build a reputation for the IP and prove that the sender is legitimate. Once this process is completed over time, we are able allow large volume senders on the IP.

Shared IP

If you are an email marketer that sends low to medium levels of volume each month, it would be beneficial for you to send from a shared IP. A shared IP is an IP which multiple clients send email from, thus sharing and maintaining the reputation with ISPs. Online marketers that do not send email consistently should also send from a shared IP since it is hard to maintain a reputation on a dedicated IP with inconsistent volume.

Remember, whether sending from a dedicated IP or a shared IP, engagement is key. More and more ISPs are moving toward engagement to decide whether to send your mail to the inbox or the junk folder. By having your subscribers open, click-thru and respond to your mail, deliverability will remain successful.

Have further questions on the differences between shared and dedicated IPs? Feel free to email us at anytime.

SimplyCast's Interactive Marketing Suite includes: Email Marketing

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