The more you know about email marketing the more you hear about having dedicated IPs. In order to have complete understanding about a dedicated IP and in order to determine if you need one, your first step is to know more about the deliverability of emails and sender reputation.
The deliverability of an email hugely depends on the reputation of the IP through which it is sent. If you are sending emails from an IP address having a good reputation, there are higher chances of your emails getting delivered to your subscribers. However, if your sender scores are low, you stand at a risk of getting filtered out by some email inboxes.
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Most of the well known email service providers like MailChimp and HubSpot use a couple of shared IP addresses for processing and sending your emails. In case of the shared IPs, the sender reputation is determined by the actions of all the companies using the same shared IP. Every email service provider proactively monitors the reputation of the shared IPs used for ensuring that their emails have a high deliverability rate. For instance, the shared IPs used by HubSpot makes sure that their scores are in the high 90s thereby increasing the acceptance rate.
What is a dedicated IP?
A dedicated IP is for the use of one user and it is not shared with anyone. As the IP is not shared with the other users, there is no need to worry about any negative impact on the quality and quantity of sending emails. For instance, if one or more users send spam from a shared IP, all the users using that IP are affected and can be termed as spammers. On the other hand, if you opt for a dedicated IP, only you will use that IP and all your email campaigns will solely depend on your actions. A dedicated IP enables you to take complete control of your sending reputation.
How do I know if I should get a dedicated IP?
Dedicated IPs are appropriate for the companies that sends bulk emails on a regular basis. For instance, a dedicated IP should be considered by a company that sends more than hundred thousand email messages in a week. Moreover, as you are the sole influencer over your own sender reputation, it is important for you to make sure that your email list is completely permission-based and engaged. If the hard bounce rates are higher than average (3% or more) or if your emails have irregular sending volumes, having a shared IP is better for you. You can talk to the email service providers for deciding about whether you need a dedicated IP or a shared IP.
What is the main advantage of having a dedicated IP?
Some companies or organizations that send large number of emails prefer to have their own IP address instead of sharing an IP address with some other companies. For the high volume email senders that have engaged subscribers, a dedicated IP ensures more control over the deliverability of the emails. The reputation of emails sent through a dedicated IP is not affected by the actions of any other companies or users. The dedicated IP of a company is a sole influencing factor in terms of determining whether the emails get delivered or not.
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Moreover, apart from getting more control, many customers prefer to have a dedicated IP because they do not wish to have a sender appendix like ‘emailer.hubspot.com’ attached to the emails. If a shared IP is used, all the emails sent through the email service provider on behalf of a particular company; whereas, a dedicated IP comes only from the email address of the company from which it is originated and sent.