IP (Internet Protocol) is the basis of the modern web. This protocol ensures the worldwide connection by transferring data packages back and forth between devices, or hosts. For the whole process to work, each host, be it computers, servers or websites, should have its own identification. That’s why every device is assigned an IP address — a unique set of numbers that identifies its location within the network.
IPs can be dedicated or shared. Let’s take a look at how these types work.
First of all, dedicated IPs are not for everyone. In email marketing, there are cases when a shared IP can be a preferable option.
So, what exactly are the benefits of dedicated IP vs shared IP? First and foremost, when using shared IP, you have no control over the reputation of the address. If someone frequently indulges in some questionable marketing activities, it may affect other users of the same IP. It falls on the marketing platform to filter and prevent such harmful behavior, of course. However, your brand’s sender reputation still might suffer in some cases. But when you have a dedicated IP, its usage and reputation solely depend on your own actions, making you sure nobody else tempers with them.
Other notable benefits of using a dedicated IPs are:
Also, using a dedicated IP usually has a positive effect on email deliverability.
Deliverability is the most important metric of your emails. Both shared and dedicated IPs provide solutions that can make or break your campaign stats. Here are some unique features of the dedicated IP.
Mailing engines have security measures that check the sender’s reputation. If it drops too low, you’re in trouble — your newsletter just won’t break through spam filters and reach your customers anymore. Major email services like Google Gmail tend to trust dedicated IPs more than shared IPs, so emails sent from dedicated IPs are less likely to be considered suspicious and get caught in the said spam filters.
Also, having more control over dedicated IP than shared IP safeguards you against reputational problems caused by other users of the IP address However, even with a dedicated IP, you still need to upkeep your reputation, properly warm up your address and maintain good marketing practices to avoid being blocked (more on that later).
Reputation risks can be the main issue of shared mailing servers. You may do your best to follow guidelines, provide useful content and respect your readers’ privacy. But if some other business sends spam from the same IP, you all run a risk of getting blocked by the recipients’ mailbox protection. If you worry about maintaining a good image and not wasting any resources, it’s best to exclude such wild cards from the very start by using a private IP.
Having a dedicated IP means that you have more options for setting up technical aspects of your newsletter. Since you don’t have to share your IP with other senders, you can also implement customized sending schedules and regulate the volume of emails sent to become friends with anti-spam systems. As a nice bonus, a dedicated IP allows for using unique domains to make your emails look more trustworthy to your recipients.
If you don’t want your newsletter to become one of the email marketing SCPs, there are a few things to consider even when you choose to implement a dedicated IP.
When you’re just setting up a freshly acquired dedicated IP, don’t jump head-first into massive campaigns. First, you need to warm it up so that you don’t get blocked by spam filters. If you send out large volumes of messages from a previously inactive server, it will act as a distinct red flag for mailbox protection services. Even if your content is good, you need to gradually scale it over time to avoid deliverability issues.
It is not enough to just warm up your address — you need to upkeep it. Sporadic campaigns won’t do you any good. Mailing activity should be regular, so you don’t get blacklisted. This is where shared IPs actually have one benefit over dedicated ones: when you have a lot of users, it’s easier to maintain a constant traffic flow. If you are all by yourself, you need to carefully plan an email strategy that will provide you with enough content to evenly run it over time.
Email services require you to use several authentication protocols as another security measure. Starting with 2024, it is now mandatory to use all three of such protocols:
When using a dedicated IP, you’ll need to implement this set of protocols to ensure that your emails pass the protection tools of recipients’ mailboxes and don’t get blocked as spam.
Dedicated IP is important when you want to have full control over your reputation and deliverability. On the other hand, you have the additional responsibility to warm up, scale and authenticate your traffic and you also have to have a bigger sending volume of about 300K emails per month.
That is why email marketing for small businesses is usually based around services that provide shared IPs so that you have fewer cybersecurity measures to worry about. Dedicated IP is one of the more flexible tools intended for pros — so make sure that you know what you’re doing with it if you opt to use it.
