Cold Emails That Actually Land in the Inbox
Deliverability is the foundation of every cold email program. Without it, the best copy and targeting in the world won't get you replies. We handle domain setup, DNS authentication, inbox warmup, and ongoing monitoring - so your outreach has a real shot at being seen.
Fix It Yourself, or Have Us Run It
Do it yourself
Deliverability Audit + DIY Plan
We audit your current setup and hand you a complete, step-by-step plan to fix and run it yourself.
- Full review of your domains, DNS records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), mailboxes, and OAuth connections
- Warmup and sending ramp-up assessment against deliverability benchmarks
- A written plan with everything we found and exactly what to change, in order
- You keep the plan and implement in-house
Best for teams who want to implement themselves.
Get the Audit ($499)We do it for you
Done-For-You Setup
We set up and manage your entire email infrastructure across two months. You do nothing.
- Sending domain configuration and DNS authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
- Mailbox setup and OAuth connection
- Inbox warmup and graduated sending ramp-up, managed for you
- Automated weekly ramp-up and ramp-down monitoring - limits adjust in both directions based on each mailbox's deliverability score
- Ongoing monitoring against benchmarks (85%+ deliverability, <3% bounce, <0.1% spam complaints) for the duration
Best for teams who want it handled end to end.
Start Setup ($1,500)Not sure which fits? Book a 20-minute call and we'll point you to the right one.
Your Emails Can't Convert If They're Going to Spam
Most companies underestimate how much deliverability affects results. If your emails are landing in spam or promotions folders, your open rates, reply rates, and ultimately your pipeline suffer - regardless of how good your copy is.
Deliverability is part technique (domain setup, DNS records, sending infrastructure) and part behavior (warmup cadence, sending limits, list hygiene). We handle both sides so your campaigns launch on a clean foundation.
Common Deliverability Failures
- Sending from your primary domain (puts your brand at risk)
- Missing or misconfigured SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records
- Jumping to full sending volume without warmup
- Too many emails per day per mailbox
- No custom tracking domain (hurts reputation)
- Sending to unverified or stale lists
Done For You, In Three Steps
We Build the Infrastructure
Everything your cold email runs on, set up from scratch so your primary domain is never at risk.
- Separate sending domains, registered and configured
- SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records set and verified
- Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 mailboxes created and connected to Apollo.io via OAuth
- Deliverability tested with Mail-Tester before anything sends
We Warm Everything Up
New mailboxes have no sending reputation. Sending cold email on day one is how domains get burned.
- Apollo.io's inbox warmup configured for every mailbox
- 2-4 weeks of reputation building before any cold outreach
- Runs in parallel with campaign setup, so it adds no time to launch
We Ramp and Monitor on Autopilot
Once mailboxes are ready, our automation takes over - reviewing every mailbox's deliverability score weekly and adjusting limits in both directions.
- Limits climb from 10/day to 35/day as scores hold above 85%
- Any mailbox that dips below 85% is slowed down automatically
- Per-hour throttling adjusts alongside the daily cap
- We get a report of every change each week
Every Monday, Software Reviews Every Mailbox
Most teams ramp up sending limits by hand, when someone remembers. We built automation that does it every week without fail: it reads each mailbox's deliverability score in Apollo.io, raises limits on healthy mailboxes, and slows down any mailbox that starts to slip. Up and down, both directions, every Monday morning.
| Timeframe | Daily Emails per Mailbox | Emails per Hour | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1-2 (Warmup Only) | Warmup traffic only | N/A | No cold outreach yet |
| Week 3 | 10/day | 3/hour | Campaigns launch |
| Week 4 | 15/day | 3/hour | First increment |
| Week 5 | 20/day | 6/hour | Bump to 6/hour at 16+ |
| Week 6 | 25/day | 6/hour | If score stays above 85% |
| Week 7 | 30/day | 6/hour | Continued good score |
| Week 8+ | 35/day | 6/hour | Maximum recommended limit |
How each weekly move is decided, and what the review never touches: Apollo.io sending limits and mailbox ramp-up.
When Scores Are Healthy, Limits Climb
Mailboxes with a deliverability score of 85% or above in Apollo.io's Deliverability Suite get +5 emails/day each week, up to a maximum of 35/day. Once a mailbox passes 15/day, the per-hour rate increases too, so the daily cap is actually reachable inside a workday. Mailboxes with no score data yet are left alone until Apollo.io has enough sends to grade them.
When Scores Slip, Sending Slows Down
Any mailbox that drops below 85% gets its limit reduced by 5/day each week, down to a floor of 15/day, and its hourly rate is throttled back. This is the part most teams miss: a struggling mailbox that keeps blasting 35 cold emails a day digs its reputation hole deeper. When the score recovers, the same automation ramps it right back up. Nobody has to catch the problem - the system already did.
Every Change, Reported Every Week
Each Monday run ends with a report of exactly what moved. Here's what a typical week looks like (mailboxes anonymized):
Ramped Up (3)
| Mailbox | Score | Daily Limit | Per Hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| sarah@company-connect.com | 96% | 25 → 30 | 6 |
| sarah.m@company-hq.com | 92% | 20 → 25 | 6 |
| mike@company-mail.com | 88% | 30 → 35 | 6 |
Ramped Down - low score (1)
| Mailbox | Score | Daily Limit | Per Hour |
|---|---|---|---|
| mike.r@company-outreach.com | 72% | 35 → 30 | 6 |
That last row is the one that saves campaigns. A mailbox at 72% sending 35/day is a domain reputation problem in the making - and it got caught and slowed without anyone having to look.
What Healthy Deliverability Looks Like
85%+
Deliverability Score
Our minimum Apollo.io deliverability score for a sending limit increase
<3%
Bounce Rate
Target bounce rate for cold campaigns. Above this signals list quality issues.
<0.1%
Spam Complaint Rate
Google and Microsoft thresholds for safe sending. Stay well below this.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your cold email domain gets flagged or blacklisted, it only affects that domain - not your primary company domain. This is standard practice. We use domains that are clearly related to your company (e.g., yourcompany-mail.com) so recipients can verify your identity without risk to your brand.
At 35 emails per mailbox per day, you need roughly one mailbox per 700 contacts per month (assuming a 3-step sequence with some overlap). Most clients start with 2-4 mailboxes and scale from there. We help you right-size based on your target volume - or run your own numbers with our mailbox and domain calculator, which sizes infrastructure against a target send volume.
2-4 weeks for new mailboxes before we launch campaigns. We run warmup in parallel with Apollo.io setup and copy review, so it doesn't add time to the overall timeline - campaigns are ready to launch when warmup is complete.
Inbox warmup (Apollo.io's built-in feature) sends small volumes of automated warmup emails between mailboxes to build a positive sending reputation before you launch campaigns. Sending ramp-up is the process of gradually increasing your campaign daily sending limit over time, based on your deliverability score. Both matter. We do both.
Yes - deliverability monitoring is included in all our ongoing management plans. Every week our automation reads each mailbox's deliverability score in Apollo.io's Deliverability Suite and moves its daily limit up or down by 5. The score is Apollo.io's own; we don't calculate one.
Related Reading
- Email infrastructure for cold outreach (March 2026) - domains, mailboxes, warmup, and infra setup
- Cold email best practices for SaaS companies
- Top 12 cold email mistakes to avoid
- Apollo.io Strategy and Setup - deliverability as part of a full Apollo.io build
- Done-for-You Outbound System - deliverability runs inside the full outbound engagement
Ready to Fix Your Deliverability?
Get the audit and implement the plan yourself, or have us build and run the whole thing for two months.
Do it yourself
Deliverability Audit + DIY Plan
Full audit of domains, DNS, mailboxes, and warmup - plus a written step-by-step fix plan you implement in-house.
Get the Audit ($499)We do it for you
Done-For-You Setup
We set up and manage your entire email infrastructure across two months. You do nothing.
Start Setup ($1,500)Not sure which fits? Book a 20-minute call and we'll point you to the right one.