Walkthrough of connecting your dedicated sending domain

With Ivorey™, you can use our shared domain, but we strongly recommend spending just 10-15 minutes to set up your own dedicated sending domain instead. This way, you’ll build up your domain’s reputation over time, boosting the chances of landing directly in the inbox (not the junk folder!) and significantly improving your open rates.

This video will walk you through how to set up your dedicated sending domain in Ivorey.

Click here for the written version

This guide explains how to set up your dedicated sending domain in Ivorey when you have already purchased your own domain and need to use it for email marketing.
Make sure you have already purchased a domain (e.g. the domain for your main website)
From the Ivorey™ main menu, go to [Settings] > [Domains] > then click [+ Connect a Domain] (if you haven't purchased a domain yet, you will need to purchase a domain with a provider like GoDaddy for example first. Alternatively you can purchase a domain within Ivorey directly by selecting [Purchase a Domain] here)
On the Email tab, click [Connect →] > then enter a NEW subdomain in the 'Domain' field (e.g mail.yourdomain.com)

❌IMPORTANT NOTES❌
1. your dedicated sending domain is NOT the same as your gmail email address. It is important that the subdomain you add here (e.g mail.yourdomain.com) is NOT connected or used anywhere else.
Once you have written your subdomain click the [Continue] button
Depending on who your domain provider is, you may be able to click [Continue] to have these DNS records updated inside your domain automatically, however in most cases you will need to click 'Add Record Manually' to manually update your DNS records
Ivorey™ will give you a set of domain records (TXT, CNAME, and MX). Please add these into the DNS settings of whoever you purchased your domain through.
We strongly recommend also adding the DMARC record that shows as optional to improve your deliverability.
To add the records from Ivorey™ to your Domain DNS settings, you will need to log into the platform your domain is hosted with (e.g GoDaddy) and add these DNS records inside the DNS settings. Alternatively you can share these records with your Domain Provider directly through their chat support as they will be able to update your DNS records for you.
Once your DNS records have been added to your DNS domain settings, you will need to come back to the domain page in Ivorey™ and click [Verify Records]

PLEASE NOTE: This process can take up to 48 hours depending on your domain provider. Once all records turn green, your dedicated sending domain is verified and you're ready to start sending emails!

TIP: Most people don’t realise that many email platforms don’t actually send emails from your domain. Instead, they make it look like its coming from your address, but it’s actually being sent through a shared domain, meaning your deliverability is affected by everyone else using that platform (just think for a moment how many millions of users these platforms have!)

Please Note: Currently Wix does not allow subdomains to be connected for email marketing, so if your root domain is hosted with Wix, you will not be able to setup a dedicated sending domain in Ivorey. If this is the case, you may need to consider changing domain hosts.

Walkthrough of connecting your dedicated sending domain headers

Once you have set up your dedicated sending domain, you can now set your 'headers'. Your headers are for display purposes only, and will show the 'From' Name and Email on all outgoing emails sent from Ivorey. Setting up your headers gives a more professional look and feel to your emails.

This video will walk you through how to set up your dedicated sending domain in Ivorey.

Click here for the written version

This guide shows you the steps to set up your dedicated sending domain headers in Ivorey.

Navigate to the settings in your Ivorey account.
Locate the section for dedicated sending domains.
Add your business email to the email header.
Ensure that your business email has the same root domain as the dedicated sending domain you created. For example, if your dedicated domain is mail.yourdomain.com, your business email must be in the format of [name]@yourdomain.com.
By keeping the root domain consistent, your emails will appear to be sent from your business email address, improving brand recognition and deliverability.

This then means that when we send an email from Ivorey, this is the name and email our email will display it is sent from. Example shown below:

Follow the steps below to set up your Dedicated Sending Domain Headers:

Here's how to set up your Dedicated Sending Domain Headers in Ivorey:
1. Make sure you have already set up your dedicated sending domain.
2. From the Ivory main menu, go to Settings > Email Services > Dedicated Domain and IP.
3. Click the three dots next to your dedicated sending domain and select Set Headers.
4. In the Name field, enter the name you want your emails to display as the sender.
5. In the Email field, enter the email address you want your emails to display as the sender.

Setup Email Gmail and Outlook Sync

Once you have set up your dedicated sending domain and headers configured, you can now set up your personal email client to work in sync with your ivorey emails.

2-way sync is designed to sync incoming & outgoing emails between Ivorey™ & Gmail or Outlook. This integration creates a connection between the two platforms and syncs both ways, so that any emails sent, received, or updated in Gmail or Outlook, will be automatically reflected in Ivorey™ and vice versa. Please note, this will only sync emails if they address is already inside your Ivorey contacts.

To setup Gmail 2-way sync from the main Ivorey™ menu:

Go to [Settings] > [Profile] > then navigate to the 'General' area and you'll see the email 2-way sync. Here you can select either Gmail or Outlook and hit [Connect]. You will then need to follow the prompts to login to your Google or Outlook account to complete the sync.

Deliverability and Domain Warmup

You're all done on the tech-side, but don't jump into your email sending too hot and heavy! As this is likely the first time you've ever sent emails through your own actual domain (read above to see how most email providers actually send your emails through a shared domain, not your own) - it's critical to slowly warm up your domain to prevent getting flagged for spam.

IMPORTANT: Even if you're only sending to tiny list (even just 50 people) you MUST make sure the emails are validated first and that you follow best practice shared below. If just 5 of those emails happened to be invalid, that would be a 10% bounce rate which could get your domain immediately flagged.

Follow the best practice suggestions below to ensure you're setup for maximum protection and success with your email marketing:

Click here to view written guide to warm up your new domain with a drip sending schedule in Ivorey™

A slow and steady email warm up will ensure you protect your domain reputation, improve your deliverability, and end up with emails that always land in the primary inbox instead of the junk folder.

It's a process that takes a little bit of patience over your first few weeks, but will bring you a massive return in the near future!

When you send or schedule your first email, you'll see a Batch Schedule feature at the top of your screen. We highly recommend using this to gradually warm up your sending reputation.

Set the batch schedule to send 20 emails or less every 5 minutes.
On your first day, do not send more than 1,000 emails in total.
You can gradually increase the volume with each new email campaign you send.

Click here to view written guide to set up email validation and unsubscribe links in Ivorey™

This guide shows you how to set up email validation and unsubscribe links.
From the Ivorey™ main menu, go to [Settings] then > [Business]
Scroll down towards the right you'll see [General] section
We highly recommend you tick the following email settings. Hover over the information symbol to understand what each setting means and how it works.
1. 'Verify Email Address when first email is sent to a new contact' means that the contacts email address will be verified the first time you send them an email from Ivorey.
  
  PLEASE NOTE: There is a small charge of $0.02 USD per email verification, and if turned on, the system will repeat the verification process every 3 months. Please take this into account when looking at your billing and charges.
2. 'Make Email compliant by adding an Unsubscribe link in your email' means that once this is turned on, you will be able to drag and drop the email footer element into your emails and the unsubscribe link will be automatically added by the system
If you are using one of Ivorey's pre-designed email templates, you will see the unsubscribe link is already included in the email footer.
If you are building your email template from scratch, then you will need to drag and drop the [Footer] element from the left hand menu into your email, which automatically include your unique unsubscribe link

Resolved Questions from Support

Why is there a link showing as the email preview text?

If a random link is appearing as the preview text in your emails, especially on mobile devices, here’s an explanation and a solution:

Understand the cause: Many default mobile email applications, such as Apple Mail, often grab the first link they find in an email and use it as the preview text. This can happen even if you've set a different pre-header. This issue is not specific to Ivory; it's how certain email apps render content.
Verify the issue: Check if the email appears correctly on a desktop or different email client (e.g., Gmail on a laptop). The problem is likely only with the phone's default email app.
Use a dedicated email app: To resolve this, download and use a dedicated email app like Gmail or Outlook on your phone instead of the default mail application. These apps typically display the correct preview text as intended.

FAQ Highlights

Can I send emails from different addresses e.g. for two businesses?

Yes, you can send emails from different addresses in Ivorey™ for multiple businesses by setting up multiple email dedicated sending domain. However we don't usually recommend this approach, as the segmenting in your CRM will get very confusing having all your different contact lists combined. At this stage, you can also only use one email domain for automated emails. If you're prepared to setup your own unique tagging system to keep the lists organised, and plan on sending manual email broadcasts only, you can do so!

Does Ivorey have email marketing templates?

Yes, Ivorey™ offers a variety of customisable email templates, to help you create professional and engaging emails quickly. They are pre-loaded into your account under [Marketing] > [Emails] > [Templates]

Alternatively you can download them from our Template Library by going to [Marketing] > [Emails] > [Templates] > [+ New] > [Email Marketing Templates]

View our Email Marketing help guide for more information.

Does adding images in emails impact deliverability or inbox placement?

Including a logo at the top and a headshot or signature image at the bottom is generally okay and doesn't automatically hurt your email deliverability.
Here's what actually matters:

Email platforms (like Gmail) look at lots of factors to decide where your email goes (Inbox, Promotions, or Spam).
These include things like your sending reputation, whether your domain is properly verified, how many people open or click your emails, how much text vs. images is in the email, and if the content looks like Sales.

Best Practices:

Keep using your logo and signature they help with branding and trust.
Make sure the email also has text content and not just images.
Try not to overload the email with images or promotional phrases.
Make sure your images are small in file size and not too large.

In short: Yes, you can include your logo and branded elements. Just balance it with enough written content and follow a few best practices, and you should be fine.

What to Do If…

You need to undo a bulk contact import

Follow the steps below to view your contact bulk import and undo it if needed:

Head to Contacts
Click on Bulk Actions
Find the bulk action label you used when importing, you can see the Created Date as well.
Click the three dots next to it
Select Revert

This will remove all the contacts that were uploaded during that specific import

You need to set up an unsubscribe link for compliant emails

Go to [Settings] > [Business] > [General] and make sure the 'Make Email compliant by adding an Unsubscribe link in your email' box is ticked. When creating your emails, drag and drop the [Footer] element which will automatically include your unique unsubscribe link.
NOTE: All of our email templates have already added this to the footer.

You need to set up DMARC for dedicated sending domains

To find or check your DMARC record for your dedicated sending domain, please go to:

1. [Settings] > [Email Services] > the click the [Dedicated Domain and IP] button

2. click the 3 dots of your dedicated domain > click 'Verify Domain'

3. here you will see all of your DNS records for your dedicated sending domain. Your DMARC record is usually at the bottom of the list.

Your emails keep landing in Spam

This guide outlines the importance of a dedicated sending domain and provides steps to improve email deliverability.

Set up your dedicated sending domain: This is the first step to ensuring you have full control over your sending reputation. Unlike shared domains, a dedicated domain is not affected by other users.
Turn on email verification (Optional): Go to Settings > Business > General and enable email verification. This service, which has a small fee, verifies each contact's email address upon the first send and then every three months to minimize bounce rates.
Enable unsubscribe links: Ensure the setting "Make email compliant by adding unsubscribe link in your email" is ticked in Settings > Business > General. All pre-designed email templates already include this link in the footer.
Request whitelisting: Encourage your clients and contacts to add your email address to their contacts list. This tells their email provider that your messages are not spam.
Turn on domain warmup: Go to Settings > Email Services > Dedicated Domain and IP and click Start domain warmup. This feature prevents you from exceeding sending limits while your new domain is building its reputation.
Use batch scheduling for campaigns: When sending or scheduling emails, use the "batch" setting to send emails slowly over time. For example, send 10 emails every 30 minutes instead of all at once.

By following these steps, you can build a strong sending reputation and achieve high deliverability rates.

You need to warm up your domain

If you have further questions, please read our dedicated guide to warming up your email domain.

Set Up a Dedicated Email Domain with Ivorey™

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