Multi Domain vs Subdomain for Email Marketing - Choosing the Battlefield
Maximizing deliverability while maintaining brand reputation
As a B2B marketer working on generating more leads for our business, most of us bank on cold emailing campaigns.
While popular,
One strategic decision that impacts the cold email campaign is finding the right domain.
Most of us are confused about using
- Company’s primary domain
- A separate domain
- Or a Subdomain
While a separate domain starts on a clean slate and ensures better deliverability.
A subdomain helps protect the main domain’s reputation without slipping away from the brand at any time.
Lastly, a primary domain benefits from existing trust among the users, but using it for cold emailing can potentially risk the email's reputation.
Multiple Domain vs Subdomain?
Over time, employing multiple domains for email marketing is advocated as the ‘best choice’ due to its potential to enhance email deliverability.
Having multiple domains takes away the typical risk associated with email campaigns and the danger of getting the primary domain - blacklist.
"An email blacklist is a list of IP addresses or domains a blacklist operator has caught sending emails to accounts that didn't willingly subscribe to their email program."
By landing most of its communication in spam, a blacklisted domain can adversely affect any organization's entire communication strategy.
By having multiple domains as part of the strategy and then distributing communications through these different domains, businesses can significantly reduce the risk of their emails being blacklisted.
Without risking the primary domain's reputation, the multi-domain approach gives freedom to be more aggressive (Increased email volume per SDR ) and experimental.
Over time, it has also been witnessed that multiple domains allow organizations to assess communication done by various functions and evaluate their data per each function.
It is often thought that managing multiple domains for cold email strategies can be technically complex and expensive for a business.
On the other hand, it can be highly cost-effective and straightforward with the right tools and guidance.
These services make it easier to establish a new domain and provide support to ensure businesses can do so without significant financial or technical burdens.
Making the multi-domain strategy an attainable option for companies of various sizes and technical capabilities.
Cold emailing campaign on your list
Read - Lessons from Sending 70+ Cold Emails to 23,000+ Tech Audiences for B2B SaaS Products
But what’s the case with Subdomains
The benefit of using subdomains revolves around the flexibility of using a brand’s online presence without impacting the main domain’s reputation.
Search engines and email service providers see subdomains as independent entities.
This gives subdomains a free ticket to a nuanced approach to email marketing.
The negative impacts of email campaigns - Marked as spam, email bounce, etc, on the subdomain do not affect the main domain’s credibility.
While closely related to the brand, the subdomain allows the organization to reach a specific segment or targeted audience with relevant content while maintaining brand recall.
This strategy safeguards the brand’s online health and helps maintain a close connection with its users.
Providing invaluable insights into the audience preferences and behaviors, helping with better engagement and conversions.
But
This doesn’t keep Subdomains from any cons associated
“Subdomains will carry their reputation, but bad behavior can flow in both directions if a brand sends unsolicited communications, is compromised, or does other "bad email things."
This means that your subdomain benefits from your brand reputation. They also risk damaging it if the communication gets compromised.
Conclusion
Each approach offers distinct advantages and potential drawbacks, impacting email deliverability, marketing flexibility, and brand reputation.
Multiple domains provide a safeguard against the risks of blacklisting and allow for more experimental marketing tactics, albeit with considerations around cost and technical setup.
On the other hand, subdomains offer a balanced solution that maintains a connection to the main domain while providing some level of protection and targeted marketing capabilities, though not without its risks to reputation and deliverability.
Ultimately, the choice between multiple domains and subdomains hinges on a business's needs, resources, and risk tolerance.
Whether opting for the breadth of multiple domains or the targeted approach of subdomains, the key lies in vigilant management and continuous optimization to achieve cold emailing success.
Other suggested articles on Multidomain vs Subdomain-
3 Reasons Why Multiple Domains Win in Outbound Email Sales.
The basics of email subdomains
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