A good outreach mailbox is 20% writing and 80% setup. This guide walks you through every setting that decides whether your emails reach the inbox or the spam folder, one step at a time. Prefer to skip all of it? Gojiberry can do it for you, see the end of this guide.
1. Choose the right mailbox
Before connecting anything, take a minute to pick the mailbox you will send from. This single choice has more impact on deliverability than any setting that follows.
Use a Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 mailbox on your own domain. Gojiberry connects to both, and inboxes trust company domains with proper authentication.
Avoid free addresses (gmail.com, outlook.com, hotmail, yahoo...). You can't set up authentication for them, providers cap their sending, and they can't join Smart warm-up.
Dedicate a mailbox to outreach. Keep your everyday mailbox for customers and colleagues. A separate address such as [email protected] protects your main inbox if something goes wrong.
Consider a secondary domain for volume. Sending more than a few hundred emails a week? A dedicated domain (for example yourcompany-team.com) that redirects to your website keeps your company's reputation safe.
💡 Rule of thumb
One mailbox sends about 30 emails a day once ramped up. Need more? Add mailboxes rather than pushing one mailbox harder.
2. Connect it to Gojiberry
Open Settings → Senders Accounts and click Connect Mailbox. You can also connect one while setting up an email campaign.
Pick Google or Microsoft under Connect a new account.
Connect your own Google or Microsoft mailbox on the left. The Done-for-you option on the right is covered at the end of this guide.
Sign in with the mailbox you chose and accept every permission requested. Gojiberry needs them to send your emails and detect replies, and the connection fails without them.
Mailboxes on your own domain join Smart warm-up automatically. More on that in step 7.
Done. The mailbox appears in your list with its daily usage ("0/2 today") and its badges.
"Ramping up" and "Smart warm-up" mean your new mailbox is already protected. Nothing else to switch on.
ℹ️ Starts slow on purpose
A new mailbox sends 2 emails on its first day and grows automatically. That is the ramp-up, explained in step 6. Don't turn it off on day one.
3. Open the mailbox settings
Every setting in this guide lives in one place. Click Settings & Limits on the mailbox to open the Email sender panel.
Sending volume at the top, then three sections you can open one at a time.
From top to bottom, you will find:
Sending volume: how many emails the mailbox sends per day, and Smart warm-up.
Deliverability: whether your domain is set up correctly.
Sender name and signature: how you appear in your prospect's inbox.
Tracking and unsubscribe: open tracking and the unsubscribe link.
💡 Don't forget to save
Changes only apply when you click Save at the bottom of the panel. The button lights up as soon as you change something.
4. Check your domain setup
Every email you send carries invisible proof that it really comes from your company. Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo check that proof on arrival, and since 2024 they reject or spam-folder senders who don't have it.
That proof lives in your domain's DNS records. Gojiberry checks them for you.
Open the Deliverability section of the panel. Each row is one check:
Green is good, red needs fixing. Here, only DKIM is missing.
The badge next to the title tells you where you stand at a glance:
Badge | What it means |
All set | Every check passes. Nothing to do. |
1 to fix, 2 to fix... | Red rows are missing or wrong and hurt your inbox placement. Yellow rows are recommended improvements. |
Incomplete | One check couldn't be completed right now. Click Check again in a minute. |
Managed by provider | Free address (gmail.com, outlook.com...). Google or Microsoft handles authentication, so there is nothing to configure. |
Here is what each check means, in plain words:
Check | In plain words | If it fails |
SPF | The list of services allowed to send email for your domain. Google or Microsoft must be on it. | Your emails can be marked as forged. |
DKIM | A digital signature added to every email, proving it wasn't altered on the way. | Many inboxes send unsigned emails to spam. |
DMARC | Your policy telling inboxes what to do with emails that fail SPF and DKIM. | Gmail and Yahoo require one from senders. |
Reply delivery (MX) | The records that route incoming email to your mailbox. | Prospects reply and you never see it. |
Website | Whether your domain shows a website. Recipients and spam filters check. | A domain without a website looks disposable. |
Tracking domain | The domain used by open tracking and unsubscribe links. Gojiberry assigns one automatically. | Informative only, nothing to do. |
💡 Not the person who manages your domain?
Click Copy instructions for your admin at the bottom of the section. It copies a ready-to-send message with every record to add.
5. Fix each check
Click a red or yellow row to open it. Gojiberry shows what it found, the exact record to add (with copy buttons) and step-by-step instructions for your provider.
Each failing row comes with its own instructions, and a button straight to the right admin page when needed.
Records are added at your DNS provider, where your domain is managed (GoDaddy, OVH, Cloudflare, Namecheap, Gandi...). Look for "DNS", "DNS records" or "Zone" in its menu.
Changes can take up to 48 hours to show, usually much less. Come back and click Check again once they are live.
SPF
Add one TXT record on your domain itself (the host is usually written @). Gojiberry shows the exact value to use. It looks like this:
Provider | Type | Host | Value |
Google Workspace | TXT | @ | v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all |
Microsoft 365 | TXT | @ | v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all |
Already have an SPF record? Don't add a second one: inboxes ignore domains with several. Gojiberry shows your current record with your provider added at the right place, so you only replace the value.
DKIM
DKIM is generated by your email provider, so Gojiberry shows you the steps instead of a record.
Google Workspace
In the Google Admin console, open Apps → Google Workspace → Gmail → Authenticate email.
Generate a new 2048-bit record and add the TXT record it shows at your DNS provider.
Once the record is live, click Start authentication.
Microsoft 365
In Microsoft Defender, open Email authentication settings → DKIM.
Select your domain and add the two CNAME records it shows (selector1 and selector2) at your DNS provider.
Once they are live, turn on Sign messages for this domain with DKIM signatures.
DMARC
Add one TXT record on the host _dmarc. Gojiberry suggests a policy that protects your domain while staying safe for your other tools:
Type | Host | Value |
TXT | _dmarc | v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:[email protected] |
Two things to know:
Inboxes send daily reports to the rua address. Create that mailbox, or use the address of a DMARC reporting tool.
If other tools send email from your domain (newsletter, CRM, billing), make sure they pass SPF or DKIM first. Otherwise this policy sends their emails to spam.
ℹ️ Already have DMARC with p=none?
That is monitoring only, and many spam filters treat it like no DMARC at all. Gojiberry shows it in yellow and suggests the same record with p=quarantine.
Reply delivery (MX)
A red row means nobody can reply to you. Gojiberry suggests the record for your provider.
A grey row means a security gateway such as Mimecast or Proofpoint sits in front of your mailbox. That is a normal setup, nothing to fix.
Website
Point your domain (or www) to your website. Using a secondary domain for outreach? Set up a redirect to your main site at your domain registrar. It takes two minutes.
6. Set your sending volume
Inboxes watch how much a mailbox sends and how fast that number grows. A brand-new mailbox that sends 50 emails on day one looks like a spammer.
That is why Gojiberry starts every new mailbox slowly, with Gradual ramp-up.
Let the ramp-up run (recommended)
Gradual ramp-up shows today's progress and when the mailbox reaches full speed.
A new mailbox starts at 2 emails a day.
Every day it actually sends, the limit grows by 2 the next morning.
It stops at 30 a day, and the panel then shows "Fully ramped up".
Days without sends don't count, so the whole ramp takes a little over two weeks of regular sending. The panel shows the day you are on ("Day 6 of 15") and the date you should reach 30 a day.
Or set your own daily limit
Untick Gradual ramp-up and an Emails per day field appears (1 to 500). Your number applies right away, without any ramp.
On a mailbox less than 4 weeks old, Gojiberry warns you that starting at full volume gets you flagged faster.
Changed your mind? Tick Gradual ramp-up again and save: the ramp restarts from 2 a day.
If you set your own limit, here are the ranges we recommend:
Mailbox age | Recommended daily limit |
New mailbox | 1 to 10 emails a day |
Under 4 weeks | 10 to 20 a day |
Mature mailbox | 20 to 30 a day |
The limit is shared by every campaign that uses the mailbox. If a follow-up can't go out because the mailbox is at its limit, it simply waits for the next day.
⚠️ More volume means more mailboxes, not a bigger limit
Around 30 emails a day per mailbox keeps you under the radar. To send 150 a day, connect five mailboxes to the campaign.
7. Let Smart warm-up build your reputation
Ramp-up controls how many campaign emails you send. Smart warm-up works on something else: your reputation with Gmail and Outlook.
How it works
Your mailbox joins the Gojiberry warm-up pool, a network of real mailboxes owned by other Gojiberry customers. Every day, in the background:
Your mailbox sends a few short, natural, AI-written emails to other mailboxes in the pool, and receives some.
These emails are opened, sometimes replied to, and rescued from spam or the Promotions tab when they land there.
Then they are archived automatically.
To Gmail and Outlook, your mailbox looks like a real person having real conversations. That is exactly what builds the trust that gets your campaigns into the primary inbox.
What you need to know
On by default. Every mailbox you connect on your own domain joins automatically.
Free. Warm-up emails cost no credits.
Not counted in your daily limit. Your campaigns keep their full volume.
Invisible in Gojiberry. Warm-up conversations are hidden from your Gojiberry Inbox. You may briefly see them in Gmail or Outlook before they are archived.
Natural rhythm. Emails go out during working hours in your time zone, with fewer on weekends, and the volume grows gradually.
Turn it on or off
It is the Smart warm-up checkbox in the Sending volume section, right under Gradual ramp-up (see the screenshot in step 6). Tick or untick it, then click Save.
Mailbox connected before Smart warm-up existed? It starts unticked. Tick it and save to join the pool.
Personal addresses (gmail.com, outlook.com, hotmail...) can't join: the checkbox is greyed out, because the pool only accepts mailboxes on your own domain.
💡 Ramp-up and Smart warm-up work best together
They are two separate checkboxes, so you can use one without the other. For a new mailbox, we recommend keeping both on.
| Gradual ramp-up | Smart warm-up |
What it does | Raises your campaign limit from 2 to 30 a day | Exchanges background emails with the warm-up pool |
Emails involved | Your real campaign emails | Separate warm-up emails, hidden from your Inbox |
Counts in your daily limit | Yes, it is your daily limit | No |
Ends | On its own at 30 a day | Keeps running until you turn it off |
8. Sender name and signature
These make your emails look like they were written by a person, which is exactly what prospects and spam filters reward. Open the Sender name and signature section of the panel.
When closed, the section shows your current name and whether a signature is set.
Sender name
The name shown as "From" in your prospect's inbox. Use your real first and last name, not your company name.
This field is for Google mailboxes. With Outlook, the name comes from your Microsoft 365 account, and the section only shows the signature.
Signature
Added to every campaign email sent from this mailbox, up to 2,000 characters. Keep it simple: name, role, company, one link at most.
Heavy signatures with images and many links are a classic spam signal.
9. Tracking and unsubscribe
The last section of the panel holds two checkboxes. When it is closed, it shows whether each one is on or off.
Both are on by default.
Open tracking
Adds an invisible pixel to know when a prospect opens your email. Useful for reporting, but some email clients block it, so open rates are approximate.
If deliverability is your top priority, consider turning it off for the first weeks.
Unsubscribe link
We recommend keeping it. Gmail and Yahoo expect an easy way to opt out, and a prospect who can unsubscribe doesn't click "Report spam", which hurts your reputation far more.
10. Habits that protect your reputation
Send to verified addresses. Bounces are the fastest way to get flagged. Avoid importing old lists.
Personalize. Identical emails sent in bulk are easy to spot. Use variables and AI personalization so each email is different.
Reply to people who answer. Conversations are the strongest positive signal an inbox provider can see.
Keep the volume steady. 30 a day, every working day, beats 150 on Monday and nothing until Friday.
Check Deliverability after any DNS change. Agencies and IT teams sometimes replace records by mistake. A quick Check again catches it.
Prefer zero setup? Done-For-You mailboxes
Everything above is what we do for you when you buy a Done-For-You mailbox in Gojiberry. In this case, you have nothing to do.
We register a dedicated outreach domain, so your company domain is never at risk.
We create Google Workspace mailboxes on it (up to 3 per domain, to protect deliverability).
SPF, DKIM and DMARC are configured from day one.
The mailbox is warmed up for you, on top of the ramp-up.
It appears in your mailbox list like any other, ready for your campaigns.
Go to Settings → Senders Accounts → Connect Mailbox and choose the Done-for-you mailbox option (marked "Recommended"). Pricing is shown before you confirm.
For the full walkthrough, read Done-For-You: how to buy outreach inboxes and How to manage a purchased mailbox.
💡 Our recommendation
Teams that send at volume usually combine both: their own mailbox for warm, high-value conversations, and Done-For-You mailboxes for outbound campaigns.
Frequently asked questions
I added the records but Gojiberry still shows them as missing.
DNS changes can take up to 48 hours. Wait a bit and click Check again. Still failing after a day? Double-check the host: some DNS providers want @ for the domain itself, others want it empty, and for DMARC the host is _dmarc, not _dmarc.yourdomain.com.
My DKIM shows as missing but my provider says it is on.
Gojiberry looks for the standard selector names (Google's google, Microsoft's selector1 and selector2, plus the common ones). If your admin chose a custom name, the check can't find it even though your emails are signed.
Why p=quarantine and not p=reject for DMARC?
Quarantine sends forged emails to spam; reject refuses them entirely. Quarantine protects you almost as well while forgiving a tool that isn't aligned yet. Once everything passes, moving to p=reject is a good final step.
Is ramp-up the same as Smart warm-up?
No. Ramp-up limits how many real campaign emails you send while the mailbox is new. Smart warm-up exchanges separate background emails with the warm-up pool to build your reputation. They work best together.
Will I see the warm-up emails?
Not in Gojiberry: they are hidden from your Inbox. In Gmail or Outlook, you may see them for a few hours before they are archived automatically. Please don't delete them or mark them as spam: it works against the warm-up.
Why is the Smart warm-up checkbox greyed out?
Your mailbox is on a personal address (gmail.com, outlook.com, hotmail...). The warm-up pool only accepts mailboxes on your own domain.
Does Smart warm-up reduce how many campaign emails I can send?
No. Warm-up emails are not counted in your daily limit and cost no credits.
Does a failing check stop my campaigns?
No. The Deliverability section is informative. Your campaigns keep sending, but the longer a row stays red, the more emails end up in spam.
Can I use my personal Gmail address?
You can connect it, but we don't recommend it for outreach. You can't set up SPF, DKIM or DMARC for gmail.com, Google caps its sending, and it can't join Smart warm-up. Use a mailbox on your own domain or a Done-For-You mailbox instead.
Still have a question? Open the chat bubble in the bottom-right corner of Gojiberry and our team will be happy to help.