The one-sentence version#
Cold email infrastructure is the set of secondary domains, mailboxes, authentication records, and sending tools used to run outbound campaigns without risking a company's primary domain.
Why you should care#
Cold outreach carries higher complaint risk. Isolating it protects the main domain's transactional and marketing reputation.
The mental model#
Think of cold email infrastructure as a contract between you and the mailbox providers receiving your mail. You publish or configure something they can check; they check it on every message; the result feeds their decision about where your message lands. Everything below is about making that check pass consistently.
Your first setup, step by step#
- Register 2 to 5 lookalike domains and redirect them to your main site.
- Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on every domain from day one.
- Create 2 to 3 mailboxes per domain and warm each for 3 to 4 weeks.
- Cap sends at 30 to 50 per mailbox per day and rotate across mailboxes.
- Monitor bounce and reply rates per mailbox; retire any that degrade.
Words you will see#
- Mailbox provider: Gmail, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, and the corporate gateways that decide where mail lands.
- Authentication: proof that a message is from who it says it is (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
- Reputation: the provider's running score of your domain and IP.
- Placement: whether a message reaches the inbox, spam, or is rejected.
Common mistakes#
- Sending cold mail from the primary company domain.
- Skipping DMARC on secondary domains because 'they do not matter'.
- Buying aged domains with unknown history.
Frequently asked questions#
How many emails can I send per mailbox per day?
Google Workspace allows 2,000, but for cold outreach 30 to 50 keeps you under behavioral thresholds.
Should I use Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 for cold email?
Both work. Workspace mailboxes tend to warm faster; Microsoft has stricter outbound spam filtering.