Custom Sub-Tracking Domain for Cold Email Outreach

leadstream.in

February 15, 2025

Email Marketing, Marketing

Custom Sub-Tracking Domain for Cold Email Outreach

In the world of cold email outreach, tracking performance is key. Whether you’re sending personalized pitches or marketing your product, you need to know if your emails are getting opened, clicked, and responded to. One effective way to boost your email marketing efforts and protect your sender reputation is by using a custom sub-tracking domain.

But what does this mean? And why is it so important for cold email outreach? Let’s break it down in a way that’s easy to understand

What is a Tracking Domain?

When you send an email, it’s often difficult to track whether recipients actually open your message, click on any links, or respond. Email service providers (ESPs) like Mailchimp, Lemlist, or any other cold email tool, use tracking domains to track activities within the email. These domains host tracking pixels or links that gather data on how your emails perform.

In simple terms, a tracking domain is a domain set up specifically to gather data related to email engagement—whether someone opened the email, clicked a link, or took an action.

What is a Custom Sub-Tracking Domain?

Now that we know about tracking domains, let’s look at custom sub-tracking domains.

A custom sub-tracking domain is essentially a domain that you own (or control) but is set up specifically to track your cold email outreach activity. It’s a subdomain of your main website (e.g., track.yourdomain.com) and is dedicated to email tracking purposes.

For example, let’s say your business is called “Lead Stream” and your website is leadstream.in. Instead of using a generic tracking domain like mailchimp.com or lemtrack.com, you can create your own custom tracking subdomain, like track.leadstream.in.

Why Use a Custom Sub-Tracking Domain for Cold Email Outreach?

Using a custom sub-tracking domain offers several important benefits for cold email campaigns:

Protects Your Main Domain’s Reputation Cold emailing is often associated with a higher chance of being marked as spam. If you use a generic tracking domain from your email service provider (ESP), it can negatively impact the reputation of the ESP’s domain. If too many recipients flag your emails as spam, it could affect your domain’s deliverability.

By using a custom sub-tracking domain, you’re keeping the tracking separate from your main domain, thus protecting its reputation. Even if your cold emails get flagged, the risk stays with the subdomain and not your main business domain.

Improved Deliverability ISPs (Internet Service Providers) like Gmail and Outlook assess the sender’s reputation when deciding whether to deliver an email to the inbox or to the spam folder. A custom sub-tracking domain helps you establish a better sender reputation, which can result in better inbox placement for your emails.
Better Control and Customization By using your own custom subdomain, you have full control over the configuration, such as setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to ensure your emails are authenticated properly. This not only helps with deliverability but also adds an extra layer of protection against phishing.
Branding and Trust When your recipients see your emails coming from a familiar domain, they’re more likely to trust your messages. A custom sub-tracking domain that’s clearly tied to your business adds a level of professionalism and consistency to your cold email outreach.
Detailed Analytics and Insights With a custom sub-tracking domain, you get more detailed insights into how your emails are performing. Most ESPs provide analytics for opens, clicks, and responses. However, with a custom setup, you can track even more granular details like specific actions taken by your recipients, which can help refine future outreach campaigns.

How to Set Up a Custom Sub-Tracking Domain?

Setting up a custom sub-tracking domain isn’t complicated, but it does require a few steps:

Choose Your Subdomain Choose a subdomain that’s relevant and easy to remember. For example, you can use track, email, or outreach as your subdomain (e.g., track.awesomebooks.com).
Create the Subdomain in Your Domain Provider Go to your domain provider (like GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Cloudflare) and create a new subdomain. The process will differ slightly depending on your provider, but it’s typically a simple process where you add a new DNS record for the subdomain.
Set Up Tracking with Your ESP Once your subdomain is created, go to your email service provider or cold email tool. In most cases, they will have a dedicated section where you can set up your custom subdomain for tracking. They will provide you with specific DNS records (like CNAME records) that you need to add to your domain.
Configure DNS Records You will need to configure DNS records for the subdomain to point to your email service provider’s servers. This is typically done by adding a CNAME record (Canonical Name Record) that connects your subdomain to the ESP’s tracking infrastructure.

Test It Out Once everything is set up, test it out by sending a test email to yourself. Check to see if the links and tracking pixels are working correctly and that your emails are being sent from the correct subdomain.

Best Practices for Using a Custom Sub-Tracking Domain

To get the most out of your custom sub-tracking domain, keep these best practices in mind:

Warm Up Your Domain Before launching large-scale cold email campaigns, warm up your new subdomain. This involves gradually increasing the number of emails sent to build trust with email providers. This will help ensure that your emails don’t get flagged as spam.
Monitor Your Metrics Regularly Keep an eye on how your emails are performing. Look at open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and any feedback from recipients to help fine-tune your outreach strategy.
Use Authentication Protocols Always set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for your custom subdomain. These authentication protocols verify that your emails are legitimate and not spoofed, which enhances your sender reputation.
Keep the Subdomain Separate Keep your cold email outreach activities separate from your primary domain. This means don’t send transactional or marketing emails from the same domain. This helps maintain a good reputation for your main business domain.

Check for Deliverability Issues Keep track of deliverability issues, such as your emails being marked as spam. If you notice a high spam complaint rate, it could affect the performance of your outreach and the reputation of your subdomain.

Conclusion

A custom sub-tracking domain is a powerful tool for cold email outreach. It helps protect your primary domain, improves your email deliverability, and provides better control over your email marketing efforts. By setting up a custom tracking subdomain, you ensure your outreach campaigns run smoothly while safeguarding your sender reputation.

If you’re serious about cold emailing, taking the time to configure a custom sub-tracking domain can make a huge difference in how your emails are received and how effectively you track engagement.

Have you tried setting up a custom sub-tracking domain for your cold email campaigns? If not, what’s holding you back?

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Email Marketing, Marketing

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