IP Addresses in Business: Pros, Cons, & Use Cases

One of the most crucial aspects of establishing a successful business is getting the word out about your brand and what you do. In the modern day, this is done through marketing. Increasingly. this is being done through email marketing, with 66% of businesses using email marketing to promote their business or communicate with leads and customers, according to a recent survey.

Of course, in order to garner the kind of attention you desire from your target audience via email, you need the appropriate means to communicate your brand message reliably. This is where IPs come in, because, believe it or not, your choice of IP address plays a significant role in your email marketing success and even the SEO of your website.

But how is this the case, and which is the right choice for you? Let’s discuss.

Types of IPs

Before outlining IP options, let’s briefly establish what IP addresses are and what they do.

Your IP (Internet Protocol) address is a sequence of four numbers, all of which range between 0 and 255. This sequence is unique and serves to identify your website or device on a network. This then allows you to transmit information online.

There are two main types of IP addresses that you can use for sending marketing your emails: shared IPs and dedicated IPs.

A shared IP address is one that is mapped to a variety of different domains. This means that many different senders with different devices may use a shared IP.

By contrast, a dedicated IP is one that belongs to a single sender who uses it exclusively. Dedicated IP addresses are generally assigned by email service providers (ESPs) who offer email marketing software platforms.

Let’s look at how these types of IPs compare to one another.

Shared IPs vs Dedicated IPs

Both shared IPs and dedicated IPs have their pros and cons. First, let’s look at shared IPs:

Pros of shared IPs

–        They’re simple to use. Shared IPs are easy to set up, so you can be up and running with just a couple of clicks.

–        They’re affordable. Since shared IPs are used by multiple domains, the operating costs are split, making it a cheap option.

–        They can boost your deliverability. Since many users can utilize a shared IP, you can benefit from reputation pooling. This means that if you have got a strong reputation of your own, you can increase your deliverability by using the reputations of other senders.

Cons of shared IPs

–        They don’t drive brand identity. Since using a shared IP means that you are grouped with other senders, it is more difficult to solidify your brand identity at domain level.

–        They can also harm your deliverability. Reputation pooling is a two-way street, which means that your deliverability may be negatively affected by sharing with senders that have a worse reputation than you.

Pros of dedicated IPs

–        They can be easier to troubleshoot. Since you’re the only one using your dedicated IP, identifying and solving issues is relatively straightforward.

–        They give you control over your reputation. Having an IP all to yourself means that you can safeguard your sender reputation.

–        They help you build brand identity. Using a dedicated IP allows you to show yourself as a unique sender at domain level, helping you to build a greater brand identity.

Cons of dedicated IPs

–        They require substantial outlay. There’s no splitting costs with a dedicated IP, so may represent a considerable expenditure for a smaller business.

–        They make you solely accountable. With a dedicated IP, you are fully responsible for every action you take, so you must be extra careful to avoid damaging your reputation.

–        They can’t be used at scale immediately. In the beginning, your dedicated won’t have any sending history, so in order to send out marketing content at scale, you must perform IP warming. This process can take up to 2 months in some cases.

Use cases

Depending on your business and what you want to achieve with your email campaigns, there are arguments for both shared and dedicated IPs.

Generally speaking, however, you are likely to prefer a shared IP if:

  1. You’re working on a timeframe that doesn’t allow for IP warming.
  2. You send mail inconsistently or in low volumes.
  3. You lack a strong sender reputation.

On the other hand, a dedicated IP may suit you better if:

  1. You are worried about protecting your IP reputation.
  2. You routinely encounter sending limits.
  3. You want to increase your brand identity and scale your business.

Conclusion

All, your choice of IP can have a major impact on what you can achieve with email marketing. It’s up to you to consider your business model and the specific needs of your company and to choose the appropriate type of IP address to help achieve your goals.

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