If you are reading this, you are probably in that annoying place where your cold emails used to land fine, replies were decent, then slowly things got weird.

Open rates fall off a cliff. Replies turn into crickets. You send a test email to a friend and it lands in Promotions. Or worse, Spam. You check Google Postmaster and see a sad red line. Microsoft SNDS looks… not great. And then somebody says it.

“Your domain is burned.”

That phrase gets thrown around a lot. Sometimes it’s true. Sometimes it’s not. Either way, you can usually recover. But you have to stop guessing. And you have to stop blasting while you “figure it out”. That is how domains die for real.

This guide is the playbook I wish more teams followed. It’s long, it’s practical, and it’s written for B2B outbound. Not newsletters. Not ecommerce. Cold email, deliverability, and the stuff that actually moves your inbox placement back to normal.

We’ll go step by step.

What “burned domain” actually means

A “burned” domain is basically a domain with a damaged sender reputation, to the point where mailbox providers start distrusting mail from it.

That damage can show up as:

• You land in spam in Google Workspace and Gmail.
• You land in junk or “Other” in Outlook, Microsoft 365, Hotmail.
• Your messages are blocked or rate limited (4xx temp deferrals).
• Your links get rewritten or flagged.
• Your deliverability is fine to some providers, terrible to others.
• Everything seems “delivered”, but it is not in the inbox.

And the reasons are usually boring, not mysterious:

• Too much volume too fast.
• Low engagement (no opens, no replies, lots of deletes).
• Spam complaints.
• Hitting spam traps (from bad lists).
• Poor list targeting causing lots of “not interested” rage clicks.
• Bad authentication or misalignment (SPF, DKIM, DMARC issues).
• Sending infrastructure mistakes (shared IP issues, bad warmup, no throttling).
• A link domain that is flagged (tracking domain, redirect domain).
• Content patterns that trigger filters (template footprints).

A domain isn’t “burned” just because one campaign performed badly. A domain is burned when you cannot send normal, low volume, high quality emails and reliably land in inbox across your target providers.

So the first move is diagnosis. Not panic.

Before you do anything: stop the bleeding (Day 0)

Yes, you can keep sending while you fix it. You just shouldn’t. Not if you care about recovery.

Here’s the “freeze” checklist:

1. Pause all outbound from the affected domain for 48 to 72 hours.
   If you absolutely must send, keep it to real 1 to 1, hand typed, no links, no tracking. Like a human.
2. Stop sending to unverified lists immediately.
   If your bounce rate is above 2 percent on cold outreach, you are playing with fire.
3. Turn off open tracking for now.
   Open tracking can cause issues in some environments and it adds noise. Replies matter more anyway.
4. Reduce variables.
   One domain, one or two inboxes, plain text, no links, no images, no attachments. We will add complexity back later.

If your revenue depends on outbound and you can’t afford a pause, then at least split traffic. Move urgent sending to a separate, healthy domain (more on that later) while you rehabilitate the burned one.

Quick visual: the recovery timeline

Realistically:

• Day 0 to 3: Stabilize, fix authentication, clean lists, remove risky stuff.
• Day 4 to 14: Reputation repair with low volume, high engagement, manual style emails.
• Week 3 to 6: Gradual scaling with tight throttling, good targeting, ongoing monitoring.
• Week 6+: You are either back, or you need a new sending domain and a new strategy.

Now let’s actually do it.

Step 1: Confirm you are actually burned (and where)

You need proof. Otherwise you will "fix" things that are not broken.

1A) Run inbox placement tests (realistic ones)

Avoid the trap of relying on a single seed test tool and calling it done. Seed tests are useful, but they are not the entire truth.

Do this instead:

Send to real accounts you control

• A Gmail (consumer) inbox
• A Google Workspace inbox (if possible)
• A Microsoft 365 inbox
• An Outlook.com inbox
• A Yahoo or iCloud inbox (optional but helpful)

Send the same simple email, from the same inbox, at least twice across two days.

Keep it plain:

Subject: Quick question

Body:
Hey [Name], quick question. Are you the right person for [X]?
If not, who should I speak with?

Thanks,
[You]

No links. No signature banner. No HTML.

Track manually

• Did it land in inbox, promotions, spam, junk, other?
• Did it get delayed?
• Any warning banners?

1B) Check provider dashboards (especially Google)

If you send a meaningful amount to Gmail, you want Google Postmaster Tools.

• Google Postmaster Tools: https://postmaster.google.com
  You need DNS verification for the domain.

What you are looking for

• Domain reputation and IP reputation
• Spam rate
• Authentication success rates (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

For Microsoft ecosystems

• If you use a dedicated IP sometimes you can use SNDS, but many cold emailers are on shared infra. Still, you can learn a lot from bounce messages and the pattern of deferrals.

1C) Pull your last 14 to 30 days of sending stats

If you use a cold outreach platform, export:

• Total sent per day
• Bounce rate
• Spam complaints (if you have feedback loop data)
• Reply rate
• Positive reply rate (if you tag it)
• Unsubscribe rate
• Provider breakdown if possible (Gmail vs Microsoft vs others)

A “burn” pattern often looks like:

• Bounces creep up, then spike.
• Replies drop first, then inbox placement drops.
• Microsoft starts junking you earlier than Google, or vice versa.
• One campaign triggers it (new list, new pitch, new sending pattern).

If you are using PlusVibe, this is where it helps that deliverability and outbound analytics sit closer together. You want to see exactly which inbox, which sequence step, and which volume jump lined up with the decline.

Step 2: Fix authentication and alignment (do not skip this)

A lot of “burned” domains are just misconfigured. Or they were configured once, then somebody changed a DNS record, added a new sending tool, or moved from one provider to another.

2A) SPF: keep it valid and not bloated

SPF should:

• Include only the services that send mail for that domain.
• Have one SPF record total (multiple records break it).
• Stay under the DNS lookup limit (10 lookups).

Example SPF (not universal):

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:sendgrid.net ~all

Check it with tools like MXToolbox or mail-tester.

If your SPF fails or permerrors, it’s a fast way to get filtered.

2B) DKIM: enable it for every sending system

DKIM is critical. Especially for Google.

• For Google Workspace: enable DKIM signing in Admin Console, publish the DKIM TXT record.
• For Microsoft 365: enable DKIM, publish records (selector1, selector2 typically).
• For any sending service: ensure DKIM is on and aligned.

Then verify by sending an email to a Gmail inbox and checking “Show original”. You should see:

• SPF: PASS
• DKIM: PASS
• DMARC: PASS

2C) DMARC: publish it, start with p=none

DMARC ties SPF and DKIM to your domain alignment.

Start with:

v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com; ruf=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com; fo=1;

Later, when stable, you can tighten to quarantine or reject. But for recovery, you mainly need alignment and visibility.

2D) Make sure your “From” domain matches your signing domain

This is the silent killer.

If you send with:

• From: you@yourdomain.com
  but your DKIM signs with some other domain, or SPF is for a different bounce domain, alignment can fail DMARC.

Again, check “Show original” in Gmail. Don’t assume.

Image suggestion: screenshot of Gmail “Show original” section showing SPF/DKIM/DMARC Pass.
Example placeholder:

Step 3: Identify the root cause (it’s usually one of these)

This is where you earn the recovery. Because if you do not fix the cause, warming back up is just… warming back up into the same mistake.

3A) Volume and velocity spikes

Look for:

• A jump from 20 per inbox per day to 100.
• Adding 10 new inboxes and blasting immediately.
• Turning on follow ups that multiply volume without you noticing.

Providers hate sudden changes. They like boring, consistent patterns.

3B) Bad list quality

If your list is scraped, outdated, or bought, it often contains:

• dead inboxes (bounces)
• role accounts (info@, sales@)
• spam traps
• people who never asked for this, who will complain

You cannot recover a domain while still feeding it bad addresses. Period.

3C) Content footprints and spam triggers

This is less about individual “spam words” and more about patterns:

• Identical templates at scale
• Heavy HTML
• Link shorteners
• Tracking domains
• Attachments
• Aggressive claims
• “Re:” fake threads
• Weird personalization tokens that break (Hi {firstName})

Also, if your link domain is flagged, even good emails can be dragged.

3D) Complaint and unsubscribe friction

If people cannot easily opt out, they get annoyed and click spam.

Even for cold email, you want:

• A simple one line opt out like “If you’d rather I don’t follow up, just reply ‘no’.”
• Or a proper unsubscribe link (some teams avoid links, but a clean opt out can reduce complaints). If you do include a link, make sure the domain is reputable and consistent.

3E) Infrastructure mistakes

Examples:

• Using the same domain for website and cold outbound with heavy volume.
• No inbox rotation or throttling.
• Using shared SMTP tools with poor reputation.
• Not warming inboxes properly.

PlusVibe’s positioning is basically built around these pain points. Warm up, verification, throttling, rotation, deliverability controls. Not glamorous, but it is the boring stuff that keeps you alive.

Step 4: Clean up your sending environment (the “detox”)

This part is annoying but it is where a lot of recoveries succeed.

4A) Remove risky links (for now)

For the next 2 weeks:

• No Calendly links.
• No “book a call” buttons.
• No Bitly.
• No PDF attachments.
• No images.

If you must include a link, use:

• One link
• To a clean domain you control
• Not a redirect chain
• Not a tracking link

But I would still avoid it in the early recovery window.

4B) Disable tracking pixels (open tracking)

Leave reply tracking on, obviously. But open tracking can create weird deliverability and privacy issues, and during recovery you want fewer variables.

4C) Tighten your signature

Keep it short:

• Name
• Role
• Company
• Optional: phone No banners. No social icons. No “Sent from my iPhone” fake stuff.

4D) Make your emails look like normal emails again

Plain text is fine. Light HTML is also fine. Just stop trying to look like a marketing email.

Step 5: Clean and rework your list strategy (this is half the fix)

If your list quality is what burned you, you can’t “technical” your way out.

5A) Verify everything before sending

Use a bulk email verifier. Remove:

• invalid
• risky
• catch-all (depending on your tolerance)
• unknowns

Aim for bounce rate:

• Under 2 percent, ideally under 1 percent.

PlusVibe includes bulk email verification as part of the platform, which makes the workflow less messy. But whatever you use, do not skip verification.

5B) Segment by provider

For recovery, segment:

• Gmail and Google Workspace
• Microsoft (Outlook, Hotmail, Microsoft 365)
• Others

Why? Because you might be burned with Microsoft but okay with Google. Or the reverse. And you can recover faster by controlling volume per provider.

5C) Tighten targeting

This is the unsexy truth: high intent lists heal domains faster.

Pick a segment where you can realistically get replies. For example:

• Warm-ish outbound (people who engaged with content, visited site, downloaded something)
• Very tight ICP with personalized first lines
• Smaller account list with higher relevance

Low reply rates are a slow poison.

Step 6: Decide if you should rehabilitate or replace

Sometimes you should recover the domain. Sometimes you should stop wasting time and spin up a new sending domain.

Here’s a practical rule:

Rehabilitate if:

• The domain is important (brand domain, long term asset).
• You can pause or reduce sending.
• Your blacklist status is clean or minimal.
• You can commit to 4 to 6 weeks of discipline.

Replace (for outbound only) if:

• You are hard blocked by major providers.
• You are on major blacklists and cannot delist quickly.
• You need pipeline now and cannot wait.
• The domain is already associated with heavy spam complaints.

Important note: replacing does not mean abandoning. It means you shift outbound to a new sending domain while you rehabilitate the original in parallel.

A common approach:

Keep your main website domain for brand and inbound. Use a separate sending domain for cold outreach. Good examples include tryyourbrand.com, yourbrandhq.com, or getyourbrand.com.

Do not use a domain that looks scammy. Keep it close to your brand, but not identical in a deceptive way.

Step 7: Warm up again, but do it like you mean it

This is the part people rush. And then they wonder why the domain "never recovers".

7A) Start with human style sending

For the first week back:

• 5 to 15 emails per inbox per day
• Only to highly relevant prospects
• Only plain text
• No links
• Ask a simple question
• Encourage a reply

You are trying to generate positive engagement signals.

7B) Add warm up traffic (carefully)

Warm up can help rebuild reputation if it is realistic and spread over time.

But warm up cannot fix bad lists, spam complaints, or aggressive scaling.

Think of warm up as supportive, not magical.

If you use PlusVibe's warm up, the advantage is you can keep it under the same roof as throttling and multi inbox rotation, so you are not duct taping 4 tools together. Still, the principle stays the same. Low, steady, human.

7C) Keep volume increases boring

A safe ramp looks like:

• Week 1: 5 to 15 per inbox per day
• Week 2: 15 to 25
• Week 3: 25 to 40
• Week 4: 40 to 60

And only increase if:

• bounce rate stays low
• complaints are zero or near zero
• replies are healthy
• inbox placement tests are passing

If one of those goes sideways, pause the ramp.

Image suggestion: simple chart showing a gradual ramp in daily volume.

Step 8: Fix your sequences (the part everyone ignores)

A burned domain often comes from sequences that look normal in a dashboard but feel spammy in a real inbox.

Here’s what I would change.

8A) Reduce follow up count

If you are sending 6 to 8 follow ups, you might be farming spam complaints. Not always, but often.

For recovery:

• Keep it to 2 to 4 touches total.
• Space them out.
• Stop if they reply or if they opt out.

8B) Make follow ups shorter, not louder

Bad follow up:

• “Just bumping this to the top of your inbox…”

Good follow up:

• Add one new detail, one new angle, or a smaller ask.

8C) Remove aggressive CTAs

During recovery, your CTA should be:

• “Worth a quick chat?”
• “Should I speak with someone else?”
• “Is this even relevant?”

Not:

• “Book 15 minutes here.”

8D) Personalization that doesn’t break

If your personalization tokens are messy, it looks automated. And automation is fine, but broken automation is a spam signal.

Check:

• First name capitalization
• Company name formatting
• No weird placeholders
• No incorrect pronouns or job titles

If you use AI personalization, keep it grounded. Don’t generate fake facts about them.

PlusVibe has AI features for prospecting and enrichment and personalization. Use that stuff to tighten relevance, not to write a novel.

Step 9: Audit blacklists, but don’t obsess

Blacklists matter sometimes. But most B2B deliverability problems today are reputation and engagement, not a single blacklist listing.

Still, check:

• MXToolbox blacklist check
• Spamhaus (important)
• Barracuda
• SORBS (less relevant than it used to be, but still shows up)

If you are listed:

• Identify why (spam trap, complaint burst, compromised account).
• Fix the cause first.
• Then request delisting.

If you are not listed and still landing in spam, that points back to reputation, content, engagement, or authentication.

Step 10: Monitor the right signals (daily, for a while)

During recovery, monitor these daily:

• Bounce rate (hard bounces especially)
• Spam complaint rate (even small spikes matter)
• Reply rate (overall and positive)
• Inbox placement tests (at least twice a week)
• Postmaster reputation trend (weekly trend matters more than daily noise)
• Deferrals and blocks in SMTP logs

In PlusVibe or any platform, set alerts if possible:

• If bounce rate > 2 percent, pause.
• If spam complaints appear, pause.
• If Microsoft starts deferring heavily, reduce volume to Microsoft segments.

Step 11: Provider specific recovery notes (Gmail vs Microsoft)

This matters because recovery often feels uneven.

Gmail and Google Workspace

Gmail cares a lot about:

• Authentication (DKIM, DMARC)
• Spam complaints
• Engagement signals
• Consistent sending patterns

If your Postmaster reputation is “Low” or “Bad”:

• pause bulk sending
• rebuild with low volume and high reply rate traffic
• avoid links for a bit
• keep complaint rate near zero

Microsoft (Outlook, Hotmail, M365)

Microsoft can be harsher, and sometimes more random feeling.

Things that help:

• Lower volume per inbox
• More spacing between sends
• Avoiding identical templates across many inboxes
• Keeping complaint risk low
• Strong list hygiene

Also, Microsoft is more sensitive to “automation patterns”. If you send 100 emails at exactly 60 second intervals, that is not human. That is a machine. Throttling and randomization helps.

This is where multi inbox rotation and throttling are not just “nice features”. They are survival tools.

Step 12: When to introduce links, tracking, and scaling again

If you have had:

• 2 straight weeks of stable inbox placement in your tests
• bounce rate under 1 percent
• consistent replies
• no major deferrals

Then you can reintroduce complexity, one thing at a time.

Order I like:

1. Keep plain text, add one safe link (optional).
2. Then light HTML if you need it (honestly, you probably don’t).
3. Then open tracking, if you really insist. But many teams never turn it back on.
4. Then scale volume slowly.

Every time you add something, watch deliverability for 3 to 5 days before changing another variable.

Step 13: If the domain is truly cooked, here is the “new domain” plan (cleanly)

Sometimes recovery is too slow, and you need pipeline.

Here is the cleaner approach, without burning the new domain too.

13A) Set up a new sending domain properly

• Buy a domain close to your brand.
• Set up Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 properly.
• Configure SPF, DKIM, DMARC on day one.
• Create 2 to 5 inboxes max to start. Not 50.

13B) Warm slowly and keep it separate

Do not forward everything from the new domain to the old domain with weird routing. Keep it clean.

13C) Keep your main brand domain out of cold blasts

Your website domain is your long term asset. Try not to burn it again. Send from a dedicated outbound domain, and keep the main domain for inbound and transactional.

13D) Keep messaging consistent and honest

Do not pretend you are emailing from a different company. You can still represent the same brand. Just keep the sending domain as a delivery channel, not a deception tactic.

Step 14: The “recovery email templates” that actually help

These are not magic. They are just low risk.

Template 1: Simple relevance check

Subject: quick question

Hi {{firstName}}, quick question.

Are you the right person for {{use_case}} at {{company}}?

If not, who should I speak with?

Thanks,
{{yourName}}

Template 2: Light value, no links

Subject: {{company}} outreach

Hi {{firstName}}, I noticed {{simple_reason}}.

We help teams like yours with {{specific_outcome}}. If it’s relevant, I can share what usually works in a short note.

Worth a quick conversation, or should I go away?

Thanks,
{{yourName}}

However, if you're facing challenges with your current email domain due to issues like being blacklisted, consider reading this comprehensive guide on domain blacklists. It provides valuable insights into why domains get blacklisted and how to recover from such situations.

Additionally, it's crucial to monitor your email domain reputation regularly. This can help identify potential issues before they escalate into significant problems. If you're unsure about how to check your email domain's reputation, this email domain reputation checker guide offers step-by-step instructions on how to do so effectively.

Template 3: Breakup that reduces complaints

Subject: close the loop?

Hey {{firstName}}, closing the loop.

If it’s not a priority, no worries. Want me to stop reaching out?

Thanks,
{{yourName}}

That last line sounds small. It saves domains.

Step 15: Common mistakes that re-burn a recovering domain

This is where people lose weeks.

1. They ramp too fast because one day looked good.
   Recovery is about trends.
2. They switch templates every day.
   Constant changes create unpredictable engagement.
3. They add links back too early.
   Especially tracking links and calendar links.
4. They keep using the same bad list source.
   Verification can’t fix a spam trap heavy list.
5. They add more inboxes instead of fixing fundamentals.
   More inboxes just spreads the damage.
6. They ignore Microsoft and only test Gmail.
   Then wonder why half their ICP never sees them.
7. They optimize for opens, not replies.
   Replies are the strongest positive signal for cold outreach.

Step 16: A practical checklist you can copy into your docs

Day 0 to 3

• Pause outbound sends (or reduce to near zero)
• Verify SPF (one record, valid)
• Verify DKIM enabled and passing
• Publish DMARC (p=none)
• Remove tracking pixel and heavy HTML
• Remove links and attachments for now
• Verify and clean lists (aim <1 percent bounces)
• Segment sends by provider

Day 4 to 14

• Resume sending at 5 to 15 per inbox per day
• Use plain text, short emails, question based CTA
• Prioritize high intent and tight ICP
• Monitor bounces, complaints, replies daily
• Run inbox placement tests twice a week

Week 3 to 6

• Increase volume slowly (10 to 20 percent per week)
• Add one variable at a time (link, light HTML, etc)
• Keep complaint rate near zero
• Keep list hygiene strict

Where PlusVibe fits in (if you want the simple version)

If you’re doing this recovery while also trying to keep outbound running, you want fewer moving parts.

PlusVibe is built around the exact pieces that usually break during a burn:

• Secure email warm up to rebuild sender reputation steadily.
• Deliverability optimization controls (throttling, rotation, pacing).
• Bulk email verification so you stop feeding bounces and traps.
• Multi inbox management so you can scale without spiking one inbox.
• Campaign personalization and A B testing so you can improve replies without “spray and pray”.

If you want, you can check it out at https://plusvibe.ai and use it to run a more controlled recovery. Not in a “push button fix” way. More like, it keeps you from making the same operational mistakes again.

Final thoughts (and a blunt truth)

Recovering a burned domain is not about finding the perfect spam word list. It’s not about buying a new tool and hoping the problem disappears.

It’s mostly:

• Stop sending garbage volume.
• Fix authentication.
• Clean your lists.
• Write emails people actually reply to.
• Ramp slowly.
• Watch the signals.

Do that for a few weeks and most domains come back. Not all. But most.

If you want to sanity check your situation, here are the three questions to ask yourself today:

1. Did we spike volume or add inboxes recently?
2. Did list quality change recently?
3. Are SPF, DKIM, DMARC all passing and aligned right now?

Answer those honestly and you will usually see the real cause. Then the recovery steps above stop feeling like theory, and start feeling like a plan.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

What does it mean when my domain is 'burned' in cold email outreach?

A 'burned' domain refers to a domain with a damaged sender reputation, causing mailbox providers like Gmail and Outlook to distrust emails sent from it. This results in emails landing in spam, junk, or other non-inbox folders, being blocked or rate limited, or having links flagged. It usually stems from issues like high volume sending too fast, low engagement, spam complaints, hitting spam traps, poor list targeting, authentication problems (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), sending infrastructure mistakes, flagged link domains, or content patterns triggering filters.

How can I confirm if my domain is actually burned?

To confirm if your domain is burned, conduct realistic inbox placement tests by sending simple emails to real accounts you control across various providers such as Gmail (consumer and Workspace), Microsoft 365, Outlook.com, Yahoo, or iCloud. Check where the emails land—inbox, promotions, spam—and note delays or warning banners. Additionally, use provider dashboards like Google Postmaster Tools to review domain and IP reputation, spam rates, and authentication success rates. For Microsoft environments, analyze bounce messages and deferral patterns. Also review your last 14-30 days of sending stats including bounce rates and reply rates.

What immediate steps should I take if I suspect my domain is burned?

If you suspect your domain is burned, immediately pause all outbound sending from the affected domain for 48 to 72 hours to stop further damage. If you must send during this period, limit it to genuine one-to-one hand-typed emails without links or tracking. Stop sending to unverified lists right away—if your bounce rate exceeds 2%, you're risking further harm. Turn off open tracking temporarily to reduce noise and focus on replies. Simplify your sending by using one domain and one or two inboxes with plain text emails without images or attachments until recovery progresses.

What does the recovery timeline look like for a burned email domain?

The recovery process generally follows these phases: Day 0 to 3 involves stabilizing by fixing authentication issues (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), cleaning email lists of bad contacts, and removing risky elements. Days 4 to 14 focus on repairing sender reputation through low volume sending of manual-style emails that encourage engagement. Weeks 3 to 6 involve gradual scaling of volume with tight throttling and continued monitoring along with good targeting practices. After week 6+, either the domain has recovered its inbox placement or it's time to consider using a new sending domain with a fresh strategy.

Why should I avoid continuing high-volume email blasts while trying to fix deliverability issues?

Continuing high-volume blasts during deliverability issues exacerbates damage by increasing negative signals such as bounces and spam complaints which deepen sender reputation problems. This behavior accelerates the 'burning' of the domain making recovery harder and longer. Instead, pausing bulk sends allows you to diagnose issues properly and rebuild trust gradually through controlled low-volume sends that promote engagement—key factors in restoring inbox placement.

What common causes lead to a burned email domain in B2B cold outreach?

Common causes include sending too much volume too quickly without warming up; low recipient engagement evidenced by no opens or replies but many deletes; receiving spam complaints; hitting spam traps often caused by poor quality or outdated lists; bad list targeting resulting in negative recipient reactions; technical authentication failures such as SPF/DKIM/DMARC misconfigurations; mistakes in sending infrastructure like shared IP reputations or lack of throttling; flagged link domains used for tracking or redirects; and repetitive content patterns that trigger spam filters.