Is a dedicated IP address right for me?

A dedicated IP address is not the ideal solution for everyone. There’s agreat article on Ezemail.com that discusses the pros and cons so you can decide whether a dedicated or shared IP is right for your company. Ezemail.com’s overall recommendation is that marketers that frequently send large numbers of email blasts would benefit from a dedicated IP address, while those that send only occasional or monthly emails would probably not want a dedicated IP address. Below are some of the highlights from the article:

Pros:

• Reputation – Sharing your IP address means you’re also sharing your reputation. Having your own dedicated IP address puts you in charge of your reputation and deliverability.
• Accreditation and Whitelisting – Some whitelisting programs require you to have a dedicated IP address. Being accredited can help improve deliverability.
• Monitoring – Being in charge of your own IP address allows you to monitor and take action immediately on any issues that arise.

Cons:

• Volume Spikes – Spikes in volume can negatively affect your reputation and need to be watched and managed carefully. Since your IP address is dedicated to you, you wouldn’t have your ESP balancing out the spikes with other clients’ mailings, so this would be your responsibility to manage.
• Volume History - Reputation is also tied into volume history. Since you’re starting fresh with a new IP address, you would not have any history. Some ISPs are throttling IP addresses with no volume history to stricter reputation standards, so your reputation would need to be built slowly over time.
• Deliverability – Having your own dedicated IP address doesn’t automatically mean your deliverability will be better. To improve deliverability, you also need to become accredited with whitelisting companies.
• Monitoring – Monitoring and taking action on issues that arise requires both time/effort and money.
• Cost – Most ESPs charge extra for this service (as a separate line item cost or added to monthly fees). Additional costs can be accrued from whitelisting and monitoring (direct costs to your ESP or costs incurred from taking the time and effort to monitor yourself).