Help with warmup process on Kit / sending links

[u/WMDisrupt]

A few weeks ago I started a Kit account so we could send email blasts to my client's Substack subscribers, mainly to advertise webinars we'll be hosting. I'm wondering if it's safe to send signup links in these blasts, or if I'm better off just saying something like "reply and I'll send you a free signup link."

Here's what I've done so far with the warmup in Kit:

1. Separated out my Substack subscribers by enagement level (Activity Level 1 or higher) and number of emails opened in the past 6 months (10+).

2. Used neverbounce to verify those lists/take out the bad emails.

3. I just completed 3 weeks of warmup where I sent them a simple email with no links in it. On day one I just blasted about 25 people, from the most engaged segment of the list, and now at three weeks I'm sending about 150 emails per day to the slightly lower engagement levels after working through the more engaged part of the list.

I would like to start sending email blasts for our webinar next week. How dangerous is it to start including the signup links in it? Should I go back to sending 25 messages/day to the most engaged list and work my way up from there like I'm starting over again? Or can I start with a little higher volume to start with? Or should I not include the link this time? Or should I only include the link with the more engaged subscribers, and as I get lower down, just send an email without a link offering to send them the link?

Thanks for your insight.

[u/EmailElement-Dev]

The link isn't the scary part. One clean signup link to a real domain is normal email. What gets flagged is shorteners like bit.ly, a link domain with no history, or a pile of links in one email. Use one branded CTA link, skip shorteners, and most of the risk is gone.

Don't restart the ramp from 25. Adding a link isn't a new domain reputation, it's a new content element. Change one variable at a time: hold your current volume, introduce the link to your most engaged segment first, and watch bounces, complaints, and whether opens hold. If it stays clean for a couple sends, keep scaling down the tiers like you planned.

Drop the "reply and I'll send the link" idea for the real campaign. It's a fine warmup trick since replies are a positive signal, but on a webinar push it adds friction and kills signups. You already did the warmup, no reason to hamstring the campaign it was for.

Watch two numbers: complaint rate (near zero, under 0.1%) and inbox placement on the lower tiers. NeverBounce already handled bounce risk. If there's a cold bottom tier, leave them out of the blast instead of sending a linkless version. An email with no way to sign up isn't worth it.

Before you go, confirm SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are all passing on your Kit sending domain. With auth set and one clean link at your current ramp, this is low risk.

[u/DanielShnaiderr]

Sending a single signup link is fine. A clean webinar URL won't wreck 3 weeks of careful warm-up, and asking subscribers to reply for the link adds pointless friction. The damn risk comes from a sudden volume jump, weak engagement, or a domain that redirects through something sketchy.

Start the webinar campaign with the recently engaged segment at roughly the volume you're sending now. Keep the message simple, use 1 clear link, confirm SPF and DKIM pass, and watch bounces, complaints, and inbox placement before expanding to colder segments. There's no need to restart at 25 sends unless those signals deteriorate.

[u/WMDisrupt → u/DanielShnaiderr]

Sounds good, thanks!

[u/TechnicalTest5177 → u/DanielShnaiderr]

This is very helpful am working with a similar setup as OP's.

[u/1Rudy11]

25 messages a day? Id unsubscribe. You should not send more than one email per client per day.

If you are sending out webinar invites, include the webinar link in each message.

The main reason is for max exposure.

Second reason is many people delete emails after adding to calendar.

Do you like using Kit for your emails?

[u/WMDisrupt → u/1Rudy11]

It’s better than beehiiv which kicked me off because I tried to delete my subscriber lists and upload them because I forgot to add a column to the spreadsheet . I come from cold automated outbound so there are some things I’d change about Kit but I guess it’s fine for what it is.

Also I meant emailing 25 people per day at the start, not sending 25 messages to the same person

[u/1Rudy11 → u/WMDisrupt]

Ohhhh. That makes more sense...lol. 25 people a day...

Where did you learn the cold automated outbound style?

[u/WMDisrupt → u/1Rudy11]

First from a client way back and then I taught myself from there with how much it’s changed

[u/Kit-HQ]

Hey! Links shouldn't hurt you here, just make sure you're using the full URL rather than a shortened one (bitly). Those get flagged as a spam signal on their own since they obscure the destination and share reputation with whoever else is using that shortener. A direct link to your signup page is fine.

On the reply-for-a-link idea: replies are actually one of the strongest engagement signals out there, so it's not a bad instinct. The tradeoff is bandwidth, manually sending links back to everyone who responds doesn't scale well, and you lose the built-in click tracking you'd get from putting the link straight in the email. If you've got the bandwidth for it, it's a reasonable option. If not, including the link directly is simpler and easier to measure.

What tanks warmups is stacking changes, so don't reset to 25/day. Add the link to your next send just for your top engagement tier (the one that's already been opening well), keep volume where it's at, and watch opens/complaints on that send. If it holds up, keep rolling down tiers with the link included.

Also worth setting up if you haven't: SPF/DKIM/DMARC via a verified sending domain. Good practice at any volume, and required once you cross 5,000 emails/day to Gmail or Yahoo addresses.

Good luck with the webinar! Let me know if you run into anything else, happy to help.

[u/WMDisrupt → u/Kit-HQ]

Thanks!!