The SparkPost playbook

SparkPost sends the volume. Your domain still has to earn the inbox.

SparkPost (now part of Bird) warms newly purchased dedicated IPs automatically, but every organization starts on the shared pool, and a new sending domain starts with no history either way. Keep sending exactly as you do now. Add your brand domain here and we build its reputation while SparkPost keeps sending.

Start warming my domainSee Inbox Boost
The SparkPost playbook

Keep sending from SparkPost. Warm the domain here.

Step 1

Verify your sending domain

Until you do, only Bird’s onboarding sender is available, and it delivers only to verified members of your workspace. A domain verifies with a DKIM TXT record, a return-path CNAME that also covers SPF, and a DMARC record, where p=none is enough. Bird recommends a dedicated subdomain such as mail.yourapp.com, and domains are registered separately in each region.

Step 2

Know what SparkPost warms, and what it does not

A newly purchased dedicated IP starts in a warming status and is ramped automatically, with the rest of your traffic overflowing to the shared pool. Bird’s IP warmup guide covers the IP and says nothing about the sending domain. On the default shared pool there is no IP of yours to warm: the domain is the reputation you own.

Step 3

Add your brand domain to Inbox Boost

Use the domain in your From address, such as yourapp.com. The sending subdomain Bird recommends, such as mail.yourapp.com, stays with SparkPost. We set up what the domain needs and build its sender reputation for you. Nothing to connect to SparkPost or Bird: no API key, no webhook, no change to your account.

Step 4

Keep every send where it is

Password resets, receipts, notifications and bulk sends all keep going out exactly as they do now. Mailbox providers score the domain in your From address, so the reputation built here counts for every SparkPost send from yourapp.com.

Step 5

Check where SparkPost mail lands

Inbox placement tests show whether your mail reaches the inbox or Spam across the major mailbox providers, and blacklist monitoring keeps watching the domain once it is warm.

  • Nothing to connect: no SparkPost or Bird API key, webhook or integration
  • Nothing to change: your code, IP pools and templates stay exactly as they are
  • Shared or dedicated IP: it works either way, because the reputation belongs to the domain
  • Watched after warmup: blacklist and authentication monitoring on your brand domain
Features SparkPost senders lean on

The parts of the platform this plan leans on.

Feature

Inbox Boost

Add a domain. We provision the sending server and publish your DNS.

Learn more Feature

Guided DNS setup

We write SPF, DKIM and return-path into your zone, not you.

Learn more Feature

Inbox placement testing

See whether you land in Primary, Promotions or Spam across providers.

Learn more
See it play out

A SparkPost domain, warmed without pausing a single send.

Four checkpoints, in order. Click any step or let it play.

sparkpost · mail.yourapp.com
DKIM (TXT)verified
DMARCpublished
sending historynone yet
Questions

SparkPost questions, answered.

Does Inbox Boost connect to my SparkPost or Bird account?
No. There is no API key, webhook or integration to set up. Inbox Boost works on your brand domain, and SparkPost keeps sending your mail exactly as it does now.
SparkPost already warms dedicated IPs. Why warm the domain too?
The automated warmup gives a new dedicated IP a growing share of your traffic while the shared pool carries the rest. Bird’s guide covers the IP only. Your sending domain carries its own reputation with Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo, and a new domain starts with no history whichever IPs carry its mail.
I am on the shared Bird pool. Does this still help?
Yes. Every organization starts there, and Bird says a lightly used dedicated IP builds reputation more slowly than the shared pool. On the shared pool the domain is the reputation that is actually yours, and building it here helps everything SparkPost sends from it.
Which domain should I add?
Your brand domain, the one in your From address, such as yourapp.com. Bird recommends a dedicated sending subdomain such as mail.yourapp.com rather than the apex, to keep sending reputation separate; verify that subdomain on Bird, where it stays. Then add yourapp.com here.
Can I see whether it is working?
Yes. Inbox placement tests show where your SparkPost mail lands, inbox or Spam, across the major mailbox providers, and blacklist monitoring keeps watching the domain afterwards.
About the SparkPost facts on this page

Checked against SparkPost's own documentation on 12 October 2026. SparkPost is a trademark of its owner; SenderSignal is not affiliated with it.

Other transactional & smtp: Amazon SES, Mailgun, Postmark, Resend, Mailjet. All use cases.

SparkPost keeps sending

Warm the domain behind your SparkPost mail.

Start free, add your brand domain, and keep every send where it is while its reputation builds.

Start freeHow Inbox Boost works