Why Your Member Emails Move Across Gradually
Moving to a new email sending system is a significant step, and we want you to understand exactly what happens and why. This page explains the process in plain terms — no technical jargon — so you can answer member questions confidently and know what to expect at each stage.
Why mailbox providers treat a new address cautiously
Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail are built to protect their users from unwanted mail. When emails start arriving from a sending address or domain those providers haven't seen before — even one that belongs to your club — they watch it carefully before deciding how much to trust it.
Think of it like a new supplier turning up at the club. The right thing to do is let them prove themselves over a few deliveries before handing them the keys. If we sent your full member list on day one from a brand-new sending address, providers would have no evidence yet that your members genuinely want those emails — and some would land in junk.
This matters to you personally as well. Your club's domain is the same domain on your own email address. A dented sending reputation could affect how your 1-to-1 messages to members, suppliers, or the board are received — not just the newsletters. We're protecting both.
What we do before the first email goes out
We take several steps to prepare, so that the first send starts on the strongest possible footing.
Step 1 — Prime your members while Intelligent Golf is still live. Before anything moves, we send a final broadcast from your existing Intelligent Golf system announcing the new sending address and name — mail.yourclub.co.uk from a named person at the club. We also add a note to your member portal login page. This uses your already-trusted sending infrastructure to introduce the change, so members recognise the new address when it arrives. It is the single highest-leverage thing we do.
Step 2 — Authentication. We configure the technical records that prove to mailbox providers that your club actually controls and authorises this sending address. Every email must pass SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checks before we send anything. This is the true gate to good deliverability, not volume.
Step 3 — List hygiene. We review your exported member list and suppress addresses that are likely to hard-bounce or cause complaints before the first send. Generic inboxes such as info@, office@, and admin@ are excluded from marketing sends. Named role accounts — captain, secretary — are reviewed individually, because these are often active, real people who should remain on the list.
A bounce rate above 2% is enough to trigger spam filtering at the major providers. We aim to keep it well below 0.5% from day one.
The gradual rollout — approximately one to two weeks
Once authentication is confirmed and the list is clean, we begin sending. We start with your most genuinely engaged members and widen in steps, watching the metrics at each stage before expanding further.
A typical schedule for a club of 500–1,000 members looks like this:
| Stage | Approx. members reached | Who receives it |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 50–150 | Your most recently active segment — recent enquirers, bookers, event attendees |
| Days 3–5 | 150–300 | Broader recent engagers |
| Days 6–10 | 300–600 | Majority of the active list |
| Days 10–14 | Full clean list | All opted-in members |
We only move to the next stage when the metrics from the previous send look healthy. The schedule is guided by what the data shows, not the calendar. If everything is clean and positive early on, we can move faster. If we see any amber signals, we hold at the current stage until it's resolved.
For clubs with particularly patchy data or consent records, we use a longer fallback schedule. We will agree the approach with you before we begin.
The one thing worth knowing: we send in carefully managed batches, not one large blast. This is deliberate. It gives providers time to process positive signals from each wave before the next one arrives.
What the first emails look like
During the first few sends you will notice the emails look plainer than your usual newsletter. That is intentional.
We use a simple, lightly branded format — a small club logo, clean single-column layout, mostly text, a single link. No hero images, no multiple buttons, no attachments. The first email is also written from a named person at the club, and the main call to action is to reply directly. Replies are the strongest possible signal to a mailbox provider that your members want to hear from you.
Once reputation is established — typically after the first two to three sends — we reintroduce your full newsletter design and normal cadence.
How we monitor things daily
Throughout the rollout we track the following signals. The thresholds below are the points at which we act.
| Signal | Healthy | Review | Pause | Stop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spam complaint rate | Below 0.10% | 0.10–0.20% | Above 0.20% | Above 0.30% |
| Hard bounce rate | Below 0.5% | 0.5–2% | Above 2% | Above 3% — re-clean |
| Unsubscribe rate | — | Above 1% | — | — |
| Authentication pass rate | ~100% | Any unexplained drop = pause immediately | — | — |
We also monitor delivery deferrals and blocks — signs that a provider is holding or rate-limiting mail — and we watch Google Postmaster Tools for a direct signal on how your domain is viewed.
One important note on open rates: we do not use them as a health signal. Apple Mail pre-loads tracking pixels regardless of whether your member actually opened the email, which significantly inflates the figure. We rely on click rate, reply rate, complaint rate, and bounce data — these are honest signals that reflect genuine engagement.
If anything looks off at any point, we pause, diagnose, and only resume when it's resolved. We will always contact you before making any change to the plan.
The one-off text message to members
When we launch, we send a single text message to your members on your behalf. The message is short and neutral:
We now email you from [Club Name] at
mail.yourclub.co.uk. Please check your junk folder and mark it as safe if you find us there.
That is all it says. No promotional content, no opt-out instruction. It is a straightforward service notification — the kind of thing you would send if you changed your phone number — and it arrives once only. It is not an ongoing nudge.
What you will notice, week by week
- Days 1–5: A smaller group of members receives a concise, lightly branded email from a named person at the club. Replies and queries arrive as normal through Capture.
- Days 6–10: Volume steps up. Design begins to reflect your usual newsletter style.
- Days 10–14: Full list active. Normal email schedule and newsletter format resume.
If your data is clean and your member records are in good shape, we may be able to complete the rollout in closer to ten days. We will agree the exact timeline with you before we begin.
In short
We are not doing anything unusual or complicated. We are doing exactly what the major mailbox providers ask: demonstrating that your members want your emails, gradually and with clean data, before sending at full volume.
By the end of the rollout your member communications will be running smoothly on the new system, and you will have a healthy sending reputation to build on for every campaign that follows.
If you have any questions at any stage, contact your Capture account manager directly.