📨 Connect SendGrid

SendGrid is one of the best known sending services, with plans that scale from a small list to a very large one. Setup is quick. The part worth planning for is the account review SendGrid can run on new accounts that start at high volume, which warmup handles for you.

What you need before you start:

• A SendGrid account (sign up at sendgrid.com).
• Access to the DNS for your sending domain.
• About fifteen minutes.

Where to find it:

In ResultsAiX Mailer open Delivery, then Sending, click + Add Sender and choose SendGrid in the Provider dropdown. SendGrid is already selected when the form opens. Its five step checklist appears in the form.

Step 1. Authenticate your domain at SendGrid:

1. In your SendGrid dashboard, open Sender Authentication and choose to authenticate your domain.
2. Enter your sending domain, for example yoursite.com. SendGrid shows several CNAME records.
3. Add those records at your DNS host, then press Verify in SendGrid.

Domain authentication puts your own DKIM signature on every email. It is worth doing even if SendGrid also lets you verify a single address.

Step 2. Create an API key:

1. In SendGrid, open API Keys and create a new key.
2. Choose restricted access and give it Mail Send permission.
3. Copy the key straight away. SendGrid shows it only once.

Step 3. Fill in the form:

The SendGrid part of the form has one box.

• API Key: paste the key from step 2. It is shown as dots.

Then fill in the rest of the form:

• Display name: for example SendGrid.
• From name and From email: a person and an address on the domain you authenticated, for example Anna at Leafwise and anna@yoursite.com.
• Reply-To: for example hello@yoursite.com.
• Daily limit (0 = unlimited): your plan's allowance for a day. If your plan counts per month, divide by 30 and round down.
• Priority (lower = preferred): 10 for your main service, or 20 for a backup.
• Active: leave it ticked.

Click Save Sender, then click Test on the new row. A green box confirms the test was sent, and Last test shows OK.

Step 4. Set up the event webhook:

1. On the Sending screen, click Copy URL next to SendGrid in the Bounce & complaint webhook box.
2. In SendGrid, open Mail Settings, then the Event Webhook, and paste the URL as the address to post to.
3. Switch on the Bounced, Dropped, Spam Reports and Unsubscribed events, and save.

Bounces are sorted into hard and soft, a dropped email counts as a hard bounce, and spam reports and unsubscribes are suppressed straight away.

How SendGrid and the Mailer work together:

• The Mailer switches off SendGrid's own open and click tracking on every email, because it tracks opens and clicks itself. Your reports stay in one place.
• A new account that sends a very large first broadcast can trigger a review. Switch on Warm up for this connection so it starts small and grows each day. See Warmup: Drip A Big Send Through A Cold Server.

A real example:

Leafwise Gardening wants SendGrid as a backup for its seed guide emails. Anna authenticates yoursite.com in SendGrid, creates a key with Mail Send permission, and adds a connection called SendGrid with From email anna@yoursite.com, Daily limit 3,000 and Priority 40. After a passing test she pastes the webhook URL into the Event Webhook. If her main connection ever reports an error, SendGrid quietly takes over.

Tips:

• Name each API key after the site that uses it, so you know which one to replace later.
• Keep Daily limit a little under your plan's allowance to leave room for other email you send through SendGrid.
• Clean an old list with Verify Leads before its first send through a new account.
• Check your domain records on the Deliverability tab. See Deliverability: SPF, DKIM And DMARC.

If something does not look right:

• If the test fails with an authorization or permission message, create a new key with Mail Send permission and paste it again, with no spaces before or after.
• If the test fails and mentions the From address, authenticate the domain (or verify that exact sender) in SendGrid, then test again.
• If mail is delivered but lands in spam, finish domain authentication so every email is DKIM signed for yoursite.com.
• If sending stops for the day, compare Sent today with Daily limit, and check your SendGrid dashboard for an account notice.