THROW ME IN COACH
Can a customer set up multiple sending subdomains under a single Hive brand?
Yes—but it’s not enabled by default. An admin needs to turn it on in Django:
https://app.hive.co/admin/event/tour/
Important notes / limitations
Unsubscribe scope: If a contact unsubscribes, they’re unsubscribed from the entire brand—across all subdomains.
Reporting today: The platform doesn’t currently isolate metrics by subdomain. For example, the Analytics page aggregates data across all domains within the brand.
Tagging helps: With campaign tagging, it’s easier to attribute email/SMS to a specific brand (and you can adopt a tag convention per subdomain to approximate subdomain-level views until native filtering is available).
What is the initial send increment when Hive starts sending from a custom subdomain?
200
Once a subdomain has been fully warmed up, does that ensure that all emails moving forward will be sent from their custom subdomain?
Short answer: No—the warmup cap is set by a backend rule and doesn’t auto-adjust.
What that means
Do mailbox providers like Gmail, Microsoft, and Yahoo ever stop evaluating (grading) your emails?
No. They never stop. Every send is scored in real time, and your reputation is continuously updated. There’s no permanent whitelist—good history helps, but sudden spikes, poor engagement, or list issues can still push you to spam.
What they keep evaluating
Authentication & alignment: SPF, DKIM, DMARC (and consistency of your From/subdomain).
Reputation signals: complaints, bounces, spam-trap hits, blocklist presence.
Engagement: opens, clicks, replies, deletes-without-reading, “not spam” rescues.
Cadence & volume: spikes, irregular schedules, warmup adherence.
Content & links: risky wording, URL reputation, link shorteners, tracking domains.
Which DNS records must a customer add to properly configure a custom sending subdomain?
Add 4 DNS records (not files): 2 CNAME + 2 TXT
CNAME #1 — DKIM key
Authenticates mail from your subdomain (e.g., s1._domainkey.send.yourdomain.com → vendor).
CNAME #2 — Tracking domain
Enables click/open tracking (e.g., link.yourdomain.com → vendor).
TXT #1 — SPF
Authorizes your email provider to send on your behalf (prevents spoofing).
TXT #2 — DMARC
Protects your domain from phishing/abuse and tells receivers how to handle failures.
What increment do we increase the sends from your subdomain?
The daily send cap doubles each day during warmup: Day 1 → 200, Day 2 → 400, Day 3 → 800, and so on.
Internal tool to help plan a customers warmup period: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1M1uXCWrQGk2toDiTSo4_pkZjKlQ7J5CesGfaKvP2JyM/edit?gid=1620530889#gid=1620530889
If a customer’s deliverability and email KPIs tank, should we recommend starting from scratch with a new domain?
Usually, no.
Most deliverability issues are fixable without abandoning the domain. Start with a rehab plan and use a new (or separate) custom subdomain only as a last resort.
How does Hive determine the maximum number of emails I can send from my subdomain?
1. When you start fresh (i.e. you just set up custom domain or you didn't send an email for > 21 days), you always start at being able to send 200 over custom domain
2. Whatever the highest send day off your custom domain is within 21 days of sending, take that number and multiply it by 1.5 to decide what the next highest number is that you can send over your custom domain
3. If the highest send day over your custom domain is under 40k, the next day you can send to that amount multiplied by 2 to figure out the next highest number that you can send to over your custom domain
4. If the highest send day over your custom domain is is over 40k, the next day you can send to that amount multiplied by 1.5to figure out the next highest number that you can send to
How long does DNS verification usually take before my subdomain is fully configured?
DNS verification usually completes within minutes to a few hours; allow up to 24–48 hours for full propagation.
If it’s still pending after 48 hours, there’s likely a configuration issue.
How does Hive decide which contacts to route through my subdomain?
Early sends are random. As warmup progresses, routing adapts based on engagement: engaged contacts are sent via your custom subdomain, while less-engaged contacts are sent via Hive’s shared domains.
Product request: Instead of starting blind, add first-send logic that prioritizes contacts with recent purchase history (and/or recent engagement) on the custom subdomain to accelerate warmup and build reputation faster.
Name three ways a customer can improve email deliverability.
Targeting & Segmentation
Sending Cadence & Volume
List Hygiene
Content & Creative
Infrastructure & Authentication
Does the subdomain warmup period apply to ALL emails sent from your Hive account?
Funny enough, no—the warmup applies only to email campaigns not emails sent via automations. That said, it’s not a workaround; customers should still follow the subdomain warmup process.
Trick question: Would Hive be better off if every account used a custom subdomain?
Surprisingly, no. We need Hive’s shared subdomains in regular use to build and maintain strong sender reputation—so they’re reliable for custom subdomain warmups. If they’re only used during warmup bursts, the volume may be too low to keep them “warm” and active.
Other than following the 2x rule, is there another sending cadence recommendation we can share with customers.
Another great question—and the honest answer is: it depends.
If your audience is highly engaged: You can usually run the fastest approved ramp (daily sends with ~2× increments). Strong engagement out of the gate gives your domain positive signals, so you don’t need to be ultra-conservative with cadence—just keep an eye on metrics.
If the list is colder or mixed: Go slow and steady. Start with recent purchasers and recent engagers (last 30–90 days), keep batches small, and segment tightly. A brand-new subdomain is hyper-sensitive, so avoid spikes and prioritize campaigns designed to drive clicks/replies.
Rule of thumb: Let the data set the pace. If opens/clicks stay strong and complaints/bounces remain low for two consecutive sends, step up. If they wobble, repeat the step or dial back.
Can a customer speed up their subdomain warmup?
Short answer: Mostly no.
The only safe way to “go faster” is to run the fastest approved ramp—send daily and double the cap each day. Beyond that, there aren’t shortcuts.
Why: This is by design. Warmup builds sender reputation gradually so you earn consistent inbox placement and avoid spikes that trigger filtering. Skipping steps risks blocks, spam placement, and long-term deliverability issues.
Name one tool a customer can set up outside of Hive to monitor deliverability.
There are plenty, but here are a few common, free options:
Gmail Postmaster Tools — reputation, spam rate, auth status, and delivery errors for Gmail.
Microsoft SNDS + JMRP — IP health (SNDS) and complaint feedback loop (JMRP) for Outlook/Hotmail.
Yahoo Complaint Feedback Loop (CFL) — notifications when Yahoo users mark your mail as spam.
Why these matter: They give provider-specific visibility into reputation and complaints, create a closed feedback loop (see issues fast → act), and help you keep consistent inbox placement through better list hygiene, authentication, and send cadence.
What are 2 reasons to use a custom subdomain (vs. a Hive domain):
Stronger deliverability control – Your reputation is isolated to your domain, not affected by other brands.
Better brand recognition – The “From” address uses your domain (e.g., news@send.yourdomain.com).
Enables external monitoring – Tools like Google Postmaster Tools require sending from your own (sub)domain, so you can track deliverability beyond Hive.
Can a customer select which Hive custom subdomain is used during their warm up?
No—but they’re all very similar ex. mail-5.hive.co, mail-904.hive.co. Hive maintains a pool of shared subdomains, and each account is auto-assigned to one.
If, during warmup, the metrics/KPIs look weak, CS can request a rotation to another Hive subdomain that’s currently showing stronger deliverability.
Why are automated welcomes, contest/presale confirmations, and abandoned-checkout/buyer follow-ups so powerful for domain reputation?
They reach people at peak intent. These messages earn higher opens, clicks, and replies—and fewer spam complaints—sending strong positive signals to
Gmail/Outlook/Apple. That lifts your sender (domain) reputation and improves inbox placement for future campaigns.
Is a high-open but low click (weak CTA) email a good choice for the first warmup send?
Opens help, but for the first warmup send you really want clicks and especially replies—those are the strongest positive signals.