5 min read
Rightmove wanted to leverage their data better to provide personalized, relevant experiences for their large email subscriber base; however, they were limited by their previous provider’s capabilities. While moving to Braze, they faced a critical deadline to complete the migration and achieve full sending capacity in under three months, while maintaining strong email program performance for up to 6 million daily emails.
Rightmove worked with the Braze Email Deliverability Services team to develop and execute a bespoke, comprehensive migration strategy focused on strategic IP warming. They procured 11 new IP addresses and implemented a phased plan to ramp volume, beginning with the most engaged audiences, and implemented robust monitoring to ensure a seamless transition without compromising performance.
The migration was completed ahead of its deadline, with IP warming completed in just under a month. This strategic approach maintained engagement levels throughout the process, followed by deliverability performance that exceeded that of their previous provider, achieving a 10% uplift in clickthrough rate (CTR) and reducing bounce rates by more than 50%. Now, large-volume sends that previously took 4+ hours now complete in just 30 minutes. Based on the results of this first IP warming, Rightmove accelerated plans for a second major IP warming by several months.
Delivery rate achieved
Uplift in CTR
Reduction in bounce rates
Rightmove, the largest property platform in the UK, is focused on giving everyone the belief they can make their move by providing buyers, sellers, and renters with the tools and expertise they need throughout their home-moving journey.
A comprehensive email strategy has long been a key component of supporting people on the move. The Rightmove team sends between two and six million emails each day, ranging from property alerts for those actively searching for new homes to curated guides that help prospective buyers determine what’s important to them in a property. The team manages a large, active contact base and continuously works toward providing personalized experiences that inspire belief in the right place, at the right time, to the right person.
While Rightmove had a robust email marketing program in place, the CRM team felt they were unable to leverage user data to truly personalize emails—especially at scale—with their previous provider. Large-scale email sends were taking more than four hours to complete, limiting their ability to deliver time-critical messages when home movers needed them most.
This led the CRM team to evaluate other tools, with an eye towards a platform that would unlock deeper personalization and open opportunities to reach new audiences through additional channels. This represented a step in a new direction, and the team selected Braze.
The next challenge was to undertake a migration that began in September and needed to be completed, at full sending capacity, by the end of December. The timeline was tight, but Rightmove worked with the Braze Email Deliverability Services team on a comprehensive, phased migration plan customized to their goals and challenges. A key part of this was developing a practical IP warming strategy that could meet the deadline without compromising email engagement.
Considering Rightmove’s goals, it was essential to begin by putting the right strategy in place, including:
In total, IP warming took just under a month to complete, several months ahead of the December deadline, allowing the team to fully warm up to 6 million emails per day while maintaining a 99% delivery rate.
The Email Deliverability Services team at Braze helped us to achieve a very challenging deadline for IP warming and end-to-end platform migration, giving us the support and confidence to do so without compromising on engagement with our communications. They went over and above to help us understand the IP warming process, how mailbox providers operate, and how to make the most out of our Braze instance.
In addition to completing the strategic migration ahead of schedule, Rightmove experienced some immediate performance improvements. These included:
Bounce rates dropped by more than 50% (including both hard and soft)—ensuring that more content reaches the correct recipients
This early success provided a great foundation to build on. With fully automated data integration into their existing tech stack, there's no longer a need for manual uploads or human intervention, thereby strengthening collaboration between the CRM and product teams.
Large-volume sends that previously took 4+ hours now complete in just 30 minutes, allowing Rightmove to reach audiences with time-critical messages more quickly. The team has also achieved significant productivity improvements through quicker campaign builds, easy access reporting, and instant segment creation.
