Summary
Spam complaints and bad content choices severely impact email deliverability. Incompetent campaigns, deliverability issues from complaints/content, poor unsubscribe practices, irrelevant/low-quality content, lack of permission, inconsistent sending, spam traps, deceptive subjects, and negative engagement all contribute. High spam complaints and bounce rates damage sender reputation. Authentication is crucial, as is warming new IPs and avoiding spam triggers. Regular testing and feedback are key to maintaining good deliverability.
Key findings
- Campaign Competence: Poor campaign quality and content reflect on deliverability.
- Spam Complaints Hurt: High spam complaints significantly damage sender reputation and delivery.
- Content Relevance is Key: Irrelevant and low-quality content lowers engagement and deliverability.
- Permission is Essential: Sending without explicit permission increases spam complaints.
- Consistency Matters: Inconsistent sending patterns trigger spam filters.
- Authentication Protects: Proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) prevents spam classification.
- Feedback Loops Improve: Participating in feedback loops addresses spam causes.
- Negative Engagement Hurts: Negative engagement damages sender reputation.
Key considerations
- Improve Campaign Quality: Focus on creating competent and engaging campaigns.
- Manage Spam Complaints: Actively address spam complaints to improve reputation.
- Send Relevant Content: Provide valuable and engaging content to boost engagement.
- Obtain Explicit Permission: Ensure recipients opt-in to receive emails.
- Maintain Consistency: Establish a consistent sending volume to avoid flags.
- Implement Authentication: Properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
- Utilize Feedback Loops: Actively use feedback loops to address spam complaints.
- Warm-Up New IPs: Gradually increase sending volume on new IPs.
- Avoid Spam Triggers: Refrain from using spammy keywords and excessive exclamation marks.
- Test Deliverability: Use deliverability testing tools to identify issues.
What email marketers say
13 marketer opinions
Spam complaints and poor content choices negatively affect email deliverability. Sending irrelevant or low-quality content leads to lower engagement, signaling to mailbox providers that the emails aren't valuable. Sending without explicit permission causes spam complaints, harming sender reputation. Inconsistent sending volumes raise red flags. High spam complaint rates and bounce rates negatively impact reputation. Deceptive subject lines, spammy keywords, and poor HTML coding trigger spam filters. Negative engagement (deleting emails without reading) impacts sender reputation. Sincerity of honoring unsubscribe requests is also a concern. Deliverability testing and feedback loops are important for maintaining deliverability.
Key opinions
- Engagement Matters: Low engagement due to irrelevant content hurts deliverability.
- Permission is Crucial: Sending without explicit permission leads to spam complaints.
- Consistency is Key: Inconsistent sending volumes raise red flags.
- Reputation Impact: Spam complaints, bounce rates, and negative engagement damage sender reputation.
- Content Matters: Deceptive content and poor HTML coding trigger spam filters.
Key considerations
- Obtain Explicit Consent: Ensure recipients have explicitly opted-in to receive emails.
- Maintain List Hygiene: Regularly clean email lists to reduce bounce rates and spam complaints.
- Craft Relevant Content: Provide valuable and engaging content to improve engagement rates.
- Ensure Consistent Volume: Maintain a consistent sending volume to avoid triggering spam filters.
- Monitor Deliverability: Use deliverability testing tools and feedback loops to identify and address potential issues.
- Be Honest with Users: Make sure unsubscribes work.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Litmus shares that ensure your HTML code is clean and properly formatted, as poorly coded emails are more likely to be flagged as spam.
16 Jul 2023 - Litmus
Marketer view
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog shares that irrelevant or low-quality content can lead to lower engagement rates (opens, clicks), which signals to mailbox providers that your emails are not valuable, thus hurting deliverability.
12 Sep 2022 - Neil Patel's Blog
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Spam complaints and poor content choices are major factors impacting email deliverability. Indications of deliverability issues stem from spam complaints and bad content choices which show incompetence. Participating in feedback loops helps address root causes of spam complaints, leading to improved practices. Spam complaints and negative engagement hurt sender reputation and affect deliverability for all recipients.
Key opinions
- Content Incompetence Affects Deliverability: Poor email campaign competence and bad content choices highlight deliverability issues.
- Feedback Loops are Critical: Feedback loops are essential for managing spam complaints and improving practices.
- Reputation is Key: Spam complaints and negative engagement damage sender reputation, affecting overall deliverability.
Key considerations
- Improve Content Quality: Focus on creating competent and engaging email campaigns to avoid being flagged as spam.
- Participate in Feedback Loops: Actively use feedback loops to identify and address the reasons behind spam complaints.
- Monitor Sender Reputation: Pay attention to sender reputation metrics and take steps to mitigate negative impacts.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that spam complaints and other forms of negative engagement (e.g., deleting without reading) negatively impact your sender reputation, which in turn affects deliverability to all recipients, not just those who complained.
22 Dec 2023 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks indicates the sender is 'having deliverability issues because of spam complaints and bad content choices'.
29 Jun 2024 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
High spam complaint rates significantly harm sender reputation, leading to emails being filtered as spam or blocked. Misleading content, including deceptive subject lines and from addresses, negatively impacts deliverability and sender reputation. Landing in spam traps due to poor list hygiene severely hurts sender reputation and deliverability. Proper configuration of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records is crucial for email authentication and preventing spam classification. Gradually increasing email sending volume with a new IP address is important for maintaining high deliverability.
Key findings
- Spam Complaints Harm Reputation: High spam complaint rates result in filtering or blocking of emails.
- Deceptive Content Hurts Deliverability: Misleading content negatively impacts sender reputation.
- Spam Traps Damage Reputation: Landing in spam traps indicates poor list hygiene and affects deliverability.
- Authentication is Crucial: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are essential for email authentication.
- IP Warming is Needed: Gradual increase of sending volume is important for new IP addresses.
Key considerations
- Manage Spam Complaints: Actively monitor and address spam complaints to improve sender reputation.
- Use Honest Content: Avoid misleading subject lines and from addresses to maintain trust.
- Practice List Hygiene: Regularly clean and update email lists to avoid spam traps.
- Implement Authentication: Properly configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for email authentication.
- Warm Up New IPs: Gradually increase sending volume when using new IP addresses.
Technical article
Documentation from AWS explains that if you are using a new IP Address, then you must gradually increase your email sending volume to maintain high deliverability.
1 Mar 2024 - AWS
Technical article
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that high spam complaint rates can severely impact your sender reputation, leading to emails being filtered into spam folders or blocked entirely.
16 Dec 2023 - Google
Are spam complaint rates siloed by provider affecting deliverability?
Are spam trigger word lists accurate and should I be concerned about them?
Are spam trigger word lists still relevant for email deliverability?
Do email unsubscribes negatively affect sender reputation?
Do spam complaints from different email domains have different weights in deliverability?
Do spam traps ever open or click on emails?
Do spam traps open and click emails?
How accurate are email spam testing tools and what are the alternatives?
How are Gmail and Yahoo enforcing unsubscribe requests, and what factors do they consider for compliance?
How can I improve email deliverability for large emails with many images and links when experiencing high spam complaint rates?
