Political emails often end up in spam folders due to a multifaceted combination of factors impacting sender reputation, user engagement, and technical implementation. Poor list management, including purchasing or sharing lists and failing to remove inactive subscribers, contributes significantly. Aggressive fundraising tactics, misleading subject lines, and irrelevant content lead to low engagement rates and high spam complaint rates. Furthermore, the failure to properly implement and monitor email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC enables domain spoofing and makes it difficult to verify sender legitimacy. User reports marking emails as spam directly impact deliverability, and some email providers may disproportionately filter political content. The exploitation of unique donation email addresses and the use of questionable consent practices also play a role in this complex issue.
11 marketer opinions
Political emails frequently land in spam folders due to a combination of factors. Poor list management practices, such as purchasing lists, co-registration, and list sharing, are significant contributors. Aggressive fundraising tactics, misleading subject lines, and sending to unengaged or outdated lists also negatively impact deliverability. Low engagement rates (low open rates, high deletion rates) signal to email providers that the content is unwanted. User complaints, like marking emails as spam, are a critical factor. The absence of, or incorrect, DMARC implementation enables domain spoofing, while the failure to monitor DMARC reports hinders the identification and resolution of deliverability issues. Finally, some email providers disproportionately filter certain political content as spam based on user feedback.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit states that many political campaigns don't follow best practices for email marketing, leading to low engagement and high spam complaints. Aggressive tactics and irrelevant content contribute to the problem.
3 Sep 2024 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from Nieman Lab shares that Gmail’s spam filter disproportionately flags left-leaning political fundraising emails as spam. This is in part because users mark these messages as spam or unsubscribe.
11 Sep 2024 - Nieman Lab
3 expert opinions
Political emails often end up in spam due to several key issues. One contributing factor is the practice of using unique email addresses for donations, which can then be exploited by other political entities, leading to spam classification. A significant problem is the lack of proper DMARC implementation or monitoring, allowing domain spoofing and hindering the ability to address deliverability issues. Additionally, employing tactics that negatively impact sender reputation, such as questionable consent practices, failing to remove inactive users, and sending large volumes of unwanted emails, also contributes to spam placement.
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource.com explains that using tactics that lower your sender reputation causes political emails to land in spam. This can include questionable consent practices, failing to remove inactive users, and sending a consistently high volume of unwanted emails.
8 Oct 2024 - Spamresource.com
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks shares an experience where using unique email addresses for donations to specific left-leaning candidates resulted in subsequent spam from different political hopefuls using the same address, leading to the original politician losing future donations.
29 Sep 2021 - Email Geeks
3 technical articles
Political emails are often flagged as spam due to several technical and user-related factors. User reports, specifically recipients marking emails as spam, significantly contribute to spam classification. The use of purchased or scraped email lists increases the likelihood of encountering spam traps, leading to blocklisting and spam folder placement. Additionally, failure to properly authenticate emails using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC prevents email providers from verifying the sender's legitimacy, resulting in emails being marked as spam.
Technical article
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that user reports, such as marking emails as spam, are a key factor in determining spam classification. High complaint rates from recipients will negatively impact deliverability.
10 Aug 2022 - Google Postmaster Tools
Technical article
Documentation from Spamhaus explains that using purchased or scraped email lists, which often contain spam traps, will lead to deliverability issues and placement on blocklists, ultimately causing emails to land in spam folders.
28 Apr 2023 - Spamhaus
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