Summary
Role-based email addresses, such as info@, sales@, support@, webmaster@, and postmaster@, pose significant deliverability challenges for email marketers. Unlike individual user accounts, these addresses often forward to multiple people, are used for administrative purposes, or are set up to catch stray emails. This can lead to higher bounce rates, increased spam complaints, and a greater risk of being added to a blocklist or blacklist, ultimately harming your sender reputation and inbox placement.
Key findings
- High risk: Sending unsolicited emails to role-based addresses significantly increases the risk of being marked as spam. These addresses are often not intended for marketing communications.
- Increased bounces: Role-based addresses are more prone to bounce, either because they are unmonitored, defunct, or configured to reject bulk mail. High bounce rates negatively impact your sender reputation.
- Spam traps: Some role-based addresses can function as spam traps, particularly if they are old or abandoned. Hitting these can lead to immediate blacklisting.
- Compliance concerns: Many role-based addresses do not explicitly opt-in to receive marketing emails, potentially leading to compliance issues under various regulations.
Key considerations
- Distinguish email types: Differentiate between transactional emails (e.g., invoices, password resets) and marketing emails. Transactional emails to role-based addresses may be legitimate if explicitly opted into for that purpose.
- Explicit opt-in: For marketing, always ensure explicit consent, especially for role-based addresses. If an ESP automatically suppresses role-based addresses, it's typically for good reason.
- Engagement monitoring: Regularly monitor engagement for role-based addresses on your lists. If there's no recent open or click, consider removing them to protect your deliverability.
- Email validation: Utilize robust email validation tools to identify and suppress role-based addresses before sending. Many validation services specifically flag these types of addresses.
What email marketers say
Email marketers often face a dilemma with role-based email addresses. While some perceive them as inherently risky due to their generic nature and potential for high bounce or complaint rates, others acknowledge that small businesses frequently use them for legitimate transactional purposes. The consensus leans towards caution, suggesting that unless there's explicit consent or clear engagement, these addresses should be treated with care, if not outright suppressed, to protect overall deliverability.
Key opinions
- General suppression: Many marketers and ESPs advise suppressing all role-based email addresses by default due to their high risk profile.
- Legitimate use cases: Some acknowledge that small businesses legitimately use role accounts (e.g., accounting@, info@) for registrations and transactional communications, which should be permitted.
- Deliverability hindrance: Sending to role-based accounts is widely recognized as a factor that hinders email deliverability rates, leading to ignored messages and potential blocklisting.
- Campaign harm: Role-based emails can harm email campaigns by causing high bounce rates and triggering spam filters, which can then impact overall deliverability success.
Key considerations
- Context matters: The sender's relationship with the recipient (e.g., legitimate transactional emails vs. unsolicited marketing) dictates the permissibility of sending to role-based addresses.
- Engagement as a metric: Some marketers keep role-based addresses on lists only if they show recent engagement, such as an open or click within a specific timeframe (e.g., 90 days).
- Leverage verification: Implement robust email verification practices that specifically identify and flag role-based emails, preventing them from impacting your campaigns negatively. Basic verification might miss these.
- Avoid unsolicited mail: The risk of being marked as spam is significantly higher for unsolicited emails sent to role-based addresses, making list hygiene and permission paramount.
Email marketer from Email Geeks notes that small businesses frequently use role accounts for their operations.
Email marketer from FireDrum Email Marketing indicates that unsolicited emails to role-based addresses carry a high spam risk.
What the experts say
Deliverability experts largely agree that sending to role-based email addresses is problematic for email delivery. While there's nuance regarding technical versus non-technical role accounts, the prevailing advice is to avoid them for bulk or marketing mail. The rationale stems from their high potential to generate bounces, spam complaints, and trigger filtering systems, which can lead to negative impacts on a sender's reputation and eventual blocklisting (or blacklisting). Exceptions are typically made only for highly engaged or legitimate transactional relationships.
Key opinions
- Universally awful: Many experts characterize delivering emails to role-based addresses as equally awful across all types, including info@ and webmaster@.
- Differing ESP practices: Email Service Providers (ESPs) have varying practices, with some differentiating between technical role accounts (postmaster@, abuse@) and general ones (sales@), though many suppress all unless legitimate subscriptions are proven.
- Automated system suspicion: Automated systems and spam filters are frequently configured to view emails sent to role-based addresses with suspicion, leading to higher filtering rates.
- Risk of complaints: The multi-person monitoring of role-based addresses increases the likelihood of complaints for unwanted mail.
Key considerations
- Engagement as a qualifier: Some experts advocate for keeping role-based email addresses on a mailing list only if there has been recent engagement (e.g., open or click) within a defined period.
- List hygiene: Maintaining a clean list, free from role accounts that accumulate bounces and complaints, is paramount to good deliverability and avoiding email blacklists.
- Careful transactional handling: Even legitimate transactional emails to role accounts should be managed carefully to ensure they are highly relevant and expected by the recipients.
- Targeted marketing: Avoid sending marketing emails to role-based addresses unless there's a clear, explicit opt-in specifically for that address. This aligns with best practices for deliverability.
Email expert from Email Geeks suggests that delivering emails to role-based addresses generally leads to poor outcomes.
Email expert from SpamResource highlights that managing email deliverability requires vigilance against spam traps, which can sometimes appear as role-based addresses.
What the documentation says
Official documentation, including RFCs and help centers from major email service providers, often highlight the inherent risks associated with role-based email addresses. These sources typically emphasize the unsuitability of such addresses for general marketing communications due to their nature of often not having a direct opt-in, being monitored by multiple users, and their tendency to lead to high bounce rates and spam complaints. Technical specifications also define certain role accounts that are mandated for system use, implicitly suggesting they are not for marketing.
Key findings
- RFC definitions:RFC 2142 specifies a list of common mailboxes, such as postmaster@ and hostmaster@, that are expected to exist on every internet-connected host for administrative purposes.
- Lack of opt-in: Documentation often notes that role-based email addresses typically do not opt-in to receive emails, which contributes to higher spam complaint rates.
- Higher bounce potential: These addresses are more likely to bounce, triggering spam filters and leading to potential IP or domain blocklisting.
- Multiple monitors: Role-based addresses are often monitored by multiple users, increasing the likelihood of a spam complaint if the content is unwelcome.
Key considerations
- Disproportionate risks: Sending to role-based addresses carries disproportionate risks, including compliance issues, even if the emails are not explicitly marked as spam.
- Ignored or deleted: Emails sent to role addresses are frequently ignored or deleted, meaning they don't serve their intended purpose for marketing or communication.
- Impact on deliverability: The consistent impact on deliverability from these addresses highlights the need for careful list management.
- Technical vs. marketing: While technical role addresses like abuse@ and postmaster@ are essential for system communication, they should not be targeted for marketing purposes.
IETF RFC 2142 documentation specifies a list of common mailboxes, such as 'postmaster@' and 'hostmaster@', that are expected to exist on every internet-connected host.
Klaviyo Help Center documentation states that role-based email addresses often lack direct opt-in, leading to higher spam complaint rates and increased bounces.
