Goonies Never Say Die when it comes to Spam Traps

By Julia, Deliverability Expert

You’ve heard us mention “spam trap emails” – but do you know what that is?

Spam trap emails can catch even the least spammy of emails. This is because these email addresses are utilized specifically to locate senders who are not closely monitoring their recipient lists.

The thought process behind is that, should one of these “fake” emails enter your recipient list, it would be less likely that you are maintaining your recipient list so well that every email on it is a valid & confirmed subscriber.

Sending emails too many of these “recipients” could lead to many blocks that can be detrimental to your domain reputation and overall deliverability.

So how do you know which emails are spam traps? You don’t. They can be previously active but now expired emails, random emails made by servers for this purpose, and really anything in between. The servers use this method to help protect their users from receiving spam content but it surely adds an extra obstacle to those sending mass emails.

At the very least, you are now aware of what we mean when we say “spam traps” & at the very most, you’ll do your best to keep your email list as healthy as humanly possible.

AND LUCKY FOR YOU… we have a few in-platform tools to help you do just that.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind regarding your recipient list:

ALWAYS turn on validations when importing new lists, especially large lists that may contain emails you are not personally familiar with…

Be sure to review recipient engagement and behavior – this is made easy with our Automation feature. Creating an engagement series for recipients who have not recently engaged with emails allows us to unsubscribe expired or uninterested recipients and their emails.

Respect the wishes of those who would like to be unsubscribed from your list. This means including visible unsubscribe links in all of our emails & reviewing responses for those who may have intended to unsubscribe. This is not only a legal requirement but will benefit you in the long-run. Angry recipients generally yield more spam complaints…

For more information about spam traps and how you can be proactive about keeping your recipient lists healthy, be sure to contact our team for training or insight.

For more information, please visit your Nucleus Resource Library!

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By Julia, Deliverability Expert

Life: through the perspective of an email.

If you have sent a mass email through a marketing platform, you’ve probably wondered why the standards for “good” recipient engagement are so low.

That’s because there is a lot more involved in the life cycle of an email than just receiving and opening emails.

To get a better idea of the entire journey of an email, let’s review the phases of life your email goes through after you hit send…

First, we have the matter of deliverability. Domains and IPs that are blocked by a server will not deliver to that server, no matter the circumstances (referred to as hard blocks). It’s important to note that there can also be many temporary issues with deliverability (known as soft fails), that can randomly affect any email.

From there, we will encounter difficulties with inbox placement. Not every email will land in a recipient’s inbox; some will find their way into spam & promotional mailboxes, which are rarely checked by recipients.

Lastly, & seemingly most important, is the overall recipient engagement. This is, by far, the most broad phase of life as it is affected by so many factors. Should your email make it to the recipient’s inbox, there are countless elements that will determine whether or not & how the user engages with your email. For instance, your user may love your subject line & hate your content; they may hate your subject line so they never open to see your content, they may never check their inbox & didn’t even see your email, & numerous other scenarios that lead to more or less engagement in an email.

The majority of emails sent will actually never be seen by anyone & that’s just how the game of email marketing goes. BUT, for this reason, you should be proud to see a 15% open rate with a 2.5% click rate – those numbers are actually a lot better than you think!

For more resources, Nucleus users can visit the resource library! 

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Building up your Email Subscribers Without Breaking Down your Domain

By Julia, Deliverability Expert

When it comes to expanding your email subscriber list for marketing content, remember that QUALITY OVER QUANTITY is not just a saying but a strategy that can empower your marketing efforts. By focusing on quality, you ensure that your messages reach the right audience, increasing the chances of engagement and conversion.

I understand the temptation to construct a list of millions of people to ensure your marketing success, BUT without the correct methods of email collection, you can actually hurt your success rather than help.

Let’s talk about why…

Recipients who do not wish to be emailed often respond negatively to emails, even when you are careful to avoid common spam triggers within your content. This can mean that they report you as spam or notify the server that they do not wish to receive your email; this can cause blocks & lower our domain/IP reputation. If they choose to delete without opening or refuse to engage (opening, clicking, saving in folders, etc.) with the email, it can also have poor consequences. That tells the server that they are not interested in your content, and it can hurt your inbox placement, even with previously engaging emails.

DO… subscribe users who have signed onto your email list on their own will

**feel free to even offer them the opportunity to confirm their subscription

​DON’T… offer incentives, such as prizes, for people to sign up

​​**Subscribers rarely engage long-term with this route of email collection

DO… regularly sort through and unsubscribe unengaged recipients 

**If they aren’t helping your cause, they are hurting it

​DON’T… purchase email lists

**These lists often include duplicate, invalid, expired, or foreign emails that likely have no interest in supporting your cause

If you’re ever wondering if someone would be a “good” subscriber or a “bad” subscriber, ask yourself this: Would this person bring valuable interactions to my email campaigns?

You can review the differences between positive and negative engagement below:

If you walked up to a stranger on the street and asked them for $20, odds are they’re going to look at you like you're crazy and walk away. I cannot blame them; I’d do the same. Now… what if, instead, you engaged them in conversation, swapped contact information, developed a friendship over the course of many weeks, and THEN asked for $20? You might have a better shot.

Well, in some ways, email marketing is a lot similar. People are much more likely to support a cause that they are familiar with and trust. So, with that in mind, it might be time to consider how we can be building trust with our subscribers so that we see the most possible success with our emails.

This means that we need to provide content that makes the recipient feel valued as opposed to just another donor. Before we ask for money and support, we need to show the subscriber how much they matter to us; that we do not just care about their wallets.

So what kind of content can we send out that would align with this goal of building trust? I have a few ideas…

Newsletters and informational content

• These emails can be used to inform your recipients on your mission and the news you find most important. Subscribers will be able to see how their values align with your own and, in turn, may acquire more support for your cause.

Feedback

• Do not be afraid to ask your subscribers about their opinions. Whether you need advice on how to go about things or you’d like to know what you can do better in the future, your recipients should be the first people you ask. Their opinions matter most!

Prospecting

• Sometimes the easiest way we can appeal to our subscribers is to ask them what they care to hear about. Our Nucleus CRM allows us to quickly tag our recipients so we can be ensuring we are reaching out to them with their interests in mind.

These are just a few types of emails we can be sending to our subscribers to ensure that we are building trust before forcing asks down their throat. I think you’ll all find that embedding a little love and care into all of our emails will always pay off in the long run.

For more information regarding how to send less aggressive copy while yielding higher return, contact our team for training or insight and visit your Nucleus Resource Library!

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