What are the best tips and tools to keep spam traps to a minimum?
Summary
What email marketers say11Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that you should clean your email list regularly, remove unengaged subscribers, and use double opt-in to verify email addresses. Also, segment your email lists to send targeted content.
Email marketer from HubSpot Blog shares to warm up your IP address gradually when starting to send emails from a new IP. This helps establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares to always tend to focus on the point of list acquisition, Secure your forms (double opt-in is best, but not mandatory, there are other ways to confirm contact activity after contact was opted in), add a layer of real-time verification to avoid mistyped domains and you will be set on the way to gather high quality lists.
Email marketer from Email on Acid Blog shares that using a reputable email service provider (ESP) can help you avoid spam traps because they have systems in place to manage bounces and complaints. Also, use a dedicated IP address to control your sending reputation.
Email marketer from EmailDiscussions Forum suggests using a reputable email verification service to identify and remove invalid email addresses before sending. This prevents sending to recycled spam traps.
Email marketer from Constant Contact Blog shares that always get explicit consent from subscribers before adding them to your email list. Avoid using pre-checked boxes or purchased lists.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares to purge inactive accounts not just the bounces.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign Blog shares that creating automated re-engagement campaigns to win back inactive subscribers can help prevent them from becoming spam traps. Offer incentives to encourage them to re-engage.
Email marketer from Litmus Blog shares that segmenting your list based on engagement levels and sending targeted content can improve deliverability and reduce the risk of hitting spam traps. Engaged users are less likely to mark your emails as spam.
Email marketer from Reddit user r/emailmarketing explains that regularly scrubbing your list by removing inactive users (those who haven't opened or clicked in a set period) can help prevent hitting spam traps.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce Blog shares that using real-time email verification tools on your signup forms can prevent invalid or mistyped email addresses from entering your list in the first place. This reduces the risk of accumulating spam traps.
What the experts say7Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the issue is not the trap addresses, but they are representative of the health of your overall database and your data is getting old and is not well maintained.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares that using co-registration carefully can help grow your list without spam traps but to be very careful of 3rd parties that promise large email lists.
Expert from Spamresource.com shares that sending email to purchased lists is one of the fastest ways to get hit by spam traps, as these lists often contain invalid or inactive email addresses.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares to make sure you aren't harvesting email addresses with bots or programs as they are usually spam traps.
Expert from Spamresource.com explains that there are pristine spam traps which have never been used for legitimate email and recycled spam traps which are old email addresses that are now used to catch spammers.
Expert from Email Geeks shares to remove addresses that bounce with “user unknown” and to not go too far back into your database as permission is not indefinite.
Expert from Email Geeks shares to contact recipients at least every year to make sure their address isn’t bouncing.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from SendGrid shares that monitoring bounce rates, complaint rates, and engagement metrics is crucial for maintaining good deliverability. High bounce and complaint rates can indicate that you're hitting spam traps.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools explains that monitoring your domain and IP reputation through Google Postmaster Tools can provide insights into your sending health and help you identify and address deliverability issues before they lead to spam traps.
Documentation from DMARC.org explains that implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) helps protect your domain from spoofing and phishing, which can indirectly reduce your chances of hitting spam traps.
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that you should authenticate your email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC to verify your sending domain. They also recommend monitoring your sender reputation and avoiding spam trigger words.
Documentation from SparkPost answers that setting up feedback loops with major ISPs allows you to receive reports of spam complaints. Addressing these complaints promptly helps avoid future spam traps.