What is a good spam rate and what does the percentage mean?

Email marketer from Validity says that maintaining a low spam rate is crucial for good deliverability, however a high spam rate could mean low engagement rates, poor list management or irrelevant content, indicating a need for improvement in email marketing strategy.

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests high spam rates despite passing DMARC may indicate the filter is testing the emails in the inbox and it isn't going well and the spam rate page counts only emails that inboxed.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that a spam rate of 1% means 1 out of 100, not 1 out of 1000, subscribers marked the email as spam. Ideally, the spam rate should be below 0.1% or 1:1000.

Email marketer from MailerQ Blog states that a good benchmark for spam complaints is anything below 0.1%. This means that for every 1,000 emails you send, no more than 1 person should mark it as spam.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares email providers may restrict or block sending if spam rates exceed acceptable levels. This measure is to protect their users and maintain the integrity of their email system.

Email marketer from Reddit shares that a low spam rate signifies a healthy email list and good sending practices. A high rate, conversely, indicates issues needing prompt attention to maintain deliverability.

Email marketer from GMass blog suggests using double opt-in can improve email quality and reduce complaints. Verifying subscribers ensures genuine interest and reduces the likelihood of spam reports.

Email marketer from Litmus Blog reports low engagement rates can lead to increased spam complaints. Engaging content and targeted sending improves deliverability and reduces spam flags, so a focus on engaging content is key.

Email marketer from EmailOctopus blog advises regularly monitoring spam complaint rates using tools like Google Postmaster Tools. An increasing rate signals potential problems with content, targeting, or list quality.

Email marketer from Sender Blog suggests aiming for a spam complaint rate below 0.05%. This indicates that fewer than 1 in 2,000 recipients are marking your emails as spam, signaling good email practices.

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor Blog cleaning your email list and removing unengaged subscribers can significantly reduce spam complaints. A smaller, more engaged list is preferable to a large, inactive one.

Email marketer from SparkPost clarifies that spam complaint rates are typically calculated as the number of spam complaints divided by the total number of emails sent. The resulting percentage gives senders a clear metric to track.

Email marketer from Mailjet Blog emphasises the importance of proactively managing spam complaints. High spam complaint rates can quickly damage a sender's reputation, impacting future deliverability, so it is very important to stay on top of this.

Expert from Word to the Wise staff says that factors influencing complaint rates include list quality, content relevance, and sending frequency. Addressing these factors helps manage and interpret spam rate percentages accurately.

Expert from Spam Resource explains feedback loops (FBLs) provide data on recipients marking messages as spam. Monitoring these FBLs can help calculate and understand spam rates, offering insights beyond just the percentage.

Documentation from Google explains that you should keep the spam rate in Postmaster Tools below 0.10%. If you consistently remain above this spam rate, your emails will more likely be marked as spam.

Documentation from Spamhaus explains that high spam complaint rates negatively impact sender reputation, potentially leading to blocklisting and deliverability issues. Lower complaint rates indicate better list hygiene and engagement.

Documentation from Microsoft highlights that when users mark an email as 'junk,' it contributes to the sender's spam score. High scores can result in future emails being automatically filtered to the junk folder.