What is an acceptable email complaint rate benchmark?

Marketer from Email Geeks thought it was 0.01% as well, though more recently 0.03%. It’s important to note that it’s a ratio of a specific mailbox provider meaning it’s important to see where those complaints are coming from.

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that a good complaint rate is below 0.05%. Mailjet recommends actively managing your sender reputation to keep it as low as possible. They also recommend setting up feedback loops and monitoring complaint rates on a regular basis.

Email marketer from Sender Score explains that a low complaint rate is one component of a high sender score, with values under 0.1% being ideal. Senderscore recommends monitoring sender reputation with feedback loops, ensuring that you are following email marketing best practices to improve results.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that Campaign Monitor instantly suspends accounts that hit 0.5% complaint rate, and starts flagging at around 0.05%.

Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog shares that an acceptable complaint rate should be less than 0.1%. He stresses the importance of maintaining a clean email list and sending relevant content to avoid high complaint rates, which can significantly impact deliverability.

Marketer from Email Geeks states if your complaint rate stays 0.1% for a consistent period of 6-7 days , email deliverability takes a dip so i would say even 0.1% if regular is bad and to keep it less than 0.1% for Gmail.

Email marketer from Warrior Forum states that the goal is to keep complaint rates below 0.05%. They suggest segmenting email lists based on engagement, sending targeted content, and providing easy opt-out options to reduce spam complaints and improve overall deliverability.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that there is no perfect complaint rate, but if it's around 0.01%, you shouldn’t run into too many issues.

Marketer from Email Geeks says It's not a single isolated metric to try and game either, but needs to considered along with bounces, delivery rate, opens, and unsubscribes.

Email marketer from Reddit r/emailmarketing advises that maintaining a complaint rate below 0.02% is ideal. They recommend regularly scrubbing your email list to remove inactive or disengaged subscribers, which can significantly reduce complaints. This user also uses list validation services to verify email addresses and remove potentially problematic ones from your list.

Marketer from Email Geeks was always told 1 per 1000 by domain was an acceptable complaint rate benchmark.

Email marketer from HubSpot Blog notes that the generally accepted benchmark for complaint rates is under 0.1%. They emphasize that exceeding this benchmark can lead to deliverability issues and damage sender reputation. They advise regularly cleaning email lists and segmenting audiences to improve engagement and reduce complaints.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that the commonly admitted limit is 0.3% of complaints per received email, per MBP, but some would only consider email received in the inbox. Because not all MBP have an FBL, the complaint rate you get from your ESP is only what they know, not what is.

Marketer from Email Geeks says to monitor your complaints at each provider, and not in aggregate, as many providers don't offer FBLs and they will make your overall rate really low. They also suggest an initial acceptable complain rate of 0.08%.

Email marketer from Quora answers suggests that a complaint rate should be kept below 0.1% to avoid triggering spam filters. She emphasizes the importance of permission-based email marketing, ensuring recipients have actively opted in to receive emails, and providing clear and easy ways to unsubscribe.

Marketer from Email Geeks adds that a consistent rate of zero complaints can also indicate that deliverability has dropped, preventing people from complaining.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests using measurements of `<3 per 1000` sent, but recommends tracking by domain as not all domains send FBL data back.

Expert from Email Geeks emphasizes that the biggest question is how you're calculating the complaint rate, as thresholds vary. If it's complaints/(send or delivered) with 50-60% Gmail addresses, a good rate is sub 0.05%. If it's complaints / (sent to domains you get complaints for) then an acceptable complaint rate is probably going to be in the 0.1% or so range.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that there is no such thing as an 'allowable complaint rate' and how important it is to look at the number of emails that are sent versus the number of complaints received. She also shares that the threshold for complaints varies at different providers, especially Gmail.

Expert from Spam Resource explains that good reputation is essential for inbox placement and achieving strong engagement rates; therefore, it is imperative to keep complaint rates low. Mailbox providers consider complaints a key indicator of whether users find emails valuable, and low complaint rates signal a positive sender reputation.

Expert from Word to the Wise emphasizes the importance of managing complaints to maintain a healthy sending reputation. While a specific number isn't given, the recommendation is to maintain a low and stable complaint rate. High complaint rates, particularly those that spike unexpectedly, can lead to deliverability issues.

Documentation from Amazon SES explains that complaint rates above 0.1% can potentially damage your sender reputation and affect your account's ability to send emails. They also share strategies for reducing complaint rates, such as obtaining explicit consent, allowing easy unsubscribe options, and only sending relevant content.

Documentation from SparkPost shares that a complaint rate above 0.1% indicates deliverability problems. SparkPost recommends ensuring that you follow all guidelines and best practices, send relevant content to subscribers, and take measures to optimize results.

Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools Help explains that keeping spam rates low enables emails to be delivered to the recipients' inboxes and that high spam rates can cause emails to go to spam or be blocked. They recommend keeping the spam rate below 0.10% and trying to keep it below 0.03%.

Documentation from Postmark says that complaints should generally remain below a fraction of a percent of your overall sending. They recommend aiming to keep it below 0.1%, as exceeding this benchmark is a reliable signal to mailbox providers that messages are unwanted.

Documentation from Microsoft Smart Network Data Services (SNDS) does not provide a precise benchmark but uses complaint rate as an indicator of potential issues. High complaint rates registered in SNDS may result in filtering issues or blocks. They highlight that a high complaint rate may indicate list quality issues, sending habits, or content problems.

Documentation from Validity explains that complaint rates are a key metric for inbox placement. Although they do not provide a specific number, they stress that lower complaint rates correlate with better deliverability and that senders must closely monitor this metric to ensure they are not perceived as spammers. They suggest proactively managing subscriber lists and content to minimize complaints.