What is the impact of accidentally sending duplicate emails or sending to unsubscribed users?
Summary
What email marketers say12Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that sending duplicate emails not only annoys subscribers but can also negatively affect open rates and engagement metrics, leading to decreased ROI for email campaigns. They recommend implementing strict quality control measures to prevent such mistakes.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum user 'MailGuru' shares their experience that sending emails to unsubscribed users can lead to immediate blacklisting, preventing any further emails from reaching recipients. They suggest regularly cleaning email lists to prevent accidentally emailing unsubscribed contacts.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares an experience where a client mistakenly sent 40MM emails including to unsubscribes, resulting in a difficult cleanup process.
Email marketer from Reddit user u/EmailExpert shares that sending duplicate emails annoys recipients, leading to increased unsubscribes and spam complaints. The user emphasizes the importance of proper segmentation and list management to avoid such errors.
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog explains that sending duplicate emails can lead to subscriber annoyance, increased unsubscribe rates, and a negative impact on sender reputation, potentially leading to emails being marked as spam.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares their experience that an accidental double send spiked the complaint rate for a few days.
Email marketer from HubSpot explains that emailing unsubscribed contacts will seriously damage your sender reputation, resulting in ISPs blocking your emails and landing your messages in the spam folder. They note the significance of respecting unsubscribe requests to maintain a healthy email marketing program.
Email marketer from Sendinblue warns that sending emails to unsubscribed contacts increases the risk of being marked as spam, damaging sender reputation, and potentially leading to blacklisting by ISPs. They highlight the importance of respecting unsubscribe requests.
Email marketer from Litmus discusses how duplicate emails can frustrate subscribers and lead to higher opt-out rates. Litmus also highlights how it reflects negatively on the brand, suggesting inattention to detail and poor customer experience.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign discusses that sending emails to unsubscribed contacts can significantly damage deliverability rates because ISPs view such actions negatively, resulting in your emails being flagged as spam. They emphasize that list hygiene is critical for maintaining a positive sender reputation.
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor states that sending duplicate emails can damage brand perception and decrease engagement. They propose a system for proofing and testing email campaigns to ensure subscribers only receive each message once.
Email marketer from Mailjet says that sending duplicate emails degrades sender reputation because it signals a lack of attention to detail and may lead ISPs to view the sender as less trustworthy. This ultimately affects inbox placement.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, discusses the impact of sending multiple emails to the same person. She highlights that sending duplicate or nearly identical emails within a short timeframe can trigger spam filters, particularly if recipients mark these emails as spam. This can significantly harm sender reputation and deliverability.
Expert from Spam Resource, Dennis Dayman, explains that sending to unsubscribed users poses considerable legal and reputational risks. He emphasizes that the CAN-SPAM Act necessitates honoring unsubscribe requests promptly. Failure to comply could result in severe penalties and damage to deliverability and brand trust.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that they have seen accidental double sends result in both higher complaints and no extra complaints, noting that only time will tell the impact.
Expert from Word to the Wise staff discusses the importance of unsubscribed address suppression. They explain that failure to suppress unsubscribed addresses will lead to legal issues, but also shows a lack of respect to recipients. This damages your reputation with both ISPs and anti-spam organizations. Your mail will eventually wind up in the junk folder.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from CAN-SPAM Act explains that it is illegal to send emails to individuals who have unsubscribed from your mailing list and outlines the penalties for non-compliance, including fines per violation.
Documentation from Google Postmaster Tools indicates that a higher complaint rate resulting from duplicate sends can negatively impact deliverability to Gmail users. Google advises monitoring complaint rates closely and implementing measures to prevent accidental duplicates.
Documentation from GDPR highlights that sending emails to users who have unsubscribed violates the regulation's principles of consent and data protection. This can lead to significant fines and legal repercussions.
Documentation from Mailchimp explains that sending emails to unsubscribed users violates anti-spam laws like GDPR and CAN-SPAM, leading to legal penalties and damage to your brand's reputation. They also state that this practice can severely harm deliverability.