What to do when your company prioritizes short-term spam gains over long-term email best practices?
Summary
What email marketers say10Marketer opinions
Email marketer from EmailDiscussions shares that if your company is deliberately engaging in practices that are harmful to email ecosystems and ignoring your advice, it might be time to seek employment elsewhere. Your professional reputation is at stake.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that people who can't fix problems are often fired. If Emanuel can't fix Spamhaus listings due to lack of authority, the superiors may see it as Emanuel's fault, potentially leading to job loss.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that sender reputation is vital for email deliverability. Building a positive sender reputation requires consistent email practices and engaging content.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests a long-term A/B test comparing spamming practices with best practices to demonstrate that best practices are more profitable in the long run. They highlight that poor list acquisition, high churn, and inboxing issues can be costly.
Email marketer from Reddit responds by indicating that if your company values short-term gains from spam over ethical practices and long-term sustainability, it's a misalignment of values and a sign to consider leaving the company.
Email marketer from SendGrid explains that high spam complaint rates negatively impact sender reputation and deliverability. It's crucial to maintain low complaint rates by sending relevant and wanted emails.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that sending emails without proper consent can damage your sender reputation and lead to being marked as spam. Always obtain explicit permission before sending emails.
Marketer from Email Geeks questions whether the boss focuses on sending emails or ROI. If it's the former, changing their mind will be difficult, but if the goal is client benefit, showing the numbers can help. Also notes Spamhaus is dangerous and can affect more than just email.
Email marketer from ActiveCampaign shares that employing permission-based marketing is crucial for long-term success, preventing deliverability issues and boosting engagement by ensuring recipients want to receive your emails.
Email marketer from MarketingProfs shares that unethical email marketing practices, even if they provide short-term gains, will damage your brand, impair your ability to reach the inbox, and invite legal challenges.
What the experts say3Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains the company will be trading short-term gains for long-term pain, and Emanuel may be blamed. They advise that if the superiors are the email experts and not listening, it's not a job worth keeping.
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that when clients cause spam issues, it's important to educate them about the consequences and guide them towards better practices. The response discusses how to train clients and when to consider parting ways if the problem persists.
Expert from Spamresource.com explains that if you're a manager, you need to create internal policies that reflect the values that you want for your customers. Make sure you can enforce those rules consistently, and can show examples of sending activity outside of those rules.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from ietf.org details that sending unsolicited bulk email can lead to being perceived as a spammer, which has negative consequences. It emphasizes the importance of adhering to established guidelines to maintain a good reputation.
Documentation from ietf.org details that using one-click unsubscribe options is important. A List-Unsubscribe header field tells email programs that the sender enables users to unsubscribe from mailing lists quickly and with minimal effort.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that their acceptable use policy prohibits the use of their services for sending spam or unsolicited emails. Violation can lead to account suspension.
Documentation from Spamhaus explains that spamming leads to IP address and domain blacklisting, damaging sender reputation and causing deliverability problems. Remediation can be time-consuming and costly.
Documentation from Google's Bulk Sender Guidelines explains that following best practices, such as authentication, list management, and relevant content, is crucial to ensure your emails reach the inbox and avoid being marked as spam by Gmail users.