Will sending identical emails flag as spam?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Constant Contact warns that sending identical emails will negatively impact your sender reputation and reduce email deliverability, making it more likely that your email lands in the spam folder
Email marketer from Neil Patel's Blog shares that sending the same email to the same recipients repeatedly will almost certainly trigger spam filters. He advises personalizing content and varying subject lines to avoid being marked as spam.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that sending identical emails, especially in bulk, is a quick way to get marked as spam. ISPs look for variations in content to ensure emails are not automated spam.
Email marketer from HubSpot shares the importance of sending relevant content to subscribers, because email clients see a lack of personalization as a red flag that increases chances of being flagged as spam
Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that sending identical emails to the same recipients increases the likelihood of being flagged as spam. Varying content, using personalization, and segmenting your audience are essential for maintaining good deliverability.
Email marketer from Mailchimp explains that sending identical emails can harm your sender reputation and trigger spam filters. They recommend personalizing messages and using dynamic content to ensure emails are unique for each recipient.
Email marketer from G2 details that avoiding repetitive content is vital to email deliverability. Email providers notice patterns and repetitive content will reduce your email reputation which results in poor deliverability
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests searching for "fingerprinting", i.e. that the message similarity via fingerprinting would lead to that spam designation.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that sending the exact same email repeatedly will definitely trigger spam filters. She advises A/B testing different versions to avoid content repetition.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks explains that it's unlikely to find the exact right data to convince someone who thinks sending identical emails is good marketing that it isn’t. They’re most likely going to argue that whatever case study you find isn’t going to be right for their particular situation. She suggests limiting the damage.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that sending the same email over and over, even to different recipients, can be a spam trigger. Filters look for variations in content. If an email is exactly the same each time, it raises a red flag.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that there isn't really industry documentation, unless someone’s done some case studies, to show sending identical emails will cause ISPs to flag as spam. Spammers send the same message to the same lists day after day. It’s what spammers DO. They don’t change anything (except maybe the IP and the domain) in the text of the message. It’s why fingerprinting and content matter.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that except in extremely egregious situations most of the consumer ISPs now start handling spam by moving some recipient’s mail to bulk. If the recipients go chasing it and pulling it out, they stop. If recpients don’t then more and more starts going to bulk. Each mail in bulk hurts your reputation, so now you’re in the negative spiral.
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, explains that one of the things that can cause filtering issues is fingerprinting. Sending messages that are extremely similar can cause your messages to go to the spam folder, because this is what spammers do.
What the documentation says4Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft Support explains that sending bulk emails with nearly identical content can be flagged as junk. Microsoft's SmartScreen Filter analyzes message content and sender reputation to identify and filter out spam.
Documentation from Spamhaus explains that repetitive content and sending patterns are key indicators used to identify spam. Maintaining a good sending reputation requires diversifying content and avoiding identical mailings to prevent being listed on blocklists.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that sending identical email content to a large list of recipients can negatively affect deliverability. Filters can misinterpret a lack of diversity in your email sends as spam.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that sending identical emails to a large number of recipients can be a trigger for spam filters, especially if the content is unsolicited or unexpected. Google's algorithms look for patterns, and repetitive content can negatively impact sender reputation.