How do you manage spam traps in a new Marketo database?

[Catherine_Ducey]

We got a notification from Marketo that our database contains spam traps. Unfortunately, because we have not been using Marketo for that long, the recommended smart list solution does not apply. We were wondering if anyone has used any other solutions to ID and get rid of spam traps that cause black listing.

Best,

Catherine Ducey Coppola

New York University

[Grace_Brebner3]

Hey Catherine,

Unfortunately if there was an easy solution to this, spam traps would be redundant. The point of them is to see whether senders are being "white-hat" about their marketing tactics and following best practice or not. Generally if you've hit a spam trap, you're doing something either in your database maintenance or lead acquisition strategies that isn't white hat/best practice. 

First thing to understand is what a spam trap is. I like to think of them like zombie email addresses. In most cases, it's an email address that was once real but has since "died" and been resurrected. Once it's resurrected as a spam trap, it's highly likely that anyone who does send emails to that address has (a) bought the data from a non-reputable source, (b) not been maintaining their database hygiene.

So those are really the two main things you should be mindful of if you want to avoid spam traps, though neither of these things will distinguish them specifically from the rest of your database...

1. Don't buy lists. In many countries this is illegal, and it's also against the terms of use for a lot of ESPs/MA tools. Bought data often hasn't been cleansed of "dead" records that have bounced from other buyer's sends and often carries a very high risk.
2. Maintain good database hygiene processes. Have clear bounce management processes, clear chronic non-responder management processes, and be white-hat about your targeting: your emails should really only be sent to people that want to & expect to hear from you, and for whom your message is relevant. 

This isn't exhaustive either, there's plenty of other resources online on this topic, but if either of those two points raise red flags for you, that's where I would start . Hope it helps.

[Grace_Brebner3]

I should also add, actually - if you're new to Marketo but have used another MA platform/ESP recently, from which your database was sourced, and still have access to that system, or have an export of that system that shows any information about bounces, blacklists, unsubscribes, chronic non-responders, etc - make sure you're pulling that info into Marketo. 

If your past platform was excluding people who had seen multiple bounces etc, that's valuable information that you want to hold on to.

[Jessica_Meyers_]

These are all so accurate! A clear bounce management solution is key to maintaing database hygine! Catherine - how new to Marketo are you? You may not have 6 months of inactivty in your system you can report on, but finding a way to address the spam incident early is the best way to ensure they don't happen again. 

[Gursimran_Chand]

Ask Marketo support which campaign made you blacklisted? They will tell you.

After that follow these steps: https://nation.marketo.com/docs/DOC-1148-blacklist-remediation

Don't forget to fill out the Delisting Form.

[Jessica_Meyers_]

Hidden in the notification is usually the subject of the offending email - and by filtering in the design studio you can get to the root of it. It takes some digging but can help to have a better idea of the audience that triggered the blacklisting. 

[Enget_Dang]

For the past year we've been using Informatica's StrikeIron Email Verification tool. It's awesome and gives us a higher reassurance that we aren't sending to recycled or pristine spam traps. Basically its a webhook that passes emails through to StrikeIron which then returns a series of verification codes to allow you to segment your database further. For instance, we have several tiers of email validation, a Tier 1, 2 and 3 based on the codes we receive from StrikeIron. Tier 1 emails are emails that show a higher probability of being a valid email and as you go down tiers the less reliant the email becomes.

Not to mention we also use 250ok (Marketo) for inbox and design testing. 

[Melinda_Simpson]

Catherine,

In efforts to clean up our database, we have found that personalizing our emails by including the receiver's company name in the subject line has helped tremendously in finding and deleting spam traps.

We also use 250ok (Marketo) for inbox and design testing. 

Good luck and happy hunting!

Melinda Simpson

Media Associate

QuinStreet Inc

[Gursimran_Chand]

How come adding company name in the subject line help you detect spam traps? Would love to know more.

[Melinda_Simpson]

Gursimran,

The subject line of the offending mail should be listed in the spam trap hits. By isolating the company name, we can search our database and mail just those people in the company (if there are many) or delete them (if there are just 1 or 2).

I hope that helps!

Melinda