Operational Emails - Spam Notification

[SCockerill]

We have some legally required operational email that are sent out to consumers. It's the first time some of these consumers have heard from us. We noticed in our monitoring that occasionally we get marked as spam. 

If we get any SPAM notifications, we disable email address and instead send a physical letter. So we are trying to keep our lists as clean as possible. 

However, we are trying to understand if there would be any changes to deliverability or sender reputation from Gmail or Yahoo based on these operational emails getting marked as SPAM.

[Darshil_Shah1 · Accepted solution]

To answer your question, Yes, getting marked as spam even on the operational emails can negatively impact your sender reputation with Gmail and Yahoo. Each platform uses complex algorithms to assess sender reputation, and spam complaints are a significant factor. This can lead to lower deliverability for future emails. A couple of ways you can legitimately reduce getting spam marked off the top of my head are:

• Personalize and avoid spammy triggers:Address recipients by name, use clear and concise subject lines, and avoid excessive exclamation points, all caps, or overly promotional language.
• Respond to feedback: Encourage recipients to report legitimate emails as "not spam" if they mistakenly flag them.
• Ensure proper authentication: Implement Sender Policy Framework (if you have the branded envelope sender on your instance ), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and DMARC authentication protocols to improve trust in your emails.
• Utilize a "cold welcome" series: Not sure if this would align with your strategy, but For first-time operational email recipients, consider a short welcome series explaining the nature of these emails and the benefits of receiving them. This can reduce confusion and potential spam complaints.
  

I hope this is helpful. Please let us know if you have any questions.

[SCockerill]

I appreciate your note. We are definitely unique in some cases. We are almost doing everything you suggested: 

• Personalization: Our emails / subject lines for these transactional emails are highly personalized. We don't send out emails unless we have that information - includes First Name, Last Name, and 7/8  account characteristics that are specific to that consumer. 
• We have set up all our subdomains with proper authentication and have also set up Google / Yahoo postmaster accounts for transactional and marketing emails. 
• We run emails through a validity check before emails are sent. If we get any hard OR soft bounce from any email, we stop emailing consumers to ensure our lists are clean. We also have a Double Opt In email that is used where applicable. 
• We are required that this email has to be the first email we sent out so we can't send any welcome series. 

[Vinay_Kumar · Accepted solution]

You're definitely on the right track by being mindful of sender reputation and deliverability, especially with legally required emails sent to new recipients. While these emails have valid purposes, understanding potential impacts is crucial.

Impact on Deliverability and Sender Reputation:

Direct Impact: Each spam complaint negatively impacts your reputation with providers like Gmail and Yahoo. Even though these are legal emails, a significant number of complaints can still raise red flags.

Indirect Impact: Engagement metrics like open rates and click-through rates are often low for operational emails. Combined with high unsubscribe rates, this can indirectly worsen your overall sender reputation.

Strategies to Minimize the Impact:

Minimize Spam Triggers: Analyze common reasons for spam flags (e.g., misleading subject lines, irrelevant content). Address these to lower complaints.

Personalization: Personalize with recipient names and relevant information (when possible) to differentiate from marketing messages.

Segmentation & Suppression: Segment your list to send to those who genuinely need these emails. Suppress those previously marking your emails as spam or inactive.

Clear Unsubscribe Option: Always include an easy-to-use unsubscribe option to avoid spam marking.

Authentication: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protocols for sender authentication and improved trust with email providers.

Monitor & Adapt: Regularly monitor spam complaints and deliverability rates. Adapt your strategies based on data to find the right balance between sending essential information and maintaining good reputation.