Running a smart Campaign for Unsubscribed users

[Lopa1408]

I would like to unsubscribe any user who opts for the same as soon as they receive the email.

I am aware that Marketo runs this automatically so that any member who mentions to be unsubscribed get updated in Marketo system list under "Unsubscribed" 

However, in a recent instance we noticed that the email went to some 600 members (who should have been unsubscribed) and got bounced and listed in spamhaus because they were not updated in Marketo.

Shall I run a Smart campaign as you can see below with the mentioned triggers so that each time any member opts to be unsubscribed it gets updated and they do not receive any email from us in the future except for operational ones.

Also, if this smart campaign is fine, what should be the flow of this? can that be kept blank?

[SanfordWhiteman]

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I am aware that Marketo runs this automatically so that any member who mentions to be unsubscribed get updated in Marketo system list under "Unsubscribed" 

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That's not correct: the actual action taken when somebody sets the system Unsubscribed field to Boolean true is simply that that field is set to true.  The fact that the person appears in a system Smart List, or any Smart List, is entirely dependent on the value of that field.

Someone probably sent an email that ignored Unsubscribed, accidentally or deliberately saying it was an operational email.

Marketo does not need any information beyond the Unsubscribed field. And no Smart Campaign like the one you suggest is necessary, or even possible! A SC that triggers on the field already being true cannot do anything.

[Lopa1408]

We always send the same email( with different content ) everyday to the same set of users and I checked that this email was not sent as "Operational".

when I checked the activity log for some of these unsubscribed members, I noticed that they had the data value change time after we sent the email when unsubscribed went from "False" to "True".

Any idea of what can be the reason behind this and how we can overcome this kind of scenario in the future?

[SanfordWhiteman]

I noticed that they had the data value change time after we sent the email when unsubscribed went from "False" to "True".

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That means they unsubscribed after they received an unwanted email, as is typical.

[Lopa1408]

Yes even I feel that is the case.

Also, Marketo team mentioned that the domain that we use as "Reply To" in most of our emails is blacklisted in Spamhaus DBL.

Is there any action needed from our end for the same?

[Balkar_Singh]

Unless operational, your email should not be sent to anyone with Unsubscribe = TRUE. You may also want to check dupes and consider durable unsubscribe. I'd usually recommend to let the system manage this field, since it's recording a Lead's/Person's choice.

[SanfordWhiteman]

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Also, Marketo team mentioned that the domain that we use as "Reply To" in most of our emails is blacklisted in Spamhaus DBL.

Is there any action needed from our end for the same?

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Yes, stop spamming people. And then apply to be removed: https://www.spamhaus.org/lookup/.

[Lopa1408]

We are using the same domain for most of the emails that we send out. So do we really have to remove it from Spamhaus DBL or we can unblock it? What should be the best practise in this case? Do we need to use a different domain altogether for all our emails?

[SanfordWhiteman]

We are using the same domain for most of the emails that we send out. So do we really have to remove it from Spamhaus DBL or we can unblock it?

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You can't unblock it. Spamhaus unblocks it if you can prove you aren't spamming.

Your misunderstanding of how the Unsubscribed field works is troubling. Remember: you are on a shared system and endanger everyone else's reputation by not being in-the-know about this area.  I recommend you hire a deliverability consultant who can best ensure your own deliverability and protect others.

[Lopa1408]

I do understand how unsubscribe works in any email program and how it gets updated in Marketo each time any user prefers to be "unsubscribed".

However, I have never faced any scenario where there is any issue with the domain being listed as spam that we are using and in this case I will take it with my team and decide regarding burning off the domain and think of some solution.