What to do if newsletters end up in ‘Spam’: 5 practical steps

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When working with email newsletters, unexpected issues can arise. A common situation: everything was working perfectly, but suddenly the open rates of emails dropped sharply, and the mail system postmasters started signaling that your newsletters were going to 'Spam'.

What to do in such a situation and how to get out of 'Spam'?

Step #1. Check compliance with a number of criteria

First, it is necessary to conduct a basic evaluation of the newsletters: perhaps not everything is as smooth as it seems, giving mail services grounds to place them in 'Spam'. In from one of the authors. we listed the main factors to consider when starting newsletters to minimize the likelihood of hitting 'Spam'.

If the technical parameters of the newsletters, the content, and other basic aspects are all good, but emails still end up in 'Spam', it's time to take active measures.

Step #2. Analyze the logic of spam filters + check FBL reports

At the first step, it's important to understand the nature of getting into 'Spam'. It is possible that individual spam filters are triggering for some subscribers. Mail system algorithms analyze how users interact with similar messages.

If someone previously sent emails similar to yours to the 'Spam' folder, then your newsletter could end up there as well. In this case, there is a problem, but it is not as serious as if your entire domain were on the list of untrusted senders.

Checking the scale of the problem is simple: you need to send an email to your own mailboxes in those mail services where users have stopped opening messages. If the emails sent to yourself go through, you are dealing with individual spam filters.

You can bypass them by trying to reach users through other channels and explaining how to move the email from 'Spam' to 'Inbox', by adding your return e-mail to their address book. The next messages will then go through without issues.

It's also important to remember about Feedback Loop (FBL) reports. This tool allows you to find out if someone has marked your emails as ‘Spam’. It is crucial to immediately remove such subscribers from your database and not send them anything further, just like anyone who has clicked the unsubscribe link. Mailing services automatically process FBL reports from email providers, such as those sent by mail.ru. However, the problem is that some email services, including Gmail and Yandex, do not send them, so you will have to clean your database of such subscribers manually. We will discuss how to do this below.

Step #3. Database Cleanup

In every database, there are subscribers who receive newsletters but do not open them for an extended period. This includes those who may have marked them as ‘Spam’. It's time to say goodbye to such subscribers. This will not only reduce the size of the database and save on maintenance costs (payment for mailing services, etc.), but also improve domain reputation and help eliminate spam traps from email providers.

In the DashaMail service, there are a feature to manually remove inactive subscribers:

For now, this will be sufficient, but for the future, it’s better to set rules by which the system can recognize inactive subscribers and remove them automatically. Additionally, you can set up a reactivation autoresponder for them – when a message with a compelling subject line is sent before their final move to the inactive list. If that does not work either, the subscriber is likely no longer seeing your emails, and it's better to remove them from the database.

Step #4. Sending to the Most Active Segment of Subscribers

In any mailing list, there are users who open emails occasionally and/or do not respond much, while there are those who are interested in the content, actively opening newsletters and clicking on links. To boost the reputation of your emails when deliverability issues arise, it’s worthwhile to work with such users for a while.

They have opened your emails before and are clearly interested in the content, so the chances that your email will land in their ‘Inbox’ will be higher.

To highlight active subscribers in a separate segment, you can use DashaMail's activity ratings. Initially, all subscribers receive 2 stars in the rating. The number of stars then changes based on the subscriber's activity in mailings.

Example of subscriber ratings in DashaMail:

Send one or two emails only to those whose activity rating is 4 stars or higher, even if the segment turns out to be small. There is a high likelihood that after such a mailing, message deliverability and email reputation will improve. However, this does not negate the need to clear the database of inactive subscribers.

Step #5. Contacting the email service support

If you have completed all the steps described above and are confident in the quality of your mailings, but your emails still end up in 'Spam', there is only one option left: contact the support of the email service.

Your request should be composed carefully. It’s better to avoid emotions and present your position with clear justification, providing relevant data. Generally, you will need to talk about your business, describe how you collect your subscriber base, and attach a copy of the email that ended up in 'Spam' in EML format. If you have postmasters set up in the email systems, you can attach a screenshot proving that the email actually went to 'Spam'.

You will also need the data for the specific email in which you are interested. To export the email in EML format, your own mailboxes in the necessary email systems will come in handy. For example, here’s how to download the EML version of an email in 'Yandex.Mail':

Here’s what the EML version of the email looks like:

You should also contact the mailing service you are using and request logs for the specific email. Once you have gathered all the data and prepared the email, it needs to be sent. Here’s where to write:

• Mail.ru Form
• Yandex's anti-spam section
• Feedback form for Gmail senders

After that, all that’s left is to wait for a response and be ready to provide additional information and answer questions.

Conclusion: checklist for getting out of 'Spam'

In conclusion, let’s review the steps that need to be taken to have a chance of getting out of 'Spam':

• Check technical settings and apply best practices.Check the domain reputation, configure DKIM, SPF, and other important parameters. If you didn't use double opt-in when collecting your database, make sure to implement it.
• Set up postmasters for email systems. This will allow you to monitor the status of your mailings.
• Analyze engagement and maintain your database hygiene, conducting timely cleaning.. Test different content formats, select what works best, and avoid sending emails to uninterested recipients.
• If you are in the 'Spam' folder, first analyze everything and gather as much data as possible.. Understand the scale of the problem, which email services are affected, test the mailing on your own inboxes, and export logs and the EML version of the message.
• Communicate effectively with your provider's support team. Communication with support specialists is very important. You need to present your case calmly and logically, without aggression, demonstrating that you are not spamming people, but providing valuable content that they subscribed to.

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Source: habr.com