Staying out of Spam Traps (Part 2)

In the first part of this article, you learned what a spam trap is and the consequences of sending messages to one. We now take a look at what you can do to avoid falling into such a trap and how to get back on track if you do.

How do you avoid them?

• Don’t buy mailing lists.
  Mailing lists that can be purchased are potentially old and the buyer often doesn’t know where they come from or how the email addresses were collected. These lists can be very dangerous to use. What’s more, with Bill C-28, you must be able to prove that you’ve obtained the recipient’s prior consent for the mailing. This is very difficult, if not impossible, with a purchased list. REP Solution has always advised its clients against such a practice.
• Don’t use old mailing lists.
  Even if a mailing list belongs to you, a contact with whom you haven’t communicated in more than a year is a potential danger. The risk that his or her address has been abandoned and transformed into a spam trap increases sharply over time.
• Maintain good mailing list hygiene.
  Remove email addresses that consistently return errors and pay special attention to dormant contacts who haven’t replied to your messages in a long time. Try to re-contact them. If nothing works, consider dropping their names from the list.

How do you know if you’ve sent mailings to a spam trap?

Monitor your delivery rate closely. Don’t expect to receive a message telling you that you sent mail to a spam trap. You need to keep an eye on your mailings to detect any suspicious changes. If you notice a significant drop in your delivery rate or that your recipients are replying much less than usual, it could be a sign of a problem.

What should you do if you sent mailings to a spam trap?

You may not like this solution, but if you’re having delivery problems after emailing a spam trap, you should probably amend your mailing list in its entirety. This means sending a message to each of your contacts asking them to click a link indicating their consent to receive future mailings. You’ll likely notice a big drop in the number of contacts to whom you can send mailings following this amendment. However, you’re ensuring that all your future mailings will be safe. After this measure is complete, keep your mailing list up to date so that it contains only those contacts who wish to receive your emails. You don’t want to start all over again, do you?

You now have everything you need to send emails with peace of mind!