Email Deliverability Guide: Avoid Spam Triggers And Spam Traps

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Table of Contents:
• Spam Triggers
• Spam Traps
• Conclusion
• Additional Resources
• Next Lesson

Spam Triggers

As mentioned in the glossary of this guide, a spam trigger, spam filter, or spam flag refers to specific elements or characteristics within an email that can cause it to be identified as spam by email filters or spam detection systems. Spam triggers are typically keywords, phrases, or patterns commonly associated with spam or unwanted email content.

Various factors can trigger spam filters, making emails classified as spam. Some common spam triggers include:

• Spammy words and phrases: The presence of words commonly associated with spam, such as "free," "act now," "earn money fast," or "buy now," can trigger spam filters.
  
  
• Excessive capitalization and punctuation: Emails with excessive capital letters, multiple exclamation marks, or repetitive symbols can be flagged as spam.
  
  
• Misleading subject lines: Subject lines that are deceptive, overly sensational, or unrelated to the email's content may trigger spam filters.
  
  
• Low text-to-image ratio: Emails that consist primarily of images with little text can be flagged as spam, as spammers often use this tactic to evade text-based filters.
  
  
• HTML coding issues: Emails with poorly constructed HTML code, broken links, or invalid markup can raise suspicion and trigger spam filters.
  
  
• Sending behavior: Sudden spikes in sending volume, irregular sending patterns, or large batches of identical emails can indicate spam and may trigger filters.
  
  
• Blacklisted URLs: Links to websites or domains that are blacklisted for spam or malicious activities can cause emails to be filtered.
  
  

*Please note that these factors may vary depending on the ESP (Email Service Provider), or they might change with time according to new internet regulations or changes in the internet marketing good practice conventions.

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Spam Traps

A spam trap is an email address or domain used by internet service providers (ISPs), email service providers (ESPs), and anti-spam organizations to identify and catch spammers. Spam traps are not real email accounts used by actual individuals but are created explicitly to identify unsolicited and potentially malicious email practices.

Spam traps can cause your IP address or domain to be list denied, affecting your sending reputation and email deliverability.

Different types of email spam traps will impact your marketing success to varying degrees. There are two main types of recognized spam traps:

Pristine spam traps are email addresses created by ISPs and other organizations that a sender has never used. The email addresses are embedded in websites, so when spammers scrape websites to grow their contact list, the spam traps end up in their list.

While all spam traps negatively affect your sending reputation, the pristine spam trap has the most severe consequences. Your IP address or domain will likely be added to a list of denied email addresses—meaning your emails will go straight to the spam folder.

Recycled spam traps are email addresses that used to belong to real individuals but have been abandoned or inactive for a long time. These are often old domain registrations or email addresses that were once valid. ISPs or anti-spam organizations repurpose these dormant addresses as spam traps. If a sender continues to send emails to these addresses, it indicates poor list hygiene and a lack of proper permission-based marketing practices.

The recycled spam trap generally isn’t as harmful as the pristine spam trap. After all, updating lists to account for addresses no longer in use takes time. But repeatedly sending emails to these addresses will still cause damage to your sending reputation over time.

And figuring out how to find spam trap email addresses is more difficult when those addresses look as valid as the others. Recycled spam traps present a more significant challenge when cleaning up your lists.

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Conclusion

To avoid spam traps, it's crucial to follow best email marketing practices, including permission-based marketing, regularly cleaning and maintaining your email list, and avoiding practices associated with spamming. Adhering to these practices can reduce the risk of falling into spam traps and maintain a positive sender reputation.

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Additional Resources

HubSpot - The Ultimate List of 394 Email Spam Trigger Words to Avoid in 2023

HubSpot - Understand spam traps

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Next Lesson

Email Deliverability Guide: Test Your Emails Before Sending

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