"But I'm Not a Spammer!"

5 reasons subscribers could view your email as spam and what to do about it

John Arnold,

by John Arnold, Constant Contact Regional Development Director and author of Email Marketing for Dummies

Receiving a spam complaint from someone who is supposed to know you and your business might feel like you're being betrayed by a friend, especially when you've worked so hard to build a permission-based list. You are following the rules, so why the spam complaint?

It may be that certain characteristics of your email look like spam to your subscribers or they aren't satisfied with what they are getting from you. But take heart: there are ways to help more of your recipients respond with approval instead of with the spam button. Here are the five most common consumer spam-complaint triggers and how you can avoid pulling them.

1) Questionable Identity

Clearly communicating your identity is the number one way to avoid spam complaints. According to a survey by the Email Sender and Provider Coalition, 79 percent of consumers clicked the spam button when they didn't know who the sender was. Here are the two simplest ways to make your identity apparent.

  • Use a familiar name in your "from" line. Use the same words your audience uses to identify you or your business. For example, if you're an online business and your customers refer to you by your domain name instead of your formal business name, put your domain name in your "from" line. If you are your brand, and everyone on your list knows who you are, use your name.

  • Include your brand. Insert your logo into the upper left or center of every email and include image descriptions (alt text) of your company's name for readers who have images disabled. Choose colors that identify your business when designing your email templates and use the same colors in every template you use. Don't just use the stock template colors.

2) Irrelevant Content

Consumers expect their email subscriptions to deliver value. According to eMarketer, 46 percent of Internet users say the commercial emails they receive are not targeted to their needs. Since your email list is likely to include people with a variety of interests, take these interests into account before you send.

  • Offer choices on your sign-up form. Some consumers want to receive promotions, while others only want informative newsletters. Offering options helps you make your emails relevant.

  • Use click-through data to target future messages. When people click on your links, they tell you what they are interested in. Use this data to create different email lists.

  • Send surveys and polls to learn about preferences. Instead of making assumptions about what to send, ask. You can conduct a formal survey before starting a major email campaign or use ongoing polls to get small bits of information over time and adjust your strategy as you go.

3) Broken Promises

Sending emails that your subscribers didn't ask for (i.e., promotions when they signed up for an email newsletter) can be perceived by your audience as a broken promise. Give your subscribers clear expectations before they share their email addresses, then keep your promises.

  • Tell your new subscribers what you're going to send. Clearly describe each type of email communication you offer (e.g., promotions, newsletters, event announcements, etc.) and ask new subscribers which they would like to receive.

  • Send a welcome email after new subscribers join. Whether they join through your website or you add them to your list after they subscribe offline, send a welcome email that clearly describes the email content you plan to send. You can also include a link to archived emails to reinforce your content description.

4) Excessive Promotion

Selling your products or services is an important part of your email marketing, but, according to a Jupiter Research survey, 40 percent of consumers said they stopped subscribing to opt-in emails because they were getting too many offers. Sending promotions too frequently might lead to spam complaints.

  • Keep your promotional frequency in line with your business model. If you sell items that are consumed quickly, your audience probably expects more frequent promotions than if you sell items that are normally purchased every few months, years, or once in a lifetime.

  • Place promotions on your website and use informative email content to drive clicks. Instead of putting an entire article and a promotion in your email newsletter, use only the first two or three sentences in your email and post the rest of the article, and a related promotion, on your website.

  • Know your audience's promotional preferences. Some consumers love coupons, sales, and discounts. Others don't. If you're not sure of your audience's promotional preferences, use a survey, a poll, or a choice of interest list to sort your subscribers into groups.

5) Confusion and Illusion

Sometimes consumers report legitimate email as spam because they simply want to get off a list and don't understand the negative impact of hitting that spam button. Here are two reasons why consumers might choose the spam button over the more forgiving option of unsubscribing.

  • Your subscribers can't figure out how to unsubscribe. If your audience has trouble finding the unsubscribe link at the bottom of your email, use a permission reminder at the top of your email that includes the link.

  • Your subscribers don't trust the unsubscribe link in your email. Use your sign-up process and welcome email to reinforce the ability to safely unsubscribe from your list by clicking the unsubscribe link in any of your emails.

While it may be impossible to take the sting out of receiving a spam complaint, it is possible to minimize the amount of complaints you receive. Stick to permission-based tactics, make your identity clear, send relevant content, and keep tabs on your frequency. If you put all these tips into practice, then you've done everything in your power to keep subscribers on your list and stop them from clicking the spam button when they receive your emails.

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