How to Avoid Spam Filters

#1

Post by katiey » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 4:51 PM UTC

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#2

Post by thrownaway2424 » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 6:07 PM UTC

Unfortunately most people who are looking for an article like this are looking for "How to send spam and avoid spam filters", not "How to respect the attention of my valuable customers in such a way as to not offend their spam filters."

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#3

Post by dexiwz » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 6:21 PM UTC

This is a cop-out article that MailChimp can direct its customers to when they ask "how to disable spam filters." I worked in support for another ESP, and customers would often have unreasonable expectations about email delivery rates. Enough industries are corrupted, that customers thought that with enough money, we could bypass spam filters, or ensure 100% deliverability (never mind that half their email addresses didn't exist). I even had someone ask how they could make sure that everyone would open and read their emails. Like we sold some sort of Orwellian device that would hold people's eyes open and indoctrinate them to buy a specific Insurance.

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#4

Post by themensch » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 6:29 PM UTC

Having worked both sides of this (for companies mentioned in the article, even) I would label this "How to Play nice in the Email Space." Techniques for avoiding spam filters are much more nefarious.

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#5

Post by irl_zebra » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 6:56 PM UTC

themensch wrote: post #4

Having worked both sides of this (for companies mentioned in the article, even) I would label this "How to Play nice in the Email Space." Techniques for avoiding spam filters are much more nefarious.

I agree, but I bet an article titled "How to Avoid Spam Filters" gets a massively larger number of hits from search results than one titled "How to Play Nice in the Email Space."

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#6

Post by LeoNatan25 » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 7:06 PM UTC

Best way to avoid spam filters is to not send spam.

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#7

Post by gk1 » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 7:09 PM UTC

dexiwz wrote: post #3

This is a cop-out article that MailChimp can direct its customers to when they ask "how to disable spam filters." I worked in support for another ESP, and customers would often have unreasonable expectations about email delivery rates. Enough industries are corrupted, that customers thought that with enough money, we could bypass spam filters, or ensure 100% deliverability (never mind that half their email addresses…

Wouldn you agree that those people need to be educated on how email deliverability works? Isn't this a good starting point?

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#8

Post by Veratyr » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 7:24 PM UTC

Instead of "educating" marketers, Mailchimp should instead enforce double opt-in.

I've marked ~80% of emails reaching my inbox from Mailchimp as spam because they were sent without my permission. Yet I haven't seen a double opt-in flow in forever and I doubt marketers are going to change their mind about it.

What would also work would be for Mailchimp to allow a __user__ to opt in to double consent. From then on, no Mailchimp customer can send emails to me unless I confirm their initial request.

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#9

Post by caminante » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 7:26 PM UTC

dexiwz wrote: post #3

This is a cop-out article that MailChimp can direct its customers to when they ask "how to disable spam filters." I worked in support for another ESP, and customers would often have unreasonable expectations about email delivery rates. Enough industries are corrupted, that customers thought that with enough money, we could bypass spam filters, or ensure 100% deliverability (never mind that half their email addresses…

Have ESP's recovered any ground or power?

A couple years ago, I looked at switching from an in-house email server to an ESP -- MailChimp being one. Right as I was performing the cost-benefit, two things happened:

  1. Gmail started re-hosting email images, nullifying passive email-open 
     detection features even if the user ALLOWED images.[1]
  2. MailChimps added language around distribution caps.

As a minor dealbreaker, ESP's force mandatory unsubscribe links for CAN-SPAM compliance, no matter how small/private your list becomes.

[1] http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/12/gmail-...

Re: How to Avoid Spam Filters

#10

Post by caminante » Wed, Oct 28, 2015, 7:37 PM UTC

Veratyr wrote: post #8

Instead of "educating" marketers, Mailchimp should instead enforce double opt-in. I've marked ~80% of emails reaching my inbox from Mailchimp as spam because they were sent without my permission. Yet I haven't seen a double opt-in flow in forever and I doubt marketers are going to change their mind about it. What would also work would be for Mailchimp to allow a __user__ to opt in to double consent. From then on, no…

> I've marked ~80% of emails reaching my inbox from Mailchimp as spam because they were sent without my permission.

I think the status quo has grown to tolerate unsolicited email and accept that their inbox isn't the same property as their physical mailbox.

edit: Oh! Much like your physical mailbox, unless you host your own email, your inbox isn't your property either ;-).