Improve Email Deliverability:Tactics for Avoiding Spam Traps
Twitter: @ReturnPath#AvoidSpamTraps
Tom SatherSr. Director,
Research
Today’s Speakers
Lori VaughnClient Success
Expert
Kelly HoganClient Success
Expert
What are spam traps?
The Different Types of Spam Traps
Pristine / Honey Pot / True Trap
Recycled Traps
60% of all emails received by spam traps are sent from commercial marketers.
Spam Trap Addresses are TOP Secret
What’s the Impact of Spam Traps?
Who Uses Spam Traps?
• Spamhaus• Spamcop• SURBL• SORBS• Project Honeypot• Return Path
Blacklists
• Cloudmark• Brightmail• Vade Retro• TrendMicro
3rd Party Filters
• Global providers• Local
Mailbox Providers
How do spam traps get on my
list?
Harvesting Spam Traps
Bad Practices:• Purchased lists• E-append• Email harvesting
Risky Practices:• Affiliate partners• POS collection• Sweepstakes/Contests/
Prizes• Restricted website
access• Poor bounce processing• Aged addresses• Import Address Book• Merger or acquisition• Typos• Malicious attack
Acquisition Risk Levels
How Do I Measure Spam Traps?
•Microsoft Smart Network Data Services (SNDS)• Bounce Logs• Blacklist websites• Delivery Performance
Publically Available Tools
Return Path Tools
How do I prevent and isolate spam
traps?
Prevention and Isolation
• IP segmentation• Acquisition• Permission•Hygiene • Inactive Strategies
IP Segmentation
WelcomeMessage
Inactive Subscribers
Reminder Messages
IP Segmentation: New Spam Traps
1. Review IP addresses for spam trap activity2. Suppress all new addresses if spam trap
activity found3. Or further divide and conquer
Slice and Dice By:• Acquisition Source• Engagement Level• Paid vs. Trial• Purchase vs. Non-
purchase
IP Segmentation: Legacy Spam Traps
Implement Custom X-headers
Audit Data
Partners
Spam Traps Found
Acquisition: Signup Forms
Acquisition: Point-of-Sale (POS)
Acquisition: Back-end Processes
Permission: Confirmed Opt-in
Hygiene: Bounce Codes
Hygiene: Global Suppression
• Reject malformed addresses:• [email protected]• [email protected]• Reject abuse@ and postmaster@ addresses• Reject role accounts• [email protected] • [email protected]
Hygiene: Malformations and Role Accounts
Inactive Strategies
Return Path Professional Services
• The Marketer’s Field Guide to Gmail, Outlook.com, and Yahoo!
http://landing.returnpath.com/marketer-field-guide
• On-Demand Webinar: What Marketers Need to Know about Email Engagement and ISP Filtering
landing.returnpath.com/email-engagement-webinar
• The Email Marketer’s Guide to Bounce Processing
landing.returnpath.com/email-bounce-processing-whitepaper
Additional Resources
