Email marketing is a fast, flexible, and cost-effective way to reach new customers while retaining existing customers. Email marketing remains the marketing channel that converts the highest, and you can encourage repeat website visits to keep your customers returning for more.
With email campaigns, you can create targeted, personalised messages that help you build meaningful relationships with your customers. You can also improve response rates to your direct email campaigns by using eye-catching headlines or designs.
While email has become one of the most effective ways to engage with customers, there is a flip side to email: the growing number of public email blacklist databases.
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But what does email blacklisted mean?
If your email address is found or suspected to be sending spam, it will be placed in email blacklists. A domain or IP address appearing on an email blacklist indicates that spam filters have flagged it. This means that many email providers will block your email, and you will not be able to send (or sometimes receive) emails. You may also be subject to legal action in some countries if you are found sending spam.
Blacklists are a part of the email world that most people don’t like to think about, but they are a sad reality. 45.3% of all email inboxes were filled with spam in 2021, according to research.
There are many reasons why an email might end up in the spam folder. Whether it is something as simple as your email address ending in an unusual domain, using less-reputed service providers, using a ‘cold’ IP address or something as complicated as a lot of bad email delivery practices, it is something you should be aware of and something you should work to avoid.
This article will examine what blacklists are, how to prevent them, and how to get delisted.
What are the companies that run and maintain blacklists?
The most popular blacklists are typically held by companies that have done business out of them. While many lists of blacklisted domains and IPs are available online, the ones most relied upon and used more frequently are as follows:
Barracuda
Barracuda’s spam list, also known as Barracuda Reputation Block List, is composed of addresses that repeatedly send spam to their system. As a result, their list is one of the most accurate and up-to-date spam lists available.
Spamcop
Spamcop is a famous email blacklist that identifies spam trap email addresses and uses spam reports to create their lists. They give points to addresses based on complaints and only add them once they reach a certain threshold.
Spamhaus
Spamhaus is a well-known email blacklist service provider that runs several different lists used by companies and ISPs worldwide, including the SBL Spamhaus Block List, the XBL Exploits Block List, the DBL Domain Block List, and the PBL Policy Block List. The SBL is the most commonly used list by people doing typical email marketing and sending to ISPs, as it includes known addresses and IPs of known spammers and spam trap email addresses. Spam trap addresses are commonly found on purchased lists, so it’s essential to be aware of them when using Spamhaus’s lists.
How to check if I am on such an Email Blacklist?
There are over a hundred blacklists out there, so it can be challenging to track them all.
However, you can use an aggregate service like MXToolBox to find out if your email address is on any of them. Other helpful tools include the Barracuda Reputation Block List, MultiRBL, and Sender Score.
Oh no, my domain or IP Address has found its way on such an Email Blacklist!
Don’t be dismayed. That’s the key. Being blacklisted can happen to even the most successful marketers, but don’t worry – there are ways to remove your IP address from the email blacklist:
Determine the Blacklist
Firstly, determine the size and reputation of the email blacklist. If you’re on a small blacklist, it’s less likely that big ISPs will use it, and your address is likely to be removed relatively quickly.
Appeal the Blacklist
Most blacklisting companies have an appeal process you can follow, whether simply filling out a form or writing an email describing the issue.
Contact your ESP
If you’re having trouble emailing because your IP address has been blacklisted. Most good email service providers (ESP) will have a way for you to fix the issue and get back on the sending list. They’ll usually contact the people who run the email blacklist and have your IP address removed so that you can continue sending messages.
However, you may find that your account is still blocked until you can clean up your contact lists or take action on the steps they may have mentioned.
So, how do I avoid getting on Email Blacklists?
Being on a blacklist can directly reflect your email marketing campaign and how ISPs perceive it. The larger the list, the more likely your emails will be affected concerning deliverability. If you’re noticing that you’re on a blacklist, take a moment to analyse your recent email marketing campaign to see what might have triggered such a reaction to avoid making the same mistake. These are a few ways you can prevent the dirty word:
Use double opt-in
A double opt-in is an email verification process to ensure valid users are added to your mailing list. Users sign up for the mailing list on your website and receive an email with a link to confirm their subscription. Clicking on the link, they’re verifying they want to receive emails.
This helps to prevent someone from signing up another person for your emails without their knowledge or permission. This ensures that spam reports are reduced to a minimum.
Use Well-Reputed Email Service Providers
An Email Service Provider (or ESP) is a company or a service that provides software-based email services on a large scale. When you maintain email communication with your customers, especially in high volume, an ESP can help you build and store email lists and send emails successfully and conveniently.
ESPs are a fantastic way to take the guesswork out of your email campaigns and help maintain high standards. ESPs have an excellent reputation to uphold, so they go the extra mile to protect it. They may also provide you with specific actions you can take to comply with their standards.
Fence your Email Servers
Even if you’re setting up your Email Sending Servers, it is essential to protect your Email Sending Server from all malware and bots.
Even if you’re setting up your Email Sending Servers, it is essential to protect your Email Sending Server from all malware and bots.
Malware and bots can easily infect your server and hijack your email domain or IP address to send bogus emails, putting you on an email-blocking list – even if you haven’t done anything wrong. Keep your server security up-to-date to avoid these harmful programs.
Avoid Buying Emails
It is not 2007. It’s easy to fall into the trap of buying email addresses from less-than-reputable sources, but doing so will only result in your messages being flagged as spam. Some addresses may be spam traps and look real but don’t belong to a natural person.
Send emails to such emails, and your domain will be sent to an email blacklist, as you’d be sending emails to people who don’t want to hear from you. This can also lead you to get banned from your ESP and their services.
Cleanup your List
Having a great email list is one thing, but it’s essential to keep it clean by regularly removing any bounced or unresponsive emails. You don’t want to lose addresses that may just be experiencing a temporary hiccup, so distinguish between hard and soft bounces. Using tools such as EmailListVerify, Debounce.io, and Neverbounce makes this process a breeze.
Additionally, it would be best to look at your performance data to see which old addresses have been underperforming, such as those with low engagement rates. Finally, always honour any requests from clients who want to be removed from your list.
Use an Inbox Warmer
Warming up your email account is essential before you send out any cold email campaigns. This is one of the best ways to increase the chances of your email landing in your recipient’s primary inbox.
Various cold email warmup tools, such as Warmup Inbox, Warmbox, and Snov.io, will help create positive engagement on your email account.
Use a Blacklist Monitoring Service
Protect your domain, IP address, and mail server reputation using complete blacklist monitoring services like Warmup Inbox. Blacklist monitoring services send you an alert if you’re found on a list, so you can take action to get delisted and reduce any damage.
Avoid using “Trigger” Words, Links and Styles in your Emails
Spam filters are on the lookout for sure telltale signs that an email might be spam, such as:
- The use of certain triggering words, such as Double your cash, Fast cash, Free investment, Lose weight, Multi-level marketing, Meet Singles, etc.
- Links to unsavoury websites
- Messages are written entirely in uppercase letters
- Colourful and oddly sized fonts
- Broken HTML code
Will taking care of all these things stop my email address from going to Blacklists?
Even if you’re using the best practices for email and design, there’s no one thing you can do to guarantee that your emails won’t end up on a spam blacklist. Your contacts are a big part of whether the blacklists will block your emails.
So ensure you’re sending relevant, helpful content designed in a way that’s easy to read and use. The more your audience engages with your campaigns, the better your chances are of avoiding the email blacklist.
Conclusion
Your email reputation is vital to whether or not your emails make it to your subscribers’ inboxes. So, pay attention to the kind of content you’re sending out in your emails, and be extra careful about how you build your lists.
It’s also a good idea to keep an eye on the stats from each email campaign, so you can see what kinds of things your customers like and don’t like in their emails. This way, you can catch any issues with delivery before they become a problem.
If you stick to basic email marketing rules, you shouldn’t have any trouble with delivery. But if you’ve landed on a blacklist, take steps to clean up your lists, watch your email content, and follow marketing best practices to deliver better content.
