Do you need help to get responses from potential clients? It could be because your emails end up in the spam folder, often caused by sending bulk emails.
Bulk email is sending mass messages to a large group of people simultaneously. They are primarily used in email marketing campaigns to advertise or promote a product or service.
Sending bulk emails contributes significantly to blocking your emails. This occurs due to various reasons associated with bulk email delivery. For instance, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and email service providers have implemented measures to combat spam. Therefore, sending a large volume of marketing emails can trigger these filters.
Additionally, when you send mass emails, recipients will likely mark your messages as spam or unsubscribe. As a result, it negatively impacts your email reputation.
This article aims to help you understand how to manage your email campaigns to avoid being blocked and maintain a positive sender reputation.
Let’s dive in.
5 Benefits of Bulk Email Marketing
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1. Increased Website Traffic and Conversions
Bulk email marketing enables you to reach a large audience instantly. With a single campaign, you can communicate your message to a wide range of recipients, increasing your brand’s exposure and fostering engagement with your target audience.
2. Measurable Results and Analytics
One of the significant benefits of bulk email marketing is the ability to measure and analyze your campaign’s performance.
Email marketing platforms provide valuable insights like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion metrics. These analytics allow you to track your campaigns’ success, identify improvement areas, and make data-driven decisions to optimize future email marketing efforts.
3. Personalization and Customization
Bulk email marketing also offers the ability to personalize and customize your messages. With advanced email marketing tools, you can segment your audience based on various criteria and tailor your emails to specific groups or individuals.
This personalization level enhances your campaigns’ relevance and effectiveness, leading to higher engagement and conversions.
4. Cost-Effective Communication
Compared to traditional marketing channels, bulk email marketing is a cost-effective strategy.
Sending emails eliminates the need for printing, postage, and other expenses associated with physical mail. It also allows you to connect with many recipients at a fraction of the cost, making it an efficient option for businesses of all sizes.
5. Increased Reach and Audience Engagement
Well-designed bulk email campaigns can drive traffic to your website and boost conversions.
By including compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) and relevant links in your emails, you can encourage recipients to visit your website, explore your products or services, and take desired actions, such as purchasing or filling out a form.
5 Reasons Why Gmail Blocks Emails
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1. Spammy Content
Depending on its content, an inbound email server may directly be sent your email to spam depending on its content. Spam filters analyze an email as a whole and have thresholds for specific conditions. They labeled emails as spam when they reached a certain point.
Therefore, always abide by the Anti-Spam Policy. It states that emails containing improbable promises of quick money, free goods or services, explicit content, gambling, rewards, or medications are forbidden because they are likely to be flagged as spam.
2. Email Volume
You can also be blacklisted on Gmail by increasing the sending volumes overnight. Most email service providers will mark it as spam emails if you start flooding your users with newsletters without first engaging them in a warm-up process, and for a good reason.
Companies are occasionally forced to raise their sending restrictions substantially. Nevertheless, the best action would be to increase the amount gradually. Using these mailing techniques, you can prevent unfavorable email blocking and ensure that Gmail does not perceive your efforts as possibly unwanted mail.
In addition, Google offers a unique guide to assist senders in avoiding upsetting the Gmail service provider.
Read also: How to Send Bulk Emails in Gmail
3. IP Suspended List
The idea of a blacklisted sending server’s IP address is one of the many causes for why Gmail filters emails. You can also check a variety of public blacklists to ensure your new IP address hasn’t previously been blocked.
Suspended IP addresses cause hard bounces and a growing number of spam complaints. So, it is likely that you will notice the problem.
In addition, you may always try adding your address to a whitelist or using a different one. There are also many solutions available to assist you in maintaining and recovering your IP reputation.
4. Incorrect DNS Settings
Any spam filter will immediately indicate incorrect DNS settings, which results in email blocking.
When the DNS settings are not correctly configured, it affects the authentication process, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Gmail relies on these records to verify the authenticity of the sender’s domain. If the DNS settings are incorrect, Gmail may consider the emails suspicious or untrustworthy. As a result, they block or send them to the spam folder.
Therefore, before sending your next mass email campaign, check your DNS records to ensure your emails are correctly verified.
5. Low Sender Score
Another reason why Gmail blocks your email account is decreased sender score.
Poor reputation is, without a doubt, one of those. It is a reality that all Internet Service Providers assess your sender reliability based on your IP address statistics for both your server and domain. The sender score also takes time to develop.
Finding out what Gmail users think of you takes time for an ISP. However, your account’s ranking will decline when you receive more spam complaints and industry blacklists you are added to.
Therefore, having a poor sender reputation will result in Gmail blocking. Conversely, a high sender score will guarantee that all outgoing messages are sent directly to the primary inbox by the providers.
And if you’re wondering what explicitly affects the score, it’s sometimes different.
In addition to the number of emails marked as spam, there is the issue of bouncing. When you send emails to receivers who haven’t signed up for your services, the bounce rate and the unsubscribe score will rise.
How to Send Bulk Emails Without Getting Blacklisted [8 Ways]
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1. Use Reliable IP Addresses
A dedicated IP address ensures that your email-sending activity is not affected by the reputation of other senders. It also allows you to establish a clean sending history and build a positive sender reputation.
With a reliable IP address, you maintain a consistent sending volume and follow best practices. As a result, it reduces the chances of triggering spam traps. This also helps your emails reach the recipients’ inboxes and enhances the overall deliverability of your bulk email campaigns.
2. Avoid Using Dodgy Links and Attachments
Links are important. However, links that point to questionable resources will be blocked. So, avoid using shortened links or placing links in the subject line because they might interpret it as fraudulent.
The same is true of the documents and attachments. They will likely flag it as spam if it contains files with dubious titles, archives (especially password-protected ones), or links to a free file hosting facilities.
3. Use a Double Opt-in
Introduce double opt-in to enhance the quality of your mailing list and ensure that all recipients receiving your emails are sincerely interested in it (hence, open the emails).
When a person signs up for an email marketing list, the “double opt-in” practice is used to get their consent to send them email campaigns. This permission is verified by sending them a second email with a link they must click to confirm their subscription.
4. Use a Good SMTP Server
Gmail is primarily for personal and low-volume email sending. However, for sending bulk emails, we recommend you use a dedicated email marketing service or an SMTP server that specializes in bulk email delivery for sending mass emails.
You can set up a dedicated SMTP server if you prefer to use your server. Several reputable SMTP server providers offer optimized services for bulk email delivery, such as SendGrid, Amazon SES (Simple Email Service), or Mailgun.
These services also maintain high deliverability rates and provide features to track bounce rates and email engagement.
5. Set Up DKIM, DMARC, and SPF Records Correctly
By correctly configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, you safeguard your company against fraudulent assaults while ensuring that the emails you send arrive at their targets promptly and securely.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a security tool that lets recipients know that the message you transmitted was secure and that you are a dependable sender. It also maintains the positive reputation of your domain by authenticating it.
Meanwhile, DKIM, or Domain Keys Identified Mail, is a method for authenticating and safeguarding your domain. It enables you to send messages to prospects in a secure manner.
On the other hand, DMARC enables you to fend off phishing, a fraud that aims to acquire sensitive user data (logins, passwords, and credit card numbers). The email sent on the company’s behalf by scammers will either not be delivered at all or will be tagged as suspicious if the organization has DMARC set.
Whatever mailing service you select, the basic settings you must make before beginning email marketing are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. They are necessary for the email to reach the client’s mailbox and avoid being misplaced in the “Spam” folder.
Read also: SPF, DKIM, DMARC explained [Infographic]
6. Be Wary of How Often You Send Emails
To send bulk emails in Gmail without being blocked or sent to spam, it’s essential to adhere to specific sending frequency guidelines. While there isn’t a fixed number of emails you should send, here are some recommendations to follow:
Start with a low volume: If you’re just beginning to send bulk emails, start with a smaller volume and gradually increase it over time. Doing so allows you to establish a positive sending reputation and build trust with the email service providers (ESPs).
Gradually increase the volume: As your sending reputation improves, you can gradually increase the number of emails you send. Increasing the volume by, at most, 20-25 % each week is generally recommended.
Consistency is key: Maintaining a consistent sending pattern is essential to avoid triggering spam filters. Sending sporadic or irregular bursts of emails may raise suspicion and result in deliverability issues. Instead, aim for a steady and predictable sending frequency.
Monitor recipient engagement: Monitor recipient engagement metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates. If you notice a significant drop in engagement, it might indicate that you’re sending too frequently or your content needs to resonate with the audience. Therefore, adjust your sending frequency accordingly.
Respect recipient preferences: Always respect the preferences of your subscribers. Provide them with clear options to manage their email frequency or unsubscribe if they wish to. Honoring their choices fosters a positive user experience and reduces the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam.
Whatever mailing service you select, the basic settings you must make before beginning email marketing are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These are necessary for the email to reach the client’s mailbox and avoid being misplaced in the “Spam” folder.
Read also: Bulk Email Guidelines
7. Include an Unsubscribe Link
Leads may block you or designate the email as spam if they cannot unsubscribe from your bulk email in Gmail.
Senders typically include an unsubscribe link in the email body. In addition, there is a better option. You can ask the person receiving your message to “Unsubscribe” in their response. Personal emails are not sent with an unsubscribe link attached. As a result, the message won’t have an unsubscribe link, which email service providers prefer.
Additionally, getting unsubscriber responses will increase your reply rate, enhancing your reputation for sending mass emails without spam.
To avoid losing the lead entirely, you can go even further and give them various unsubscribe choices. For instance, advise them to send fewer or only receive certain emails.
8. Use an Email Marketing Tool
Several efficient email marketing tools are now readily available, which makes sending mass emails less challenging than it formerly was. Email marketing has also become popularized, especially by all-in-one email marketing services like InboxAlly.
Final Thoughts
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Sending bulk emails without getting blacklisted requires careful consideration and adherence to best practices.
By utilizing reputable email marketing services or dedicated SMTP servers, you can ensure a reliable infrastructure for sending bulk emails. Verifying sender domains and managing subscriber lists also helps establish trust with recipients and minimize the risk of being flagged as spam.
Lastly, following proper sending frequencies allows consistent engagement while maintaining a positive sender reputation, maximizing the chances of reaching the intended recipients’ inboxes.
So what are you waiting for? Boost your email deliverability to new heights! Give our service a try at no cost and witness firsthand how you can successfully land in people’s inboxes instead of getting lost in the spam folders.