How to Lower Your Mailchimp Spam Rate

Having a high spam rate discourages many email marketers from putting effort into marketing. And if Mailchimp is your ESP and you’re noticing a spike in spam rates, this guide is for you.

Keep reading as we discuss the possible reasons for the increase in Mailchimp spam rates and strategies to deal with it effectively.

Table of contents

• What are spam emails?
• What is spam rate?
• Why do Mailchimp emails go to spam?
• How do you stop Mailchimp spam?
• Go spam-free with Mailmodo
• Takeaways

What are spam emails?

Spam emails are like uninvited guests to a party. They’re annoying and generally want to profit off of you. You didn’t permit them to send you emails, but they still invade your inbox. And most of the time, they just want a quick buck from you and don’t have your best interest in their hearts.

But we know you’re not like those spammers and send only valuable content to your email list. But despite not being a spammer, inbox providers can still see you as one due to territory that you share with spammers. This eventually results in a hike in the Mailchimp spam rate.

What is spam rate?

Spam rate is the number of people who reported you as spam out of the total number of people who received your emails. So, if 100 people received your emails and 5 reported you as spam, your spam rate would become 5%.

The industry-acceptable spam rate is below or at 1%. Out of the thousand emails you send, 10 emails can be marked as spam. If it is anything more than that number, you should identify the core reasons and improve them.

Luckily, you don’t have to do any research, as we have already laid out a few common reasons for Mailchimp spam. Let’s discuss what they are.

Why do Mailchimp emails go to spam?

Here are a few possible reasons why your Mailchimp emails are going to spam.

• Mailchimp’s poor deliverability rates

According to the Email Deliverability Report, Mailchimp has a successful inbox delivery rate of 72.15%, and the rest 24.60% of emails went to spam. That’s almost one out of every four emails landing in spam. These are not good numbers and may be causing your emails to end up in spam folders secretly.

• Failure to set up SPF and DKIM for your domain

It is evident from the above conversation on Reddit that your emails can go to spam if you don’t authenticate them. SPF and DKIM are mechanisms that verify if your emails are original and are from the right source. Failing to pass these mechanisms will worsen your spam rate.

• Having suspicious email content

Have you ever seen emails with subject lines like “You won $10000 lottery” and “Get $5000 free cash” in your spam folder? It’s because these emails used spam words in their subject lines, and that is considered spam content. Similarly, adding suspicious attachments and blank links can also result in your mail being marked as spam.

• Using shared IP addresses

Using shared IPs is like sharing territory with spammers. Inbox providers can call you a spammer just because you’re in the spammer’s territory. So generally, many marketers would be using a shared IP, and if even some of them receive spam complaints, that entire IP sector would be punished, and their emails will end up in spam.

Related guide: How Does Your IP Address Affect Your Email Deliverability?

How do you stop Mailchimp spam?

We suggest you follow these steps to reduce your Mailchimp spam rate.

• Set up SPF and DKIM

As you learned previously, SPF and DKIM are trust factors that inbox providers use to identify legitimate senders. So if your goal is reducing spam, you must set up these trust factors for your domain, and you'll see a reduction in your spam rates.

• Don’t write suspicious emails

Avoid adding spam words to subject lines. Include external file links instead of attachments. Add supporting content instead of only blank links. These practices can reduce your Mailchimp spam rate significantly.

• Use a dedicated IP address

A dedicated IP address is like your house. You can build it any way you want, and with careful planning, you can make it very appealing to others. Similarly, you can build a great reputation for your dedicated IP by following good email etiquette, and no other marketers can hinder your reputation. This is a great way to deal with a poor IP reputation and decrease your Mailchimp spam rate.

Related guide: Dedicated IP Address vs. Shared IP Address - Which One Should You Use?

Go spam-free with Mailmodo

We, at Mailmodo, take significant measures to maintain a very low spam rate for our customers. We ensure you go spam-free with us by banning spammers and maintaining high-security standards. Here is what you’ll get when we work together.

✅ Expert consultation for deliverability

Suppose you’re not seeing your desired email deliverability rates and don’t have in-depth knowledge about email deliverability. In that case, our experts will help you figure out your situation and will assist you in bettering your rates as quickly as possible.

✅ Help with domain warmup

Domain warmup is a practice of warming up your new domain by sending a small volume of emails. This helps inbox providers get to know your domain and won’t assume you as a spammer who has set up a new domain just to send a high volume of spam emails.

But domain warmup can be tricky to execute if you haven’t done it before. That’s where our experts will help you guide you through the process to ensure that you have a good head start with your new domain.

✅ We don’t tolerate spammers

We want only genuine email marketers to use our product. If we find any user who receives consistent spam complaints or consistently follows any spam practices, we’ll block them from using our shared IP address so genuine users like you don’t have to suffer.

✅ Abundant resources on email deliverability

It can be difficult to grasp email deliverability concepts and put them into action. That’s why we have developed resources for email marketers of every level to upgrade their knowledge and skills with our email deliverability resources. We also have a hub of email marketing resources that you can access for free.

✅ Our customer success team is always here to help

Finally, just shoot them at our customer success team if you have any issues. You can contact us for help via customer chat or by emailing at support@mailmodo.com, and we’ll get back to you in no time.

Takeaways

A sudden spike in your Mailchimp spam rate can discourage you from continuing. But with the help of the above tips, you can improve your current situation drastically and take your email marketing efforts back on track again.

Interested in exploring more tips on why your emails go to spam and how to fix them? Then read our guide 9 reasons why your emails land in spam that’ll expose you to many more reasons for spam and strategies to deal with them.

If you want a complete ESP well optimized to reduce spam and a team that’ll always be there throughout your journey, Mailmodo should be your tool of choice. Sign up today or book a demo with us to enjoy low spam rates.