A Pristine Spam Trap Is Not Good.
There are three types of spam traps senders can email, but one of the worst ones is called a pristine spam trap. Pristine traps have also been referred to by email marketers as true traps or honeypots because the address has never been an email address. They are created by ISP’s, security companies, and inbox providers for the sole purpose of catching spammers.
For example, ilovegettingemailsfromyourbrandsokeepsendingmeemails@gmail.com may look, sound, and feel like a legitimate email address, but let’s be honest, no one wants to type or even remember that address.
How Do These Spam Trap Recipients Get On Your Email List?
As an email sender, you should know and understand the sources of email addresses. There are several ways these traps can be added to your lists during your list building life cycle:
- Renting email lists
- Buying purchased lists
- Buying contact lists
- A data partner that uses or contracts with other data partners to scrap emails that are “similar to your target audience” (imagine a snarky tone while using air quotes)
- Acquiring/merging with a company that did one of the above.
How Often Do Brands End Up Caught in Pristine Spam Traps?
It’s fair to say that most companies have had a pristine trap in their subscriber base at one point or another, so don’t beat yourself up over it if you find out you have one. If you have deliverability issues or suspect that you do, it is always a good idea to validate whether or not your lists are “truly’ as clean as they can be.
How Do I Know If I Have Pristine Spam Trap Emails On My List?
Plain and simple, get your list clean/hygiened. iPost has two excellent partners to assist you with cleaning your lists, and we have special pricing for everyone. The cost to get your lists clean and validated will far outweigh the issues/expenses associated with having deliverability issues.
Avoiding Spam Traps
Spam traps can be avoided if you set up email best practices such as a confirmed opt-in process. By sending an initial opt-in email and asking customers to verify that they want your messages, you’re ensuring you send to a real person and that your recipients want to be on your email list.
Additional ways to avoid spam traps:
Send a double-opt-in email.
Implement a best-practice sunset policy.
Never purchase email lists.
Final Thoughts:
Spam traps suck in more ways than you can imagine. Don’t be reactive to deliverability issues or think that your lists are perfect. This is all about being a good email marketing citizen, so be proactive around this stuff or be prepared to face some consequences due to poor list and data management.
