Understanding Spam and Phishing Emails

As a creator, maintaining a good email reputation is essential for effective communication with your audience. Spam and phishing emails can severely impact your domain's reputation, leading to emails landing in spam folders, poor deliverability rates, or even blacklisting. This guide will help you understand what spam and phishing emails are, how they affect your domain, and how to check if your content falls under these categories.

What Are Spam and Phishing Emails?

Spam: Unsolicited, irrelevant emails often sent in bulk. Examples include frequent promotional emails without consent or deceptive subject lines.

Phishing: Fraudulent emails that trick recipients into revealing sensitive information by impersonating trusted entities.

How Spam and Phishing Emails Affect Your Domain Reputation?

Poor Deliverability: Emails flagged as spam are more likely to land in spam folders.

Blacklisting: Domains associated with spam/phishing can be blacklisted, blocking your emails.

Loss of Trust: Recipients may lose trust in your brand, leading to unsubscribes and complaints.

How to Avoid Spam and Phishing Emails?

Get Consent: Always obtain permission before adding contacts to your email list. Graphy asks for this permission on your behalf when any new learner signs up on your platform.

Respect Unsubscribe Requests: Make it easy for users to unsubscribe and promptly remove them from your list when they do. Graphy automatically handles this for you.

Use Clear Subject Lines: Avoid misleading or clickbait-style subject lines.

Avoid Sharing Sensitive Information via Email: Never ask users to share sensitive information like passwords or credit card details via email.

How to Check If Your Content Falls Under Spam or Phishing?

Use Spam Checker Tools: Tools like Mail-Tester, SpamAssassin, and GlockApps analyze your content for spam triggers.

AI-Powered Content Analysis: Use the prompt below with ChatGPT to check your email content:

Prompt: “Analyze this email for spam or phishing elements and suggest improvements: [Insert content].”

Review Common Red Flags: Check for misleading links, urgent language, or requests for sensitive information.

Steps if You’re Marked as Spam

Check Feedback Loops: Many email service providers offer feedback loops that notify you when users mark your emails as spam. Use this feedback to adjust your email practices.

Clean Your List: Regularly clean your email list to remove unengaged or invalid emails.

Improve Open Rates: Focus on engaging subject lines, personalized content, and sending emails at optimal times to boost open rates and recover from spam markings. Graphy, by default, verifies emails and ensures that messages are not sent to unverified or dummy addresses, protecting your domain reputation and enhancing overall deliverability.