Email is one of the most affordable and hassle-free means of reaching new customers today in order to increase your customer base. If you have a new business that needs some attention or an existing business in order to expand further, your initial method of reaching professionals will most likely be done through email outreach campaigns. But as good as email marketing is, there can sometimes be issues that you will have encountered.
Email marketers can’t help but feel frustrated as they watch non-delivered emails. Emails once received in inboxes now appear to disappear. There is most likely an issue at hand—the issue being your emails being blocked, foremost among them Gmail, used worldwide by millions of individuals.
Let’s examine indicators you’re blocked on Gmail, ways of correcting these issues, and how this impacts your sender reputation. We will discuss locating your spam traps as well as ways of avoiding them in order to have your email outreach plan remain clear and successful.
Signals That You Are Blocked on Gmail
When your outreach campaign is underway and you notice odd delivery behavior, your message can be blocked in Gmail. Gmail determines whether your message gets delivered, goes as spam, or gets blocked altogether with complex behavior-based rules and spam filters.
Here are some indicators that can reveal you have been blocked on Gmail:
- Large Drop in Opens: An obvious indication is a large reduction in opens, particularly if most of those on your list employ Gmail. If your average rate of opens is 20% but suddenly takes a dive to 2-3%, it is possible your emails are being blocked.
- Bounced Messages with 550 Error Codes: Gmail will not accept messages with 550 error codes such as “550-5.7.1”. These 550 error codes will most probably result in your message being bounced due to its subject matter, reputation, or regulations.
- No Interaction among Gmail Users: If your Gmail contacts are not reading your mail or answering, chances are they’re not viewing them at all.
- Warning Signs in Postmaster Tools: Gmail Postmaster Tools is one useful tool. If it reports high spam rates, authenticaiton issues, or a bad reputation, your messages can be blocked.
How to Resolve Being Blocked on Gmail
The good news is, being blocked isn’t necessarily permanent. With the right strategy and tools, you can recover and regain your deliverability.
- Warm Up Mailbox: If you have recently altered your domain/IP, do not mass mail at once. Slowly step up your volume of mails over a period of time. This will make Gmail witness your activity as continuous as well as normal.
- Purge your mailing list: Remove inactive customers, bounced emails, and doubtful domains. Concentrate on emailing active receivers in order to enhance your reputation.
- Do Not Use Spammy Terms: Terms such as “free”, “guaranteed”, or “act now” can trigger your spam filters. Be professional, clear, and relevant in your messages.
- Watch User Feedback: Gmail will throttle your sending in case your messages end up in spam. Make it easy for individuals to opt out without being obtrusive or going off-topic.
- Choose a reputable Email Service Provider (ESP): Popular ESPs have assistance and features available to maintain a good sender reputation in order to avoid delivery issues.
Impact of Being Blocked on Sender Reputation
Your sender reputation is your credit report of emailing. It determines how reputable your email is to email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook. It is not easy to resolve problems in case your messages end up in a blocklist.
Bad sender reputation is an issue among many individuals:
- Future campaigns will not fare well with you: Regardless of whether you switch your content or your lists, your ill reputation will accompany you, resulting in further blocks or your messages going to spam.
- Fewer Engagements: If no one can view your messages, they can’t open them, click them, or comment on them. This creates less opportunity to connect.
- Blacklisting Risk: If others disapprove of you, they will blacklist you. That will prevent nearly all of your messages from going through until it gets resolved.
Maintaining a good reputation requires positive action — submitting useful content, maintaining your lists clean, verifying your mails, as well as engaging your readers.
How to Identify Spam Traps
When your sender reputation is fixed and Gmail is blocking, the second issue with email outreach is the spam trap. Spam traps are email addresses designed as traps to catch spammers. There is no way they ever signed up for mailing lists since they are not genuine. If your ISP is reporting an issue, it means your list is outdated, borrowed from elsewhere, or poorly managed.
Here is how to identify spam traps and avoid them:
- Utilize Email Verification Services: There exist software utilities that can verify your list of incorrect, non-existent, or spam email addresses. Utilizing these utilities will secure your campaigns.
- Segment Inactive Users: If they have not clicked or opened your messages in six months or longer, they might be a problem—or at least hurting your performance. Be extremely wary before you delete them or attempt contacting them again.
- Check Out Bounce Rates and Engagement Figures: Low engagement rates and high bounce rates can be an issue. Keep an eye on your figures.
- Apply Confirmed Opt-In (Double Opt-In): This ensures each subscriber is aware they subscribed to your list and does want to, thus cutting down errors.
Remaining active along with employing sound list-building strategies can prevent your domain from landing in spam traps while maintaining a good sender rank.
Conclusion
Email outreach is necessary in any business, whether it is trying to grow or scale up. Inasmuch, there is potential with this activity, there is significant responsibility as well. You have to identify signs of being blocked on Gmail, know how it impacts your sender reputation, and know how to locate spam traps in order to ensure your campaigns work well.
Through clever tactics and frequent verifications, your outreach initiatives will perform well, appear professional, and will never be flagged as spam. Annie Lennox – Being in good standing with those who deliver your mail is a good way to begin because at the end of the day if your message is unseen, it is as good as gone.
