Why people report emails as abuse

We've noticed an increase in the volume of spam abuse reports against legitimate emails sent to real subscribers, from diligent email marketers. It made us ask: why are people clicking the “report abuse”, “report as spam” or “phishing” button, instead of simply unsubscribing from a mailing list?

Put another way — how is it that someone is that grumpy about your emails that they feel the need to harm your sending reputation?

In case you weren't aware: if your domain receives too many spam abuse reports it can damage the deliverability of your emails into the inbox. Certain email gateways (such as those operated by Google and Microsoft) will block your domain temporarily if you exceed a threshold of abuse, so reducing abuse reports is an important aim.

Why this behaviour?

Below are the reasons we believe people are incorrectly reporting legitimate emails as phishing or junk. This is subjective, intended to help you respond to the situation. Some reasons have no solution at this point — but they're worth considering for peace of mind.

1. It's easy

One reason for the increase is the ease with which people can now report emails. The latest version of Outlook for desktop has introduced a large ‘report’ button — bigger than the reply/forward links, and far handier than scrolling to the footer where unsubscribe or preference links usually live.

The grouping of phishing and junk makes the definition of junk seem very serious — it's not email you've grown tired of or get too much of. Both phishing and junk emails breach laws: phishing is criminal because it tries to scam you or carry a virus; junk is criminal because it likely breaches anti‑spam legislation, where you never signed up and don't consent. We wonder whether recipients understand those nuances, especially as legitimate emails sometimes land in junk because the email program was trying to be “helpful”.

2. Others have failed to honour unsubscribe requests

Anecdotally, people report your emails as abuse because they think it will make you stop — where unsubscribing has felt unsuccessful in the past. Some organisations (usually bigger ones) take time to unsubscribe you, and despite spam legislation, some don't honour requests at all. People also contribute by having multiple addresses that forward to another address; when they try to unsubscribe from the final address rather than the original, it doesn't work.

As an aside, eNudge makes managing unsubscribes very easy — though some people email you asking to stop rather than using the unsubscribe facility. There was also an idea circulated years ago that unsubscribing simply confirms to spammers that your address is live, which made some wary of unsubscribing at all.

3. Email overwhelm

Our inboxes are important — bills to pay, insurance updates, holiday details. Dealing with rubbish among important emails frustrates some people, and we suspect they push back by using the Report button instead of handling each email individually. If you send very frequently, you're more likely to hit this nerve — and if you send everything to everyone, you risk sending information that just isn't relevant to the individual.

4. An unrelated grievance with your organisation

A customer who's had an unhappy experience may want to lash out — via a bad Google review, a comment on social media, or by reporting your emails as abuse. The only real antidote is keeping customers happy in the first place.

What to do?

There isn't a lot you can do about some of the reasons above, but the following are worth considering:

Ease of unsubscribe. eNudge inserts an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email, but you can make it even easier by mentioning the option in your body copy using the eNudge “unsubscribe” personalisation field.
Monitor your emails. Don't send from a “no‑reply” address. If you use a generic sender address, make sure that inbox is monitored every day so any manual unsubscribe requests are actioned immediately.
Frequency. Frequent emails may suit the start of a relationship, but once people know you it can pay to ease off. Considering your customer lifecycle — supported by eNudge segmentation and custom attributes — helps you do this well.
Teach people to manage preferences. Remind people from time to time that if they're receiving too much, they can control what they get via preferences rather than unsubscribing entirely. We recommend eNudge public categories — e.g. “monthly news” and “weekly updates” — to send the right emails to the right people.
Segmentation & personalisation. Don't send every email to all contacts; some emails just won't be relevant to everyone. Relevant, personalised emails — extending to when they signed up or what they last purchased — are powerful engagement tools when used well.
Consistent sender & branding. Always send from the same named sender with consistent branding, so people recognise your emails as legitimately yours. eNudge automatically includes your sender information at the bottom of every email; an informative signature in the body helps too.
Mobile responsive. Many people check email only on mobile, so ensure your emails are easy to read on a phone.
Manage grievances promptly. A grumpy customer can do a lot of damage quickly. Have a senior team member contact anyone unhappy, to avoid a digital lashing‑out — and perhaps win them back as a raving fan instead.

How eNudge helps

Because of the potential negative impact of abuse reports, eNudge automatically unsubscribes any contact who clicks the spam button in Hotmail, Outlook.com and Live Mail (all Microsoft‑owned email clients), and appends a note about the reason into your contact's ‘note’ field. As other email gateways provide mechanisms for automated actioning of abuse reports, they'll be treated the same way.

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If you'd like help improving your success in the inbox, please don't hesitate to get in touch.