Hacker News Reader

Comment by deregulateMed | Hacker News Reader

I'm on the other side of the issue. I have 10000 subscribers with a 0.6% Spam rate. That's technically high, despite me getting all emails voluntarily and not even offering a freebie for signing up.

Anyway, can't use Facebook/IG/Reddit/Twitter because of the algorithm.

Can't email more than 4 times a year due to spam filters. I still pay hundreds of dollars a year to reach people via email octopus and Amazon.... And it still goes to Gmail spam.

This is not the internet I grew up with.

View on HN

How is it that you're limited to 4x/year whereas many vendors will happily send me marketing email once a week without issue?

If you are bombarded with emails, you either unsubscribe or you let them keep coming. Even if lots of people mark as spam, the number of emails not marked as spam greatly outnumber the spam emails.

It seems you can either email occasionally or email weekly. The current system is not set up for monthly emails.

My content takes weeks to produce.

I'm also a bit skeptical that Gmail treats all domains equal. I imagine HBO/Joann Fabrics/etc... has a deal to spam people, where I do not.

Not enough people are marking those as spam ...

I get emails through to my GSuite inbox from senders that I've marked as spam repeatedly (10+ times). Same from email. Same subject style and format. And they still get through. Makes me really curious about what they're doing to get through.

90% of the spam that escapes my spam folder is web design pitches from email addresses of the format firstnamelastname123@gmail.com - always GMail...

If you're sending just 4 times a year, people will have forgotten you when you send them a message. That could be at the core of your problem: You send so rarely that people don't even remember signing up for your email list. You've got to build and maintain a strong relationship with your subscribers. Always provide value when emailing. Stick to your promise (the reason they signed up) when emailing. Email often enough that they won't forget you. Once a month, at a minimum, and 2-3 times in the first week after they subscribe.

I've tried this. It didn't work and I got put on probation.

Regardless of whether I "consented" or not, I'll mark recurring marketing/news/feedback emails as spam in Gmail. This also gives me the option to unsubscribe if Gmail finds a link. Much easier than seeking out the unsub link myself, so I use this even if it's not technically spam.

I do wish Google provided a standalone unsubscribe link. Or maybe companies shouldn't hide it in the fine print and make me fill out a form and survey. The bad apples ruin the bunch.

The Karen of email.

In my Gmail, most such email has a Google-provided unsubscribe link right next to the source address at the top, e.g.

Spamming Stores <spammingstores@e.spamming.com> Unsubscribe

I'm curious: how do you learn your spam rate?

I had trouble with this back then. I used a home-baked email sender, emails looked good in mail tester and several mail clients, and yet, some of my test gmail addresses got the email in the Inbox, and some of them in Spam. I have no idea what was different.

And I doubt there is anybody at Gmail/google that actually knows.

It’s impossible to communicate with their support about it anyway

Reply on news.ycombinator.com