Carts Guru Anti-Abuse Monitoring and Email Best Practices

Overview

Carts Guru was designed to simplify data-driven, targeted marketing, allowing marketers to focus on creating impactful content rather than operational challenges. However, malicious actors sometimes misuse marketing platforms for spam and phishing attacks. To protect our users and their customers, we enforce strict anti-abuse measures, including the monitoring of all campaigns. If suspicious activity is detected, we notify the sender and may disable the account until we can address the issue directly with the account owner.

Even if you’re not intentionally sending spam or unwanted messages, you might receive performance alerts. By taking deliberate steps, you can improve campaign performance, deliver more relevant messages, and boost revenue. Below are key areas to monitor and strategies for improvement.

Reducing Email Hard Bounce Rates

What Causes High Bounce Rates?

• Invalid email addresses: These may result from typos during subscription or from adding invalid addresses to your list.

Why Does It Matter?

High hard bounce rates signal to inbox providers, such as Gmail, that your list is not properly maintained or that you may be using purchased or scraped email addresses. This can harm your sending reputation.

Steps to Fix It:

1. Enable double opt-in: Ensure misspelled email addresses can’t confirm their subscription.

2. Avoid buying or scraping email lists: Focus on building a genuine subscriber base.

3. Promote organic list growth: Use sign-up forms, advertising campaigns, and referrals to grow your audience.

Consequences of Inaction:

Continued high bounce rates will damage your reputation and may lead to removal from Carts Guru.

Reducing Unsubscribe Rates

Why Do Unsubscribes Happen?

Recipients often unsubscribe because the content is irrelevant, they didn’t opt-in, or they no longer find value in your messages.

Why Does It Matter?

High unsubscribe rates indicate to inbox providers that your emails are unwanted, which can affect your deliverability and reputation.

Steps to Fix It:

1. Send to subscribed recipients only: Build an engaged segment to ensure relevance.

2. Personalize your content: Use segmentation to tailor messages to audience interests.

3. Avoid misleading subject lines: Ensure subject lines accurately reflect email content.

4. Enable double opt-in: Prevent unauthorized or mistaken subscriptions.

Consequences of Inaction:

Persistently high unsubscribe rates can harm your reputation and lead to removal from Carts Guru.

Reducing Spam Complaint Rates

What Causes Spam Complaints?

• Lack of an unsubscribe link, making it difficult for recipients to opt out.

• Sending emails to people who didn’t subscribe or providing offensive content.

Why Does It Matter?

Inbox providers rely on spam complaints as a key metric to assess email senders. High spam complaint rates can lead to blacklisting or relegation to spam folders, significantly reducing email visibility and engagement.

Steps to Fix It:

1. Send only to subscribed recipients: Ensure your audience genuinely opted in.

2. Include easy-to-find unsubscribe links: Add links to both the header and footer of your emails.

3. Enable double opt-in: Verify all new subscribers.

4. Avoid offensive content: Maintain a professional tone and avoid misleading subject lines.

Consequences of Inaction:

Failure to address spam complaints can severely damage your sending reputation and may result in account suspension.

Improving Low Email Open Rates

Why Do Open Rates Drop?

Low open rates often result from outdated lists containing unengaged recipients. Inbox providers prioritize engagement and penalize senders with low performance.

Why Does It Matter?

Continued sending to inactive recipients signals to inbox providers that your emails are irrelevant, leading to more emails being marked as spam and reduced open rates.

Steps to Fix It:

1. Clean your list: Remove inactive or unengaged contacts.

2. Use segmentation tools: Send targeted and personalized messages.

3. Focus on engagement: Create compelling subject lines and valuable content.

Consequences of Inaction:

Low open rates can lead to poor deliverability and potential removal from Carts Guru.

Anti-Spam Requirements

Legal Responsibilities

As an email marketing service provider, Carts Guru enforces compliance with anti-spam laws, including the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act, and imposes additional protective measures. Users must:

1. Abide by Carts Guru’s anti-spam requirements and Terms of Use.

2. Include an unsubscribe link and valid contact information in every promotional email.

3. Avoid falsifying contact information or subject lines.

4. Determine and comply with additional anti-spam and data protection laws applicable to their region and audience.

International Requirements

Email regulations vary by country. Users with international audiences should consult legal counsel to ensure compliance with relevant laws and data protection regulations.

Addressing Spam Folder Issues

Even legitimate campaigns can end up in spam folders due to:

• Sender information (e.g., email address or domain name).

• Subject lines that trigger spam filters.

• Content flagged by spam algorithms.

Improving Deliverability:

• Review reports in Carts Guru to identify patterns and improve campaign performance.

• Adjust sender details, subject lines, and content to avoid triggering spam filters.

Conclusion

Carts Guru is committed to helping businesses deliver effective, targeted, and compliant email marketing campaigns. By adhering to best practices and anti-abuse measures, you can protect your sending reputation, enhance engagement, and maximize the impact of your marketing efforts.