Podcast Summary: Ep. 323 - What are Spam Traps?

Title: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson
Host: Jay Schwedelson, GURU Media Hub
Expert Guest: Brian Minick, Chief Operating Officer at ZeroBounce
Release Date: May 3, 2025
Sponsor: Marigold

1. Introduction to Spam Traps

In Episode 323 of "Do This, NOT That," host Jay Schwedelson welcomes back Brian Minick, COO of ZeroBounce, to delve into the elusive topic of spam traps. Jay emphasizes the importance of understanding spam traps to enhance email marketing strategies and prevent deliverability issues.

Jay Schwedelson [00:08]: "We have Brian Minick, who's the chief operating officer at Zero Bounce, which is the absolute leader in the marketplace as it relates to email validation, data improvement, data hygiene."

2. Understanding Spam Traps

Brian Minick begins by demystifying spam traps, describing them as hidden pitfalls within email databases designed to catch marketers who do not adhere to best practices.

Brian Minick [01:23]: "It's a very sensitive topic... But how do they get created? Where do they come from? How do you get them off? What do you do with these things?"

Definition and Types

Brian explains that spam traps are specific email addresses used to identify and penalize senders who engage in questionable email practices. There are two primary types:

• Pristine Spam Traps: These are email addresses created solely to trap spammers. Sending an email to these addresses results in immediate blacklisting.

  Brian Minick [03:03]: "If you send to it, you're blacklisted immediately... You should never have emailed that email in the first place."

• Recycled Spam Traps: These originate from old, abandoned email accounts that have been repurposed as traps after a period of inactivity.

  Brian Minick [06:34]: "The secondary kind of spam trap is called a recycled spam trap... if you're sending to businesses and consumer emails, you should check every six months as well."

3. The Prevalence of Spam Traps

Jay inquires whether spam traps are a widespread issue affecting all marketers, regardless of industry or list size.

Jay Schwedelson [02:28]: "Does spam traps and trying to deal with spam traps and possibly having them in your databases, is this an everybody problem?"

Brian confirms that spam traps are ubiquitous across both business and consumer email domains.

Brian Minick [02:28]: "Absolutely. So there's, it's on business domains and it's all over, by the way, riddled throughout all these kind of consumer emails."

4. Causes of Spam Traps in Email Lists

The conversation highlights various ways spam traps can infiltrate email lists:

• Purchased Lists and Data Scraping: Spam traps often exist on websites to catch unauthorized data scraping and list purchasing.

  Brian Minick [04:48]: "They’re coming from any of these purchase data sources, scrapers on the web. These emails are published on websites... they're set up as traps."

• Internal Practices: Poor data management by sales teams, such as importing unverified contacts, can introduce spam traps into marketing databases.

  Brian Minick [05:25]: "Salespeople... ingest the most amount of data that comes from God knows where and they're the ones that create all the problems."

5. Impact of Spam Traps on Email Marketing

Sending emails to spam traps can severely damage a sender's reputation, leading to blacklisting and reduced deliverability.

Brian Minick [03:16]: "You're on the blacklist which is going to basically kick you off their mailing platforms and no messages will get delivered because you shouldn't have ever emailed that email in the first place."

Jay summarizes the risk of continuously emailing inactive or unverified contacts without regular cleaning.

Jay Schwedelson [08:18]: "If you don’t have a window of time that I stop saying to people... you're playing with fire."

6. Strategies to Prevent Spam Traps

Brian emphasizes the importance of regular email list maintenance and validation to avoid spam traps.

Brian Minick [10:09]: "If you are on the sales side or you have sales teams that are affecting you... you need to be immediately cleaning that data."

Regular Cleaning Intervals

• Business Emails: Clean every six months to a year.

  Brian Minick [10:09]: "If you're sending to businesses, I would be checking every six months, maybe to a year."

• Consumer Emails: Also recommend cleaning at least every six months due to the higher likelihood of recycled spam traps.

  Brian Minick [10:09]: "Consumer emails... I would do no less than six months there as well."

7. Best Practices for Email List Management

Maintaining a healthy email list involves several best practices:

• Engagement Monitoring: Avoid emailing contacts who haven't engaged in the past one to two years.

  Brian Minick [08:18]: "Why would you email them if they haven't done anything with you in a year, two years?"

• Cross-Department Communication: Ensure that sales and marketing teams collaborate to prevent unverified data from entering marketing lists.

  Brian Minick [05:25]: "If you're in sales, please talk to marketing because they're probably scratching their head trying to figure out what's going on."

8. Role of Email Validation Services

Brian advocates for the use of email validation services like ZeroBounce to proactively identify and eliminate spam traps from email lists.

Jay Schwedelson [12:33]: "You should clean that data up and make sure you start fresh because you're getting a new IP address."

He further explains the benefits of integrating validation services during major platform transitions.

Brian Minick [12:33]: "That's the critical time to do it... It's the time where you have the opportunity to kind of hit a little bit of a reset button and make sure you're starting out of the gate properly."

9. Conclusion and Recommendations

Brian Minick concludes by encouraging marketers to leverage ZeroBounce’s services for maintaining email list hygiene and preventing spam traps.

Brian Minick [15:12]: "Sign up for a free account. You get free credits. You can test everything out and get a good idea of what the service will do."

Jay wraps up by endorsing Brian and ZeroBounce, highlighting the importance of technical understanding in effective email marketing.

Jay Schwedelson [16:00]: "Connect with Brian on LinkedIn. He's one of the few normal people that I've met in the world of email that understands all the technical stuff."

Key Takeaways:

• Spam Traps Defined: Hidden email addresses used to identify and penalize poor email practices.

• Universal Concern: Both business and consumer email lists are vulnerable to spam traps.

• Regular Maintenance: Clean email lists at least every six months to mitigate risks.

• Collaboration is Crucial: Ensure sales and marketing teams communicate to maintain list integrity.

• Utilize Validation Services: Services like ZeroBounce are essential tools for safeguarding email deliverability.

By understanding and implementing these strategies, marketers can enhance their email campaigns' effectiveness, maintain a positive sender reputation, and avoid the pitfalls associated with spam traps.