Spam might not be a big deal on your dinner table (as plenty of other luncheon meats and even plant-based options are available).

But in the world of email marketing, spam amounts to a huge problem whether you receive your fair share of junk email, or if as a marketer your campaigns are perceived as such. 

At EcoSend, we want to help you succeed at email. That just can’t happen if your inbox is rammed full of messages you didn’t agree to receive. Or if messages you send on behalf of your business are automatically filtered as junk. 

So whether you’re a regular email user or run email marketing campaigns, we hope you’ll find everything you need to know about spam in this post. 

Spam Meaning

Spam refers to unwanted electronic messages that are primarily sent to your email inbox. Though you might also receive junk messages on social media or through text. 

Typically, spam is sent in bulk meaning the same message is potentially being sent thousands of times. Not only is the message not personalised to you, but the sender has usually obtained your details through shady means. 

Usually, you haven’t agreed to hear from the sender. However, it can also be classed as spam if you are on a mailing list but are being absolutely bombarded with excessive promotional campaigns — this is where marketers need to be especially careful. 

Often, the aim of spam is to somehow get money out of you through a scam (remember: spam sounds a lot like scam!) or have you click a suspicious link which may infect your computer with a virus. 

So in short, spam is any message you haven’t asked to receive, could be considered a nuisance or has ill intent. 

Who Came Up With The Name Spam?

Many people associate the word ‘spam’ as a term that was used on the TV show Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Believe it or not, that’s exactly where the origin of the term spam email comes from!

The spam sketch involved loud chants about spam that eventually drowned out the room. Marketers took it upon themselves to correlate this same issue with spam email, which is often sent en masse, can be overwhelming to get rid of and is generally very annoying. 

What Does Spam Stand For?

The meat version of spam stands for ‘Specially Processed American Meat’. There is no acronym alternative for spam email, though if we were to create our own it would look like so: 

Sender Prioritised Annoying Mail

How Many Spam Emails Are Sent Per Day?

In another blog post, we shared how 88 billion spam emails are sent per day according to Statista. 

Shockingly, 87% of all emails sent in 2021 were classed as spam. 

Is Spam Illegal? 

Yes. Anti-spam laws exist in various countries that restrict the sending of unsolicited marketing emails to individuals. Crucially, corporate subscribers can be contacted in terms of cold emails if the message is relevant to their work. However, breaches of anti-spam laws can lead to sender penalties and along with hefty fines. 

Recently, HelloFresh was fined £140,000 by the ICO after sending 79 million spam emails and 1 million spam texts. 

Above image: Even Spam are passionate about not sending you…spam.

What Is The Carbon Footprint Of Spam?

Approximately 769,776 tonnes of carbon are generated every year by spam emails in the Netherlands. This climbs to a staggering 890,489 tonnes in the United States.

Responsible for 36 million tonnes of CO2 in total, 3.6 million trees would need to be planted per year to offset these emissions.

One of the reasons we founded EcoSend is to reduce the carbon footprint of your email campaigns. We enable businesses to send emails through our servers which run on sustainable energy, and also plant trees on behalf of our customers. 

How To Stop Spam Emails?

It’s not possible to prevent receiving spam altogether. Although, blocking email addresses which send you spam can certainly help. 

We’d also suggest being careful where you share your email address, as unfortunately, companies may sell your data to third parties. 

Be sure to unsubscribe from email lists you no longer want to receive. You may also want to go as far as requesting a complete data removal in line with GDPR. 

Why Do Emails End Up In The Junk Folder?

Are your emails wrongly being marked as spam by severs? Don’t panic, but check these 7 top reasons along with solutions. 

Simply put, the email server has automatically determined your message isn’t genuine. This could be because:

• Poor sender reputation

• Poor IP reputation (i.e your IP is associated with spam)

• Misleading subject lines

• Excessive email sending

• Wrong or missing sender information

• Not including an unsubscribe link in the email

• Using email templates or images with large file sizes

• You campaigns tend to have very low open rates

Remember, in February 2024 new sender requirements by Gmail and Yahoo also came into play. This may mean your campaigns have suddenly ended up as spam when previously you didn’t have an issue. We recommend reviewing what’s changed with Gmail and Yahoo and making any necessary adjustments. 

As An Email Marketer, Why Should I Avoid Bulk Message Or Unsolicited Message Sending?

The number one reason why people unsubscribe from a mailing list is because they are sent too many emails. 

For some crazy reason, some companies continue to bombard users with daily, twice daily and sometimes even 3+ messages a day. Ecommerce companies are particularly guilty of this, though any niche can make this major mistake.

The ironic thing about over-engaging is the more you engage, the less effective your engagement actually becomes. Instead, users are quick to delete your messages to remove the clutter from their inbox. 

As a marketer, segmentation is your best friend in email marketing. Segmentation is a feature of EcoSend by the way, and it involves sending the right message to the right person at the right time instead of sending the same thing to everyone which in short doesn’t work. 

What Are The Dangers Of Spam Email?

On the lighter end of the scale, spam messages sent from genuine senders can become a nuisance. So the danger is mostly for the sender, who risks high unsubscribe rates, low click-through rates and ultimately low conversions from their campaigns.

All other types of spam can be associated with malicious content such as phishing scams or malware. Unfortunately, scammers use spam emails to encourage actions to steal your data and your money. So always be careful of the emails you open and engage with, and report anything suspicious. 

EcoSend - Discover Ethical & Sustainable Email Marketing

Are you a genuine business looking to appear credible in front of your customers?

Your email marketing platform matters! If you are looking to switch from another platform, or if you are embarking on email marketing for the first time as a start-up, EcoSend is here to help.

EcoSend is the world’s first sustainable email platform. We help you to send greener email campaigns all while getting the tools and features you need to be successful. 

Start your free trial of EcoSend today to see what we’re all about.

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