Virtually everyone who uses email has already received a message in their inbox with foolproof ways to get rich, offers of miracle remedies or impossible promises. If it has happened to you, you know it is very annoying. So let’s talk about how prevent spam and because.
This practice, which can undoubtedly harm your strategy of It’s nothing recent. before ser known as spam, the act of sending people unwanted content was already recurring, even without the Internet. Street flyers, chain letters in mailboxes, and phone calls selling products are also examples of spam.
The big difference is that to get in touch with the public through letters, brochures and phone calls required investment of time and money. However, with the Internet you can use this practice spending little or almost nothing.
But sending unsolicited messages is not a recommended practice. How to stop receiving this type of content and prevent your emails from being considered spam?
In this post we are going to explain what it is and how to avoid spam Join us!
What is spam?
SPAM (yesending and Posting Aadvertisement in Mass) are messages sent to a large number of people who have not requested them. That is, to advertise massively.
In general, advertising is the most well-known type of spam, and email is the most common way of sending it. But this practice does not occur only in the commercial environment.
Chain letters that induce the user to forward them, rumours, urban legends, malware designed to steal personal or financial data, scams, and pornography are also considered spam.
And why is this practice so inappropriate when it comes to marketing?
The biggest problem with these unwanted messages is that they affect the relationship between the consumer and the brand.
Spam, junk mail or unwanted mail, creates a problem for the user when, for example, he receives many unsolicited messages in his inbox.
Although today there are anti-spam tools that divert this content from the inbox, some messages can be confused, hindering access to information that is important.
Thus, to generate good experiences, it is necessary to avoid spam in any communication channel with the public.
Types of Spam
1. Spam in email marketing
The line between spam and email marketing is fine, as both types of messages have commercial objectives. However, one person may consider an email spam while another welcomes it.
When a user comes across unsolicited emails from a company, they can mark them as spam. In that case, the chances increase that the company’s server will be included in a spam list and that all email providers will begin to consider your messages as spam.
For this reason, the main difference between email marketing and spam is that with the former, information is sent only to those who have requested or authorized its receipt.
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2. Spamming on blogs
Have you already seen irrelevant or totally out of place comments on blogs or discussion forums? Its goal is to attract traffic easily and quickly, and yes, this is also spam.
Luckily, there are resources to prevent spam on blogs, such as the etiquette nofollow which can be added in these spaces to indicate to search engines that links in comments should not be indexed.
3. Spam in social networks
Social networks are also a perfect setting for spamming. In this case, it appears in comments, posts in groups and communities, private messages, fake profiles, malicious links, among others.
Many times, the person or company spammer takes advantage of the common interest of the members of a group to promote related products and services. Already in publication comments, you can leave even irrelevant links and without any connection to the content that is being shared.
One of the ways to avoid spam on social networks is to report content and users considered unwanted.
4. Phone spam
Without a doubt, this is one of the most inappropriate and annoying practices in marketing. It has gotten to the point where, to avoid spam calls, people stop answering any number that is not in their contact list.
Fortunately, there are some solutions and you can already report or block phone numbers, helping to identify them as spam when trying to communicate with other people.
The history of spam
Now we know that spam is an inadvisable practice that consists of sending massive and constant unwanted messages. But do you have any idea how it started?
There are several rumors about the history of the appearance of spam, but the most accepted is related to the British comedy group “Monty Python”.
The story went like this: some members of the group went to a restaurant to do a sketch in which, dressed as Vikings, they served a couple.
At that time, there was a brand of spicy ham that was sold canned. In the scene, that ham was served on every plate and customers ended up eating it, even those who hadn’t ordered it. That’s where the name SPAM came from, Spiced HA.M(spicy ham).
Thus, the comedians repeated the word SPAM in reference to the ham, disturbing and inconveniencing those around them.
On the other hand, in March 1994, two lawyers participating in a discussion group in their area left an automated and random message on various other forums.
(You can access group messages, ).
The number of messages sent at the same time put the network’s performance at risk, and during the heated discussions about the attitude of the lawyers, some people remembered the scene of the group of comedians that was broadcast on television programs and even movies.
Thus, the unwanted messages in the forums were associated with the problems generated by the repetition of the word spam in the restaurant and, from then on, everything sent in large quantities, without the consent of the recipient, was called spam.
How to identify spam?
To avoid spam, you first need to be able to identify what really is spam. For this reason, many providers and manufacturers of software and hardware provide prevention and protection services against this practice.
Known as anti-spam filters, these tools have the function of preventing the entry of inappropriate messages. However, despite their efficiency, they can also sometimes classify legitimate messages as fake.
Thus, it is necessary to periodically check the spam folder to make sure that no important information ended up there.
In addition, it is possible to recognize some of the characteristics that can serve as an alert to avoid spam:
- Senders that you do not know and to whom you have not passed your contact information.
- Emails that you did not expect to receive, especially on matters that are not related to those that interest you.
- Product offers that promise miracles, and in a short time.
- Ads with excessive advantages.
- tabloid news or fake news.
- Newsletters from any site you have never visited.
- Emails with confusing titles that seem to start a conversation with you. For example: “Hi, do you remember me?”
- Messages with links for you to click if you want to receive a gift.
- Texts with warnings that said message is not spam (legitimate messages do not need to say that they are not fake).
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How to avoid spam?
Sometimes it can seem impossible to avoid spam. But not all is lost! There are some precautions that will help you avoid spam and protect yourself from this type of content:
1. Update your antivirus
It is important that you have an antivirus that can block possible attacks on your personal data. However, having that tool installed, by itself, will not make your information truly secure..
Therefore, update your protection software when necessary and use the antivirus periodically on your work computer, on your personal computer, and also on your smartphone.
If you notice unusual behavior on your computer or mobile devices, remember to scan for viruses. And if you still have problems, install the entire operating system again.
2. Do not report your personal data
Data such as email, address, telephone or bank information are confidential. Therefore, you should not report them on suspicious pages.
It is usually not easy to tell when a computer is infected. Most people only find out when the machine is slow or has connection problems.
In the case of banking information, the danger lies in the unauthorized transactions that can be carried out. When that happens, the user can suffer very high financial losses. For example, money transfers or purchases.
3. Avoid sharing chain letters
Do not share messages unless you know their information is reliable. Chain letters are often used to harvest email addresses and send spam without users’ consent.
4. Avoid spam with tools
Anti-spam is essential as it directs suspicious messages to a spam folder outside of your inbox. So, if you don’t have this tool installed on your computer, try to use the resources offered by access providers.
5. Separate your emails by categories
If possible, have more than one account and separate content into categories. For example, you can create an email only for the subscription of lists and the reception of promotions. That way you will avoid spam in your personal or business email.
6. Do not believe in all promotions
Avoid clicking on pop-ups and buttons that lead to extraordinary gifts. It is always important to check if the gifts are real and if the site that offers them is reliable.
Several institutions already have information on their pages that confirms or not the sending of gifts, promotions and discounts. Thus, you should analyze the messages you receive before clicking on them.
How to avoid spamming?
If you have an online business, never spam. By sending unsolicited messages, users will be able to report your Page. An example is Facebook, where reported pages can be suspended and even banned from the network.
On the other hand, if you send emails talking about your products or services to people who don’t know you or aren’t looking for the solution you have, the opposite effect can occur: people don’t want to know anything about your brand.
But, is it possible to promote a product on the Internet without spamming?
Yes! And email marketing is proof of that.
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