Getting around MailChimp Omnivore
Ever faced MailChimp Omnivore issues where you couldn’t forward emails, or there’s an outright ban on using individual email lists? Our condolences! You’re in the cross-hairs of software primed to detect email abuse and spam.
MailChimp, as a top-notch email service provider (ESP), is conscious of maintaining the platform’s formidable reputation. The last thing it wants is for internet service providers’ spam filters to block MailChimp servers citing spam. So MailChimp will do its best to prevent users from muddying the waters with low quality messaging.
What is MailChimp Omnivore?
MailChimp Omnivore is a sophisticated artificial intelligence-powered mail abuse prevention algorithm that continually analyzes email use and user behavior to identify and isolate spam emails. With a MailChimp Omnivore warning, you have no way of sending further emails to the problem addresses until you solve the underlying issues.
The loss of business and growth opportunities through unresponded MailChimp Omnivore warnings can be devastating for small businesses that depend a lot on email campaigns to expand their global footprint.
What is a MailChimp Omnivore warning?
The MailChimp Omnivore warning is a message from MailChimp stating that your recently imported emails have a high probability of bouncing back, eliciting spam complaints, or landing in spam traps, and detected “email abuse” crosses the industrially acceptable threshold. Allowing these emails could compromise MailChimp’s servers, so you’re prohibited from using flagged email listings till you’ve sorted out the problem to MailChimp’s satisfaction.
MailChimp won’t be sharing specific details of flagged (problematic) emails, so it’s up to users to probe their listings, identify MailChimp Omnivore issues and rectify anomalies.
What happens if you ignore the MailChimp Omnivore warning?
The economic cost of resisting a MailChimp Omnivore warning fix can be quite high. Leave aside a permanent ban, a two-day suspension by MailChimp can severely impact business operations.
- Imagine that you’re committing all the time, energy, and resources in fine-tuning your marketing strategy, yet you’re unable to launch the campaign because you’re blocked.
- Consider the impact on customers that are awaiting notifications regarding product delivery or monitoring package tracking information.
- Weigh the opportunity loss when competitors carve a slice of your business, and you’re helpless in chalking out a response.
The Omnivore warning in MailChimp: An unsanitized mail listing that has stale (inactive user) addresses, unfamiliar (questionable source or malicious content) addresses, and spam traps will trigger an Omnivore warning. Your ability to resend emails to your customers depends on how fast you identify and rectify MailChimp Omnivore issues.
The suspension: An Omnivore suspension which is triggered by severe violations can cost you dearly, and ruin meticulously planned and time-sensitive email campaigns. You’ll be asked to contact the MailChimp compliance team and submit information on teething issues.
The ban: A permanent ban comes into force if three suspensions occur within six months.
Omnivore is not a perfect system and can give false positives, but once you’ve landed a warning, you have no option but to go for a MailChimp Omnivore warning fix by deleting or repairing the problematic email addresses on your email lists.
The irony is that some of the flagged accounts could be valuable customers that take their own time responding. So consider such a warning as a wake-up call to sanitize your email listings.
Here are the 5 most prominent reasons why users attract MailChimp warnings along with our cheat sheets for getting around MailChimp Omnivore.
Top 5 reasons you get a MailChimp Omnivore warning, and what you can do about it
If you sense MailChimp Omnivore not working correctly, you need to understand why you’re in this predicament and explore the ways of getting around MailChimp Omnivore with your sanity and your mailing list intact.
Trigger #1: People are finding lots of reasons to unsubscribe you
Email campaigns lose steam when the message is devoted to the product to the exclusion of everything else, and where the sales pitch is so shrill that people get turned off. You come through as a brand that is self-obsessed with the product and trying to sell the service come hell or high water.
Problem: Omnivore views a high unsubscribe rate as validation of your failing popularity, and, as far as MailChimp is concerned, you become persona non grata, and your emails get blocked.
Solution: Focus on the quality of the message and don’t send emails unless you have something of value to offer – could be a prize, an incentive, a downloadable paper, or a freebie before your premium offer kicks in.
Trigger #2: Your single opt-in emails are heading for spam traps
Customer contact listings could be harboring email addresses where email owners haven’t explicitly confirmed that they knowingly or willingly opted to join your newsletter service or product subscription. Spammers regularly use single opt-in emails to post irrelevant messages that are periodically picked up by spam radars.
Problem: The single opt-in message invariably attracts a MailChimp Omnivore warning.
Solution: The double opt-in email is a better way of avoiding the Omnivore warning. In this process, the user, signing up for an email offer, receives a link which is clicked to confirm the subscription. This method, where users are adding contact information in the opt-in and verifying the subscription, has more credibility.
Trigger #3: If you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind, and people forget you
If there’s inconsistency in sending newsletters to subscribers, then, like bad weather, you’re remembered for the wrong reasons. People forget your sunshine offers. Subscribers may wonder who you are and why they’re receiving your message and reach for the spam button.
It’s possible that you’ve accumulated a database filled with addresses that have been rendered sterile because of your newsletter lacked continuity and users failed to respond.
Problem: Omnivore views stale addresses, infrequent emailing activity, and unresponsive user behavior as evidence of suspicious spam behavior.
Solution: Your newsletters should be frequent and follow a predictive pattern delivering loads of tools and tips, changing trends, discount sales, or attention-grabbing store(product)-related news that keeps subscribers hooked to your email marketing strategy.
If subscribers are not responding to your emails for long periods, delete them from your mailing list so you can concentrate on active leads. Given that 25 percent of your email addresses suffer annual attrition do an audit and cleanse your mail listings frequently to preserve only actionable addresses.
Trigger #4: You’re launching the MailChimp campaign using your Gmail address
The truth is that MailChimp does not want you to use a Gmail address to launch email campaigns. Gmail.com, aol.com, and yahoo.com are not verified domains for sending MailChimp emails. The reason is that MailChimp has issues with the DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) policies of free email providers which conflict MailChimp’s services. Besides, these free email services are a beehive of spamming activity where bulk messaging carries a higher risk of being snared by spam filters.
Problem: Omnivore frowns on users relying on external free mail providers, and such activity has the likelihood of being viewed as spam-oriented emails that attract the Omnivore warning in MailChimp.
Solution: Create an email address that is linked to your brand domain or use trusted email service providers that carry authority.
By using an email service provider (ESP), you get the leeway to send excess of 500 messages in any instance. The service provider ensures that you stand on the right side of email protocols. At any rate, an ESP will show better delivery rates than Gmail addresses belting out 500 marketing emails now and then.
Trigger #5: You didn’t import an email list to MailChimp the right way
It’s possible that you recently changed your domain and you want to ensure all users stay committed to their subscriptions. You may also want to import existing email listings to an ESP like MailChimp. There’s nothing wrong with the strategy; you need to do it the right way.
Importing new listings (to MailChimp) following a domain change is a critical stage where you can’t afford to overload MailChimp with problematic listings that spark Omnivore warnings. MailChimp scans all newly imported addresses to see whether or not they were active before import. An unfamiliar address can trigger an Omnivore warning.
Problem: Users complaining about spam and unfamiliar emails trigger an Omnivore MailChimp warning if the “abuse rate” exceeds one email per thousand.
Solution: You’re better off downsizing the listings to spin off all the fake or problematic addresses before importing to MailChimp. To avoid the “unfamiliar address” Omnivore trigger, send emails to the existing subscriber base advising the domain change or product pitch, and discard all addresses that complain of spam. This simple precaution keeps your emails in the active list and below the Omnivore radar.
Another technique is to post compelling messages like “Massive discounts in the pipeline – exit or apply!” which compel users to stay committed to the newsletter or unsubscribe if they’re not receptive to the idea.
Email validation – the ideal MailChimp Omnivore warning fix
The easiest way of getting around MailChimp Omnivore is to sanitize your customer contact data with the help of professional email validation software. No other process is faster, more accurate or result-oriented than email validation when you’re managing a humongous database of customer addresses.
Consider the advantages of using professional email validation services
- You reduce the likelihood of emails bouncing off wrong addresses, and this helps you enhance your reputation and credibility.
- You flag and rectify emails with incorrect syntax that would otherwise prevent messages from reaching a valuable customer.
- The software automatically corrects invalid Mail Exchange (MX) records. These are the DNS records that ensure that the email reaches the right address in the right domain.
- You eliminate temporary (disposable) email addresses that potential customers use to trap fake emails, irrelevant emails, or spam mail.
- You detect email address duplication, and the software suggests listing of the correct address.
- You bypass email addresses that are designed to act as spam traps and which prevent your mail from reaching the genuine customer.
- You can isolate and remove email addresses of known complainers so that you can focus on productive clients that are interested in nurturing a long-term relationship.
Remember that problematic addresses don’t generate a cent in revenue, and these are frequently flagged by Omnivore, so you’re better off removing such emails from your mailing list.
The issue with Omnivore is that it doesn’t give you specific feedback on what is wrong with your list. And, doing a manual address check to locate the problem address is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. Email validation verifies and validates riding on advanced artificial intelligence-powered algorithms; it is faster, more accurate, and promises better results.
Learning from your mistakes
Email marketing is the essence of building relationships and growing your business online to expand your global footprint. But you’d be punching a big hole in your goal if you permit common emailing mistakes to trigger a MailChimp Omnivore warning.
Businesses that successfully bypass the Omnivore warning in MailChimp are those that turn to email validators which process and manage emails professionally. Email validation is the best way of sanitizing listings, verifying email addresses, ensuring timely and accurate delivery of messages, besides preserving the sender’s reputation.
Armed with an email validator, consider yourself better equipped to leverage MailChimp’s marvelous mail marketing mojo.
