Marketing Emails & Spam

Marketing email can be valuable when it is invited, relevant and sent with care. These rules protect your reputation, other SMTP Zen customers, and the networks that accept our mail. Please read them fully before sending anything promotional.

1. Transactional vs. marketing

• Transactional messages (password resets, receipts, account alerts) are fully supported.
• Marketing messages (newsletters, announcements, sales blasts) are allowed only when every recipient has explicitly agreed to receive them from you.
• Anything that resembles bulk cold outreach, purchased lists, scraped contacts or affiliate spam is prohibited.

2. Consent requirements

• Collect addresses through a clear opt-in form that states what you will send and how often.
• Never import lists bought, rented or given to you by a third party - even if someone claims the contacts are “opt-in”.
• Maintain an unsubscribe link that works instantly. One click should remove someone from future promotional mail.
• Keep proof of consent for each address so you can respond if a complaint arrives.

3. Sending behavior

• Start with small batches and watch bounce, complaint and engagement metrics before scaling up.
• Respect quiet hours for your audience and avoid repeated sends to people who do not open.
• Do not mix transactional and promotional messages in the same email. Send separate campaigns so recipients can opt out of marketing without losing critical updates.
• Honor unsubscribe requests within 24 hours across every list you own.

4. Content expectations

• Use honest subject lines and from names that clearly state who is emailing.
• Include your physical mailing address and valid reply-to address.
• Avoid misleading headers, forged domains or obfuscated links. Tracking links must point to legitimate properties you control.
• Keep copy professional. Hate speech, adult content, malware, pyramid schemes, or any illegal offer is forbidden.

5. Delivery safeguards

• Monitor deliverability using the Email Logs inside the Plan Manager. Remove addresses that bounce or defer repeatedly.
• Keep complaint rates under industry standards (well under 0.1%). If recipients flag you as spam, pause the campaign and fix the cause.
• Use the built-in DKIM, SPF and DMARC records we provide. Improper DNS settings often trigger spam filters.

6. Enforcement

• We may rate-limit, temporarily pause, or disable sending if we detect abuse, high complaint rates, or ignored unsubscribes.
• Serious violations (purchased lists, spoofing, phishing, malware) result in immediate termination without refund and may be reported to upstream providers.
• We cooperate with legal requests tied to spam or abuse claims.

7. Need a marketing-friendly stack?

If you routinely send cold outreach or other high-risk traffic, SMTP Zen is not the right platform. Consider providers that specialize in bulk marketing deliverability and list hygiene.

8. Getting help

Before launching a campaign, open a support ticket if you are unsure whether it fits these rules. Share details about list source, expected volume, and content. We would rather guide you early than fix deliverability damage later.

Staying compliant keeps inboxes clean and ensures the entire SMTP Zen community enjoys top-tier deliverability. Thank you for treating recipients with respect.