Spam Labeling: Proactive Measures

Is your business phone number being labeled as spam? This is a growing concern for many companies, especially as call volumes increase in a competitive market. In fact, in 2020, Americans received over 46 billion robocalls, with a staggering 44% marked as scams. Such labels can severely impact a business’s communication efforts, making it harder to reach clients and lowering response rates.

This blog will explore call labeling mechanisms and offer proactive strategies to prevent your legitimate business number from being flagged as spam, helping you maintain efficient communication with your customers.

Understanding Call Labeling and Spam Issues

Call labeling refers to the process by which phone carriers or third-party apps assign tags like “spam” or “scam” to incoming calls based on a variety of signals. While this system aims to protect consumers from unwanted calls, it can unfortunately lead to legitimate business numbers being wrongfully marked as spam. This often happens due to factors like high call volumes, unsolicited outreach, or repeated call attempts without consent.

For businesses, the consequences can be severe. A single spam label can damage your brand’s reputation, erode customer trust, and result in missed opportunities. To safeguard your number, it’s important to understand the factors that contribute to call labeling and take steps to avoid them.

Why Businesses Get Marked as Spam

High Call Frequency: Making frequent, unsolicited calls to potential customers can trigger spam labels.
Non-Compliance: Ignoring guidelines like the Do Not Call Registry increases the risk.
Inaccurate Caller ID: Using misleading or anonymous caller IDs can prompt flags.

By identifying these common pitfalls, businesses can work towards avoiding harmful labels that disrupt communication.

The Meaning of Spam Labels

When your number is marked as spam, it signals to recipients that your calls are potentially unwanted or fraudulent. Spam labels are primarily driven by user complaints, call patterns, or behaviors perceived as aggressive or irrelevant.

Causes of Spam Labels

Customer Reports: If multiple recipients mark your calls as unwanted, carriers take note.
Caller Behavior: Frequent calls within short periods or irrelevant messages raise suspicion.
Robocall Reputation: Automated calls that aren’t compliant with regulations are prime candidates for spam labels.

The effect on your business is clear: reduced call answer rates, damaged reputation, and potentially blocked communication by service providers.

Key Reasons Behind Spam Marking

There are several reasons why even legitimate businesses may face spam labeling issues. While some companies unknowingly engage in practices that increase the likelihood of being flagged, understanding these triggers can help businesses adjust their outreach tactics.

Legal Violations: Any activity that breaches telemarketing regulations, such as failing to adhere to TCPA guidelines, can lead to a spam label. Carriers are obligated to block or label numbers that violate consumer protection laws.
High Call Volume: Making a high volume of outbound calls—especially to recipients who have not opted in—can raise suspicions. Even if the content is relevant, repeated calling patterns may appear spammy to automated systems.
Nuisance Behavior: Certain behaviors, such as sending unsolicited robocalls or using irrelevant content, will quickly trigger spam labels. For example, businesses that consistently call outside of normal hours or provide no value in their messaging are likely to be flagged.

Early Warning Signs Your Number Is Labeled as Spam

It’s important to monitor for signs that your business phone number might already be labeled as spam. Catching these early allows you to take corrective action before the issue escalates.

Decreased Engagement Rates: If your contact rate drops significantly despite no changes in your call strategies, it could be a sign that your number is being filtered or labeled as spam.
Customer Complaints: Another sign is feedback from customers reporting that your calls are marked as spam. This provides direct insight into potential reputation issues with your number.
Sudden Drop in Call Effectiveness: A sharp decline in communication effectiveness, such as fewer answered calls or callbacks, often signals spam labeling issues. Keep an eye on engagement analytics to detect such trends early.

The Impact of Spam Labels on Your Contact Rates

When your number is flagged as spam, it can have a significant impact on your ability to communicate with customers. Spam labels can lead to calls being blocked or filtered out by network settings, making it harder to reach your intended audience.

Key Consequences:

Lower Engagement: Customers are less likely to answer calls from numbers marked as spam.
Blocked Calls: In extreme cases, service providers may block your number altogether.
Decreased Trust: Spam labels can erode trust, making future outreach less effective.

Mitigating this requires proactive steps like adjusting call practices and focusing on compliance.

Proactive Steps to Prevent Spam Labels

To avoid spam labels, businesses must adopt a proactive approach to outbound calling. By focusing on ethical practices and keeping an eye on your call metrics, you can prevent your number from being unfairly flagged.

Control Call Frequency

Manage the number of calls you make in a given timeframe. Consistent, high-volume dialing can trigger spam filters, so spread out your outreach over time.

Limit Call Attempts: Avoid multiple calls to the same number within a short period.
Targeted Outreach: Focus on quality over quantity by personalizing your communication.

Follow Ethical Telemarketing Practices

Ensure that your calling practices align with telemarketing regulations like the Do Not Call Registry. Use accurate and clear caller IDs, and always provide opt-out options for recipients.

Respect Opt-Out Requests: Promptly remove numbers from your calling list if requested.
Provide Clear Information: Use transparent caller IDs to avoid being flagged as misleading.

Use Dialing Software Wisely

Dialing software can improve efficiency, but improper use can result in spam labeling. Avoid patterns that resemble robocalls and ensure your calls are properly authenticated.

Monitoring Phone Number Reputation

A key strategy to prevent spam labeling is actively monitoring your phone number’s reputation. Many tools are available to help businesses check whether their number is flagged or at risk of being labeled as spam.

Tools for Monitoring:

Caller ID Reputation: Use services like CallerIDReputation.com to check the status of your number.
Third-Party Apps: Some apps offer alerts if your number is marked as spam across different networks.

By maintaining awareness of your number’s status, you can quickly address potential issues before they impact your outreach efforts.

Building Strong Carrier Relationships

Working closely with your telecom carrier can help prevent your business number from being mislabeled. Carriers can provide insights into why your number might be flagged and help you resolve the issue.

Carrier Assistance

Report Issues: If your number is mislabeled, notify your carrier immediately to resolve the issue.
Proactive Communication: Establish strong communication channels with your carrier to avoid future issues.

Strategies to Avoid Spam Labels and Boost Contact Rates

Preventing spam labels and boosting contact rates requires a strategic approach that focuses on responsible communication practices. Here are detailed strategies to help maintain the integrity of your business phone number and enhance contact effectiveness.

Optimize Call Volume

Overloading customers with repeated calls is one of the most common reasons for being flagged as spam. Many businesses make the mistake of high-frequency dialing to maximize outreach, but this can lead to negative perceptions and spam labeling.

Balance Quantity and Quality: Focus on quality interactions rather than trying to reach as many contacts as possible. When calls are spaced out and personalized, recipients are less likely to report them as unwanted.
Targeted Lists: Use a well-curated list of prospects to ensure that your calls are reaching people genuinely interested in your product or service. This reduces the chances of your number being flagged due to irrelevant outreach.
Spread Out Call Attempts: Avoid making multiple call attempts to the same number within a short period. Spacing out your calls over a few days prevents the appearance of nuisance behavior and reduces the risk of spam labeling.

Implementing these tactics helps build a positive reputation for your business phone number and increases the likelihood of customer engagement.

Follow STIR/SHAKEN Standards

The STIR/SHAKEN (Secure Telephone Identity Revisited/Signature-based Handling of Asserted Information Using toKENs) framework was developed to combat caller ID spoofing, a tactic used by scammers that has contributed to the rise of robocalls. Following these standards improves your call legitimacy and helps prevent your number from being flagged.

Authenticate Caller ID: By complying with STIR/SHAKEN, your calls are authenticated, ensuring that recipients and carriers can verify the identity of the caller. This dramatically reduces the likelihood of your number being flagged as spam.
Increased Trust: Calls authenticated under these standards signal to customers that the calls are legitimate and not spoofed. As a result, customers are more likely to answer, increasing contact rates.
Combat Spoofing: Spoofing has contributed to a rise in spam labeling, even for legitimate businesses. By implementing STIR/SHAKEN, you ensure that your number isn’t inadvertently grouped with bad actors using fake caller IDs.

Following these standards is becoming essential as more carriers adopt STIR/SHAKEN to combat fraud and improve trust in phone communication.

Use Multiple DIDs

Direct Inward Dialing (DID) allows businesses to assign individual numbers to different call agents or departments. Utilizing multiple DIDs can help spread out call activity across several lines, reducing the risk of any single number being marked as spam.

Distribute Call Traffic: Instead of overloading one phone number with a high volume of outbound calls, distribute calls across multiple DIDs. This prevents any single number from triggering spam filters due to high-frequency dialing.
Rotating DIDs: Implementing a rotation strategy where different DIDs are used for different campaigns or periods helps avoid spam labels. By not overusing a single number, you can maintain a cleaner phone number reputation.
Local Numbers: Consider using DIDs with local area codes to increase trust among recipients. Customers are more likely to answer calls from local numbers, and using multiple DIDs with various area codes can improve contact rates.

This strategy not only helps avoid spam labels but also enhances customer experience by making it easier for them to identify and trust your business’s phone numbers.

Adopt Omnichannel Outreach

Relying solely on phone calls can increase the chances of being marked as spam, especially if calls go unanswered or are perceived as intrusive. Adopting an omnichannel outreach strategy can diversify your communication methods and reduce the dependence on phone calls.

Combine Email, SMS, and Social Media: Use a mix of communication channels such as email, SMS, and social media to reach customers. This reduces the need for frequent phone calls and improves engagement.
Follow-Up via Different Channels: If a call goes unanswered, follow up through a different channel. A follow-up email or SMS message may prompt the customer to respond without the risk of being flagged for repeated calls.
Personalized Communication: Use each channel to deliver personalized, relevant messages based on customer preferences. This increases the chances of engagement and decreases the likelihood of your number being marked as spam due to over-reliance on phone calls.

An omnichannel approach not only boosts contact rates but also ensures a smoother customer experience by allowing them to engage on their preferred platform.

Speed to Lead

Speed to lead refers to the time it takes for your business to contact a new lead after they express interest, such as submitting a form or downloading a resource. The quicker you reach out, the more likely it is that the lead will respond, reducing the risk of your number being labeled as spam.

Immediate Follow-Up: Studies show that businesses that contact leads within five minutes of receiving their information are significantly more likely to convert the lead into a customer. Delaying contact can result in missed opportunities or spam labels due to later, unexpected calls.
Automated Call Assignment: Use automated systems to ensure that leads are assigned to the right agent and contacted promptly. This increases efficiency and helps prevent the frustration that can occur from delayed outreach.
Personalized Approach: Tailor your outreach based on the lead’s interaction with your business. A personalized approach shows that your call is relevant, reducing the chances of it being marked as spam.

By improving your speed to lead, you not only enhance your contact rates but also foster stronger customer relationships, as leads appreciate prompt and relevant follow-ups.

Compliance with TCPA and Local Guidelines

Ensuring compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and other local telemarketing regulations is essential for preventing spam labels. Non-compliance can result in fines, penalties, and increased risk of your number being flagged as spam.

Respect Do Not Call Lists: Always ensure that your contact lists are checked against national and state Do Not Call (DNC) registries. Calling numbers on the DNC list is a violation of TCPA and can lead to legal issues and spam labeling.
Clear Caller ID Information: Always provide accurate and clear caller ID information. Misleading or hidden caller IDs are more likely to trigger spam flags from both customers and carriers.
Provide Opt-Out Options: Make it easy for recipients to opt out of receiving further calls. Failure to provide this option can lead to complaints and increase the likelihood of your number being labeled as spam.

By adhering to these guidelines, businesses can protect their phone numbers from being flagged and ensure their outreach efforts remain compliant with legal standards.

Conclusion

Preventing your business number from being labeled as spam requires persistence and a proactive approach. By regularly monitoring your phone number reputation, following ethical telemarketing practices, and ensuring compliance with regulations, you can safeguard your communication effectiveness.