Identify subscribers marking email as Spam in Marketing Cloud

1. Access the Subscribers tab in the Marketing Cloud navigation pane and open All Subscribers.
 

• If you'd like to review evaluate a specific list, open the individual list.

2. Click Search.
3. Select All Subscribers where Subscriber Status is equal to Unsubscribed.
4. Export the completed search results to a .CSV file and select your preferred delivery method.
5. Select and map the attributes to include in your export, for example:
 

• Email Address
• Date Unsubscribed
• Unsubscribe Reason
• any other fields that may help you identify your subscribers

6. After exporting the file, sort the results using a two-level sorting criteria:
 

• Sort by "Reason" to view the unsubscribe reason
• Sort by "Date Unsubscribed" ("Newest to Oldest" order)

Your sorted results provide a clearer picture of the spam complaints your account has acquired.
 

Use your spam complaint data to improve future sending

Review your results and look for trends where subscribers complained about a particular time or method of opt-in. Evaluate certain lists and list segments or send a re-opt in campaign to subscribers who opted-in before a particular date.

Also look for spam complaints by examining the "Reason" column. It should indicate “Spam complaint from domain.com” or “Domain Spam Complaint.” If you've sorted using the steps above, the complaints will already be in date order from newest to oldest.
 

Automatic unsubscribe for spam complaints

Marketing Cloud automatically unsubscribes addresses of subscribers who file a spam complaint against your account, ensuring no future emails will be sent to them. You don't need to delete or unsubscribe these addresses manually.

We strongly recommend against attempting to override this automatic functionality.

Continuing to email subscribers who have lodged spam complaints against you results in significant reputation issues at top ISPs and blocklists and usually leads to your email getting blocked.

When a recipient unsubscribes or files a spam complaint against you, that’s a request from them for you to stop sending them mail. It's always in your best interest to respect their request.

If you have any questions relating to spam complaints and unsubscribe best practices, please don’t hesitate to contact our Marketing Cloud Support team through the Help & Training Portal.