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Cousin Domains are what spammers use

10 July 2024

In the ever-evolving world of email marketing, businesses continually seek ways to improve their deliverability rates and maintain their sender reputations. One practice that has regained traction recently is using cousin domains to send very low volumes of messages. However, despite its perceived benefits, using cousin domains is a terrible practice that can lead to significant long-term problems for your brand and email deliverability.

What are Cousin Domains?

Cousin domains are domain names intended to be similar to your primary domain but with slight variations. For example, if your primary domain is example.com, a cousin domain might be examp1e.com (using the number “1” instead of the letter “l”), exampl3.com (substituting “e” with “3”), or examples.com (adding an “s” at the end). The idea is that these domains look nearly identical to the original, which can deceive recipients and spam filters alike.

Why Do Marketers Use Cousin Domains?

Marketers might use cousin domains for several reasons:

  1. Avoiding Spam Filters: By rotating between multiple domains, marketers hope to avoid triggering spam filters that may flag repetitive emails from the same sender.
  2. Evading Blocklists: If a cousin domain gets blocklisted, the only harm is to the “business development team.” Everyone else is using the main domain and can continue work without interruption.
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While these reasons might appear logical at first glance, the practice of using cousin domains is fundamentally flawed and fraught with risks.

The Risks of Using Cousin Domains

  1. Damaged Brand Trust and Credibility

Using cousin domains can significantly damage your brand’s trust and credibility. When recipients receive emails from slightly altered versions of your domain, they may become suspicious and perceive your emails as phishing attempts or spam. This suspicion can lead to lower open rates, higher unsubscribe rates, and increased complaints, negatively impacting your sender reputation. Worse, you can train your recipients to trust cousin domains, thus setting them up to fall for phishing attempts that use cousin domains not controlled by your company. And, if you have trouble requiring the intervention of various providers, expect a more difficult time of it because the providers know that using the cousin domain to send unwanted messages was no accident.

  1. Complicated Domain Management

Managing multiple cousin domains can become a logistical nightmare. Each domain requires proper setup, including DNS records, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configurations. Ensuring consistent branding and content across all domains adds another layer of complexity. Mistakes in setup or inconsistencies in branding can further erode trust and deliverability. Just today I saw a “cold email enablement” provider offering a tack-on service to help with authentication.

  1. Legal and Compliance Risks

Using cousin domains can also expose your business to legal and compliance risks. Deceptive practices, such as using cousin domains to disguise the sender’s identity, can potentially lead to legal issues and damage your business’s reputation.

Best Practices for Maintaining Deliverability

Instead of resorting to cousin domains, consider adopting these best practices to maintain and improve your email deliverability:

  1. Build a Solid Sender Reputation

Focus on building and maintaining a solid sender reputation by sending relevant, high-quality content to engaged subscribers who have indicated an interest in your messages. Monitor your sender reputation using tools like Google Postmaster Tools and take corrective actions as needed.

  1. Authenticate Your Emails

Set up your primary domain’s SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to ensure proper email authentication. Authentication helps ISPs verify the legitimacy of your emails and reduces the risk of them being marked as spam.

  1. Maintain a Clean Email List

Regularly clean your email list to handle inactive or unengaged subscribers. Implement a re-engagement campaign for dormant subscribers and opt-down or -out those who do not respond. A clean list improves your sender reputation and deliverability rates.

  1. Monitor Engagement Metrics

Keep a close eye on engagement metrics such as open, click-through, and bounce rates. Use this data to segment your audience and tailor your content to their preferences, improving overall engagement and deliverability.

  1. Stay Compliant with Regulations

Ensure your email practices comply with relevant laws and regulations, such as CAN-SPAM, CASL, and GDPR. Provide clear opt-in and opt-out mechanisms, and honor unsubscribe requests promptly.

Conclusion

While the allure of using cousin domains may seem tempting, the long-term consequences far outweigh any short-term benefits because you are doing something the worst people on the Internet do for the very worst reasons. Damaged brand trust, complicated domain management, and compliance repercussions make cousin domains a terrible practice. Instead, focus on building a solid sender reputation, authenticating your emails, maintaining a clean email list, monitoring engagement metrics, and staying compliant with regulations. Adopting these best practices can improve your email deliverability and foster stronger relationships with your subscribers.

Mickey Chandler
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