Reasons that Mailchimp may block your account

I received the following message from a Mailchimp customer:
Dear Gary,
I’ve been blocked by Mailchimp and they advised me to look for an other provider. But I really didn’t do anything wrong. It’s so frustrating. And almost impossible to find the problem. Could you help me with that?
Kind Regards

There are numerous reasons that Mailchimp will suspend a customers account that I describe below. First however it’s important to understand why Mailchimp actively monitors customer accounts and suspends accounts at times.

Why Mailchimp suspends accounts

Mailchimp (and other good email marketing services) place great emphasis on high deliverability (ensuring the best chance of the most subscribers seeing the intended email campaign). This includes building the reputation of a vast number of sending IP addresses, strictly adhering to spam laws and many other factors.

When you send an email campaign from Mailchimp your email is sent from Mailchimp servers, domains and IP addresses. If your sent email message is marked as spam then not only does your domain name potentially get marked as a spam sending domain, but Mailchimp also suffers the same consequences.

Email Service Providers (ESPs), who send large volumes of email on behalf of their clients, are at the mercy of their worst clients’ worst practices. MAAWG

Mailchimp as a business relies on their domain, IP and server reputations remaining good and any potential spamming by Mailchimp customers could have significant implications on Mailchimp financially and legally. It is therefore prudent for Mailchimp to take every effort to eliminate the possibility that any Mailchimp customer may be flouting the law or sending email messages that are likely to get marked as spam by the recipient.

Reasons that Mailchimp suspends accounts

If Mailchimp determines that your email campaign is likely to get marked as spam, or if you are likely contravening spam acts or laws, then they will suspend your account. The most common reasons for Mailchimp suspending an account includes

• Your send campaigns have received too many ‘abuse reports’ (i.e. a relatively high proportion of your recipients mark your campaign as spam).
• You are sending content that has a high chance of getting marked as spam (e.g. Amway, Herbalife, gambling content).
• Your content possibly contravenes the CAN-SPAM Act.
• Your imported contacts include honey-pot email addresses.
• You have very low open and click rates for past campaigns (indicates that recipients aren’t interested in your content).

What to do if your Mailchimp account is suspended.

If your Mailchimp account is suspended then you will receive a warning upon logging in to your Mailchimp account. If you believe that Mailchimp has suspended your account in error then contact Mailchimp directly. If you have knowingly flouted and spam laws or acts or contravened Mailchimp acceptable use or terms of service then it’s probably time to review your marketing.