As an email marketer you already know that being flagged as a spammer is one of the risks involved, even if you have taken every precaution to ensure that email blasts are STRICLTY permission-based. Here are some eye-opening facts that will motivate you to continue your hard work at maintaining a high quality contact list.

Email marketing industry research on spam has churned out the following information for you to pay close attention to:
Oh, the woes of the spam button! It is widely known in the industry that approximately 60% of all email recipients think that the spam complaint button and the option to unsubscribe have the same function. You can imagine how this can affect your overall rating as a sender.
Keep in mind that major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) track the use of the spam button as their primary method of determining if an email should land in the in-box or not. So, now you have potentially two-thirds of your users, that want to unsubscribe, marking you as a spammer because they don't know any better; and then the ISPs determine your reputation based on metrics that aren't necessarily factual.
So how do you win?

Information is the key! The best way to avoid this kind of negative feedback is to tell your subscribers what they should do if they want to unsubscribe. Make sure that you are specific! With facts like these floating around you don't want to take any chances. Direct your user on EXACTLY how to unsubscribe using the email marketing solutions that you are sending out from. This will avoid any confusion, and therefore reduce the amount negative feedback your sender reputation suffers.

Email marketing industry research has determined that 2 out of every 3 emails nowadays is spam; that 16% of email addresses change due to spam; that 17% of all corporate email is spam; and most importantly that spam costs the average business about $700 per employee in time wasted, that could have been productive work time. That's why businesses are taking greater precautions to arm themselves against spam, which means you have to do everything you can to educate yourself about how to avoid the spam filters, and you should also be equipped with the knowledge of the best practices for email marketing.

Also, make sure that you are staying current in your customer's 'email consciousnesses.' It is well known that if permission email marketing campaign is not sent to a subscriber at least once every three months the likelihood of the next email being considered spam increases 32%.

It's true; there are some scary facts about email marketing to be aware of. But by informing your customers and subscribers about how to unsubscribe, knowing the best practices and making sure you do not commit any 'email marketing sins' you can stay ahead of the curve and be a successful email marketer despite industry spam facts.
So keep up the hard work at maintaining a high quality list and happy emailing!