Following the Orange UK email closure and the migration of @verizon.net users over to AOL, another mailbox provider has just announced some major changes to their activity. At the end of this month, Terra Mail is going to shut down its free email service. If you are a fan of their website—which is amongst the most popular in Latin America—rest assured, the website will not be shut down.
As communicated on their website:
We inform you that from 11:59 pm on June 30, 2017, we will terminate the free Terra Mail service.
Therefore, we recommend that you back up your messages and files and notify your contacts, as from 1 July 2017 you will not be able to access your account(s), nor the saved message(s). From that date, all messages will not be available.
Domains that will be discontinued:
It is important to notice that the domain terra.com.br (used in Brazil) will not be discontinued.
Recommendations for email marketers
Terra Mail was a popular email service in Spain and Latin America, so marketer’s operating in these regions will probably have quite a few contacts from these domains in their lists. Below are a few recommendations to reduce the impact of this change on your ability to reach your customers:
- Identify engaged customers using one of these domains and ask them where they want to continue receiving their communication.
- Ensure bounces are being properly handled.
- Try to identify a new email address for the Terra customers affected. Consider collecting a secondary verification method (i.e. secondary email address, mobile number, security question(s), etc.). from your customers.
- Prepare an in-web/in-app prompt if the Terra (or any) address bounces, notifying the subscriber that the address doesn’t appear to be valid and asking the subscriber to update the address on file.
- If available, leverage your list hygiene provider to test Terra addresses for bounces before deploying emails.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to discuss with your Technical Account Manager.