Email marketing is a great way to communicate with prospects as well as current and past clients. That being said, there is a lot that goes into sending a high quality, highly targeted email. Along with this, you have to concern yourself with spam filters. In other words, is your message going to make its way to the recipient? Or will a spam filter pick it off along the way?
Before you do anything, it is important to plan your email marketing campaign. With the proper strategy in place, you have a much better chance of avoiding the spam filter attached to your target’s email account.
Tip: once you have an email newsletter template that works, stick with it in the future. Not only will this ensure that you avoid the spam filter, but if it converts well you will know that you are going to get the results you are looking for.
Are you new to the email marketing game? If so, it is safe to say that you may not know much about spam filters and how these work. For this reason, you have the potential for making mistakes along the way – many of which are sure to slow you down.
The bad thing about a spam filter is that you don’t get a second chance. Once your email ends up here, there is nothing you can do but sit back and wait for your next chance at the prospect.
No matter if you are new to email marketing or have been engaging in this method for many years, there are several things you can do to avoid accidental spam filtering:
1. Do not use “spammy” phrases. These include everything from “deal of a lifetime” to “click here” to “once in a lifetime opportunity.” Spam filters can detect these phrases, especially if they are included in the subject of your email.
2. Do not treat your email newsletter the same way you would a sales page. This means avoiding the overuse of exclamation points. While there is nothing wrong with emphasizing your content here and there, using more of these than necessary will improve the chance of your email ending up being marked as spam.
3. All CAPS should be avoided at all costs. This is one of the most common subject line mistakes that people make, even those who have been using this marketing tactic for a long time. Why would you want to use all CAPS? This is the equivalent of screaming at your audience. This does not improve the click through rate of your email. If anything, it will scare people away as it appears to be extremely spammy.
4. Using color for your fonts. If I add bright red to the beginning of my email people will think it is important, right? Think again. The more colors you use, the less likely somebody is to read through your email. And of course, this can set off the spam filter from a mile away.
5. Messy HTML. When you attempt to cut corners by converting a Word file to HTML, it is safe to say that you are going to end up with a sloppy HTML email. In turn, it is going to be flagged as spam almost every time.
With these five tips in mind, you should find it much easier to avoid the spam filter with every email newsletter that you send. Once you know what you are doing in this regard, you will find that your read-rate is much higher – and that is exactly what you want.
If your email is not read, the recipient cannot take action. And if he or she cannot take action, there is no point in sending the email in the first place.
When you start with a good plan and follow it up with the above tips, you can beat even the most strict email filters. Subsequently, you will find that your newsletter is converting better and allowing you to get in touch with a larger number of people on your list. Don’t let the use of spam filters stop you from achieving all your email marketing goals.
Author byline: This guest post is from Endre Rex-Kiss, a small business advocate with a keen interest in sustainability and green tech. He currently works for Jangomail, an email marketing and newsletter system provider based in the US.
