As email spammers become more and more creative in their approach, spam filters become more and more sophisticated in their approach. If you engage in email marketing, you’re already aware of how hard it can be to get your message past your audiences’ junk mail filters and into their in-boxes. The following tips, courtesy of ePly Online Event Registration, can help keep your emails from being flagged as spam:
- DON’T USE ALL CAPS. Besides looking aggressive and LIKE YOU’RE YELLING AT YOUR AUDIENCE, it’s one of the least sophisticated and most common attention-getters that a spammer could use.
- Avoid certain words and characters, especially in the subject line of the email. Junk email filters tend to hone in on several tried-and-true key words, phrases, and characters. Try to keep your subject line free of overtly “sales-ey” terms (“Satisfaction Guaranteed!”, “Free fill in the blank!”, etc.). Under no circumstances put a dollar sign ($) in your subject line.
- Make the “Unsubscribe” link prominent on the email. Although you ideally want a large list of potential contacts, if your unsubscribe link is difficult to find, your recipient might find it easier to lodge a complaint regarding your broadcast, which will hurt your online reputation. The more complaints received regarding the emails you send, the higher the likelihood that the email service provider will blacklist you altogether.
- Avoid overusing images. With all of the assets your marketing department might have on hand, it’d be hard not to be tempted to include five or six powerful images in your email broadcast. The problem is, if you do go overboard with the graphics, the probability that your email will be flagged as spam will skyrocket.
- Avoid red fonts. As a color that relays a sense of urgency, red fonts have been used extensively in the spamming world.
Free Spam Testing Tool
There are a number of free tools online, such as http://spamscore.me/, that will take a sample email, process it, and assess its likelihood of getting caught in a junk mail folder. A 100% delivery rate for your email campaign might be pie-in-the-sky, but with a few easy steps, avoiding getting flagged as spam can be as easy as cake and ice cream!