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Avoiding Spam Filters with Responsible Email Practices
by Sarah Stashuk
People often ask me how to prevent their e-newsletters from getting caught in spam filters. Usually, I tell them to avoid “sounding like a spammer,” but there’s really more to it than that. Here are some helpful tips you can use that will help your emails get delivered.
Avoid Spam Trigger Words
One way spam filters work is by searching for words commonly used in typical spam email. Some spam words are self-evident, such as “winner” and “free,” but others are not so obvious, such as “vacation” and “visit our website.”
Many lists of spam trigger words are available online. However, you’ll never find a complete list, simply because there isn’t one. As spammers come up with new tricks on a daily basis, the companies that make spam filters as well as the Internet Service Providers that use them are constantly coming up with new ways to combat spammers. In the end, mostly experience will tell you what will and won’t get caught in spam filters, but here’s a list of spam trigger words that will help you get started.
Be Careful with Your “From” Line
Many people don’t realize that spam is often filtered based on the “From” line, so it’s important to test and evaluate what “from” line is best for your eMail.
From a Filters Standpoint
Because users are more likely to open an email from a personal address than from a corporate address, spammers frequently send emails from an individual. As a result, filters are more likely to block bulk email from an individual email address than from a corporate address – especially if you are sending out a large number of emails at one time.
If avoiding spam filters is your number one priority, the simple solution is to send to your email list from a corporate address. Your “From” line should include your company name and a generic company email address, such as “info@yourdomain.com.”
From a spam filter’s standpoint –
A GOOD “From” line would be:
Aristotle Web Design [info@aristotlewebdesign.com]
A BAD “From” line would be:
Joe Martinez [jmartinez@abc.com]
From a Marketing Standpoint
As a small business owner, your name may be much more recognizable than your company name, in which case, you may want to use your personal email address in the “From” line. In addition, readers often feel the email may be more personally relevant if it comes from a person instead of a bulk email address.
Also, recent email studies all come to the same conclusion: a trusted and recognized sender is one of the most important factors in getting your email opened. If your personal name is highly recognized, using a personal address in your “From” line may be a better choice for you.
A-B Testing Your “From” Line
So, how do you know whether a personal or a corporate “From” line you will get you higher deliverability and open rates?
Run an “A-B test” with your e-newsletter. Send half of your list an email from a personal email address and the other half an email from a general company email address (info@mycompany.com). Which version has the best results? The open-rate will be the combined results of your email getting past spam filters and engaging the recipient to open it.
If you need help analyzing how to improve your email marketing campaigns, be sure that the email marketing firm you partner with understands how to avoid spam triggers as well as how to successfully engage your readers once the email arrives in their inbox.
Choose Your Subject Line Wisely
The subject line is also a primary factor that determines whether your email will be delivered and read.
First, spam filters are particularly harsh on subject lines. While you may get away with including the word “win” or “winner” in the body of your email, using it in the subject line would almost certainly get it caught in spam filters.
Secondly, people scan their subject lines to determine whether they want to open their emails, and the decision of whether to open or delete the message is made within seconds.
It turns out that one of the top factors influencing open-rate is the length of the subject line, and shorter is better. You may say to yourself, “How can I be compelling in 35 characters or less without using spam trigger words?” It’s not easy, but here are a few examples that have been successful for me in the past:
- Enter Our Summer Giveaway!
- Isn’t it Time for a Getaway?
- Tell Us What You Think!
Basically, you should use the subject line to get people interested in taking an action, while avoiding spam trigger words.
Basic Tips for Developing Subject Lines:
- Less is more - Aim for 35 characters or less
- Don’t use spam trigger words
- Say something compelling
Don’t Use Too Many Images
Using mostly or only images can cause your e-newsletters to get caught in spam filters. That’s because one of the tricks spammers use to get around spam filters is to include spam trigger words in art so that spam filters can’t detect them.
For best results, take a balanced approach - 50% to 80% text and the rest images is a good ratio. If this is difficult to envision, just imagine the average web page with a large portion of the page taken up with text and the rest with photos and images. That is pretty much what you’re aiming for in your eMail layout.
Comply with the CAN-SPAM Act
Here are some guidelines to avoid sending spam. For a complete list of CAN-SPAM Act requirements and penalties, visit the Federal Trade Commission online.
- The subject line, from line and header information cannot be false or misleading.
- Each email solicitation must clearly and conspicuously provide a working system whereby people can unsubscribe, either by providing a link to online form or a working email address that can receive opt-out messages for at least 30 days after you send your message.
- You must remove unsubscribed email addresses within 10 days of request. (Note: This will soon be changed to 3 days.)
- Include in the body of the message the email address of the recipient, the frequency of the email, and a statement explaining how the sender obtained the recipient’s email address.
- Provide valid contact information, including the name, physical address and phone number of the sending organization.
- Include a link to your privacy policy.
Use a Free Spam Checker
After you’ve composed your HTML e-newsletter and have sent a test message, run your e-news through a free spam checker such as SpamAssassin, a program that “scores” your email for spam filter triggers. SpamAssassin results give you a number score. If you get a score of 5 or over, your email is considered spam. Scores of less than 5 are not spam.
Test Your Own eNewsletter
Setup free test accounts with providers, such as AOL, Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo, and send your test messages to these email addresses to see if they get caught in spam filters. Also, test your messages by sending to your POP3 email accounts and opening them in popular email programs, such as Outlook Express and Eudora. Play with the spam filter levels on these programs to see what causes your messages to get caught.
Don’t Be Afraid to Press “Send”
After learning about spam trigger words, CAN-SPAM legislation, email best practices, subject lines, from lines and more, you may hesitate to push the “Send” button, but don’t. There’s really no final answer to the eternal question, “Is my email designed correctly?” But, I do hope these guidelines will help you along your path to email marketing success.
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