It’s a typical weekday in the office and you’re working away until being interrupted by a phone call. “Hi there, I’m calling about the email I had sent about a week ago and I have yet to hear back from you.” Email? But you didn’t receive any emails…
Sounds strange that glitches like this occur; we assume that when we hit the send button the message instantaneously gets received, however this is not always the case.
The stakes are higher when launching an email campaign. It isn’t uncommon for 10% – 20% of a marketer’s emails to get lost in cyberspace, which takes place when the email is deemed as spam by today’s ambitious spam filters. When this occurs, it changes the destination of the email by either blocking the message entirely or by sending it directly to the junk folder. It isn’t uncommon for reputable, permission-based advertisers to run into spam filter problems and the only way to minimize their effect is to understand how spam filters work.
When spamming (sending unsolicited commercial emails) became problematic, Internet Service Providers began deciphering whether an email was junk by looking at a long list of criteria based on previously identified spam messages. Some of the most prominent indicators of spam are trigger words such as, “Click here now!”, “Free!”, “Buy now”, “Winner” and many more. Every time the spam fitter detects one of these trigger words, or other spam-related criteria, it assigns a given number of points; if your email so happens to gain enough points to exceed a spam filter’s threshold, then your email will be filtered as junk mail. So, what is this magic threshold? Every filter varies therefore there is no definitive answer, which is why abiding by best practices is so important.
We have now gone over some of the trigger words, but what else can you do to reduce activating a spam filter? Firstly, defy the urge to use all caps, particularly in the subject line. All caps communicate excitement and urgency, but also imply that you’re screaming your message. Other must-not’s, include using excessive punctuation such as multiple exclamation points or questions marks, as well as using florescent colours. Inattentive HTML coding, such as converting a Word file to an HTML file also screams spam, so it is always worthwhile for a professional to properly code your email. Also, keep in mind that spam filters can’t read images, so if your HTML is made up of one or multiple images with little or no text, then it’s quite possible that the email will be perceived as spam.
To identify potential spam filter issues, pay attention to your open and deliverability rate trends. If you’re accustomed to receiving a given open or delivered rate and it begins to decline, or you notice that all recipients from a specific domain have not been opening your email, there is a chance that it could be due to spam related issues. In addition, ensure that you have subscribed to all available Feedback Loops from the ISP Postmasters that you mail to, as those ISP’s will then notify you of spam complaints, allowing you to take corrective measures.
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