60 Seconds on Avoiding the Spam Folder

Aug 19

Argh, the dreaded SPAM folder!

Finding out your emails are going there is the worst kind of surprise — worse than receiving a bag of coal at Christmas. Or even worse, a multipack of striped and spotted socks.

Sorry, Grandma.

Anyway, I digress…

With 1 in 6 emails being cast to the Gates of Spam, how the frick do you make sure YOURS stay well clear?

Here are 5 actionable tips to start:

Test your subject lines… then test some more!

Honestly, there’s no excuse for your welcome email to have an open rate that’s less than 50%. These are new subscribers you’re sending to. They’re hot off the press. They want your stuff. If your open rate is already lagging, the subject line is probably either a) irrelevant or b) lame.

Don’t email too much (with low engagement rates, anyway) or not enough

A stellar welcome sequence of emails should extend over at least 2 weeks and feature a minimum of 4-5 emails. Probably more. But after this sequence is over, emailing roughly every week (or at least, every fortnight) will be the sweet spot.

Unless you’re best friends with someone, do you want to receive an email from them every day? Hell no!

There’s a good chance the recipient will mark you as spam if you’re not providing them with a ton of value in each email. Emailing them less frequently than monthly, meanwhile, will mean that you’ll soon be forgotten.

Make sure to feature a physical address that states where you are sending from

This one is straightforward enough. Yet it slips some business owners’ minds. Make sure to include your company address at the bottom of the message to prove to the email service provider that you are legit.

Avoid those spam trigger words

Yes, the list of spam trigger words is annoyingly long. And it’s only getting longer (thanks, marketing gurus). But you gotta play by the rules. Sure, including a word like GUARANTEE, BARGAIN, or RISK-FREE might not drag your butt into the spam folder if the rest of the content is safe.

Running the email copy through an email spam checker before you send it out takes seconds, though, and is the sensible option for any good email marketer.

Encourage replies in your first few emails

It isn’t spoken about much, this strategy. But man, it’s gold! Once you’ve laid out what the new subscriber can expect by joining your list, simply ask them a pertinent question that will get them to reply.

Maybe it’s “P.S. Can I ask, how did you find us? Let us know and we’ll send you a ‘thank you’ discount.”

An alternative — “Let me know what your goals are, and I’ll see if I can help.”

Hope these 5 tips help you stay out of the red (spam) and in the black (inbox).

Here is where I’ve been learning about staying out of spam if you want to find out more.

Cheers!

Declan Davey,

Health Copywriter & Marketing Something-or-Other 😜