3 Tips to Get Your Emails Past the Spam Filters

One of the biggest challenges for email marketers over the years has always been beating the spam filters. The job of the spam filter on most email providers is to prevent unwanted messages from getting in – especially those that might contain viruses, phishing scams or other harmful types of content.  Your email marketing may be above board but could hit the recipient’s spam folder anyway.  The good news is that there are strategies you can use to combat this.

Watch Your Language – One of the first and most important tips for avoiding the spam box is to make sure you avoid using the kinds of words and phrases that computers associate with spam. This is similar to the way that Google looks for keywords, except this time the keywords are a bad thing. Examples of words to avoid include things like ‘buy’, ‘free’, ‘discount’, etc.  Think about the language on the spammy emails you avoid.

Make it Sound Personal – If you want to get into the main inbox, then it is not enough to ‘not look like spam’ – your email needs to look like a personal message.  To do this, you should take advantage of the feature in your autoresponder that allows you to use the recipient’s name in the message. Structure your message to read more like a conventional email. Use ‘Dear [Name],’ and end with ‘Best regards,’.  Avoid including elements that a client will associate with a promotional image or that will make your email look less like a genuine correspondence. That means avoiding using too many hyperlinks and a lot of images.

Your Reputation Matters – The most important thing to do is to make sure that you focus on delivering great value. When you do, people will open and read your messages. This helps improve your sender reputation, which in turn means you don’t get blacklisted.  Ask your readers to ‘white list’ your email address.?

Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest ones!  Use these 3 tips to get your emails past the spam filters so they actually get read.

You might also enjoy reading:

Email Marketing: The Single Most Important Question to Ask

How to Plan for Your Next Email Marketing Campaign

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If you build it, he will come. ~Field of Dreams, 1989

Field of Dreams, starring Kevin Costner,  was an inspiring movie about an Iowa farmer who hears someone whisper the now-famous words, “If you build it, he will come“.  The farmer, Ray, is ridiculed for following through with building a baseball diamond on his land.  In the end, many great players of the past emerge from his cornfield to play on his baseball diamond.  Mark Kuhn has done something similar by building a tennis court on his Iowa farm. (though I haven’t heard of any ghosts appearing yet).

The point of my story is that it all starts with a dream, an idea, a desire to build something meaningful.  For the purposes of this post, I’m going to show you 7 steps to building the perfect email list.  If you build it, they will come.

Step #1 – What is the purpose of your emails?  There’s a fine line between providing valuable information and sales.  Add self-promotional information conservatively.  People who feel like they’re getting a sales pitch every time they get your emails will unsubscribe.  Instead of WIIFM (what’s in it for me), try the WIIFY (what’s in it for you? approach.  Engage and connect with your contacts  by giving them information that will help them with their pain points.

Step #2 – How will your emails be delivered?  There are free and paid services that will do the heavy lifting for you.  Constant Contact provides pre-designed templates that can be customized with your branding.  If your list is under 2,000 and you won’t be sending email blasts more than 12,000 times per month, MailChimp’s free service can be a great option for you.  If you want to keep track of your business, emails, drip campaigns and more, Ixact Contact is something to look at.

Step #3 – What type of auto-responder works best for you?  An auto-responder is a preset email designed to automatically send after a particular form has been completed.  Let’s say you have a free e-book about marketing a home during the holidays.  You can set up your auto-responder to allow an immediate download upon completion of the lead capture information.  Alternatively,  you can set up an email to automatically send to the contact with the download link.  This ensures that the contact’s email address is correct.

Step #4 – Have you set up your landing page?  Create a landing page for your freebie.  WordPress themes and plugins are great for creating landing pages.  Include compelling content, graphics and your lead capture form.  Add share buttons to your landing page.  This provides more opportunities for  contacts to share your information with family and friends.

Step #5 – Don’t forget the thank you.  Set up your auto-responder to include a thank you message.  This can be directed to a page within your website or by email.

Step #6 – Make your new subscribers feel welcome.  This can be done personally or via your auto-responder.  Send a welcome email and make sure they received the download they signed up for.  Include the link as well as your contact information for any questions.

Step #7 – How often should you send emails?   Someone who has subscribed to your newsletter will expect to be notified once a week or once a month.  Sales emails should follow the 80/20 rule.  80% of emails should be sales-free.  20% of the time is acceptable for sending an email that contains sales information.

When it comes to email list building, quality is more important than quantity.  An organized contact list that is used on a regular basis is gold!

Take the time to put these 7 steps into action.  You’ll be building trust and showing off your expertise to people who really want to hear from you.

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