6 Tips You Can Use to Avoid the Spam Folder

One of the biggest questions I get is, “how do I avoid the spam folder?” There are many reasons that could cause your email to go into the dreaded SPAM folder. Let’s discuss a few of the biggies!

General Tips to Avoid the Spam Folder 📩 :

Tip #1: Try to get responses and remind them to add your email address to their contacts.

All of these actions have very positive metrics on your sender reputation. Include a good call to action (CTA) – ask a question in order to get a response. When your potential customer responds and answers your question, that will immediately tell the software companies (Google, Yahoo, etc…) that you are someone this person wants to talk to. Therefore, your chances of going to spam after this is reduced significantly.

Tip #2: Avoid “Advertisy” verbiage as much as possible.

For example, your title says “FREE MONEY!” This means you have included language that resembles a get rich quick scheme and is likely to be flagged as spam. 

Here is a short list of terms you may wish to avoid:

• $$$
• 100% Free
• Act Now
• Amazing Stuff
• Apply Now
• Guarantee
• Income from Home
• Increase Sales
• Increase Traffic
• Incredible Deal
• Info You Requested

Tip #3: Include an Unsubscribe Link

The larger the unsubscribe font is, the better. This will help you to avoid the spam folder and any complaints which are so much worse than an unsubscribe. Never try to hide your unsubscribe link – this will hurt your ability to deliver. The reality is that if you are sending them value-added content they are not likely to unsubscribe. If they do decide to opt-out then it is probably just as well. Cut them loose, don’t take it personal, and move on spending time with the others in the contact list that DO want to hear from you!

Tip #4: Avoid sending too many images or strange links to who-knows-what

Quite often we tend to send images of flyers in our emails. A flyer with just one image and there is no actual typed content this email will more often than not get sent directly to Spam. And… here is an example of a strange link: http://bit.ly/2ZlwEPX. If you use a link shortener software like Bit.ly, you can personalize the link some to identify what you are sending. Be sure to keep the number of links in an email to a minimum. 

Tip #5: Get More Opens!

If you are already sending emails, and the emails are getting opened and customers are clicking on links within your email then you have that authority that the email services will acknowledge. This really is the single best way to avoid the spam folder. It really is all about the content. Engaging, non-spammy and no advertisey looking subject lines is the real key!

Tip #6: Use a sender name/from address your recipients are most likely to recognize at a quick glance. 

The “From” Line vs “Subject” Line

In order to avoid the spam folder it will be the difference between who is sending it and what is being sent. This information should be readily understood the minute your email is in the inbox. 

The FROM line is the name of the person sending it. Edit that in your email settings to make it clear for the recipient who you are.

The photo above is an example of a spam folder. Let’s dissect this a little bit to fully understand the reason why these emails went to spam and offer some good examples of what not to do.

• Lauren Dumont: the Re: and the (1) are suspect to spam. 
• Overstock.com: the 👀  is probably the reason it ended up there. Usually, any kind of symbol usually sends it to spam. In addition, there are also too many exclamation marks and the word clearance could have been the problem here.
• ~Wholesale Deal Ale.: Actually the “~” at the beginning of the name was an eye catcher and it’s clear that they are trying to sell some real estate from the subject line. This is a great example of a clearly understandable From and Subject line so I would venture to say that the email contained a flyer or only an image and that is why it went to spam.
  
• www.AzFlip.com: No doubt, the subject line starting with “REDUCED!” did the trick on this one. All the words in capital letters and too many exclamation marks. This one is a spammy mess and deserves its location in the spam box.  

Bad Examples of FROM and SUBJECT LINES 🙁

Good Examples of FROM and SUBJECT LINES 😃

The point is you need to identify yourself and what you do in the From Line and then be super clear in the Subject Line what you are sending them. Adding the first name to the Subject Line also helps because it adds a touch of personalization that denotes that you care about whatever it is you are trying to sell them.  Need some ideas for better subject lines? Download our free list here.

Getting 100% of your email in the inbox is not realistic. The idea here is to avoid the spam folder and increase your inbox delivery rate with…

• More opens
• Increased Responses
• Engaging Subject Lines
• More engaging content with true calls-to-action (ask a question)

If you think you are struggling to avoid the spam folder, it may take some time to clean up your sketchy bad email history, but it’s not too late to get started.

• Contributing Writer and Editor – Andrea Hendrix