10 Tips to Ensure your Mass Email Campaign Avoids the Spam Folder

August 25, 2016 | by

The success of your mass email campaign depends on its deliverability. No matter how much midnight oil you have burnt to create that awesome mass email campaign, it serves no purpose if it lands in the spam folder. Here are 10 tips to ensure that that your mass email reaches your subscriber’s inbox:

  1. Avoid purchased, rented or scraped email lists
  2. Avoid misleading “From” field addresses
  3. Avoid promotional and deceptive subject lines
  4. Avoid linking to spammy sites
  5. Avoid image-only emails
  6. Avoid large attachments
  7. Avoid sending HTML emails without a text version
  8. Avoid hiding your opt-out information
  9. Avoid long gaps between communication
  10. Avoid blacklisted email servers

Tip 1: Avoid purchased, rented or scraped email lists

Never, ever buy an email list. These contain a lot of dead emails and spam traps which quickly inform mailbox providers that you are breaking the rules by sending unsolicited emails. Always seek permission when adding a subscriber to your list.

Additionally, if you have a permission-based list that has not been used for some time, verify your email list.

Tip 2: Avoid misleading “From” field addresses

Use clear and trustworthy ‘from’ field addresses such as: “name@yourdomain.com” “contact@yourdomain.com”, “newsletter@yourdomain.com”, “support@yourdomain.com”, “feedback@yourdomain.com”. Obscure addresses like “1412scmk8@domain.com” make no sense to your subscribers and ESPs.

Tip 3: Avoid promotional and deceptive subject lines

The key here is to remember that spam filters are trying to remove promotional emails. So avoid terms like “free”, “100% off”, etc. in your subject line. A single exclamation mark would do, so do not scream “AWESOME!!!!” in your subject line. Also, your subject line should be in sync with what you are saying in your email.

Tip 4: Avoid linking to spammy sites

Some wise man once said, “You are known by the company you keep”. So if your email body copy links to any spammy site, your email has a high chance of being thrown into the spam folder too.

Tip 5: Avoid image-only emails

It is recommended that for every graphic you use, there should be at least two lines of text. Maintaining a good text to image ratio is important. Always use optimized images in your emails.

Tip 6: Avoid large attachments

Email attachments from unknown senders or not-so-known senders are looked as unsafe. So even if your mail lands up in your subscribers’ inbox, they would not care to download. If you have to send an attachment, stick to .jpg, .gif, .png and .pdf formats. Executable attachments such as .exe, .zip, .swf, etc. should be avoided entirely. In case you have to send a large attachment, use services like WeTransfer or Dropbox.

Tip 7: Avoid sending HTML emails without a text version

Sending HTML email with a text version helps you in 2 ways. Firstly, it helps you avoid the spam filter. Secondly, it is also more user friendly as recipients who cannot view HTML emails can see the text version.

Tip 8: Avoid hiding your opt-out information

It is important that your subscriber is given the choice to unsubscribe from your mail list. Make your opt-out information clearly visible in your email to avoid spam filters.

Tip 9: Avoid long gaps between communication

As in personal relationships, so in relationships built over the internet- you need to stay in touch. If you mail your subscribers once in six months, they may just forget all about your and not open your mails. This affects your email open rate and consequently, your credibility.

Tip 10: Avoid blacklisted email servers

Before sending out your email campaign, ensure that your email server is not blacklisted. There are many free online tools available that will help you with this. If you find that you are on a blacklist, you will need to follow up with the website that has added you to their blacklist and get yourself removed.

In addition to these tips, you must comply with the CAN-SPAM Act 2003. According to the FTC, if you violate the law, you could be fined $11,000 for each offense—that’s $11,000 for each email address on your list.

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