Learn proven tactics to avoid the email spam folder and boost deliverability, engagement, and trust with your subscribers.
Avoid email spam folder issues by following these guidelines to ensure your message reaches the recipient’s inbox.
Verify that you are who you say you are through email domain authentication. When an email client is working to decide what emails are spam and which ones should go through to the inbox, an authenticated email address is far more likely to land in the inbox.
Your email marketing system likely has built-in tools for authenticating your email. But if it doesn’t, you have several options for ways to authenticate your email including:
An easy way to end up in the spam folder is to buy an email list or use a tool to pull email addresses from the internet. If too many email recipients mark your emails as spam, you’ll get flagged as a poor sender, and get sent to spam regularly.
You should build your email list organically. A good way to do that is to write quality content on your website and invite website visitors who discover your content to sign up for your email list to get those stories delivered directly to your inbox.
Another method is to invite visitors at events to sign up for your email list or to use a business card to enter a raffle.
Giving your audience something in return for signing up for the list can help entice sign-ups. That’s why many organizations use lead magnets, such as a case study or e-book, to entice email sign-ups.
There is no fast way to grow an email list. But there is a fast way to end up in spam folders and frustrate your audience: buy, rent or borrow an email list.
For your email list to stay healthy, you should use double opt-in. That way, you guarantee you have the subscriber’s consent. You can do this by sending a confirmation or welcome email. In that email, require that the user take an action by clicking a button or checking a box.
The new subscriber is then only officially part of your email list once they have completed this secondary action. This also helps ensure that your new subscriber is not surprised when they start getting emails from you and mark you as spam.
Select a frequency you can commit to and go through your email list to clean it. Keep in mind that quality is always better than quantity when it comes to your email list. So if you have people on your list who have not engaged for extended periods, you might remove them or send them a re-engagement campaign.
While it might not seem like a big deal to leave email addresses for people who are no longer engaged with you on the list, with time, the person might forget signing up for the list and wonder why they are getting communication from you. That might lead them to mark you as spam or for you to see a high unsubscribe rate, which is also not good for your sending reputation.
Seeing users come and go from your list is normal. Don’t worry if your list shrinks for a time.
When you fail to comply with internet privacy laws, it puts you at risk of being flagged for the spam folder. Make sure you know the rules around:
Any time you send a marketing email, you are bound by these laws. You can’t simply claim that you didn’t know the laws or operate in a grey area in hopes of getting more traction from your emails. The reality is, it will catch up with you and you’ll see limited responses to your emails.
Allow your subscribers to decide what communication they want to get from you. A preference center is the best way to do that. List your various mailing lists or publication types, and allow the user to decide whether it is relevant to them and they want to receive it. This will reduce your unsubscribe rate and how often you get marked as spam.
Place the preference center in the footer of all emails to your audience. Not only will this prevent unsubscribes and the risk of being marked as spam, but it can also improve your engagement rates because your audience will only receive emails they deem to be relevant to them.
You have the means to know exactly what messages resonate with your customers. But you have to review your metrics frequently. If you have an automated email series running, it doesn’t mean you can just ignore it. Instead, review the metrics regularly to optimize the campaign for engagement.
The same is true for one-off emails. You should be checking in on the metrics before planning your next campaign because this will help inform you of what your audience enjoys and what will garner a response from them.
While you’re looking for insights into what will resonate with your audience, also review the following stats:
The better your content, the less likely you’ll be to get marked as spam. That’s because regardless of whether the reader recognizes your brand, they stop to learn what you have to share.
Scrutinize every email. Evaluate why you’re sending it and how long it has been since you last sent a message. You’re at risk for losing engagement if you send too often or if your messages are not relevant to the audience.
New Light Digital is a team of trusted digital marketers you can trust. They’ll ensure you accomplish your email marketing goals while avoiding the spam folder. Schedule your free consultation now to learn more about our diverse services and the outcomes we’ve earned from clients just like you.
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