Campaign Best Practices – Tips to avoid being caught by the spam filters

Spam filters consider a list of patterns when analyzing the spamminess of an email. These patterns may include anything from the specific words you use in the subject line and the content of the email body. Depending on the amount of such spam patterns, spam filters will assign a specific score to the email, if the overall spam score goes beyond a certain threshold then the email will be labeled as spam or junk, these words are sometimes pre-fixed to the subject line of the email and go straight to the junk folder of the recipients’ mailbox.

DOs & DON’Ts:

1. Do keep the length of the campaign subject line from 18 until 52 characters

2. Do not use ALL CAPS in the subject line or even within the body of the campaign

3. Avoid using spammy type words and phrases in the subject line and contents such as Free, Cheap, Guaranteed and other similar terms

4. Avoid using too many colored fonts; do not use loud colors in the email body text, such as red or green

5. Do minimize the use of bold text

6. Make sure there are no spelling mistakes or HTML errors; avoid copying directly from MS Word / MS Excel because when you paste content directly from these applications, additional html characters will be automatically added

7. Do not use exclamation sign (“!”) or other punctuation marks more than once

8. Do not use excessive symbols, use descriptive words instead. When you use dollar signs, make sure you do not overdo it ($$$)

9. Do not use overly prominent call-to-action words such as “Click Here” or try obfuscate all of your hyperlinks with where link is http://blog.sendsmith.com and the link text is “Click here”

10. Do keep emails short, too much copy is another red flag for spam filters

11. Do keep your email size under 30kb

12. Do include your physical mailing address and a phone number in the emails

13. Do include a clear unsubscribe link and a physical mailing address in your email footer

14. Do include the date somewhere in the body of your email to show your message is current

List Management

List management is also important, if you are sending to unengaged prospects who are not opening and clicking into most of your campaigns, the mail servers may assume you are a spammy sender. It is because email server providers and ISPs can notice that your campaigns are being ignored by most recipients and assume that you are sending spam.

Email marketers should constantly do the following:-

1. Do ask your subscribers to add your email address to their address books in order to have your campaigns land in their inbox

2. Do ask your subscribers to mark your campaign as not spam if the campaign has landed in their spam folder. If they mark it as spam, then the other public mail servers such as Gmail recipients may also receive it in the spam folder. If they mark it as not spam, your reputation will be raised in the eyes of Gmail.

3. Do encourage your subscribers to reply to your campaign

4. Do not send campaigns to hard bounced or invalid email addresses

5. Do not send several campaigns to the same recipient on the same day

6. Do segment your contacts; send campaigns less often to those subscribers who rarely open your campaigns because low open rates can negatively affect your email delivery

100 Words and Phrases which trigger spam filters that You Should Avoid Using
1. !!! 51. #1
2. $$$ 52. 4U
3. 100% free 53. 50% off
4. Act now! 54. Accept credit cards
5. ALL CAPITALS 55. Additional income
6. All natural 56. Affordable
7. As seen on 57. All new
8. Attention 58. Apply now
9. Bad credit 59. Apply online
10. Bargain 60. Be your own boss
11. Best price 61. Buy direct
12. Billion 62. Call free
13. Certified 63. Cancel at anytime
14. Cost 64. Cash bonus
15. Dear friend 65. Cheap
16. Decision 66. Click here
17. Discount 67. Congratulations
18. Double your income 68. Direct email
19. E.x.t.r.a. Punctuation 69. Direct marketing
20. Eliminate debt 70. Don’t hesitate!
21. Extra income 71. Drastically reduced
22. Fast cash 72. Earn $
23. Fees 73. Full refund
24. Financial freedom 74. Get it now
25. FREE 75. Gift certificate
26. Guarantee 76. Great offer
27. Hot 77. Home based
28. Increase 78. Incredible deal
29. Join millions 79. Information you requested
30. Lose weight 80. Insurance
31. Lowest price 81. Investment
32. Make money fast 82. Limited time offer
33. Marketing 83. Message contains
34. Million dollars 84. No age restrictions
35. Money 85. No experience
36. Money making 86. No gimmicks
37. No medical exams 87. No hidden costs
38. No purchase necessary 88. No questions asked
39. Online pharmacy 89. Offer
40. Opportunity 90. Online degree
41. Partners 91. Online marketing
42. Performance 92. Order Now
43. Rates 93. Passwords
44. Satisfaction guaranteed 94. Please read
45. Search engine listings 95. Risk free
46. Selling 96. Save $
47. Success 97. Serious cash
48. T e x t w i t h g a p s 98. Special promotion
49. Trial 99. Urgent
50. Visit our website 100. Web traffic