Don't Be Mistaken for Spam

Delivering a successful email marketing campaign is increased when a marketer separates his personal email accounts from his business communications. It is a common factor in beginning business email campaigns to encounter various delivery problems. Sometimes the emails will be denied on some free-email providers and others end up caught in spam filter folders. One thing to note about this is compare these emails with email messages you have sent to friends.

Spam filtering software has become increasingly proficient in learning to scan email headers and content to find words and phrases common to most spam. Not only certain words, but also the way they are spelt, can get an email message flagged as spam. One way spammers try to get by some filters is through adding apostrophes or other character or letter into the word. Spam filters look for the word "free" and the spammers hope it will not trigger if it says f*ree, or fr*ee. Private emails are less likely to contain the flagged words spam filters look for so tend to get through at a greater percentage.

You can get an understanding of the types of spam avoidance tricks spammers use by investigating the contents of a spam folder. You will soon notice there is a pattern and that despite the specific topic, it will still fit the standard spam format. A well-trained spam filter folder can soon demonstrate a wealth of ways that your own emails may not make it through to your subscribers. Maintaining a cursory examination of the way different techniques spammers attempt over time. In the vein of "know thine enemy," learning how to recognize spam will help you overcome being mistaken for it in your own mailing campaigns.

The problem does develop that private email services, such as the POP3 service offered through most website hosting plans, is often abused by spammers. With domain names and hosting low-cost and easily affordable, these people buy up many to use for just a short enough time to send out spamming or phishing emails before abandoning it. A number of the major free email account companies automatically read an email as "suspect" if it comes through a private email service. You may have to white list friends to get their email passed.

For business email marketing campaigns using a large list, it is better to subscribe to one of the paid email autoresponder companies. These companies are aware of how the spam filters work and can send bulk mailings without them being automatically flagged as spam, even if it is a double optin subscriber address. This can pay the nominal expense that the professional autoresponder/mailing company charges. As an added bonus, most autoresponder/mailing companies offer tracking statistics, bounced email addresses, and deliverability reports. Such services help one know which types of advertising work best.

Another telltale sign of an advertising email, whether it is spam or not, is the use of excessive graphics. While a personal email may contain a photograph or two, advertising emails have multiple graphical elements included. The best way to get your email message through this hurdle is to merely not use graphics. Write compelling copy and you can add a hyperlink to a full color advertisement on a website. This also helps keep your message focused so you do not irritate your subscriber into opting out.

Make sure the tone of your email marketing message is still casual and non-hype filled. By searching for specific phrases and sequences, filter programs will root out overly advertisement-sounding text. A further advantage is that through a casual, conversational tone you can develop a more "personal" relationship with your readers. Remember that your subscriber is your friend, so talk to him in the manner you would speak to a friend face to face.