Email marketing is one of the most effective forms of digital marketing. It consistently yields a higher return on investment (ROI) than any other medium. Email is so effective because companies reach out to users with an established relationship and initial trust. Customers that provide you with email permissions likely already trust your business and want to hear from you.
Email marketing isn’t always effective—email carriers are tuned in to the levels of spam content their users face and target them to minimize how much spam makes it to their inbox. These spam filters might pick up legitimate emails when they display certain “red flag” qualities. As such it’s vital to understand how to avoid spam filters in your email marketing to ensure the success of your campaigns.
Come From Your Own Domain
Mail carriers are increasingly strict on where emails come from. They now prefer emails coming from a specific domain rather than a shared IP address. Domain authentication isn’t the best option for every company. However, building your sender reputation to work toward the goal of domain authentication is crucial to the success of your campaign in the long term.
For example, instead of having your emails come from an email such as “nameofcompany@randomaddress.com,” it should look like this: “info@nameofcompany.com.”
Pro Tip: Building your sender reputation is all about creating a history of positive data showing users opening your emails, reading them, and interacting with them in a positive way.
Ensure Emails Contain Readable Text
Although your target audience for your emails is the user, computers also need to digest the content to ensure it’s valid and high-quality. Avoid sending emails without text that’s readable by bots. While this may seem like an obvious tip, keep in mind computers cannot read images unless there’s added alt text.
Avoid non-readable content in your emails and add alt text to images to help bots understand what the email is.
Pro Tip: The email has to be more than only readable text. Ensure the content is consistent with the subject line, preview text, and body content. Any links included should direct users to your website and no other sites.
Avoid Attachments
Avoid attaching anything that could raise red flags to email carriers or users. Never include a video that plays automatically. This is a huge indicator of spam and will likely harm your sender reputation.
The safest option is to simply avoid including videos. If you want to include a video, put a thumbnail that links to the video on your website or create a GIF from your video to show your contacts what you want them to see.
Pro Tip: Avoid thumbnails that link to YouTube or other popular social sites. You want your user on your website, not falling down a video rabbit hole on another company’s platform!
Respect the Unsubscribe Option
Respecting if they unsubscribe is one of the best tips for your sender reputation and your relationship with current and past customers. Every email you send should include an easy-to-locate link in the footer which allows users to unsubscribe from your email list.
When a user clicks this link, unsubscribe them from emails immediately. Don’t send another email asking if they really want to unsubscribe. Don’t try to entice them back in. Respect their choice and move on.
Learning how to avoid spam filters in your email marketing is a great start to ensure the success of your campaigns. If you’re looking to grow your business through professionally managed email marketing services, contact Logical Position today.
