The unusual suspects
So, what happened? Before you heavy foot it over to the IT department, consider the content of your emails as the potential culprit. Here's a short list of surprising keywords and phrases that could land you directly in spam land.
- Pennies a day
- Weekend getaway
- While supplies last
- Call now
- Apply online
- Cannot be combined with any other offer
- Billing address
- Call now
- Increase traffic
- Why pay more?
Shocked there's no sign of "free?" Don't be.
Consider this a trick list - only noting triggers you might not expect. "Free" is still one of the most common ways to profile your email. But, keep this in mind: It's okay to use all these phrases. What weighs against you on the spam scale is the frequency in which you utilize any of these trigger words. Also, using any of them concurrently within the same email isn't a smart idea.
Who's pointing fingers and why
There's a lot of noise out there in the email world. And any decent email service provider is trying to protect its valued users, so they continue to utilize them. The problem is, sometimes respectable email communications get caught in the filtering mix for the greater good of keeping inboxes clean. The bottom line is you don't want to associate with the riff-raff and more importantly, have your timely communications get lost on the way to intended recipients.
Moderation is the medicine
Think of spam-folder-avoidance this way: If your email reads more like an infomercial, consider it a trigger candidate for the junk folder. Use trigger words in moderation, and you should be just fine. However, if you are experiencing consistent inbox deliverability issues, revisit your subject lines and main body content to see if you're inadvertently shifting email service provider spam filters into high gear.Two leg ups
JangoMail's Delivery Optimization Tool analyzes your emails and determines changes you can make to optimize delivery even before you hit "send." We also recommend using SpamAssassin as an additional pre-screening tool. Visit their site for a more detailed trigger list as well (under the Tests tab).
JangoMail also scores your mass email campaign message using SpamAssassin - you can see the score in Broadcast Messages Report Dashboard. Send a message to yourself before sending to your list. Scores under 5 are generally considered to be free of spam.
The rules are always changing too! A good message today can be bad tomorrow; it just depends on how certain words and phrases are used (or over-used). We'll help you stay ahead of the curve on this.
If you have any questions about spam filters and triggers, just ask. Until next time, have a great rest of the week!
