Email communication is an essential part of life, both for individuals and companies. However, sometimes even the most carefully crafted messages end up in the spam folder, depriving their recipients of important information and valuable opportunities. While fighting spam filters may seem like a never-ending game of skill, there are ways to ensure your emails reach their destination without a problem.
In this article, we will show you ten practical techniques to learn how to avoid spam and ensure that your emails arrive safely in your recipients’ inboxes. Whether you are a company that wants to reach your customers or want to improve your deliverability, these tips will give you the keys to take your email communications to the next level. Let’s discover together how to master the art of the inbox and prevent your emails from getting lost in the maze of spam.
1. Use SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication
Using SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication is essential to strengthen your emails’ security and ensure their deliverability. Each protocol plays a specific role in fighting spam and maintaining your online reputation as a legitimate sender.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) acts as an authorization mechanism by specifying which mail servers are authorized to send email on behalf of your domain. When a mail server receives an email claiming to be from your domain, it checks the SPF records to ensure the sender’s IP address is authorized to send messages on your behalf. This dramatically reduces the risk of spoofing and phishing, as mail servers can quickly identify attempts to send fake emails.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds another layer of verification by digitally signing each outgoing email with a unique cryptographic key. When the recipient’s mail server receives the email, it can verify the DKIM signature by comparing the public key to the private key stored in your domain’s DNS records. The message may be flagged as potentially fraudulent or even rejected if the verification fails. Thanks to DKIM, you can prove that your email comes from your domain and has not been altered in transit.
Finally, DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) defines what mail servers should do with emails that fail SPF and DKIM checks. They can reject them, mark them as spam, or send them to a specific address for compliance reporting. By enforcing a firm DMARC policy, you can increase email providers’ confidence in the legitimacy of your emails and increase your chances of avoiding spam filtering.
2. Avoid spam-sensitive words
Although email campaigns are an effective means for businesses to communicate with their target audience, spam filters can often get in the way.
Staying alert and avoiding phrases perceived as scam attempts or spam when composing your emails is important. Phrases like “free,” “special offer,” “promotion,” “earn money fast,” “discount,” “100% guarantee,” “exclusive,” and similar words should be used with caution. While these terms may seem appealing to catch the recipient’s attention, they also run the risk of triggering spam filters and relegating your emails to the spam folder.
3. Avoid suspicious or shortened links
When sharing articles on your website or sending email campaigns, it is essential to take precautions to avoid suspicious links or URL shortcuts. Suspicious links can direct users to malicious websites, risking their security and compromising your reputation as a trustworthy sender. Additionally, URL shortcuts can appear opaque and make recipients distrust you, discouraging them from clicking on your links. To ensure user trust and security, it is crucial that all links you share redirect to legitimate and safe sites.
Also Read: How To Send Email Marketing Campaigns Through Gmail
4. Don’t insert too many images
Excessive images in an email may be considered spam by spam filters and email providers. Although images can make your communications more attractive, they should not be the main component of your content. Spammers often use image-filled emails to hide malicious messages or unwanted content. Therefore, spam filters are designed to inspect emails containing many images carefully. When the text-to-image ratio is uneven, the chances of being classified as spam increase considerably. To avoid this, balance the text and images in your emails. Even if you include images, include enough text to make the content understandable.
5. Personalize your emails
Email personalization has become an essential practice to prevent your messages from ending up in spam. With the increasing volume of unsolicited emails and increasingly advanced filtering techniques, it is crucial to stand out as a legitimate sender and establish meaningful connections with your recipients…
Personalizing your emails shows that you consider each recipient unique, not just a number on an email list. You instantly create a personal connection by including the recipient’s name in the email body or subject line. Recipients are more likely to open and read an email addressed to them because it makes them feel valued and cared for.
Plus, personalization goes beyond simply adding the recipient’s name. You can create more specific and relevant messages using information like preferences, previous purchases, or previous interaction behaviour. This increases the chances of your emails not being considered spam and recipient engagement and conversion rates.
Don’t forget that personalizing your newsletters will allow you to reduce the unsubscription rate.
6. Avoid large attachments
Large attachments can be challenging when sending emails and can even trigger spam filters. Spam filters are designed to detect common characteristics of spam emails, such as the size of attachments. Sending big attachments can be interpreted as an attempt to distribute unwanted or malicious content.
Consider alternatives such as sharing files through cloud services or providing direct download links in your emails to prevent your emails from receiving spam due to large attachment sizes. This way, you can make your files more accessible without making the content of your email too heavy.
By compressing files before attaching them, you can reduce their size and increase the chances that your messages arrive without being flagged as spam.
7. Avoid using too many capital letters
Avoiding excessive capitalization in an email is essential to prevent your messages from being classified as spam. Excessive use of capital letters is often associated with aggressive or deceptive practices, common in spam or fraudulent emails. Spam filters are programmed to detect these red flags and may consider an email in all caps suspicious.
Take a more subtle approach, using capital letters only when necessary to highlight important keywords or headlines, to ensure your emails reach recipients’ inboxes and are well received. Opt for a consistent and balanced format using the appropriate fonts and text sizes.
8. Use anti-spam tools to test your emails
Testing your emails with anti-spam tools is an essential and prudent step to ensure the success of your communication campaigns. These specialized tools simulate the behaviour of anti-spam filters used by email providers, giving you valuable information about how your messages will be judged before they are sent to your target audience.
Before sending your email, anti-spam tools can help you identify and fix potential problems. These tools examine various aspects of your message, such as spam-sensitive words, content structure, attachment size, and email headers. They then provide detailed reports on problematic items that could trigger spam filters.
By pre-testing with anti-spam tools, you can optimize email deliverability, increasing the chances that your messages will land in your recipients’ inboxes instead of their spam folders. It also ensures that your messages remain relevant and professional, reinforcing your reputation as a legitimate sender.
9. Follow the unsubscription rules
Following unsubscribe rules for email campaigns is fundamental for maintaining ethical and effective communication with your recipients. With data protection regulations and good marketing practices, it is essential to allow recipients to unsubscribe easily and at any time.
Respect the choice and privacy of your recipients by including a clear and visible unsubscribe link in every email. This builds trust in your brand and prevents people from considering your emails as spam. By respecting people’s preferences, you show you’re a legitimate sender who cares about their experience.
Ignoring unsubscription requests or making the process difficult can harm your reputation and delivery ability. Unhappy recipients may report your emails as spam, affecting your ability to reach your target audience and leading to penalties from email providers.
10. Avoid sending inappropriate content via email
For several reasons, the main one being to prevent your messages from being classified as spam, it is best to avoid sending inappropriate content in your email campaigns. Spam filters are becoming more sophisticated and can detect words, images, or phrases associated with unwanted content. If you send inappropriate, offensive, or illegal content, your emails risk being blocked or marked as spam, damaging your reputation as a legitimate sender.
Sending inappropriate content can also hurt your brand and image. It can lead to adverse reactions from your recipients, mass unsubscriptions, and spam complaints. These reactions can reduce your deliverability rate and damage your credibility and your relationship with your target audience.
You must ensure that your content complies with the ethical standards, laws, and regulations of each country you operate in. Ensure your content is relevant, professional, and appropriate for your target audience. Avoid hate speech, pornography, misleading messages, scams, and other offensive or illegal content.
Using these techniques, you will improve the deliverability of your emails, build trust with your customers, and increase your sales.