Estimates suggest that between 2019 and 2023, recipients will receive up to 60 billion spam emails every day.
Over the years, online protection and privacy laws have become more stringent. This makes emails going to spam folders quite easy, even if they are legitimate.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the most common reasons why your emails end up in spam and how to avoid them.
Spam Filters are Triggered by Your Content
Spam filters search for specific or certain combinations of words. If an email receives enough amount of hits or includes those words, it may be routed to spam marketing emails.
Words like “Lowest Price,” “Extra Income,” “Free,” “No Cost,” “Easy Money,” and more are examples of spam trigger keywords.
Although these words create interest and are actionable, they can land your email in the spam folder. As a result, it’s critical to understand which phrases to avoid to keep your email meaningful and concise.
No Unsubscribe Option or Relevant Address
Having no unsubscribe buttons or relevant physical address is a big mistake that will certainly reduce your delivery rate and ensure your marketing emails are going to spam.
When attempting to unsubscribe, the recipient shouldn’t experience any hiccups. The unsubscribe link should be visible and easily accessible. Subtle techniques, such as lengthy unsubscribe forms and nearly invisible fonts, may also backfire on your email.
Unauthorized Email Transmission
If you send emails to recipients without their permission, your email marketing going to spam is a no-brainer. To send emails to recipients, you must first get their explicit and voluntary permission. This means you can’t collect email addresses at trade shows and start sending emails to them.
The same is true for purchasing lists. Buying a list of contact emails may seem appealing, especially if you’re starting out. But it’s a bad idea down the line. In fact, it is a violation of the recently enacted GDPR regulation, which requires clear and explicit consent from the recipient.
Instead, create a two-step sign-up process that allows subscribers to join your list voluntarily. This ensures that your emails are approved twice before they arrive in their inboxes.
Too Many Attachments
Attachments are a major red flag for most spam filters. This is because files can serve as convenient entry points for viruses and malware. The basic rule is to avoid sending attachments in emails, especially newsletters.
If you must send an attachment, notify the recipient ahead of time and limit the number of attachments in a single email. You can also attach files or documents to emails by first uploading them to a cloud-based storage service like Dropbox or Google Drive.
Then, include a link to the file in your email to avoid spam filters from flagging it.
Having a Deceptive Subject Line
Email recipients open their emails solely based on the subject line. Misleading questions, personal messages, or overly sensational claims may lead your email to the spam folder. The subject line describes the content of your email. It must be accurate and contain no more than 60 characters.
Create an eye-catching, professional, and compelling subject line to help boost your email marketing ROI. This means your subject line should not be in capital letters and have grammatical mistakes. You can use spelling checking tools like Grammarly to check grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Overly Frequent Campaigns
Sending out frequent campaigns for a Black Friday promotion will send your email to the spam folder. Even though your recipient may be interested in your brand or product, the many emails may aggravate your recipients.
Subscribers should not be overwhelmed by your emails. Instead, you restrict the frequency to 3-4 times a week with only one campaign per day.
Your Emails are Marked as Spam by Your Recipients
The main reason for your emails winding up in spam is that they were placed there by your recipients.
Although your content might be excellent, and the recipient may have explicitly granted you permission to send them marketing emails, they may still choose to label your email as spam to clear their inboxes.
They may also have forgotten their reason to subscribe to your product, or it could be an honest mistake. Ensure you understand how and when your recipients like to receive their emails. Then, curate personalized emails that they can connect to and engage with without feeling bored.
Poor Image-to-Text Ratio
Image-heavy emails with little to no texts can raise red flags for spam filters. Previously, spammers used to display information through large images instead of texts so that filters don’t read their content. As a result, most email providers today warn against sending image-only emails.
To avoid email deliverability issues, the recommended image-to-text ratio is 60/40. Here are more tips to optimize your deliverability for email marketing.
Inactive Subscribers
Subscriber activity is one of the main criteria used by spam filters to delete emails that recipients aren’t interested in. Unfortunately, many companies struggle to maintain an active email list.
Although gathering email lists takes time and effort, don’t be afraid to remove inactive ones. They have no impact on your ROI and they only lower your sender rating leading to costly and frequent penalties on your ISP and domain.
“Pruning” subscribers depending on the number of inactive days and the number of unopened emails is one of the best practices used today.
Emails Going to Spam? Fix the Problem Today!
Are emails going to spam even if you are a legit business? Spam is no longer defined as phishing emails sent by questionable people. Spam emails are now described as any undesirable email you get in your inbox.
Getting your emails into recipients’ inboxes is the first and most important step toward converting subscribers into customers. Every email that ends up in spam is a waste of resources. Use the tips above to improve your email deliverability.
Browse our tech blogs for more insightful email marketing tips.
