Don’t Be a Spammer…Here’s How.

How to not be a Spammer in 8 steps

Listen, nobody with a legitimate business wants to be a spammer. We spend days on end creating the perfect email content, subject lines, and more. Yet, somehow, some of our emails just don’t land in the inbox. Well, without you even knowing, you could be doing or not doing things that are preventing your messages from being read by your list.

So, to help you fight the good email marketing fight, here are our best tips for optimal email deliverability.

1. NEVER buy contact lists.

This should go without saying, but don’t buy contact lists. Not only is this a great way to become a spammer, why would you want to send your well-thought out emails to people who haven’t even expressed interest in your product or service?

Avoid your emails being marked as spam and avoid the bought lists.

Grow your email list organically by advertising it and bringing value to your audience’s inbox.

2. Setup DKIM and SPF records.

SPF and DKIM authentication proves that your emails aren’t forged and are coming from your company. It has become too easy for people to forge emails, so make sure to set these up prior to sending out any email campaigns.

3. Don’t email bounced contacts.

Keeping your contact list clean is critical for optimal delivery. Make sure you are not emailing any bounced contacts. They bounced because they are no longer viable email addresses. Bounce rates are a key metric used to determine a sender’s reputation. So, keep your reputation clean with a clean contact list.

4. Don’t email unsubscribed contacts.

Again, this should be common sense. Why would you want to send emails to someone who has expressed a disinterest in your campaigns? Make sure you are not emailing these contacts. That is a bad look for you and your company.

5. Don’t use a ton of exclamation marks.

How spammy does this look?!?!?!??!??!?! See our point? Using excessive punctuation can definitely raise red flags. Keep it simple and to the point. You do not need extra exclamation marks to get your point across. One or two is enough to show your enthusiasm.

6. Don’t embed videos into your emails.

There is no reason you should be embedding video into your emails. It slows the load time down and oftentimes, will not load or even show up in a lot of email clients. Instead, include a screenshot of the video and then link it to the page where the video is actually hosted.

7. Don’t overuse images.

Too many images clutter the screen and can take too long to load, if they even load at all. Limit the number of images you use. Make your emails visually appealing, but don’t over do it.

8. Don’t fill your emails with spammy words.

Keep your email content and subject lines free of spammy words. Most people judge an email based on the subject line. Avoid being marked as spam and/or deleted by using content that is relevant, valuable, and to the point. Don’t use gorilla tactics in your email marketing to grab the attention of your audience.

Here’s a short list of spammy words/phrases:

• As seen on
  
• Buy
  
• Money making
  
• $ $ $
  
• Save big
  
• More Internet traffic
  
• 100% free
  
• NO obligation
  
• You’re a winner
  
• Anything with the word FREE
  
• Act Now!
  
• Call Now
  
• Limited Time
  
• Great offer

There are many more where that came from, but you get the picture.

Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach your customers, but if you take advantage of this marketing medium you run the chance of ruining your reputation.

So, instead, practice healthy email marketing practices and keep your lists clean. Provide your readers with value and engage them with interesting content.

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