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There’s nothing worse than taking time to carefully craft emails for your customers, only for them to end up collecting digital dust in SPAM folders. Sometimes just that unassuming phrase in your email could be what’s stopping them from being read.
Now, while it’s hard to identify all spam phrases with complete accuracy, it would be in every business owner’s interest to have a decent understanding of the process.
So, what are spam filters? And how do they work?
Understanding spam filters
Spam filters work like a security checkpoint against unwanted, possibly virus-carrying emails. They are your mailbox’s line of defence that filters through what comes in and decides on what is valuable and what is junk.
It works by having a set of criteria that it uses to test emails against. Emails will be assessed for their header data, cross-checked with a blacklist and finally scrutinized for content.
In cases of business emails, content is the one you should be focussing on. Spammy words that reek of desperate sale pitches or too-good-to-be-true deals will surely trigger the alert, and send those emails straight to the junk folder.
How does it affect you?
This should be concerning for all entrepreneurs because you cannot afford to have your emails go unread.
The impact isn’t negligible, it is commercial and has financial repercussions. If your customers are not opening your emails, you’ve lost out on opportunities to communicate the benefits of your product or service.
So now that we know it’s critical it is to avoid SPAM triggers, where do we start?
Identify spam filter triggers
A good way to understand how to identify spammy words of phrases is to break them up into appropriate categories that best describe them.
- Promotional and pushy: Creating a sense of urgency, time specific, lots of offers to attract readers
- Exaggeration: Promising unrealistic results, sounds too good to be true,
- Scheming and shady: Unethical or legally questionable behaviour with links to shady industries- gambling, quick money making schemes etc.
- Cheap and overly inclusive: No cost all benefit situation, everybody wins, extremely low prices
Here are the list of spam triggering words to avoid according to categories*:
Promotional and pushy
- Act now
- Buy direct
- Click here
- Clearance
- Do it today
- Don’t delete
- Exclusive offer
- Offer
- Once in a lifetime
- Take action
- This won’t last
- Today only
Exaggeration
- 100%
- All new
- Best price
- Double your income
- Free
- Great offer
- Never work again
- Once in a lifetime
- Unbelievable deal
- While you sleep
Scheming and shady:
- Addresses
- Casino
- Celebrity
- Fast cash
- No strings attached
- Loan
- Lottery
- Money
- Scheme
Cheap and overly inclusive:
- Big bucks
- Bonus
- Congrats
- Free
- Easy money
- Easy terms
- No cost
- No fees
- No investment
- No questions asked
- Winner
- You’re a winner!
- You’ve been selected!
*List of words sourced form Hubspot and AutopilotHq.
Still wondering how to improve your deliverability rates or how to market more effectively? Speak to one of our highly skilled staff today.
