It's time to talk about email newsletters and the S word....Spam! More specifically, how to avoid becoming it!
In the digital age, we're all too familiar with the Spam folder and missing valuable emails because of automated filters that are 'protecting' us from the bad guys. And let's be honest, 95% of the time we're very grateful for them. But what if we're deemed to be one of them?
Yeah, that's a no thanks from me! Luckily there's plenty of steps we can take to make sure that not only do we avoid the spam filter but we actually increase our visibility and engagement.
So what are those steps? Glad you asked. Let's dive in.
The Email List Swear Jar
We're going to start with an easy one. When you know what to stay away from, it's so much easier to begin with, so we want to avoid the Spam Trigger words like the plague. Some classics are Free, Act Now, Get Rich Quick, Limited Time Offer, Guaranteed, Urgent, Buy Now, Click Here and You can probably already see why. If you want to make sure you really get to learn the love language of Spam, chuck this prompt into your AI search engine will give you a good bucket-full more -
what are classic trigger words for spam when it comes to sending an email newsletter?
No Fake ID's
This is probably the easiest and one of the most important. If you're using an unknown (which generally equals unverified) email service provider then the chances are the gremlins are going to flag it as sus. After all, they can't tell fake dodgy apart from actually dodgy. Choose a well established and known email marketing provider like Mailchimp, Kajabi or Zoho.
Get Spring Cleaning
There is nothing worse than subscribers who aren't actually interested in your content. I'm not talking about those that casually open one whenever the subject line appeals to them or it focuses on a problem they need to solve. I'm talking about people who see your business name as the sender and automatically 'delete', be it physically or mentally. So the short and sweet of it is this.
If you've got inactive subscribers remove them. By leaving them there you risk them marking your email as Spam (instead of marking it as Junk or just unsubscribing) because most of us don't understand the difference between telling the gremlins that you're a bad guy, which will effect your email deliverability in general.
Double Opt-In is Like 2 Hands Up
People sign up to emails for the benefits they will get. By implementing a confirmation of subscription, you get people who are intentionally signing up to your content and are interested in what you've got to say. This increases the likelihood that they will engage with your content and enhance the overall success of your email list.
Use a Spam Checker!
This is the quickest way to determine how likely your emails are to land in the Spam folder. I've used MailGenius but there's a few out there. Have a Google and see what you can find.
Same Time, Same Day, Same Same
This one might seem interesting but there's good reason for it. Consistency trains their inbox system that you're safe and you're wanted and you're not just showing up randomly for the sake of it.
Grab a Space in Their Address Book
This is simple to implement and automatically tells their email provider that you're a good guy and they want all your juicy goodness. It's as simple as adding a single line reminder to the email. Something like "Don't forget to add us to your address book so it knows we're a good guy!".
Ok so now you know how to avoid being put in the bin before you've got a chance to say 'I Come in Peace' it's time to go and get your email up to scratch.
Before I go, I just wanted to remind you that if you're feeling overwhelmed, less than motivated or fed up with keeping up, I'm here to help. Wether you want to bounce some ideas off someone, work through a pain point, or get some tips on how to speed up your email content creation, I've got a free 15 minute call that you can book in HERE. Let me help you get over the hurdle so you can get your email list smashing some serious goals.
If just want someone else to do the hard work, then my Done-For-You solution might just be the answer to your prayers! Just click the Book A Discovery Call button at the top of the page and I'll see you on a video call to chat about how I can help you go from feeling blah, to BAM!
Until next week,
x Ri
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