Avoiding the email marketers nightmare & making it into the inbox

Over the past few months you’ve been networking online and offline making sure to collect subscribers for an email blast. These people seemed very interested in your services and definitely were looking to find out more. You wrote out a quality email talking about your services, providing them tips, and slightly tooting your own horn with your recent accomplishments. You even strategically planned the time to send your email and when you thought there was a high chance for your subscriber to read about your services – close to lunch time on a Friday while wasting some time before lunch.

However, it is truth that no matter how interested previously, a few of the subscribers will still hit every email marketer’s nightmare button, that deadly “This is spam”. People sometimes categorize email from people they know as junk, deleting unwanted emails and even reporting others. The spam button crushes email marketing dreams; and less dramatically, puts your days of effort into the junk email box. This also means that anything you send out after your initial email will also get filtered as spam.

It’s not personal. This is simply an example of how the definition of spam has evolved. Previously, it used to specifically refer to “unsolicited email” but recently the definition has changed to unwanted, unrecognized or unofficial email address.

So how do you go about performing an effective email blast?

Spam reports hurt your email marketing and the ability for you to get to the inbox of your subscribers. The background process and the way it works with providers determining the sender’s reputation. This influences the ability to get your email delivered, therefore influencing your success.

Here are a few things you can to do build a good reputation and increase the chance of your email getting in front of the right set of eyes:

1. Your subject line.

Make sure your subject line entices your subscribers and speaks to them on a person level because this increases the chance of your email being viewed as legit. Also make sure you know your email providers “spam words” that automatically may place some emails in the junk based on the words used in the title. Tip: An email with Congratulations in the subject will usually end up in the junk box.

2. Recognizable “from” name.

Pretty self explanatory – people are more likely to read emails from real people as opposed to companies. Use a name that those on your list will recognize.

3. Relevant.

Content is one of the many factors in determining whether an email is spam or not and is the main concern for people on your list. If you’re sending out irrelevant content, even if they are on your subscribers list, you will likely end up in the junk box. Know your audience and only send information that is useful to them. Also, similarly to the subject line, know your email providers spam words for the body of the email. Words that include pricing, you have won, and other company names are often put into the junk box.

4. Clean your lists.

Get rid of those addresses that bounce back and are no longer existent. Your providers notice when you don’t, decreasing your chances of deliverability.

5. Make sure they can opt-out.

It’s important for a subscriber to have the option to leave your list and strengthens your reputation, and makes you seem less of a “spammer”.

6. Authentic Email Address

Your reputation as a business heavily relies on your email domain. If a subscriber on your list sees an email coming from hotmail.com or gmail.com that is boasting about your services, without a doubt your reputation will significantly decrease. Companies like Atum provide reliable exchange email hosting that increase your deliverability, positioning you in success for the future. It is also beneficial to you to have a professional email hosting environment with advantages such as daily email back up, web interface, Global Address List, unlimited forwarding addresses, antivirus protection and many other extra features.

We’ve come a long way from the way business was previously done and today, email is a valuable and personal tool inside and outside the work place. It’s a tough fight in making sure the right emails get delivered to where they belong but it’s definitely something worth fighting for – and we can all play a role.