Spam filtering protects email users from receiving unsolicited bulk mail which could contain viruses, fraudulent offers or adult themed content.
However, direct e-marketing campaigns are also sent out in bulk to a database and because of the generic content, graphics and offers, a genuine mailer could be removed or have images blocked by the time it reaches your recipient.
Content and structure
All web mail clients have spam filtering as an inbuilt feature. If you get flagged as a spammer more than once due to the content and structure of your newsletter, then your customer won't receive it. Plus, you could get blacklisted from your bulk mail service.
Web mail clients automatically score mail as spam for either content or reputation reasons and 'bounce' them accordingly. 'Bounced mail' is delivered but gets relegated to the junk folder and recipients then have to manually move junk mail back into their inbox by adding the sender to their safe list.
Content bounces will generally be due to a low text-to-image ratio and the inclusion of words such as 'credit', 'hot' or 'free' as these are typical of pornographic, credit fraud or gaming site communications. It's not just the content you send but mainly the framework in which it is sent which can alert spam. This is why correct coding and design is the crux of ensuring successful email delivery.
Reputation score
Mail servers will also treat your legitimate mail as spam if you hold poor reputation. To establish a good reputation score you must allow ISPs to verify your sender identity. A forward and reverse Domain Name System and correct authentication such as Domain Keys will raise your reputation profile, allowing mail you send to be received.
When using a bulk mailing platform, only use a company that will guarantee you a dedicated, whitelisted IP.
Another good rule to follow is not to send campaigns to purchased lists. These recipients have not opted in to receive your mail and you could be potentially sending to spam harvesters. Either way, your sender reputation will be ruined and you will be labelled as spam.
Database maintenance
Lastly, it's very important to give your database careful and regular maintenance. Make double sure that people are completely removed who choose to unsubscribe and clean out recipients whose email addresses have expired.
Sending mail to old or expired lists means you are actually sending to hard bounce, soft bounce and disinterested recipients. In any case, it's a bad situation because either the mail client will flag you or the email receiver will report you to spam.
Morning are the industry leaders in achieving strong delivery results, helping you to retain and acquire new business. From coding, design, content, dispatch and reporting, we have the skills to make your next campaign a success.
Contact us today for a free quote.