Are you Sending Spam by Mistake?


by Sean Kenaston - Date: 2007-07-10 - Word Count: 573 Share This!

If you're not careful about how you write and format your marketing emails, you may discover that a very large percentage are not even reaching their destination. They're flagged and discarded by various Spam filters, which are becoming tighter on their requirements for what passes as valid email with each passing day.

Even if you get your email through the filters, you still need to worry about your readers accidentally flagging your email as Spam.

Don't worry, as long as you follow a few basic steps while writing your email, you can ensure it does not get flagged by filters and it will be recognized by your subscribers amidst all the real Spam they receive.

1. Always use a double opt-in mailing list. Using a double opt-in list is the best way to ensure someone actually subscribed to your list. This type of list involves sending some sort of confirmation email to the subscriber that asks them to confirm their subscription. This way you know for certain that person is the one whom subscribed, which ultimately prevents unjust accusations of sending email to someone that didn't ask for it.

2. Choose your subject line with care. This is absolutely vital when you're first building a relationship with new subscribers since they will not likely recognize your name (especially if they receive a lot of junk email). You are therefore dependent on the reader opening your email based on the subject line. It's usually a good idea to include the person's name in the first few emails you send since it adds a more personal touch. Or if you run a larger business you can include the company's name in the subject line. The point is to make your email look legitimate so you can take those first few crucial steps in building a relationship with a potential new customer.

3. Clarify your relationship with the reader. This builds on the point listed above in number two and is vital in the first several emails you send. You want to remind them why you're sending the email. Explain to them that they subscribed to your mailing list for whatever reason, or that they recently purchased a product from your company, and so on. If you send emails more frequently, you won't need to do this after the first few times.

4. NEVER rent or purchase an email list. If someone has never heard of you, has not requested information from you, and has had no previous interactions with you, then you're spamming them. This is extremely important. Doing this will be your fast-track to every email black list on the internet; and when this happens NONE of your emails will get through.

5. Follow the CAN-SPAM laws. These laws apply to all commercial email and include items such as containing an unsubscribe link in every email as well as including a physical mailing address of the person or company sending the email. It is a good idea to review these laws and become accustomed to writing your emails based around them.

Don't risk being labeled as a spammer. Follow these easy steps to ensure your emails are not accidentally flagged as spam by the filters as well as your subscribers.

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Related Tags: marketing, spam, email, emails, filter

Sean Kenaston is the senior editor of No-Nonsense-Marketing.com; a website that offers the information you need on Internet marketing without all the hype and nonsense.

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