Written by Originally appeared in our LinkedIn Newsletter: Spoken Like An Entrepreneur
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-do-i-keep-my-emails-from-going-spam-lakenya-kopf-zqkhe/
Out of all the questions I’m asked, “How do I keep my emails from going to spam?” is the most frequent. The short answer: there is no 100%, guaranteed, tried-and-true method to keep your emails from ever going to spam. That would defeat the purpose of a spam filter, and if it did exist, spammers/solicitors/cold marketing experts would have mastered it a long time ago.
Between my public-facing company email and the outlook email I use on LinkedIn, I have lost count of how much unsolicited (spam) email I receive.
I get it – you believe your product, service, or viewpoint is something I must know about, and you’re helping me out by pulling my email and adding me to your mailing list as a favor. I thank you, and so does my block button.
Most people don’t realize that spam is not just phishing emails, malware emails, emails for random medications, medical devices, or other oddities that exist in the world. It is any email sent in bulk that a person did not request:
Email spam is unsolicited, unwanted bulk email sent to many recipients without their consent. Your emails might be considered spam if you’re sending unsolicited messages to people who haven’t opted in to receive them, using deceptive subject lines, or sending content that lacks value to recipients. – ValiMail
By sending emails to those who did not opt in to your list, you risk your sender reputation, which can lead to email service providers (ESPs) flagging your content and sending you straight to a person’s spam folder – do not pass Go, do not collect $200.
So let’s change the question – how can you minimize your chances of hanging out in someone’s spam folder?
That’s easier to answer.
IMPORTANT: Before I get started, I want to define two terms: domain and sender domain. Your domain is your primary web address (kopfconsulting.org). Your sender domain is the domain you send email from – it can be your primary domain or a subdomain (e.g., mg.kopfconsulting.org). Some companies use a subdomain for marketing to keep that reputation separate from the primary domain they use for non-bulk (direct/1:1 or transactional) email.
Alright, ready?
1) Acknowledge that spam filters are completely out of your control.
You can do everything in your power to ensure your emails meet the recommendations I share below, and they can still go into a spam folder.
Why? Simple – mail server criteria.
Gmail, and especially Yahoo (it HATES Ontraport!), has aggressive filters that look for certain criteria before allowing an email to pass into a user’s inbox. Not only are they checking your IP address against blacklists and your overall sender domain reputation, they are also looking at your content (certain words, phrases, etc. that may be associated with soliciting emails) and user interaction with emails sent from your sender domain – meaning how many people flag them as spam.
Amazed that all of this is monitored? Take a minute and sign up for Google Postmaster Tools (I swear I deserve a gold star – or at least a cookie – from Google for how often I recommend this). It will show you how much is tracked from a single email. I talk about a lot of that here.
Ok, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here are a few more things to take into account when trying to increase your chances of email deliverability.
2) Authenticate Your Domain!
It has been a while now, so it isn’t a secret that ESPs have been cracking down on email authentication. Phishing is at an all-time high with the introduction of AI.
Gone are the days when poorly written emails made it obvious that PayPal isn’t requesting your banking information to verify your account, or that Chase needs you to click a link to authorize a purchase on hold (despite the fact that you have never had a Chase card a day in your life).
ESPs are aware that even the most well-informed are being fooled. For this reason, they have pushed for SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication as proof that a reputable email is not being spoofed, allowing legitimate communications from companies to come through – and fake ones to be kept at bay.
For those who have added a DMARC policy to your DNS records along with an email to receive a report, you can see how ESPs are interacting with your domain and whether you are passing or failing their SPF and DKIM filters.
If you are passing, great!
If you are failing, take a look at the offending record to see why: Is your SPF record too long? Do you have more than one SPF record? Are you missing an SPF or DKIM record? Are you missing a DKIM record for one of your authorized senders? In my experience, many email delivery issues have been resolved by this single step.
3) Warm up your IP address (dedicated) and/or new sender domains (shared and dedicated)
If you are sending emails from a dedicated IP address (typical practice for HighLevel users), you need to warm up your IP address with ESPs. Many small businesses use shared IP addresses (standard for MailChimp, unless you’re using Mandrill for a dedicated IP), so this is not as much of an issue; however, shared or dedicated IPs still need to maintain a good domain reputation. ESPs are looking at bounce rates, complaint rates, and engagement levels to determine if your messages should be trusted or filtered out.
If your domain is brand new, you will need to start from ground zero in establishing trust. Keep in mind, this isn’t limited to bulk sends – any email you send with your domain factors into its reputation. So if you think you’re “flying under the radar” by sending batches of emails directly from your inbox instead of a CRM or EMS, think again.
4) Watch what you say and what you send
While your domain may be authenticated and your sender domain reputation may be in good standing (and, if applicable, your dedicated IP address may be warm), the content of your email will also play a major factor in deliverability.
If you are using spammy subject lines like “Open this FREE item – It will CHANGE your life!”, if your emails contain more links than actual content, or if you are going overboard with GIFs and images, your email can still be flagged as spam.
A lot of email marketing systems do a great job of checking your emails before you send them and flagging phrasing, subject lines, and overall content to estimate the likelihood of landing in someone’s inbox versus being tossed into the spam bin. Make sure what you’re creating matches what your audience expects, and be authentic in your message (yes – cliché buzzword, but there’s merit).
5) Poor user engagement
Some people find it easier to hit spam than to unsubscribe from your list. If the overall reaction to your email is marking it as spam or very low engagement (low open rates and low clicks), ESPs watch that as well and can determine if you are sending to people who actually want your content, or if you are blasting to anyone and everyone in hopes of someone engaging. If that flag is raised, your email may find its way into a spam folder.
The most important thing to remember: only send to those who have asked for it.
Again, I know you believe your message is important and everyone should want to hear what you say, but ESPs disagree. Follow the rules of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and only send to those who have opted in to your list. Don’t take emails from business cards, webinars you attend, buy lists, or take shared contact lists and add them to your list for bulk sends. That is the fastest way to get a spike of unsubscribes or spam flags and, again, put you on mail servers’ radar.
So what should you do? Here is an oversimplified checklist (hey – compared to the essay above – it’s shorter!):
- Authenticate your domain (make sure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are added to your server).
- If possible, use a dedicated IP address. Shared IP addresses mean shared IP reputation. If you’re a smaller business, don’t worry about a dedicated IP – just focus on your sender domain reputation. Spammers are normally sending large volumes, and CRMs/EMSs are usually good at kicking these people off their platforms because they don’t want their IPs blocked.
- If you have a new sender domain, warm it. Only send to those who have opted in to your list and send in smaller volumes to monitor user interactions/engagement. Slowly grow the volume as long as you have positive feedback for your efforts.
- Repeat after me – DO NOT BUY LISTS. Spam traps are real and CRMs/EMSs are looking for them. This is a dead giveaway that your list isn’t authenticated, and you are setting yourself up for a negative experience of bounces and spam flags.
- Find a rhythm of sending and try to stick with it. Too many emails can cause people to unsubscribe or flag you as spam. Too few can cause people to forget who you are – again, increasing the likelihood of unsubscribes or being marked as spam. Find that sweet spot that works for you and make sure your list is aware of how often they will hear from you.
- Clean. Clean. Clean. Keep your list as clean as possible. If possible, on a monthly basis, remove bounces and unsubscribes. Even though open rates are getting trickier because of MPP, something is better than nothing. While I would advise putting a CTA in each email to create click engagement, use either option to monitor engagement and push those who haven’t engaged at all in six months into a re-engagement campaign. Be careful with this, as MPP can mark emails as opened even if the recipient hasn’t engaged. I have seen people send a blanket email along the lines of: “We are just doing a little maintenance. We love having you on our list. If you would like to stay subscribed, click here.”
- Data is everything. Use Google Postmaster Tools, DMARC digests, Postmark, or similar programs to monitor your sender reputation.
- Double-check your domain to make sure it isn’t blacklisted if you see a severe drop in deliverability.
- This one is personal preference – enable double opt-in. For those who don’t know the difference: single opt-in is when someone enters their email once and is automatically added to your list. Double opt-in is when someone enters their email and then receives a confirmation email; if they don’t click the link to confirm, most EMSs either don’t add them or add them as unconfirmed. Simply put: single opt-in favors quantity; double opt-in favors quality.
- Only send to those who have opted in. Yes, it is that important that it is worth repeating.
Again, nothing will give you a 100% guarantee of email deliverability, but this will hopefully increase your chances. Just like your credit history, what you do with your sender domain will reflect how others perceive it. If you want those emails delivered, you need to do the same things you would to build or protect your credit score – follow the rules, play the game, and over time, you’ll reap the benefits of your efforts.
