We’re on PART THREE of SPAM FOLDER RESCUE! I know you’ve been waiting for this hit your inbox ALL WEEK, so let’s get to it. First of all, let’s recap what we’ve gone over so far. We’ve talked about key terms you need to know about the world of email deliverability. Last week, we talked about the WHY and HOW your emails are ending up in the SPAM folder. Now that we’ve covered the WHY and HOW your emails are ending up in the SPAM folder, let’s talk about what you can actually DO to fix the issue. Remember, what we talked about previously? The key to getting your emails in the inbox is SENDER REPUTATION. You got a rep to protect. Why would you spend ALL of that time and energy putting emails out when you could be actively hurting your chances for them to be delivered? I know what you’re thinking, Thank you so much. I’ve been practicing. ? In order to help you NOT waste your time, here are steps you can take to proactively protect your Sender Rep. |
Sending From Your Own Domain
If you are using an Email Service Provider (i.e. Mailchimp), you are typically defaulted to having your emails sent through their shared server.
This means you are sharing an IP address with other companies and organizations who are also using that Email Service Provider.
If that’s the case, you don’t know what practices those other accounts are using to send emails. They may be sending emails to people who didn’t ask to receive them. If that’s the case, then they might be getting a lot of their emails
That’s why you’ll want to send from your own domain.
You can create a sub-account (example: email.yourdomain.com), and then authenticate it with your Email Service Provider.
Each Email Service Provider has its own steps to take to do this. If you’re not sure what to do just Google “Domain authentication <insert ESP name here> “
You should be able to find the documentation.
If this is WAY above your head, talk to your web developer. They’ll know what to do.
Avoid Getting Marked As SPAM in 4 Steps
1. Sender Email Address
I see a lot of startups and solorpreneuers using gmail email addresses. I know budgets can be tight but sending your emails from an email address with your domain makes you look like a safe sender.
Move your email communications on to your domain. It helps with authority building and makes your emails look a little safer.
2. Sender Name
I can’t stress this enough. Look at your emails how they appear in the inbox. The FIRST thing people look at is who the email is from.
If you are using First Name Last Name of your Marketing Director, do you really think your subscribers know who that is?
They may have signed up for your emails months ago and can’t remember why they did. Suddenly they’re getting an email from Billeremy Smithwisen.
Who is Billeremy?????
I open the email, see that it is some random brand I completely forgot about and if I can find the Unsubscribe link, I’ll click it. If not, I’ll hit SPAM.
Instead of being vague, keep it short and direct. You don’t have a lot of real estate for a sender name in the inbox. Use first name & company name OR just your brand name.
Try this instead:
Billeremy | Company Name
3. Get Permission
I cannot stress this enough. If people are not expecting to receive emails from you, then they will go to almost any length to stop receiving emails from you.
Inboxes get bombarded enough. Your competition isn’t just your competitors and other brands. Your competition is coworkers, friends, family, important updates about bills and medical records.
People get really irked when they are already overwhelmed with communication, and they’re trying to wade through the inbox debris to get to what they really need to know, and you’re wasting their time with one more email they didn’t ask for.
Get permission to send emails with sign up forms, offers and lead magnets. your leads will be much higher quality, you’ll get better returns and you’re exponentially less likely to be marked as SPAM.
4. ALWAYS have an Unsubscribe Link and don’t make it hard to find.
See also number 2.
If people don’t want your emails anymore, don’t make it hard for them to opt-out.
Don’t hide the unsubscribe link buried in a bunch of a disclaimer text.
If they can’t easily figure out how to stop receiving emails from you, their other option is to mark you as SPAM.
Which would you prefer? An unsubscribe or a ding to your sender reputation?
Right?
Keep Your IP Warm
1. Send Regularly
Since part of your sender reputation is based off of your level of engagement that your contacts take with your brand, then sending regularly is a must.
You have to GIVE your subscribers a chance to interact with you.
That means sending an email at least once per month, ideally once per week. But hey, we all have to start somewhere.
If you don’t have a dedicated email content calendar, now’s the time to create one.
2. Clean Your List out of Inactive Contacts
How many of your contacts haven’t opened any emails since they joined your list?
How many of your contacts haven’t opened any emails in over a year?
Not sure? Now’s the time to check it out.
If a chunk of your contact list isn’t opening your emails, then they’re dragging your engagement rate down.
I KNOW it’s hard letting go of those hard won subscribers, but it’s for the great good.
Do it for the people who REALLY want to see your emails but aren’t getting them because they are getting lost SPAM folder.
There you have it. MORE than enough tips to get you going rescuing your emails from SPAM.
Now just to be clear, an AMAZING email deliverability rate is 99%. That’s what top brands who have the resources to dedicate to this have.
That means that at least 1% of their emails are going to SPAM, so there’s always going to be that chance.
BUT staying on top of these practices will keep your list humming along and helping you reach your goals.