Spam Folder Rescue: Part One
Well, my virtual friend, wonder no more.
I’m guiding you through the steps you need to know in order to get your emails OUT of the SPAM folder and into the inbox.
Your subscribers SUBSCRIBED to your emails for a reason. Make sure they’re getting your offers and juicy content so that they will become your biggest fans.
So where do we start with getting your emails out of the SPAM folder?
The why. It always starts with the why.
Why are your emails ending up in the SPAM folder to begin with?
There are A LOT of reasons. But before we get into what those reasons are and how they might affect you, let’s walk through a bit of vocab.
⓵
Email Deliverability
This term sums up what we’re talking about, which is how your emails are getting delivered to the inbox.
Email Deliverability is concerned with the question: How many of your emails are making it to the inbox instead of the SPAM folder?
There are people in email marketing who ONLY specialize in deliverability. Their job is to monitor your email program and see if there are any red flags and then dig deep to figure those out.
Those experts are EXPENSIVE because it is such an in-depth field and requires a lot of technical and strategic know-how.
Don’t worry. I’m breaking down this know-how into bite-sized pieces that you’ll be able to implement on your own.
⓶
Opt-In
This term refers to permission-based marketing.
Otherwise known as: did your email subscriber ASK to receive the promotional emails you are sending to them?
And not like a winky, “Hey we met at a thing” or “I bought something from you” or “I listed my email address on my LinkedIn profile” so that means “I want to receive sales and promotional emails from you.”
Opting In means explicit consent. (Because we all know consent is sexy).
It means that someone checked a box or filled out a form that says something to the effect of “Yes, send more promotional information about your brand.”
Why does this matter?
Because if people didn’t explicitly SAY they want to receive promotional emails from you, then why would they want to GET promotional emails from you?
How many times have you gotten a promotional/sales email from someone who you didn’t give permission to send you those types of emails?
What was your reaction? Delight? Joy? Relief?
I’m gonna guess no.
It was probably more like, “Seriously!?”
If there was an unsubscribe at the bottom of that email, you probably hit it. If not, you probably hit the SPAM button.
How spot-on am I here? Are you getting spooked out? I thought so.
The bottom line here: Send emails to people who actually let you know they WANT them.
⓷
Sender Reputation
Everything online is tracked. Surprised? I thought not.
What does that mean for you?
The IP address you are sending your emails from is tracked. Email clients like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook look at your IP’s sender reputation when they are decided where to deliver the emails you are sending out.
Remember that last bit about people opting in? When people get annoyed with you and mark your emails as SPAM, that is tracked.
It all gets tied back to the IP address your emails are being sent from.
If your IP address has a bad reputation, guess what happens? Your emails can get blocked or delivered to the SPAM folder.
Hence, Sender Reputation.
Now that we’re on the same page with terms, next week we’re going to talk about the WHY’s of how your emails end up in the SPAM folder.