| In 2006, 40% of all email sent throughout the world | | | | than plain text. |
| was considered SPAM. This begs the question, "Will | | | | - Avoid using high threat keywords such as 'Free', |
| my email get to my subscribers?" | | | | 'Discount', 'Offer', and 'Money' in your subject line as |
| Every day it gets harder to determine if an email is | | | | well as the email body. Most spammers these days |
| legitimate; users find it difficult to distinguish between | | | | are smart enough not to use these, but filters will still |
| legitimate emails and spam. Spammers continue to find | | | | pick up on them and consider your email suspicious. If |
| clever ways to bypass email filters and as a result the | | | | you need to use these types of keywords, you can |
| filters increasingly block valid emails in a desperate | | | | space them out like 'F r e e', or include separating |
| attempt to keep up. Many marketers find filters | | | | characters like 'O-f-f-e-r'. |
| frequently catch their commercial emails. | | | | Will people abandon email for another electronic |
| The sheer volume of spam people receive has also | | | | medium? |
| created other problems. People will often mistake valid | | | | It's difficult to tell where email marketing will be a year |
| commercial emails, from mailing lists they've subscribed | | | | from now. In 2004, Bill Gates predicted there would be |
| to, as spam and thus the email never gets opened. As | | | | an end to all spam by 2006. Well, I don't need to tell |
| this trend continues, some experts predict email will no | | | | you that the exact opposite has occurred - there is |
| longer be a useful marketing tool. | | | | more spam today than ever before, and there is no |
| What can you do to avoid being marked as spam? | | | | sign it will be letting up any time soon. It will only |
| The best thing you can do is limit as many factors that | | | | continue to get harder to find ways around the |
| may cause your email to be flagged as spam as | | | | problem. |
| possible: | | | | The good news is email marketing has already stood |
| - If you're not doing so already, use a double opt-in | | | | its ground. When blogs and podcasts emerged, many |
| mailing list. This will ensure they do in fact want to | | | | believed they would replace email as the dominant |
| receive emails from you, plus they will recognize your | | | | marketing media, but it did not happen. Yes, people |
| name, which prevents any emails you send from being | | | | embraced blogs and podcasts, but they still subscribed |
| mistaken as spam. | | | | to mailing lists as they had before, despite the spam. |
| - Once a subscriber has signed up to the mailing list, | | | | Email is still a strong marketing media and every |
| display a message on the website that tells them to | | | | indication shows that it will remain useful in the years to |
| add your email address to their white list to prevent it | | | | come. Unless everyone in the world suddenly decides |
| from being flagged as spam. | | | | to stop using email, there will always be a way to |
| - Send your email as plain text. Avoid HTML emails as | | | | reach subscribers on the web this way. |
| those tend to get picked up by the filters a lot more | | | | |