Are your emails getting lost in spam folders? It’s frustrating when your carefully crafted emails don’t even make it to the inbox. You spend time writing the perfect message, but spam filters block it. That’s annoying! Don’t worry, though! There are easy ways to stop this from happening. In this blog, we’ll share the best tips to prevent your email from going to spam so your important messages always land where they should.
How to Stop Emails from Landing in Spam Folders
The very first step in preventing emails from being labelled as spam is understanding why they end up there in the first place. As of 2024, 10.5% of emails end up in your clients’ or recipients’ spam folder.
Yes, spam filters are both a blessing and a challenge. While they help keep unwanted emails out of inboxes, they can also mistakenly block legitimate marketing emails.
Spam filters are smart, but they aren’t always perfect.
Even if you’ve carefully crafted your content and followed best practices, your message might end up in a recipient’s spam folder due to overly cautious filters (false positives).
This means some of your audience may never see your email.
On the other hand, poorly targeted emails might still slip through, frustrating potential customers. As a marketer, it’s important to follow anti-spam guidelines, personalise content, and monitor deliverability to avoid being flagged as spam.
So, how can you really stop emails from landing in spam folders?
Keep reading…
Maintain a Clean Email List
One of the simplest tips to prevent email from going to spam is keeping your email list clean and updated. Sending to inactive addresses can increase bounce rates, which spam filters interpret as a sign of poor sender reputation.
Regularly remove inactive subscribers to prevent your email from being flagged as spam.
Every 6-12 months, a business could run a “re-engagement campaign,” sending an email to subscribers who haven’t opened their messages in a while.
If those subscribers don’t respond or interact with the email, they can be removed from the list, ensuring that the business only communicates with an engaged audience.
Use a Recognisable Sender Name
A recognisable sender name reassures recipients and helps prevent your email from being mistaken for spam. People are more likely to open an email from a familiar sender. Therefore, your sender name should clearly represent your brand, making it easy for people to recognise who the email is from.
For example, stick to the same name and email address each time you send a message so recipients know it’s really you.
In addition, avoid using generic addresses like no-reply@yourdomain.com, as they often come across as impersonal and spammy, making people less likely to trust the email.
Moreover, it’s a good idea to use a real email address so that people can reply to you if needed, which helps build trust and keeps your messages from being marked as spam.
Keep Subject Lines Clear and Honest
A clear subject line is one of the tips to prevent emails from going to spam. “What’s simple is true,” and it’s true with emails, too. Overly promotional or misleading subject lines can trigger spam filters. Make sure your value is reflected in your subject line, or make it intriguing enough so your readers can’t resist but open your email.
Remember, the first goal is to persuade them to open it. Always be clear and honest in your subject lines. Don’t overpromise or use words like “Free” or “Urgent.” Instead, make it straightforward and aligned with the content of your email. This way, both your readers and spam filters won’t feel misled.
Comply with Email Marketing Regulations
Laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the CAN-SPAM Act are in place to protect consumers from unwanted emails. You should absolutely ensure you’re complying with these regulations by including a clear unsubscribe option in your emails and respecting privacy policies.
Following these laws shows that your email is trustworthy and reduces the likelihood of it being flagged as spam.
11 Tips to prevent email from going to Spam
Getting your email to land in the inbox is as much about technique as it is about content. Here are more ways to keep your email out of spam filters and ensure your efforts don’t go to waste.
1. Segment Your Audience
Sending the same email to everyone on your list isn’t always the best approach. You can tailor your content to be more relevant to them by segmenting your audience based on their interests or previous behaviour.
A personalised approach increases engagement, and guess what? High engagement tells email providers that your emails are wanted, keeping you far away from spam filters.
2. Authenticate Your Emails
When you send an email, it’s essential to show that it’s actually coming from you and not someone pretending to be you. This is where authentication comes in.
To authenticate your emails, you need to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
First, SPF ensures that only authorized servers can send emails to your domain by adding a record to your DNS. Then, DKIM adds a digital signature to your emails by including a special key in your DNS. Finally, DMARC creates a policy that tells email providers how to handle messages that fail SPF or DKIM checks while also sending you reports on any issues.
These steps help protect your emails and improve deliverability.
3. Avoid Excessive Use of Images
It might be tempting to load your emails with fancy images, but too many of them can land you in trouble. Spam filters tend to flag image-heavy emails, especially when they lack text. A balanced mix of text and visuals is more likely to pass through filters.
Remember, content is king, and it should be the focus of your email.
4. Encourage Subscribers to Whitelist You
One of the powerful tips to prevent email from being flagged as spam is to ask subscribers to whitelist your address.
Whitelisting is when your subscribers add your email address to their list of trusted contacts. When they do this, your emails are more likely to go straight to the inbox.
Encourage your subscribers to do this early on, perhaps right after they sign up for your email list. A small step for them but a huge leap for your email deliverability.
5. Create Quality Content
Yes, the quality of your content is important. If you send emails that are not useful or badly written, people will either ignore them or mark them as spam. This is why you should focus on giving something valuable in your emails.
Share helpful information, connect with your audience using stories, and make sure your emails are free from mistakes.
For example, if you run a travel blog, instead of sending general emails like “Book Now for the Best Deals,” try writing interesting content such as “Top 5 Hidden Gems in Europe to Visit This Summer” with insider tips and personal recommendations.
See the difference? The first one just promotes, while the second one adds value!
6. Use Double Opt-In
A double opt-in process means that after someone subscribes to your email list, they receive a confirmation email asking them to verify their subscription. This ensures that the person actually wants to receive your emails.
Double opt-in can prevent people from unintentionally marking your emails as spam and also boost your engagement rates.
After a user signs up for your newsletter, they receive an email with the subject line: “Please Confirm Your Subscription.”
Inside, they find a simple message: “Thank you for joining our community! Please click the link below to confirm you want to receive updates from us.”
This extra step ensures that only genuinely interested users stay on your list.
7. Limit the use of overly sales-driven “Call-to-Action.”
Words like “Buy now,” “Limited offer,” or “Click here” often set off red flags with spam filters. Yes, you want to encourage action, but you need to be careful with the words you choose.
Try to avoid overly salesy language; instead, use phrases that feel more natural and conversational.
Instead of saying “Buy Now to Get 50% Off!” in your subject line, try something softer and more conversational, like “Discover Special Savings Just for You.”
This approach avoids aggressive sales language, making it less likely that spam filters or users will flag your email.
8. Check Your Email Formatting
Emails with poor formatting can look suspicious to spam filters. Be sure to maintain a clean and organised layout.
If you’re promoting a new product, use one font for headings and another for the body text. Avoid too many images or excessive bold text.
You can use bullet points to clearly list the benefits of your product.
Also, ensure that your links are embedded as clickable text, like “Learn more here,” rather than pasting full URLs, which can raise red flags for spam filters.
9. Monitor Your Sender Reputation
Your sender’s reputation is like a credit score for your email account. If you send too many emails that bounce back, or if people mark your emails as spam, your reputation drops.
Email service providers (ESPs) track this, and if your reputation is low, your emails may automatically end up in the spam folder. It’s vital to keep an eye on this through your ESP’s dashboard.
Let’s say you run a small online business and send regular newsletters to your customers. If you don’t regularly update your mailing list, you might be sending emails to old or inactive addresses. As a result, your bounce rate goes up, and your sender’s reputation drops.
10. Test Your Emails Before Sending
Testing your emails before sending them is important to make sure everything works well and looks good. It helps check for mistakes and broken links and if the email shows up nicely on different devices.
This way, your customers will have a good experience, and you will not send them an email with errors. In Easy Peasy Funnels, you can test your emails by sending a sample to yourself or your team first.
Go to the email section, create your email, and then choose the option to send a test email. This lets you see exactly what your customers will get and fix any problems before it’s too late.
11. Be careful with your Sending Frequency
Sending too many can annoy your customers, making them unsubscribe or ignore your messages. People like to feel in control of how often they hear from a business.
If you send emails too often, it can feel like spam, and if you send too few, they might forget about you. Finding the right balance helps keep your customers interested and builds trust.
In Easy Peasy Funnels, you can set how often your emails are sent to match what works best for your audience and keep them happy.
Conclusion
The world of email marketing is complex, but by applying these tips to prevent email from going to spam, you can significantly improve your email deliverability. Whether it’s keeping a clean email list, personalising your content, or using the right email authentication methods, each step you take brings you closer to your goal.
As the saying goes, “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier. Stick with these strategies, and your emails will land where they belong – in the inbox, not the spam folder.
