Avoiding Spam in Your Marketing Emails

Now that we have a firm grasp on the basics of what email marketing is and how to take advantage of it, let’s take a deep dive into one of the potential pitfalls of email marketing – avoiding the spam folder.

What is Spam?

The legal definition of spam is unsolicited usually commercial messages (such as emails, text messages, or Internet postings) sent to a large number of recipients. Obviously that definition is extremely subjective which puts marketers in a tight position. Of course, in email marketing we have to send commercial messages to late numbers of recipients. That just comes with the territory.

So how do we avoid our messages being marked as spam?

The answer is pretty simple – don’t annoy your email recipients by overdoing the sales messages. It helps to provide some value to them whenever you can whether that’s with discounts, advice, or useful news. Another critical part of avoiding customers’ spam folders is to make sure your email messages are CAN-SPAM and GPR Compliant

CAN-SPAM Compliance Guidelines

Don’t use false or misleading header information. (“From,” “To,” “Reply-To,”)
Don’t use deceptive subject lines.
Identify the message as an ad.
Tell recipients where you’re located.
Tell recipients how to opt-out of receiving future email from you.
Honor opt-out requests promptly.

For more information on CAN-SPAM Compliance guidelines, check out this compliance guide from the FTC.

GDPR Compliance Guidelines

Necessary to follow if you have any email recipients residing in the EU
Switch from “Opt-Out” to “Opt-In” Mode of Collecting Personal Data
Emails cannot be sent without explicit permission of the recipient
Your website needs a notification that allows recipients to accept cookies and tracking their activity

For more information on GDPR Compliance guidelines, check out this compliance guide from the European Union’s DPR program.