In an effort to become more email savvy, I wrote a blog in January about the “best practices” for sending bulk emails (read Click Me, Open Me, Read Me! here). I thought I had it all figured out until I ran into a situation that stumped me. And I thought, “What a perfect follow-up blog topic!”

Here is the scenario:
I was recently sending an email to a list of people. Normally, I am wary of sending emails to lists without using our email marketing software (we use Vertical Response), but this list was on the smaller side (24 recipients) and it was a simple text only email. Just to be clear, the email was to a certain group of registered conference attendees and the content was instructions for the conference (i.e. an email the recipients would want to receive). I put the list of emails in the BCC field to respect the privacy of the individuals and off I sent my email. A day later, one of the recipients of the email responded back to me. It was clear from her subject line (which was my original subject line with **SPAM added in front) that somewhere along the way, my original email was marked as SPAM. That got me thinking. What about my email set off the SPAM filters and in the future, is there anything I can do to avoid this situation?

The results:
As usual, when dealing with technology, there isn’t a “for sure” answer.   Most likely, the list of emails was the problem and most likely there was no way around it other than to send the email individually.   Although, I did not follow up with the other recipients, I did receive a handful of replies from others that were not marked with SPAM in the subject line. Since different SPAM filters are looking for different criteria, the one recipient probably just had “overzealous criteria”.

Lesson Learned:
In the future, I will not send emails to a list of addresses without using our email software. Even if the email makes it to the inbox, I won’t risk the stamp of SPAM negating my important message or slighting my professional image.

Below, I’ve listed a few other reminders for remaining in the inbox and out of the SPAM folder.

  • Use of exclamation points, especially in the subject line. Even one may cause trouble.
  • Using phrases like “Click here” or “Once in a lifetime”.
  • Using ALL CAPS, especially in your subject line.
  • Relying on different colored fonts to get your message across. SPAM filters are particularly sensitive to red and green.

Bottom Line:
Seems like a lot to put up with to get a wanted email to client or customer. However, if it were easy for us, it would be easy for spammers as well.

Safe Emailing!

Amy Lucke

About the author:

Amy Lucke decided long ago, she would never stray far from the mountains and rivers of Montana. She loves sharing the outdoors with her two kids and spends most summer weekends in a 3-person tent with her four person family. She feels fortunate that she gets to write, create and collaborate with the smart and talented women of Meetings Northwest. Little known fact: She once traveled for 4 months on an around-the-world plane ticket.