In this article, I will tell you how to launch an email newsletter and not end up in spam. I will show you with examples how to write a letter so that it does not end up in the Spam folder.
Contact database
One of the reasons for emails ending up in spam is that they are sent to people who did not agree to receive the mailing. A person receives an unnecessary mailing, it irritates him, and the mailing ends up in the Spam folder with two clicks. This is a logical reaction - why do people need a mailing they did not sign up for?
To avoid such problems, collect the contact base yourself and do not purchase ready-made address lists. You cannot be sure whether this data was collected with the consent of users. Mailing without consent will not lead to clicks and transitions from interested users, but to complaints from irritated ones. In the worst case, users can file a complaint with the FAS , since mailing without the consent of the recipient is a violation of the law on the protection of personal data and entails an administrative fine of up to 500 thousand* rubles.
You can collect a database both online on the website and other resources, and offline when buying at the checkout, for example. We recommend using all convenient cases for collecting customer data. Below are popular methods for collecting a contact database for email distribution. These are legal methods that will help you collect a high-quality database of interested customers.
Website or landing page with a subscription form. Place a great offer on a website with a form for collecting email addresses. Even if you think you only need phone numbers, believe me – some customers prefer to receive only email newsletters. You should definitely take this into account.
Lead magnets . Leads are potential customers who filled out a form with their data. They have heard something about your product, but are not yet interested enough in it. Your task is to attract them with content that is so useful that they leave their contacts to receive it. The benefit can be in the form of a checklist, a template, a closed video lesson or instructions. This is a lead magnet, it should:
be free,
easy to obtain,
solve one specific problem of your target audience.
Lead magnet is the best hook for attracting customers. It works more effectively on pop-up windows that appear on the site after a certain time or user action.
Social networks. Attract subscribers through interesting content on social networks. This way you will become closer and gain their trust. Social networks have their own nuances of collecting contacts. For example, at the end of a video about the harm of the sun, you can offer a free guide to the best SPF creams. To get it, the user needs to follow the link in the profile header and fill out the form. The scheme is as follows: mentioning the benefits in the content → link to the lead magnet → receiving contacts → sending a file.
Loyalty programs. If you have a loyalty program, invite customers to join it and receive exclusive offers via email. Be honest, do not offer the same thing through different channels. The customer should feel the benefit of subscribing to the newsletter.
Chatbots. Collect contacts in an interactive chatbot format. The scheme is like with social networks - offer benefits in the content, then direct to a form where the user enters data and receives a file.
Offline sales. You can offer a subscription to your newsletter offline, for example, after a purchase. Let's say a customer bought sneakers, and you offer them a shoe care checklist. For repair services, for example, offer a free estimate of repair costs, which you can send by email if the customer wants.
Events. PR is not just a beautiful word, it is an effective tool for business. Any type of event, be it conferences, exhibitions or business trainings, is an opportunity to tell potential clients about yourself. You can motivate them to subscribe to the newsletter with exclusive information or secrets of success that are available only to subscribers.
Affiliate programs. Collaborate with other companies. Send out mutual mailings. It is important that your target audiences match. It is even more important to be sure that the partner's base is high-quality. This way you can get new subscribers.
These are the most common and effective ways to collect an address base. Choose the one that best suits your business. Remember: the main thing is to get users' consent to receive mailings.
According to the requirements of mail providers, to make sure that users want to receive your letters, you need to use the Double Opt-in strategy - a two-step confirmation of subscription. The point is that the user first confirms his email, then starts receiving newsletters. To ensure that conversion does not suffer, warn the client about the need to click on the link to receive the long-awaited lead magnet
This strategy will reduce the risk of being labeled as spam and improve the quality of your database.
Sender reputation
Sender reputation affects the processing of letters by mail services. If you have a good reputation, letters will be successfully delivered to recipients and will not end up in spam.
What is a good reputation and how to earn it? Here are some ways to check and improve your sender reputation:
Use services to check emails for spam. They analyze and evaluate your mailing. For example, Mail-tester allows you to test emails for spam. You can also use Mail.ru and Gmail postmasters to track statistics on mailings from a domain.
Check the IP address and domain for blacklists. The SMPT.BZ service is suitable for this task . In addition, enKod has a local blacklist , which includes emails from users who marked the mailing as spam.
Use a two-step subscription (Double Opt-in). This way you can make sure that the user really wants to receive the newsletter.
Submit quality content.
Maintain the frequency of your mailings. This is important maldives business email list to ensure customer engagement. Sending emails too often, such as every day, can become annoying, while sending them too rarely, such as once every two months, can cause customers to forget about you. Test different frequencies to see which ones work best for your mailings. Tracking statistics can help with this .
Maintaining a good sender reputation requires constant work. You will need time to warm up the domain, i.e. gradually increase the volume of recipients of the mailing. Start with sending 3-5% of the base, then with each subsequent mailing you will be able to increase the percentage of recipients. Follow these rules, and a good sender reputation will be ensured!
Analytics
Another reason for emails ending up in spam is ignoring email newsletter statistics. For example, open rate and click-through rate metrics show the level of user engagement. If they are low, perhaps the emails are annoying or are not reaching the right place. This can be tracked and the newsletter edited. But if there is no opportunity to view analytics, you can simply miss these signs and continue sending newsletters, then get a bunch of spam complaints. You don’t want this outcome, so don’t ignore analytics!
Optimize your email campaigns to reduce spam. To do this, track metrics for mailing volume and frequency, spam complaints, delivery errors, and unsubscribes. Mailing services like enKod provide reporting to evaluate these metrics.
Here are the metrics to look out for:
Open and click-through rates : Track the percentage of opens and clicks on links in your emails to understand how interesting the content is to recipients.
Bounce rate : Analyze the number of emails that did not reach their recipients. A high bounce rate may indicate problems with your email database or sender reputation.
Spam complaints : Monitor the number of spam complaints. If it increases, you need to review the content of your mailings and the frequency of sending.
Unsubscribes : Monitor the number of unsubscribes after each newsletter. This may indicate that the content is not relevant to the audience's interests.
Geography and devices : Use data about the geographic distribution of opens and the types of devices your emails are read from to better understand your audience and optimize your emails.
The easiest way to track analytics is to use mailing services . enKod provides clear and visual statistics.
Reports on messages in enKod
By tracking these metrics, you can improve the quality of your mailings, increase subscriber engagement, and minimize the risk of being labeled as spam. Remember that when analyzing metrics, it is important to be consistent and adapt your further strategy based on the results.
Contents and design of the letter
Now let's talk about what a letter should be like so that it doesn't end up in spam.
It is important to follow the basic rules:
Avoid stop words. Mail services filter letters and can send to "Spam" those that contain stop words like "free", "promotion", "benefit", "guaranteed". Spam filters are used for this - they sort letters, keep the mailbox clean and safe. Letters with suspicious content are sent to the "Spam" folder.
Don't use capital letters in the subject line. The recipient may perceive it as aggression, and the mailbox filters - as spam. In both cases, your letter will end up in spam.
Don't overdo it with exclamation marks and question marks. Too many of them are a sign of spam.
Write correctly. The text of the letter should not contain grammatical errors. This spoils the sender's image and reduces trust in him. But in fairness: there are cases when errors catch the recipient's attention and increase engagement.
Control the size of the letter. Gmail, for example, truncates letters larger than 102 KB. The letter is not displayed in full, and the user is more likely not to open it.
Don't send letters without formatting. If the letter contains only links or unrelated pieces of dry text, it will end up in spam.
Let's highlight the content of the letter separately . It should be useful. If the letter causes doubts or a negative reaction in the recipient, which is worse, he marks it as spam. Even if the letter is written according to all the rules above. Content decides.
Pay attention to key points when creating the content of the letter:
Value. Interest the recipient. The content should be useful and relevant. Specifically for the recipient, not for you and your friends, unless, of course, they are your target audience.
Clarity. Write clearly and concisely, without unnecessary fluff. Avoid unnecessary complexity and long texts.
Personalization. Address the recipient by name. Send personalized content and offers that are tailored to the recipient’s preferences. This increases interest in the letter.
Balance. The right balance of text and images will make your letter more attractive.
Clean HTML code. If the letter is composed in an HTML editor, make sure that the code is clean and does not contain hidden text or unnecessary tags. This can be done in a special HTML validator.
Unsubscribe button. Give the recipient freedom of choice. They should be able to easily unsubscribe from the email newsletter if they wish. Easy means no registration or SMS.
More useful tips on how to make effective newsletters are in our newsletter. For personal advice, contact our team of experts.
