Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Spam Trigger Words to Avoid

Spam is a huge issue on the internet these days and unfortunately, it has impacted on businesses that send legitimate bulk emails using database marketing tools.  It means that we have to work alot harder to get our emails to our reader's inboxes. 

All email programs (from Hotmail to Outlook) have in-built spam filters that scan incoming emails to determine if they are spam.  One of the things it checks out is the words in the content of the email and in the subject line - if it finds words that are 'spammy', the program will mark your email as spam and the recipient will probably never see it.
So if you want to make sure they do read you emails, you need to avoid the words below:
$$$
100% free
Ad
Affordable
Amazing stuff
Apply now
Auto email removal
Billion
Cash bonus
Cheap
Collect child support
Compare rates
Compete for your business
Credit
Credit bureaus
Dig up dirt on friends
Double your income
Earn $
Earn extra cash
Eliminate debt
Email marketing
Explode your business
Extra income
F r e e
Fast cash
Financial freedom
Financially independent
Free
Free gift
Free grant money
Free info
Free installation
Free investment
Free leads
Free membership
Free offer
Free preview
Guarantee
'Hidden' assets
Home based
Homebased business
Income from home
Increase sales
Increase traffic
Increase your sales
Incredible deal
Info you requested
Information you requested
Internet market
Leave
Limited time offer
Make $
Mortgage Rates
Multi level marketing
No investment
Obligation
Online marketing
Opportunity
Order Now
Prices
Promise you
Refinance
Remove
Reverses aging
Save $
Search engine listings
Serious cash
Stock disclaimer statement
Stop snoring
Thousands
Unsubscribe
Web traffic
Weight loss
Obviously some of the words are common business phrases, like 'web traffic' and 'free offer', so it is difficult to avoid them.  We suggest that if you must use one of these phrases, just use it once per email otherwise you are risking getting your email blocked.  If you can, try to use synonyms like 'complimentary' instead of 'free' or changing the wording slightly so you don't get picked up by the spam filters.
Also, make use of the in-built spam measuring tool in the Ezy Communicator - this looks for key spam words in your text and checks the coding side of your emails which is equally important for getting your emails through filters.

Article Courtesy of Bloomtools