SMALL BUSINESS TIP #25: 12 Tips For Keeping Your Emails Out of Spam or Promotions

Despite how complicated the digital world has become, email remains one of the most powerful tools for communication and marketing. However, getting your emails to land in your recipient’s primary inbox rather than the dreaded spam or promotions folder is becoming more and more of a challenge.

Here are 10 essential tips to help your emails reach your audience as intended:

1. Build & Maintain a Quality Email List

The foundation of a successful email campaign is a high-quality email list.

Avoid purchasing email lists, as these often contain outdated or unengaged addresses, which can lead to high bounce rates and spam complaints. This ends up damaging the reputation of the email address you are sending from!

Instead, grow your list organically. You can do this through sign-up forms on your website, social media, and other legitimate channels.

You will also want to “clean” your email list regularly. Here’s a post with instructions on how to to do this: Why and How to Clean Your Email List

2. Don’t Send Emails Using Free Email Addresses

The large email platforms, like Gmail, Yahoo, etc., prefer emails sent from domain emails versus addresses provided for free. So, if your emails are coming from a Gmail, Yahoo, etc., email, they are much more likely to end up in the spam folder.

Once you have your domain email, you’ll need to make sure the proper records are attached to it. See #5 for details.

3. Use a Recognizable & Personal Sender Name

The more emails that are opened, the better reputation your email address gets, which helps you stay out of the Spam folder. Recipients are more likely to open emails from senders they recognize, so you’ll want to personalize the sender name with a real person’s name (e.g., Janet from Scribaceous) to build trust and familiarity.

RELATED l Why and How to Clean Your Email List

4. Craft Safe & Compelling Subject Lines

Avoid using spammy words like “Free,” “Urgent,” or “Act Now” in your subject line as they can trigger spam filters. Instead, create compelling, concise, and relevant subject lines that give a clear indication of the email’s content and entice people to open it.

5. Authenticate Your Email Domain

Email authentication helps verify that domain emails are coming from a legitimate source. Therefore, it’s crucial to implement SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) to protect your domain from being used by spammers and improve your deliverability rates.

While it used to be a recommended best practice, on February 1, 2024, the primary email platforms began requiring authenticated domain emails. Now, if your domain email is not authenticated, your emails will likely go straight to the spam folder. Here’s a post I wrote that will fill you in on this major change: Unlocking Email Success with IHUBApp: Navigating Gmail’s 2024 Changes

6. Provide Valuable Content

Another way to keep your emails out of spam folders is to provide significant value to your recipients. Ensure your content is relevant, informative, and engaging. Tailor your emails to meet the interests and needs of your audience, and avoid sending overly promotional or irrelevant messages. The more your emails are opened, the better your email reputation gets, which will help avoid future trips to the spam folder.

7. Maintain a Healthy Text-to-Image Ratio

Emails that contain too many images or images that are too large as compared to the text can be flagged as spam. So, you want to aim for a balanced text-to-image ratio, with more text than images.

Additionally, always include alt text for your images so that recipients with images turned off can still understand the context.

8. Avoid Excessive Use of Links and Attachments

Emails filled with links and attachments can look suspicious to spam filters. Limit the number of links in your email and only include attachments when absolutely necessary. Whenever possible, use hyperlinks to direct readers to additional content on your website.

9. Optimize for Mobile

A significant portion of emails are opened on mobile devices. Ensure your emails are mobile-friendly by using responsive design, which adjusts the layout based on the device screen size. Clear, concise text and easily tappable buttons enhance the user experience and reduce the likelihood of your email being marked as spam.

10. Monitor Your Sender Reputation

Your sender reputation is crucial for email deliverability. This reputation is influenced by factors like bounce rates, spam complaints, and engagement levels. Regularly monitor your sender score using tools like Sender Score or Postmaster Tools by Google. Address any issues that could harm your reputation promptly.

RELATED l Email Marketing Tips

11. Encourage Engagement

Engaged recipients are less likely to mark your emails as spam. Encourage engagement by including clear calls to action (CTAs), asking questions, or prompting readers to reply to your email. Additionally, make it easy for recipients to update their email preferences or unsubscribe if they no longer wish to receive your emails.

12. Convert Your Website to the IHUBApp

All of the steps I mentioned above take time and expertise to complete. Most small business owners end up having to hire someone with the technical knowledge to set up everything correctly. And, this means yet another business expenditure.

This is one of the many reasons we recommend the IHUBApp progressive web app to our clients. The IHUBApp automatically handles ALL of the following for you with regard to emails:

1. Makes it easy to build and maintain a quality email list with its user registration system
2. Doesn’t send any emails using free email addresses
3. Uses the Hub name as the sender
4. Includes the Hub name in the subject line
5. Handles email verification for you
6. Makes it easier to post to your readers (AND automatically creates weekly newsletters that are curated for each user)
7. Follows text-to-image ratio best practices
8. Follows link best practices
9. Encourages engagement by ensuring content is personalized based on the reader’s subscription to Intelligent Content Channels

FINALLY someone gets it. Small businesses want things to be easier and more intuitive, not complex like WordPress! If you send a lot of content through emails, the IHUBApp is the way to go!

How Your Subscribers Can Help

While most of the responsibility lies with the sender to follow best practices, there are a few things you can ask your subscribers to do to help ensure your emails land in their primary inbox:

❶ Add Your Email Address to Their Contacts

❷ Mark Your Emails as “Not Spam”

❸ Move Emails to the Primary Tab (Gmail Users)

For Gmail users, if your emails land in the Promotions tab, ask them to open the emails and click on the star next to “Save to Inbox.”

❹ Whitelist Your Email Address

This usually involves adding your email address to their safe sender list or trusted senders list. Each email provider has a slightly different process.

❺ Engage with Your Emails

Encourage subscribers to open your emails, click on links, and reply to your messages. Higher engagement signals to email providers that your emails are wanted and relevant, which can help improve deliverability.

Implementing these suggestions can greatly increase the chances of your emails consistently landing in your subscribers’ primary inbox.

Wrapping Up

Keeping your emails out of the spam or promotions folder requires a combination of knowledges—of technology and best practices—and ongoing vigilance.

By building a quality email list, crafting compelling content, and maintaining a good sender reputation, you can enhance your email deliverability and ensure your messages reach your intended audience.

Implement these tips to improve your email campaigns and drive better engagement and results. For the best results at the lowest cost, use the IHUBApp progressive web app instead of WordPress!