It can be very frustrating to see an important email you sent sitting in the spam folder of the recipient. All popular mailing platforms use spam filters that are designed to identify dangerous emails and stop them from reaching the inbox.
There are different criteria and factors considered by spam filters that decide whether an email should go to the spam box or the inbox.
Different mailboxes use different spam filters, but the one thing they have in common is that they ensure that the inbox remains clean. So if an email has been sent to spam, this means you have done something that has triggered the spamming bots.
If you don’t know what you might have done wrong it is best to read this guide as here in this article we are going to discuss the top reasons why your emails might be going to spam and would also list the best solutions to stop this.
Let’s explore the different reasons and solutions one by one
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How Poor Email Content and Format Causes Emails to Go to Spam
One of the major reasons why most emails end up in spam is because of low-quality content. You need to understand that spam filters can be triggered by certain words, phrases, and formatting styles that are usually similar to promotional and malicious emails.
If your emails contain words like free, limited-time offer, urgent, buy now, and similar terms, they’re going to trigger spam filters. Moreover, excessive use of capital letters, exclamation marks, and irregular punctuation marks can also make your emails suspicious.
Here is how to format your emails to prevent them from going to spam: It is important to avoid using words and phrases that are typically considered spammy. You need to use a natural language and conversation tone so that your email sounds authentic. If you are not good with words, it is best to take help from a sentence rephraser. The tool would help you ensure clarity, quality, and freshness.
How Bad IP and Domain Reputation Affects your Emails to Go to Spam
The reputation of your domain and the IP address play a very important role in whether your emails are delivered to the inbox or go to spam. If you have been sending a high number of emails from a domain having a bad reputation or previously blacklisted, there is a very good chance that the emails will go to spam.
Internet service providers and mailing services like Gmail always track the reputation of domains and IPs and if they receive a large number of complaints about your emails or if the domain is linked with spammy activities, your emails will go to the spam box.
Here is how to ensure email deliverability: If you are sending emails from a new domain, it is best to start slow and gradually increase the number of emails you send. This would help you build a positive sender reputation.
In addition to this, you should use tools like sender score to monitor the health of your IP and ensure that it is not blacklisted. It is wise to use platforms like Mailchimp if you want to maintain good delivery practices.
How Low Engagement Rates Result in your Emails Going to Spam
As an email marketer, you would know that a high engagement rate is very important. You would be surprised to know that over 90% of webmail providers state that they check how many emails are opened and how many are deleted as a major spam filtering factor.
So in case your emails have low open or read rates, there is a very good chance that your emails now would be landing in the spam box. You must focus on increasing the engagement rate of your emails.
Here is how to resolve engagement rates to prevent your emails from going to spam: To increase your engagement rates, it is first very important that you target the right audience. In addition to this, you also need to make sure that you only send emails at the right time. Sending emails at the time when your recipients are busy would do you no good. You must also ensure that your subject lines are catchy so that the recipient feels enticed to open the mail.
Why Sending Too Many Emails in a Little Time Causes your Emails go to Spam Folder
Another popular reason why your emails might be going to the spam box is that you are sending too many emails too quickly. A sudden spike in emails can signal the spam filters that something’s fishy.
If you have just started sending a huge volume of emails from a new domain or email address, it is going to raise red flags. Spam filters are always looking for suspicious patterns, and a significant increase in email volume is surely a suspicious activity.
Email marketers who don’t have much experience would always end up making this mistake. If you think that sending multiple emails in one go would free you soon, you are very wrong. It is wise to build up steadily.
Here is the solution: If you are managing a large email campaign and have to send a huge number of emails, it is important to start slow and increase the volume over time. You must also monitor bounce rates and check whether the emails you are sending are invalid or non-existent accounts.
How Lack of Proper Authentication Records Causes Emails to be in Spam
If your emails are being sent without proper authentication records, they are likely to be flagged as spam. The most common email authentication protocols include the following:
Send Policy Framework aka SPF
Domain Keys Identified Mail aka DKIM
Domain Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance aka DMARC
You must know that these protocols help verify that the email is coming from a trusted source and is not tampered with during the transit process. Without authentication, your emails would go straight to the spam box.
Here is how you can resolve lack of proper authentiaction records: You need to make sure that your email domains have proper authentication records that are set up properly. You can use online tools like MX Tool Box for this task. If you don’t know much about setting up records or getting authentication, it is best to seek assistance from your hosting provider.
How Lack of Clear Unsubscribe Options Affects your Emails
Spam laws require that recipients should be given an option to opt out of further emails coming from an address. A very popular reason why your emails would be going to spam is because of the absence of an easy/clear way of unsubscribing from future emails.
You need to understand that all popular mailing platforms and spam filters are designed to block emails that don’t give recipients the option to unsubscribe.
Here is how you can resolve the unsubscribe button issue: You need to make sure that every email you send to both the existing recipient list and a new one should have a clear and visible unsubscribe button. The process to unsubscribe should be very easy for the recipients. Also when a recipient unsubscribes, you should immediately remove them from your mailing list to avoid any complaints or getting bad spam reports.
Conclusion
Emails landing in the spam folder of a recipient can be a big problem for email marketers. Though it can be discouraging not getting responses or engagement, you must find out common reasons and practice solutions.
In this blog, we have discussed in detail the most common reasons why your emails might be going to spam. Along with these, we have also given clear solutions that’ll help you reduce the chances of your emails being flagged in the future.
We hope that after following these strategies, you will be able to create inbox-friendly emails for your recipients!