Be Your Own Spam Filter

Having trouble getting your e-mail messages delivered? It may be because they look and read like spam. But it's usually not one glaring aspect of your e-mail that will get you filtered; it's typically a combination of small infractions that drive your “spam score” high enough to be blocked. Here are some of the incriminating characteristics:

• Specific words that often are used by spammers

  Messages containing a combination of these words are either immediately deleted or filed in a “junk” folder that most users never look through. Unfortunately, many of these words could be used frequently by any reasonable marketer or publisher, such as “free,” “discount,” “special offer” or “click here.”

  Overcome this hurdle by running sample e-mails through a series of message filters to determine your spam score before sending your entire mailing.

• Gaudy graphics and color combinations

  Many spammers have become infamous for employing such flashy methods to catch the eye, so this is a big red flag to the ISPs.

  Watch the graphics-to-text ratio. If you find your design is too “in your face,” pull back. After all, well-designed relevant content doesn't need to glow in the dark to get attention. Remember to avoid garish colors and graphics; lower the ratio of graphics to text; and check to see that your HTML code is structured correctly.

• Very high volume and frequency

  In general, spammers send their garbage e-mails to a huge number of people at the same time, and they do it constantly. Keep this in mind when determining how much e-mail to send, how to manage volume over time and how often you send e-mail.

Overdoing things may very well work against you. The only way to conquer this is through strict self-control. Closely monitor how often you mail to each list.

MATT BLUMBERG (founder/CEO), STEPHANIE A. MILLER (vice president, strategic services) and TAMI MONAHAN FORMAN (director, strategic services) are with e-mail performance firm Return Path. This article is excerpted from “Sign Me Up! A Marketer's Guide to Creating E-Mail Newsletters That Build Relationships and Boost Sales.”