keywords blog

Return to the Blog Homepage

  • How to Avoid Going from ‘Whitelists’ to ‘Blacklists’How to Avoid Going from ‘Whitelists’ to ‘Blacklists’

    • Date: 02/06/09

    • Category: Email Marketing

    Do you remember how in the old Western films the good cowboys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black? Here is a guide to the good guys and the bad guys of email marketing.

    Spam Mail

    If we were to maintain the good guy versus bad guy analogy, unsolicited commercial email, or spam mail as it’s more commonly known, would rightly be called the source of all email evil. Spam mail is neither permitted, relevant nor coherent. It’s less-targeted, infrequent or downright intermittent. To put it more simply, it’s illegal.

    But the problem is, more and more legitimate email is being accused or punished as spam mail than ever before. Some companies – whilst having legitimate objectives – are going about achieving them in unintentionally illegitimate ways. More often than not, the cause is down to not adhering to a few simple rules.

    Make sure your subject line is not misleading or falsified…

    The subject line is the most important part of your email. At worst, it can end up causing your email to be deleted or even reported as spam mail. At best, it can entice the recipient to open the email and give its contents the chance of doing their job. To avoid being reported as spam mail, refrain from using all capital letters or excessive exclamation marks, and try not to use words such as “free”, “discount” or “buy now”. Subject lines should be short (fewer than 50 characters), enticing, and contain familiar brands or names.

    Make sure unsubscribing is both available and easy…

    To stay in the internet service providers’ (ISPs’) good books, the process of unsubscribing should be quick and painless. Making the process difficult will either result in being reported as spam mail or the customer leaving with a lasting negative opinion of your company. The key is to maintain a positive view of unsubscribes. Whilst the customer is indicating that they don’t wish to receive communication from your company, it may only be temporary, so offer them a simple unsubscribe process such as a ‘Click Here to Unsubscribe’ link or a reply to unsubscribe option.

    Make sure unsubscribing is unsubscribing…

    You would be amazed at how many companies still continue to email customers even after they have confirmed their unsubscribe. The more you send emails after the unsubscribe, the more likely you are to be reported as spam mail. US law (and most other national anti-spam mail laws) require you to cease communication with the recipient within ten days. Most email marketing software will remove unsubscribes instantly, but if not, make sure your process of unsubscribing works.