How to Avoid a Bounced Email: 5 Tips for Better Deliverability

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Did you know that 14.3% of all emails never reach their intended recipients?

For an average user, this number means nothing. However, this number makes a huge difference for a company that relies on email marketing to drive leads.

A high email bounce rate can be why your emails disappear, lowering the performance of your email campaigns.

But what is a bounced email?

If you are here to find the answer, keep reading the article. We will share helpful ways to resolve and avoid the bounced email issue and drive your campaigns to better results.

What is a Bounced Email?

Let’s start from the basics: exploring the meaning of a bounced email.

A bounced email is a message that fails to reach the recipient's inbox and is returned to the sender.

You can see an example of an email bounce-back message in the screenshot. It typically comes with a code and an explanation of why you have a bounced email.

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One or two bounced emails are pretty standard. However, the increased number is something that you have to consider and put a lot of effort into reducing.

Now, let’s learn what counts as a high email bounce rate.

What is a High Email Bounce Rate?

The email bounce rate refers to the percentage of undelivered messages during one email campaign. In other words, it is the number of emails that didn’t reach the receiver from the email list.

Typically, 2% or less is considered a reasonable email bounce rate. You have a list of 300 emails; the optimal number of bounced emails should be no more than 6. If the number of bounced emails exceeds 6, your email campaign will suffer.

Speaking of email campaign success, let’s move to the next part to understand why you should pay attention to your email bounce rates.

Why Should You Care About Email Bounce Rate?

Email providers collect information regarding your bounce rate. Based on this information, they choose whether or not to accept emails from you. For email providers, a high bounce rate becomes a red flag, and they may decide not to accept emails from your address -  something you should avoid at all costs.

If you don’t track and fix email bounces on time, they may lead to:

• Damaged sender reputation: ESPs view a high bounce rate as a sign that you may be a suspicious email sender. Based on that, they may automatically move your emails to the recipient's spam folder, damaging your sender reputation.
• Low email deliverability rate: A high bounce rate also affects your email deliverability. This means that most of your emails don’t reach their intended recipients, reducing the effectiveness of your outreach campaigns.
• Financial loss: Estimations reveal that mid-sized companies spend $51 – $1000 on email marketing. In business, every investment has to count, so if emails are left undelivered due to a high bounce rate, then all the money will be spent on nothing.

To understand how to reduce your email bounce rate, it's essential first to learn how to calculate it accurately.

What is a Hard Bounce?

A hard bounce happens when an email fails to get delivered for permanent reasons. This means that your email won’t get delivered, and you’ll need to find other ways to reach out to your recipients.

Below, you can find some of the common reasons for hard bounces.

• Invalid or Non-Existent Email Addresses

A non-existent email address is one that is not used anymore. This can be caused by the user changing the domain of the email or deleting the email altogether. If you continue emailing them, you will increase the number of emails bouncing back.

• Email Typos

Email typos are the following common issue. Typos are any kind of grammatical mistakes or misspellings. It’s a human error. These errors can be in the email address, too.

They mainly occur during the email collection process. Users can enter their names incorrectly when filling out a sign-in or newsletter subscription form.

For example, one of the users can fill out jhon@smith.com instead of john@smith.com, and you may not even notice this. But the ESP will, and the email address with just one typo will become bounced.

• Poor Email Authentication

Email authentication is the process of setting up email verification protocols, which are Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC).

These protocols are enacted to prove to the ESP that the email sender's address is legitimate.

Email systems try to protect their users from spammy and suspicious messages. If you have poor email authentication, there is a risk of your email being considered to be sharing suspicious content, and the email providers can place your emails in spam folders or not deliver them. Thus, you will have a hard bounced email.

So, ensure your email authentication is set up to ensure your email campaigns run smoothly.

But these were only the hard bounced emails, and we still have soft bounced emails and are starting to explore why would an email bounce. So, let’s see what they have in store.

What is a Soft Bounce?

So, what is the soft bounce in email marketing? The issues resulting in soft bounces are temporary and more accessible to fix. Plus, you can resend them within 24 hours.

If you fail to address soft bounced emails promptly over time, they will turn into hard bounces. Knowing the reasons contributing to soft bounces can help you maintain them at a low level.

So, what causes a soft bounce?

• Temporary Server Error

Temporary server errors are one of the reasons for soft bounces.

When a receiver’s email service experiences a temporary outage or other technical issues, it can lead to a temporary server error. The issues make the recipient's inbox unavailable for some time. However, you can resend the emails after they are fixed.

• Full Mailbox

A full mailbox is another technical issue that results in soft bounced emails.

Email providers have a storage limit given per email account. For instance, Outlook has 100GB of storage. If the user runs off this limit, they cannot receive any more emails.

This can happen to recipients you are trying to reach, and you will get a warning message from ESPs if you reach a person with a full mailbox.

It will be treated as a soft bounce if this happens once or twice. However, it may become a hard bounce if it occurs continuously.

• Email Size

Email size is yet another common reason for soft bounces.

For example, Gmail and Outlook have an email size limit of about 25 MB; if your email size exceeds the number, you should adjust the content to fit these limits.

What should you do? Split emails with large files into separate emails, and include images only when absolutely necessary.

• Email Filtering

Email filters evaluate incoming emails for spam content. They can filter, label, move, or delete emails based on spammy words, suspicious attachments, incorrect subject lines, etc.

However, sometimes email filters become one of the reasons for email bounce.

If you don’t want to be flagged by email filters, take some time and check your content. See whether it fits the criteria set by the receiver’s ESP’s email filters. These may ensure that your emails turn into soft bounces due to filters.

Being mindful of email bounce reasons is good, but you should also know how to handle bounced emails, which you’ll learn in the next section.

How to Calculate Your Email Bounce Rate?

Let’s break down the process of calculating your bounce rate so you can get a better understanding of how your email campaigns perform.

• First, you must determine the number of emails sent overall.
• Then, divide the number of bounced emails by the total number of sent emails.

The overall formula is quite simple, and it looks like this.

(# of bounces* / # of sent emails) x 100 = your email bounce rate

With this simple calculation, you can quickly determine how your emails are performing and where you may need to tweak things.

Now that you know what a bounced email is, the main types of email bounces, and why they matter, it’s time to learn how to handle them effectively.

Let’s start!

How to Handle a Bounced Email in 5 Effective Ways

We have defined bounced emails and covered the reasons for soft and hard bounces, but the essential and challenging part is knowing how to prevent email bounces.

We’ve put together some actionable tips to help you get started.

Let’s jump in!

1. Enable a Double Opt-In

When someone signs up for your newsletter, don’t rush to add them to your list.

Instead, send them a "Hey, did you really mean to sign up?" email. Add a link or a code they need to click or enter to confirm their subscription. It's that simple!

Below is an example of a double opt-in request.

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Why is it important?

It’s a proven way to identify typos in email addresses. No more sending emails to [jhosmith@gnail.com] instead of [johnsmith@gmail.com]! Moreover, this way, you also ensure that people actually want to hear from you.

Here’s how to implement a double-opt in for your email campaign.

• Choose an email service provider (ESP) that offers double opt-in functionality
• Create your subscription form: Ask for essential information (e.g., name, email), add a checkbox for subscribers to confirm they want to receive emails, include a privacy policy link to build trust with your email subscribers and comply with regulations.
• Design the confirmation email with a welcoming subject line, clear copy explaining the need to confirm, a confirmation button or link, and branded elements, such as your logo.
• Make a confirmation landing page with a welcome message and tell subscribers what  to expect from your emails.
• Follow up with unconfirmed subscribers.

By having a proper double opt-in process, you'll not only keep a clean and engaged email list but also minimize bounces, allowing you to build stronger relationships with your subscribers.

2. Keep Your Email Lists Clean

Regular email list clean-ups enhance your email marketing campaigns and, most importantly, reduce email bounce rates.

Here are some useful tips on how to keep your email lists up-to-date.

• Clean your email lists every 3-6 months
• Use email verification tools like mailfloss to identify and remove invalid addresses
• Keep track of bounce rates and remove hard bounces right away
• Update your email list with new, verified subscribers
• Check for and remove duplicate email addresses
• Remove addresses that consistently soft bounce
• Monitor spam complaints and remove those email addresses

Follow these tips to avoid the bounced email phenomenon and ensure your emails reach the inboxes of engaged recipients.

3. Avoid Free Sender Domains

Free domain addresses are the ones that you can get from Outlook, Google, Yahoo, or another email provider. The upside is that they are easy to get but may fail the DMARC check, which puts your emails at risk of automatically being bounced or put into the receiver's junk box.

However, having an authorized business domain will keep you away from this headache. Plus, it is easy to do.

• You will need to register your domain in registrars like GoDaddy or Google Domains.
• Then, choose an email hosting service, Google Workspace, or Microsoft 365.
• Complete the authentication process by setting up the  SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.
• Finally, verify your domain and set up the email accounts.

Note: Free sender domains seem like a quick fix, but they can cause deliverability issues and look less professional. They also will not work for email marketing campaigns.

Why risk your email campaigns when upgrading to a custom domain is so simple?

4. Avoid Spam Words

Using spam words or phrases in your email content can lead to higher bounce rates.

Here are some common spam trigger words to avoid:

Discounts & Offers:

100% free, Amazing offer, Best price, Bonus, Discount, Free, FREE, Last Day, Limited, Lowest price, Save money

Urgency & Pressure:

Act now!, Apply now!, Hurry up, Urgent

Financial Promises:

Double your income, Earn $, Eliminate debt, Make $

Trust & Credibility Claims:

All natural, Certified, Guarantee, Promise you, Not spam

Our advice is to always check your emails before sending them, and the best way to do it is to use Mailmeteor’s Spam Checker, which is free and easy to use.

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All you need to do is input your email copy and the tool will highlight spam words and show the overall score.

It also shows the types of spam words you have used (e.g., urgency or shady words).

This allows you to find and replace spam words and write content that does not trigger spam filters, leading to lower bounce rates.

5. Monitor Email Bounces

When choosing an email service provider, ensure it offers insights on email bounces.

The ESP should provide details on the number of bounced emails, categorize the types of bounces (hard or soft), and explain the reasons behind each bounce.

For instance, MailChimp provides information about bounces.

To learn why emails bounced, follow these steps.

Step1: Click Analytics and then Reports.

Step 2: Tap View report.

Step 3: Click the link showing the bounced emails for this campaign.

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Step 4: On the Bounced page, click Bounce Reason for each email address you want to check.

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After clicking the Bounce Reason, you will see a report in a separate browser tab explaining the reason behind the bounced email.

With this information at your fingertips, you can maintain a clean email list, improve your sender reputation, and ultimately achieve lower bounce rates for your email campaigns.

Conclusion

Dealing with bounced emails might seem like a huge obstacle, but it's key to making your email marketing work better.

You can reduce bounce rates and improve your email deliverability by learning why emails bounce and following simple steps like using a custom domain, avoiding spammy words, and maintaining clean email lists.

Ready to reduce your bounce rate? Follow our tips and your future campaigns will thank you!

FAQ about a bounced email

How do I fix a bounced email?

Identify the type of email bounce, understand the causes, and take steps to fix them, such as optimizing email content or email authentication.

What is blocked vs bounced email?

The main difference between bounced and blocked emails is that the ESP accepts a bounced email that can't be delivered, whereas a blocked email is rejected and never sent.

What should I do with bounced emails?

You must fix bounced emails because they can significantly harm the overall effectiveness of your email campaigns.

Email Blacklists: What are They and How to Avoid Them?

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Strong communication with your email leads should be one of your main goals. But, being on the email blacklists won't help reaching this goal.

Keep in mind that 14.3% of all emails have been caught by spam filters. You don't want this to happen with your messages.

It can be one of the obstacles you should overcome to boost deliverability and ensure a winning email marketing strategy.

Luckily, our article will provide actionable tips on avoiding email blacklists and maintaining a solid email system.

Before exploring strategies for getting off blacklists, it's essential to understand what email blacklists are and how they impact your email campaigns.

What are Email Blacklists?

Email blacklists (also called DNS-based Blackhole lists) include IP addresses or domains associated with spam or suspicious content. Email service providers have live running blacklists trying to block spam and protect email recipients from receiving harmful messages.

Basically, those lists ensure only the most trustworthy senders' emails reach people's inboxes.

There are over 300 spam blacklists out there. It's quite a significant number, isn't it?

Below, we've put together the most common ones:

• Barracuda reputation block list
• Spamhaus block list (SBL)
• SpamCop
• URIBL
• SenderScore

Now that we’ve defined email blacklists and explored some common examples, let's break down the different types of blacklists you might encounter.

Main Types of Email Blacklists You Should Know

To find a solution for every problem, you need to find its core. Understanding blacklisted email reasons and the types of email blacklists can help you build tactics to avoid ending up on them.

So, let's discuss the most common types of email blacklists.

• IP-based blacklists

These lists target specific IP addresses known for sending spam. Your email address can be blacklisted if you send too many unwanted messages. Once an IP is blacklisted, emails from that address might be blocked or marked as spam.

• Domain-based blacklists

Domain-based blacklists include a list of domains marked for sending spam or harmful emails. Email providers use these lists to keep people's inboxes safe from unwanted messages.

• Public blacklists

Public lists are available to everyone, so anyone can view them from anywhere. Email providers use them to filter out spam messages. Your email address can get blacklisted if it is marked spam, gets a few complaints, or sends to spam traps.

• Private blacklists

On the contrary to public blacklists, private blacklists aren't available for the public, and only companies and businesses can manage them internally to protect their own systems and users getting blacklist emails. For example, a private blacklist can include email addresses that have violated a company’s terms of service or have been flagged by internal security protocols. Getting a private blacklist is extremely bad, as it may result in a complete loss of communication with a key partner or client.

• Spam Blacklists

Spam blacklists are lists of IP addresses or domains associated with sending spam or harmful emails. Email service providers use spam blacklists to filter out and block potentially dangerous emails.

Now that you know the different types of blacklists, it’s essential to learn how they can impact your business.

Let's find out together.

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How Do Email Blacklists Affect Your Business?

Email blacklists can negatively affect your business operations. Here are a few examples:

• Negative impact on email campaigns

You dedicate a lot of time and effort to creating outstanding email campaigns. Imagine how frustrating it can be if your email campaigns and promotions don’t reach your target audience’s inboxes because of being blacklisted. Basically, having a blacklist email address hurts the engagement rate, deliverability, and overall effectiveness of your email marketing campaigns.

• Damaged sender reputation

Being on the email blacklists also damages your sender reputation, which can lead to being marked as spam and having lower open rates.

Note: Fixing a damaged sender reputation takes time and effort. It not only affects the overall effectiveness of your current email campaigns but also harms your brand's credibility in the long run.

• Missed business opportunities

Emails are probably one of the main communication channels for connecting with your target audience. Imagine how many opportunities and money you lose if you have a blacklisted email address and your messages don’t reach them.

Considering the potential damage, it’s becoming essential to regularly check email blacklists.

Here's how you can quickly learn about your blacklist status.

How to Check If Your Email is Blacklisted

If you are concerned that your email might be blacklisted, several methods are available to check email blacklists.

You might get notifications from email service providers warning that your email has been blacklisted. But as it isn't always the case, you should do regular audits to ensure the health of your email system.

Firstly, check the reputation of your email server's IP address by using blacklist checkers. Use the most popular ones like MXToolbox's Blacklist Check, Barracuda IP Blacklist Checker, or GradeMyEmail Blacklist Checker to ensure your IP address isn't blacklisted. What is great about those tools is that they not only allow you to check email blacklists but also provide detailed blacklist information and suggest recommendations on how to solve issues.

Also, you can monitor the deliverability rate of your emails because a low rate can be a sign that your address is on email blacklists. To do this, send test emails to multiple email accounts to see where those messages go- the inbox, spam folder, or they get blocked. If your emails are blocked, it could mean you're on a blacklist. So, again use blacklist check solutions to find out if your email address is listed.

If you find that your email has been blacklisted, you’ll need to remove yourself from the blacklist immediately.

Here’s how.

How to Remove Yourself From Email Blacklists?

If you ever find out that you have a blacklist email address, remember that panicking isn't the best solution. So you should start the delisting process, which involves removing an email IP address or domain from an email blacklist. You should do that by taking the following steps:

• First, use blacklist checker tools to find out if your email address is blacklisted. Contact your email service provider if you don’t know which blacklist you're on.
• Reach out to the blacklist provider and request the removal of your IP address or domain from the blacklist.
• Complete tasks the blacklist provider may require, like building a double opt-in subscription process or explaining how you fixed the issues, such as spam complaints or poor email practices. Each email blacklist has its own removal process, so follow their specific instructions. Some require you to ask for removal, while others automatically take your domain off the list after a set time.

After you get removed from the blacklist, you need to carefully clean your email list. This is something we will cover next.

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Stay Off Email Blacklists with 6 Tips

While removing yourself from a blacklist is crucial, it’s even better to avoid being blacklisted in the first place.

Here are six tips to help you stay off email blacklists.

Keep Your Email List Healthy

Proper list management and a healthy email list are essential to avoid getting placed on email blacklists.

Below, you can find some valuable tips to keep your email list strong.

• Regularly clean your list

You need to remove inactive email addresses to maintain email list hygiene and ensure better deliverability of your messages. Don't forget to remove email addresses that keep bouncing, too, to keep your list healthy.

Plus, verify your email addresses and remove invalid or incorrect ones. Luckily, mailfloss email verifier can help you by automatically removing invalid addresses and keeping your list clean.

Lastly, you should send a verification link to email recipients so they can confirm that an email address actually exists and that they can receive emails.

• Send relevant and targeted content

People can mark your email address as spam, which may result in it being blacklisted if your messages are irrelevant. To prevent this, engage your audience with targeted and relevant content that meets their needs and interests.

Analyze your audience by collecting data. Then, segment your email list based on your subscribers’ preferences and behavior to create messages that resonate with them.

• Avoid spammy practices

You should stay away from spammy techniques as much as possible. It includes staying away from spammy words or phrases like "free," "guaranteed," and "limited time offer," or having misleading subject lines.

By following these helpful tips, you can prevent blacklisted email addresses.

Stop Manually Adding Email Addresses to Your Database

Remember, you should always have permission from email recipients before adding them to your contact list. If people don't let you send messages, they probably mark your emails as spam, increasing the chances of ending up on a blacklist.

Another reason you shouldn't manually add email addresses is preventing typos. This way, you make sure you don't send emails to non-existent addresses that bounce and can make you blacklisted.

Use Double Opt-ins

Using double opt-in forms is one of the most important steps to prevent fake emails, ensuring your subscribers are real and only valid email addresses are on your list. This step ensures your subscribers want to receive your emails, whether you're building a newsletter, sending promotional offers, or alerting them to new offerings.

In this process, users sign up and then confirm their subscription via email. Double opt-in forms ensure you only contact interested subscribers, which minimizes the chances of getting flagged as spam and getting on email blacklists.

Never Purchase Email Lists

Buying an email list can seem a quick and easy solution to improve your lead generation efforts. But those lists often contain fake emails or spam traps - something you should stay away from so you do not end up on the email blacklists.

It's true that building an email list from scratch takes time and effort, but all your hard work will pay off.

So, instead of purchasing lists, create newsletter signup forms with valuable incentives and unique landing pages that encourage people to subscribe to your inbox.

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Protect Your Server from Malicious Software and Bots

You must have security measures in place to protect your email server and domain. There are bots and malware out there that can try to hijack your domain.

These programs send fake emails that can get you blacklisted, even if you follow only ethical email practices.

To avoid this, you should update your email server's security to protect against these harmful bots and software. This way, you shouldn't have blacklist emails impacting your email marketing efforts.

Use Email Testing Tools

Finally, you can use email testing tools to keep your email list healthy and avoid email blacklists:

• Email deliverability checkers

Email deliverability checkers test SPF and DKIM records to identify and fix errors. They help authenticate your emails, which improves your chances of reaching the recipients' inboxes and avoiding spam filters and blacklists.

• Email validation tools

Email validation tools check if email addresses are correct and active. They also spot addresses that might cause delivery problems.

• Email subject line testers

Email subject line testers help you create compelling and engaging subject lines. They also check for potential issues that can trigger spam filters.

• Email preview and email copy tests

Those tests help to optimize your email content before sending your messages. This, in turn, ensures your emails look professional and effective, reducing the chances of them being marked as spam and ending up on the blacklist.

All these steps may be time-consuming, but your hard work will pay off because, in the end, you will have solid and healthy email communication.

To sum up

Whether you accidentally end up on the blacklist or didn’t follow proper email practices, there are steps you should take to avoid email blacklists.

Our article can be your guide during this journey. By following our tips, you can ensure the health of your email system and the success of your email campaigns.

Good luck with boosting your email marketing strategies, and stay tuned for more articles!

FAQ about email blacklists

How long does the blacklist last?

A blacklist can last for days to several months, depending on the severity of the issue. Blacklist duration varies by the provider's policies.

Where do blacklisted emails go?

Blacklisted emails are typically filtered into the spam or junk folder, quarantined, or blocked completely by the email system.

Email Marketing for Beginners

What is email marketing? Is email marketing important? How to do email marketing if you have no idea how it works and no time on your hands?

At least one of those questions has stolen a few hours from your sleep schedule. We’re not judging: it’s easy to lose sleep when no one’s buying anything from you. Those shoes and socks ain’t gonna buy themselves.

If you’re just getting started in email marketing, you may feel like you’re stepping into unknown territory. There are so many terms you don’t understand, and it all seems impossible to implement. Not to mention, expensive.

We’re here to help. It’s a lot easier than you might think.

We’ll get to the goodies in a moment. But when it comes to email marketing, rule number one is clear: the more people you can capture at the top of the funnel, the more will come out at the end.

Before you lose any more sleep, remember that your goal isn’t to convert every single person. Your goal is to convert as many leads as you can with your email marketing campaigns.

Finally, the part you’ve been waiting for:

What’s the Importance of Email Marketing?

If you’re a beginner beginner, you’ve just found gold. Here are all the things you never thought emails could do for you:

• Drive qualified traffic to your website. The people who have opted into your email list are ripe to get their hands on what you’re selling. If they click through a link you’ve added to one of your emails, you’re doing something right.
• Increase your sales. Done properly, email marketing creates a deep connection with subscribers; and you already know that brand preference equals a peak in sales.
• Connect with your audience at the right time. Email marketing software allows you to send emails based on behavioral triggers. This way, everyone from your list sees the right messages when they’re in the prime of interest.
• Provides a sky-high return on investment. eMarketer conducted a study that shows the average email marketing ROI is 122%. Other marketing channels can’t hold a candle to that.
• It’s actually inexpensive. If you can earn $42 from investing a single dollar in a marketing campaign, what’s stopping you from doing it?

Here’s something you may or may not want to hear: you’ll get the knack of email marketing as you go. No one likes taking the longer path anymore, but technology still can’t automate everything. That’s not as bad as it sounds.

A word of motivation: the email marketing software you’ll use will cut down a lot of the work. A lot.

Now that you know what to expect, you’re ready to get started.

First, Start a List

From your groceries to the planning of your day, everything starts with a list. Or at least it should.

As far as websites and emails go, a “list” means something rather different. Your list is the people who are going to be opening and hopefully reading your emails. The question is: How do you start one?

First, you need to know who you’re dealing with. You already sort of do. They’re your customers and your lurking potential buyers.

If your business has already had its fair share of sales and repeat customers, you know what they want and what they’d be happy to get. If you’re still unsure, it pays to dive into some research for when it comes time to develop your lead magnet. Try to find out:

• What your loyal customers love about your product or service.
• What your one-time customers loved about what they bought -- and why they didn’t buy anything else.
• What customers would like you to offer, but you don’t.

Why is that stuff important?

In the following topic, you’ll essentially learn how to bribe your website visitors for their names and emails. A good kind of bribe. In other words, you’ll put a lead magnet together.

To make it interesting, you’ll need to offer something valuable enough to them. Something you know they’ll accept. You should only get those answers from their mouths, otherwise, you’ll run the risk of offering something they’re not that interested in. Talk about a waste of time and investment.

It’s a life lesson right here. If you need to know something about your audience, ask them. Don’t get stuck in the curse of knowledge.

Since you still don’t have an email list you can use to survey or interview subscribers, you can grab that information by adding polls to your website and asking the questions you want to be answered. Tools like HotJar can help you with that.

On to the lead magnet.

Then, Create or Optimize Your Lead Magnets

More often than not, you’ll bump into the following pop-up lead magnet:

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It's not bad at all, but it doesn’t deliver. Plus, it sounds like an order. People don’t enjoy orders.

What else have you got? A free ebook that would otherwise cost them $20? A free consultation? A coupon? That’s more like it.

We like to say that lead magnets are AVS. We just made that up, but it’s easy to memorize. It stands for actionable, valuable, and short. The least you can do is offer something of value one single time since you’ll be sending content on a weekly or monthly basis.

Here’s the perfect example of an AVS lead magnet:

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There are tons and tons of lead magnet ideas out there. But this one is perfect as an excample because:

• It’s permission-based. See that red area? If they read that text and still provide their email address, they’re consenting to your emails.
• Still, it lets people know they can unsubscribe at any time.
• It’s short, and offers something valuable that people can get their hands on immediately after signing up.

Unsure about what content to create, and for what audience to create it? Don’t be shy to ask about readers' goals and preferences. This can help you write emails that matter to them.

Here’s a perfect example of how to do that:

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Got it? But that’s not all.

Pop-ups are cursed in the four corners of the world for a reason. They often wreck the whole browsing experience before visitors have had a chance to check a website out.

Prefer exit-intent pop-ups over traditional, intrusive pop-ups. They only show up when visitors are about to leave your site, which means they’ve had more than enough time to look for what they need.

By the way, lead magnets aren’t the only way to invite visitors to join your email list. Why not use your email list as a call-to-action on social media and on your blog posts? This will ensure you’re capturing as many visitors as you can, from every corner of the web.

Know Your Subscribers by Segment

Not all your subscribers are the same.

Some of them have been customers for a while. Some of them are brand-spanking new customers. Some have bought once and never bought again, while others are “just looking”.

Each of these segments wants something different from you.

In order to personalize and segment your audience, you need to know what they expect from your emails.

We’ll tell you what personalization means in just a moment. But first, you should understand that your audience covers:

• Leads
• Customers
• Inactive subscribers
• Raving Fans

Your leads have gone through your lead magnet and are part of your email list. They’re receiving your emails, and your goal is to nurture them with great email content until they’re ready to buy.

Your customers have already bought from you, so they need special treatment. They need to receive special discounts, earn a chance to participate in loyalty programs and get rewards every now and again.

Your raving fans are worth their weight in gold. They’re your repeat customers and the people who are the most engaged with your emails. They need special offers, discounts, and incentives created just for them (make that clear!). That’s the least you can do as a “thank you” for their continuous support.

Your inactive subscribers need a little push. Don’t take it personal. Most times, they’re too busy to even look at their emails. That’s what winback emails are for: to give them another chance to join the squad, or let them go if they want to.

Take a look at this unsubscribe slash winback email from Framebridge:

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See? No pressure at all.

Pick an Email Marketing Software

An email marketing software will be your right-hand assistant. Without it, none of what we’re talking about here would be possible.

For beginners, an email service must be two things: easy to use, and simple to understand.

Prefer software that offers 24/7 support from real team members, because you’ll have a lot of questions. That’s an affirmation. There’s nothing worse than sleeping with nagging doubts gone unanswered.

Plus, you’ll be lucky to have some time to get used to them without paying a dime. For instance, Constant Contact optimizes its offer with a one-month trial. An entire month! Mailchimp is just one of the many that offer a free plan up to 2,000 subscribers. If you’re a complete beginner, you’ll have a lot less than that.

Here are some software for you to compare:

• Constant Contact
• MailChimp
• Sendinblue
• MailerLite

Want unfiltered opinions? Go here to learn how to make the right choice.

Personalize the Hell Out of Those Emails

Once your list starts to grow, you’ll have to do more than just send emails.

By the way, note that “growth” is subjective here. Earning 100 subscribers is considered growth, and so is earning 2 subscribers.

If you want to make sure your emails are opened, read, and clicked through, personalizing them is the way to go. How can you do that?

There’s no better way of personalizing emails than to segment your list. Don’t worry about learning how to do it just yet -- the email marketing software you choose will automate most of the process.

Your job is to create content that feels personal. You know, content that makes leads feel like they’re not just someone else on your list. Here are a few tips:

Send behavioral emails. Include emails that are triggered based on a subscriber’s activity. Have they abandoned their cart? Boom, reminder email. It’s their birthday? Email (with a little gift inside). Have they earned a badge? Congratulatory email!

Again, don't worry. All you have to do is create the content -- the software will help do the rest ;).

On to the examples. Nothing says “aw, shucks” more than someone who remembers important dates. If your significant other won’t remember your anniversary, Naadam has got you covered:

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Grammarly here incentivizes users by wrapping up their weekly writing progress. Needless to say, every email is different for every user.

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Call them by their name. Open your inbox right now to see your name pop up multiple times. Doesn’t that look good? Match someone’s most personal aspect (their name) to an outstanding email, and they can’t help but listen. That’s why you should always refer to your audience by their first names.

Reach out at the right time. An email marketing software will let you view the date and time when your emails were opened. You’ve probably seen posts that dictate the right times to send emails, but the truth is, it all depends on your audience, time zone, and seasonality.

A Few Best Practices to Get You Going

According to Mailchimp, you shouldn’t use more than 9 words and 60 characters on your subject lines. Keep them short, sweet, and sexy, like in the following examples:

“Life gets crazy. So I saved this for you.” -- CoSchedule

They saved something for me? What could that be? Let me check, real quick.

Your shower is out of order -- Beardbrand

No, it’s not!… Is it?

Use large headings and content hierarchy in your copy. It’s great for both skimmers and the visually impaired.

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Make your emails readable. Don’t write huge chunks of text. Use lots of white space, and make your calls-to-action visible. Like this:

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That last line, by the way…

It hurts, but why not give people the chance to unsubscribe forever if they want to? It shows character.

Match email design with your brand. The good news: You’ll have a lot of custom templates to choose from. The bad news: with so many personalization tools available, it’s easy to have way too much fun with them.

Matching your emails to your branding is essential. Always make sure to personalize emails with your logo and branding.

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That darned owl. It’s Duolingo in all its splendor.

Finally, always check your email analytics. Remember we said you’d get the hang of it as you go? That’s what this part is all about.

You’ll only know what’s going well once you look at the numbers. The software you use will give you precious analytics to work with, including open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates.

Email Marketing is About One Thing, and One Thing Only…

And that thing is earning new customers.

You’ll connect with and nurture them later, but first, you’ve got to earn them. There’s a process to that, which involves everything you read above. All you’re doing is starting a bond, the same way you do when meeting someone new.

Although not everyone will buy your product, service, or course, the goal is to pack the top of the funnel so more people will come out of it.

Still wonder whether email marketing is worth it? Think of it this way: is earning new customers worth it to you? Then the answer is yes.

Email Format: Definition and Best Practices (+ Template)

There is a common misconception that email format doesn’t matter as long as you get the message across.

As shocking as it may sound, it actually does matter. In fact, it matters a lot.

With so many messages flooding our inboxes every single day, ensuring that your emails not only get noticed but also easily understood requires proper formatting.

One study even showed that over 347 billion emails are sent and received each day.  If I were you, I would do everything I could to ensure that mine stood out among those emails.

Since improving your email format is one way to achieve this, let’s learn about it, shall we?

Email Format Definition

So, what exactly is an email format?

In simplest terms, email format is the structure and organization of an email. It includes different elements within the email, such as the subject line, the body, the salutation, and the signature at the very end. Even the font or colors you use can be a part of the email format.

Some of the most common formats are:

• HTML emails: Great for crafting attractive emails with images, videos, and embedded links. In fact, emails with multimedia have the highest performance, according to research by HubSpot. So, next time you craft emails for your campaigns, take this into consideration to achieve better results.
• Multipart emails: It is the combination of HTML and plain text versions in one message. The HTML version can include colors, graphics, certain fonts and links, while the plain text part is well, plain.
• Rich text emails: A good balance between plain text and HTML. They provide basic formatting options, like bold or italic text.
• Text-only emails: These are simple emails without any images or formatting. Although they are easy to make and read and load faster, plain text emails might look boring.

Remember, the email format you use is just as important as your email content.

So, regardless of the purpose of your email, be it a sales pitch or a follow-up message, having a clear, organized, and correct format for email will have a positive impact on engagement and reply rates.

Why is Proper Email Format Important?

Formatting an email is not only about creating a visually pleasing message. It serves so much more than that.

• Professionalism: First, it shows the recipient that you’re professional and enhances your credibility, which is never a bad thing.
• Clarity and readability: Proper formatting makes the message easier for recipients to read and helps them understand the critical points quickly.
• Brand image and consistency: Adding branding elements like your logo, colors, and fonts in your emails helps you stand out and enhance your brand image.
• Enhanced engagement: The correct email format can help you grab your readers’ attention and interest, leading to increased engagement among your subscribers.

Now, imagine you send an email written in different fonts. The colors don’t match, there is no proper structure, and it’s hard to tell where the beginning and end of the content are.

Would you read that email and take it seriously?

Yes, I don’t think so, either.

This is why it’s so important to learn how to properly format an email, as a properly formatted email is more likely to help you achieve your goals. Even a simple email format can make all the difference and help you avoid spam traps, so don’t underestimate it.

Before we discuss how to format your emails, let’s explore the main components of email format to help you better understand how to write clear emails.

Standard Email Format Components

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We have learned what a proper email format is and why it’s so important, so now, let’s quickly go through some of the main components of a standard email format.

• Subject Line: A concise and informative summary of the email's content is usually the first thing the recipient sees, so make sure to make it as engaging as possible.
• Salutation: A greeting addressed to the recipient by name (e.g., Dear [Name, Surname]). It’s important to address whoever you’re writing to politely and correctly; otherwise, your email might be immediately ignored.
• Body Content: This is the main message of your email, where you should clearly state your point. When formatting emails, remember that people don’t have much time, so avoid beating around the bush and get straight to the main point.
• Closing: This is where you wrap up your thoughts, express gratitude, and include a call to action. Here, remind the reader why you are writing and provide any extra information. Also, make sure to use “Best,” “Regards,” or “Sincerely” to end your email.
• Signature: Don’t forget to add your contact information, including name, title, company, and phone number. You can also include a brand logo and links to your social media accounts.

Email Format: 6 Best Practices to Follow for Success

So, how to format an email?

We don’t want to keep you waiting anymore.

It’s time to head to the next section of our article, where you will learn how to properly format your emails.

Let’s start!

1. Define the Purpose of Your Email

As with any other strategy, the first and arguably the most important step is to clearly define the goals you’re trying to achieve with these emails and craft them using the proper email format.

Whether you are asking for information, proposing an idea, following up on a previous conversation, or simply sharing news, defining a clear purpose for your email  is essential, and here’s why:

• Focus and Clarity: Having a clear purpose keeps your email focused and prevents rambling. You'll know exactly what information to include and what to leave out.
• Increased Efficiency: A well-defined purpose saves you and the recipient time. You won't waste effort writing unnecessary information, allowing the recipient to grasp the essence of your message and respond accordingly quickly.
• Improved Response Rates: It’s easier for the recipient to understand what you want them to do, which increases the likelihood of getting a response.
• Reduced Misunderstandings: Stating your email reason clearly =  better communication and fewer misunderstandings.

So, before you send an email, ask yourself:

• What's the real goal of this email?
• Does every sentence support that goal?
• Am I using the correct format to share my message?

This way, you might catch yourself going off-track or missing vital elements.

Remember, a focused email is more likely to get the response you want.

2. Write Clear Subject Lines

The subject line is the first impression. First impressions matter, right?

In this part of the email, you must do everything possible to grab the recipients’ attention.

Here are some tips to help you master writing subject lines that result in clicks.

• Be concise, informative, and, most importantly, action-oriented. Clearly communicate why you are writing, but don’t go too crazy explaining what the whole email is about, as you only get 50 characters here.
• Keep a balance between intrigue and clarity. Use catchy language while maintaining clarity. A strong subject line should spark curiosity while accurately reflecting the email's content.
• Use strong action verbs that clearly show the email’s purpose. These verbs often portray the action you want the recipient to take, like “buy,” “subscribe,” “confirm,” etc.
• Avoid overcapitalizing words and using too many exclamation points. While these seem like good ideas initially, they can cause your email to end up in spam folders, which is something you should avoid at all costs.

Remember, you have seconds to hook your readers and get them to at least click on your email; subject lines are your only chance here.

3. Create a Compelling Email Body

You probably took our advice and crafted the perfect subject line. What’s next?

Well, you have to keep the recipient's interest! The email's body text is the only thing that can help you with this.

First things first, you must start the message with a greeting like:

“Dear [Name]”

“Hello [Name]”

If you’re unsure of the recipient’s name, you can also use more generic greetings like:

“Dear Sir (Madam)”

But if you can find out their name, make sure to include it, as this will add a more personal touch to your message.

Then, if this is your first time reaching out to this person you must include a short introduction in your email format. It tells them who you are and highlights what you want from them.

It might read,

"My name is [Your Name], and I'm the [Your Title] at [Your Company]. I'm writing to you today to..."

Now that this part is clear, continue explaining and elaborating on the details of your message. In this section of the email format, use simple language and avoid complex terms that can confuse your readers.

Make sure the flow of your text is logical, and break it down into a couple of paragraphs for better readability.

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At the end of your main content, add a CTA (call-to-action). It points the reader right in the direction of what you want them to do.

For example:

"Please let me know if you have any questions or require further information."

"I would be grateful if you could review this proposal by [date]."

The closing of your email might be as important as the beginning. You can use common phrases like “Best Regards” and “Looking forward to your reply,” as well as spice it up using something not-so-generic.

Also, thank them for the time they took to read your email and include some words of appreciation at the end of your email format.

For example:

“Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

Or

“I appreciate you taking the time to review my email. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.”

Now that everything's set, let's focus on email etiquette—a crucial step before sending your messages.

4. Pay Attention to Email Etiquette

It is no secret that maintaining proper email structure and etiquette is essential for positive and effective communication. It ensures your message is received well, avoids misunderstandings, and portrays you in a respectful light.

Let’s look at some key points to remember when sending an email.

• Professional Email Address

Your email address should be appropriate for business communication.

Ideally, a professional email address includes your name and your company domain [e.g., name.surname@company.com]. You must also verify your email address to ensure your messages are delivered and build trust with the recipient.

This is a small but essential part of learning how to format an email.

• Consider File Size

Be mindful of the size of attachments you include with your email. Large files can take a long time to download and clog up the recipient's inbox.

• Mind Your Tone

The tone of your email should be respectful. Avoid overly informal language in your email format, slang, or humor that might be misinterpreted even in casual workplace settings. Maintain a neutral and upbeat tone throughout your message if you want to maintain proper email formatting.

This is especially important when emailing your whole list, as you can’t tailor it much. Before sending messages in bulk, it's important to follow good email hygiene practices and organize your email lists. This will help you ensure your emails reach actual recipients who are actually interested.

• Use "Reply All" Strategically

The "Reply All" function can be a time-saver when responding to group emails. However, use it carefully. We’ve all misused it at some point, but that doesn’t mean we should keep doing so.

5. Add Relevant Links or Attachments

Want to make your emails pop even more? Add some links and attachments!

Including relevant links or attachments in your emails can be a powerful way to enhance your message and provide the recipient with additional information.

However, it's crucial to use this strategy carefully to avoid overwhelming the recipient, cluttering their inbox, or, worse yet, changing the email deliverability rates negatively.

If you decide to include attachments in your email format, add only things relevant to your message that the recipient will definitely need. Avoid attaching unnecessary documents or overloading the email with information.

Also, make sure to mention in the body of your email that you have attached a file and explain what it is. Moreover, don’t forget to name those attachments and use names that accurately reflect their essence.

If the file is too large or you don’t want to include it as an attachment, links are here to save you! This can be particularly useful for publicly available information or frequently updated documents.

Linking keeps your email concise and ensures the recipient can access the most current version of the information.

Remember, the goal is to provide additional information that strengthens your message, not overwhelm the recipient with unnecessary files.

6. Double-Check Your Emails

You must always double-check emails before hitting send. Your email format might seem perfect, and you might be completely confident that you made no mistakes, but sometimes, the most minor details slip out.

Taking a few minutes to read your email can save you time, embarrassment, and even potential misunderstandings.

We already discussed using tools to help you, but let me give you some more tips on avoiding all this.

One way to check for mistakes is to read your email out loud. Reading your email aloud can help you catch awkward phrasing, typos, and clarity issues you might miss while silently reading.  Don’t do this while sitting in a room full of people out of the blue, though; just saying.

You can also take a break after you have an initial draft and come back later to skim the text with fresh eyes.

And, speaking of a fresh pair of eyes, ask a colleague to go through the email. A second opinion never did any harm, did it?

There you have it; after all of this, there is no way any typo or other issue survived.

Email Format Template and Example

It might be challenging to format your emails, which is why we have prepared a detailed template for you:

Let’s closely examine what a professional email format looks like:

Subject line: Your subject line should be short, concise, and summarize your email content.

Greeting: It’s a common way to start your emails using “Dear [First & Last Name]” or “Dear [Mr./Mrs. Last Name].”  However, you can use other options depending on who you write to.

First paragraph: The first paragraph of your email is decisive. It’s where you should introduce yourself and clearly state why you are reaching out. Whether you’re following up, applying for a job, or offering a service, the first few sentences of your email should emphasize that.

Second paragraph:  Here, you need to go into more detail about the reason for your message. If you’re offering a product, you can describe how your product solves the recipient’s pain points.

Third paragraph: Conclude your email by thanking the recipient for their time and consideration. Be polite and respectful, but don’t act like they’re your best friend or like you’re doing them a huge favor by getting in touch.

Closing: “Sincerely/Best Regards/Best/etc. [Your First & Last Name]”

Signature: (First & Last Name)(Your email address). You can also add your phone number and links to your LinkedIn account, which are both optional.

This is just one example of how to format emails easily and efficiently but feel free to add your tone of voice and elements.

To illustrate this email format in practice and help you better understand how to format emails, let's look at a follow-up email example to enhance your understanding.

Note: This example is for reference. We recommend you change it to match the tone and formality level for different recipients or occasions.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gJJCKLuWSFVn0XQHAmHMi5L9cvVPLyNmFP057XT0i7w/edit

This is just one of many different email format examples.  There are other types of emails, such as thank you or sales emails, and it’s important to use different email formats that fit each type.

A correctly formatted email, regardless of the type, can significantly impact your email campaigns.

So make sure to discover what is the correct email format for your needs and get writing!

Conclusion

Proper email formatting is not simply a preference; it’s a must.

By paying attention to the way you write your emails and following these email formatting best practices, you will definitely improve your email marketing game. From crafting clear subject lines to ensuring a polished final product, these steps will empower you to send impactful emails that get noticed and show results.

So, next time you start composing, take a moment to implement these practices and watch your email communication thrive.

FAQ about email format

What is the format of an email?

The format of an email is the structure and organization of an email.

How to write a formal email?

For a formal email, avoid the slang. Keep it clear and concise, using a proper subject line, greeting, and closing.

How do I politely finish an email?

Some of the most common ways to finish a formal email include “sincerely,” “best,” “kindly,” and “regards.”

What is the most popular email format?

Most popular email formats include welcome emails, sales, and follow-up emails.

Spam Folder: How to Avoid it In 7 Proven Ways

You work so hard on your new email campaign and put a lot of time into it. So you don’t want to see your emails landed in the potential leads’ spam folder. But if you don’t get any responses from your email subscribers and your engagement rates are low, we have bad news for you: your emails go to spam.

What is important to know is that more than half of all emails are spam, and you don’t want your messages to be in these statistics for sure and lost in the spam folder. Lucky for you, our article will give you tips on how to prevent emails from going to spam.

But before that, let’s discuss what a spam folder is.

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What is a Spam Folder?

A spam folder, also known as a junk or bulk folder, is a place where all your unwanted emails appear instead of reaching the inbox.

Email service providers check both email addresses and content, and when they notice anything suspicious, they don't let those messages reach people's inboxes. On top of this, email subscribers can report your messages as spam to clean their inboxes of unnecessary emails.

You need to avoid both cases. To reach that goal, first, you need to understand how spam filters work. So let's discuss that.

How Spam Filters Work

Different spam filters have different filtering technologies. They use many different criteria, like analyzing the sender's reputation and checking for suspicious content to check emails. Considering all these factors, they give a spam score, and based on this score, the email will pass through the filter and reach the inbox, or it will land in the spam box.

We have an idea of what a spam folder is and how filters work to detect spam emails, but what types of spam filters are out there that you should know about? It's time to discover that.

Types of Spam Filters

All spam filters, regardless of their type, aim to detect unwanted emails and keep people's inboxes clean and healthy. However, every spam filter has unique filtering criteria, and based on those criteria, there are these types of spam filters.

• Content filters

Those filters screen and check email content and decide whether or not to mark it as a spam email. When they notice money-related words, inappropriate language, or suspicious attachments, they mark your email as spam, and this is why your emails end up in a spam folder. So, you should keep your email content spam-free to ensure it reaches your email recipients' inboxes.

• Blacklist filters

Blacklist filters block messages from spammers who have been listed on the spammer's list. And because spammers can change their email addresses and domains, blacklist filters regularly update and evolve.

• Bayesian filters

Those filters learn email recipients' preferences and monitor what kind of emails they mark as spam emails. They create a group for trusted and suspicious addresses. If they send all messages from a certain sender as spam, a Bayesian filter can recognize this pattern, and these emails will automatically land in a spam folder.

• Header filters

Header filters automatically sort and manage emails based on the criteria email recipients set. These filters analyze information senders, subject lines, and headers. When noticing anything suspicious, they can automatically send these emails to a spam folder.

With the help of header filters, email recipients' inboxes remain free from unnecessary or suspicious messages. Basically, those filters make email communication stronger and healthier.

• Permission filters

Permission filters play an important role in helping emails avoid ending up in spam folders. Implementing those filters ensures that emails are sent to people who have agreed to receive them.

Thanks to permission filters, you shouldn't spam your email recipients and maintain a positive sender reputation. This can increase the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

• Challenge-response filters

Challenge-response filters verify senders and ensure their legitimacy. They ask you to provide a password or solve a puzzle to ensure that the message is coming from real people.

• Gateway filters

Spam gateway filters, like other types of filters, aim to detect and mitigate spam emails. Additionally, they prevent phishing, malware, and other security threats.

What's great about these filters is their regular updated to enhance functionality in identifying various security threats. They help to maintain email system security and health.

• Hosted spam filter

Hosted spam filters analyze email content and sender reputation, comparing them with lists of blocked senders to determine whether an email is likely to be spam. The filter also tries to identify phishing and spoofed emails. When it finds suspicious messages, it either rejects them or forwards them to the recipient, depending on the filter's settings.

Now, you might be curious about how to prevent emails from going to spam and passing through spam filters. We will cover this later, but now it's time to clearly understand why your emails go to spam instead of your inbox.

Why Emails Go to Spam Instead of Inbox

We already know what a spam folder is and how spam filters work, but you may wonder, “why are my emails being marked as spam?”

So, now it’s time to understand why emails keep going to spam and find five main factors that influence whether your messages land in the email spam folder or the inbox.

Unengaged Subscribers

A low engagement rate can be one of the main reasons that your emails are flagged as spam. Email service providers track engagement metrics and consider low engagement a sign that email recipients aren’t interested and can mark your future emails as spam. So, do everything in your power to ensure you successfully engage your subscribers.

Here are the steps you can take at this stage to ensure your email list stays engaged:

• Find your target audience.
• Segment your email list.
• Choose the best time to send your messages.
• Create compelling subject lines.
• Clean your list regularly.

These tactics can significantly reduce the chances of landing in a spam folder.

Bad Sender and IP reputation

Sender and IP reputation are the most important factors that spam filters consider when deciding whether to send emails to a spam folder. So, you need to analyze both your domain and IP reputation carefully.

There are several tools for IP and Domain reputation checks. These solutions will show how trusted your IP address is based on its email sending history. Additionally, they inform you about any email deliverability issues you might have. The next step is to perform a blacklist check using blacklist tools to determine whether your IP address is on a blacklist.

After discovering any issues with your sender and IP reputation, try to solve them as soon as possible to ensure your messages won't end up in the email spam folder. Having a positive sender and IP reputation and following essential email security practices gives you peace of mind that your emails won't land in the spam box.

Spam complaints

It’s almost impossible to escape from spam complaints. However, you have to avoid having spam complaints because they harm your email deliverability and lead to high spam scores. When email recipients mark your emails as spam, it signals to email service providers that they don’t want to receive your messages, so these emails end up in the spam folder.

Your job is to understand the reasons behind spam complaints. The most common reason is that the recipient doesn’t recognize your address or remember subscribing to your email list.

So, how to prevent email going to spam because of those complaints? Create memorable branding and ensure it reflects in your email campaigns. In addition, you should successfully generate email leads, engage them by sending personalized messages.

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Spammy Content

If your content looks spammy in the eyes of spam filters, most definitely, your messages will end up in the email spam folder. So, here are the things you should avoid to prevent emails from going to spam:

• Using spam triggers words such as “urgent,” “earn money,” and “limited time offer” in your email copy or subject line that sound too pushy.
• Spelling or grammar errors.
• Including too many exclamation marks.
• Adding many images to hide text.
• All caps or all lowercase letters because they can make your messages seem like junk mail.
• Having excessive links or suspicious attachments in the email content since scammers often link to malicious websites in their spam emails.

Avoiding these tactics and creating spam-free email content increases the chances of your messages successfully landing in the recipient's inboxes.

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Using Link Shorteners

Link shorteners might seem handy, but you should avoid them because a lot of spammers do it to hide malicious links and bypass filters.

If you use them, there's a good chance your messages will end up in the spam folder. Nobody wants that, right? Instead, go for the full, descriptive URL. It might look a bit longer, but it builds trust with your recipients. They'll appreciate seeing exactly where that link leads before clicking.

Sloppy HTML

Messy HTML is another common problem in spam emails.

This means the code behind the email is poorly written, which can make the email look weird or work improperly. Even if these emails don't get caught by spam filters, people might mark them as spam anyway.

To avoid this:

• Use email templates to keep your code tidy.
• Test your emails before sending them. Use tools to see how they look in different inboxes.
• Fix any errors found in the HTML.

Open URLs

Do you need to encourage your email subscribers to visit your website or provide them with more information about your products and services? Then, you should add a website link to your email.

You can use an open URL, which is a plain, typed-out web address that is not made into a clickable link or button. But this can be the reason why your emails are marked as spam.

So instead, use a clear call-to-action (CTA) button with a clickable link. This not only makes your messages cleaner but also minimizes the chances of being marked as spam.

Your Emails Lack a Plain-Text Version

One of the effective tactics to avoid looking spammy and appearing in spam folders is to add a plain-text version of your emails. Typically, email services allow you to add this easily when creating your message. Without a plain-text version, your emails might seem suspicious and end up in spam folders.

Plain-text emails are also essential for ensuring your messages can be read by screen readers, making them more accessible to everyone.

Your Emails Aren’t Authenticated

Another common reason why your emails end up in a spam folder is poor email authentication. So, one of your main tasks should be to authenticate your domain to show the email service providers that you are a legitimate business, not a spammer. But if you fail to properly authenticate your emails, you can’t expect successful communication with your email recipients.

Here are the main authentication protocols you should follow:

• DKIM- It helps verify that an email was actually sent by the domain it claims to be from and prevents spoofing and phishing attacks.
• SPF- This authentication protocol verifies that an email was sent from an authorized IP address.
• DMARC- It strengthens email security by combining SPF and DKIM to authenticate emails and verify they come from authorized sources.

Integrating these email security policies is key to not landing in a spam folder and having a high deliverability rate.

7 Ways to Prevent Emails From Going to Spam Folder

How to prevent emails from going to spam? Isn’t this the biggest question that concerns you? So, let’s explore seven effective tactics that will stop emails from going to spam.

1. Warm Up Your Email

You probably have an amazing new email marketing campaign you want to share with the world. But don't rush anywhere and warm up your email to avoid landing in a spam folder. This process involves sending a small number of emails to potential email leads and gradually increasing the number of emails each day.

Warming up your email can be time-consuming, but all hard work will pay off because, in the end, you will have high email deliverability, and your emails won't end up in the spam box.

2. Personalize Your Emails

Imagine you walk into a store, and the assistants greet you by name, remember what you bought last time, and offer something you might love.

Pretty nice, right? That's exactly what personalization can do for your emails.

It's not just about avoiding the spam folder (though that's a big plus). It's about making your subscribers feel like you're talking directly to them, not shouting into a crowd.

Start by getting to know your target audience. Where are they from? What do they usually purchase?

Once you've gathered the information, segment your email list into groups based on your findings. Then, write and send personalized emails that address each group's interests and needs.

Remember, when people feel like you know them, they're much more likely to open, read, and act on your emails - and much less likely to mark your emails as spam.

So go ahead, make it personal!

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3. Avoid Spam Trigger Words

Why my emails are going to spam? If this issue bothers you, the reason can be having some trigger words in your content. Your email content should be spam-free, and it shouldn't include words and phrases that can trigger spam filters.

We have already discussed how those filters carefully analyze all emails before letting them appear in people's inboxes.

So, avoid the following words in your emails:

• Promotional phrases

Extremely promotional words, like "Limited time offer," "Buy now," "Free," "100% free," or "Save up to," will trigger spam filters. Instead, you should use less aggressive language when promoting your offers and ensure your messages reach email recipients' inboxes.

• Money related terms

Spam filters may consider emails with financial words as scams. So, your email copy and subject line shouldn't include the words "Income," "Cash bonus," or "Earn money fast."

• Exclamation points

You shouldn't overuse exclamation points because they make your email look spammy.

Be careful of the language you use in your emails, and convey your message without spam trigger words to ensure they successfully land in your subscribers' inboxes.

4. Use a Reputable Email Service Provider

Using a reliable email service provider will ensure that emails won’t end up in the spam box. So, how to choose a provider that will help to reach that goal?

Reputable email service providers should have high delivery rates and include IP reputation and list management features and authentication protocols, that ensure your emails are delivered to the inbox.

Reliable email service providers usually offer deliverability monitoring so you can check if your email lands in a spam folder.

5. Clean Your Email List Regularly

A clean email list is one of the most important factors that can enhance your email marketing efforts. You should clean your email list regularly to boost your deliverability rate. The quality of your mailing list can directly affect your sender reputation and, consequently, the likelihood of your emails ending up in the spam folder.

Here are the steps you can take to make your email list healthy:

• Use mailfloss to clean your email list from inactive and invalid subscribers and improve email deliverability rates.
• Remove unengaged subscribers, as low engagement can harm your deliverability.
• Remove addresses that have bounced in the past. This will help to keep your list up-to-date and strong.
• Segment your email list to send more targeted and relevant emails, increasing deliverability.

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6. Make it easy to opt out or unsubscribe

You don't want to lose any email subscribers that can be potential customers. However, your emails should include an opt-out button so you can avoid getting spam complaints. Not only is it an ethical practice, but it is an effective way to increase the recipients' trust and ensure higher engagement rates.

Another important thing is to make the unsubscribe process as easy as possible so people can opt out with just a few clicks. If you make the unsubscribe process straightforward for people, you minimize your emails being marked as spam. This, in turn, improves your sender's reputation.

7. Create Compelling Email Content

Great content is the heart of successful email marketing. But if you're not sending content your subscribers actually care about, you might as well be talking to a brick wall.

So, how do you nail it? You just need to put yourself in your readers' shoes.

Maybe it's a killer deal they can't resist, or maybe it's a clever tip that solves a certain problem. Whatever it is, make sure it speaks their language and gives them real value.

But how do I know what they want, you may ask? It's easier than you think. Pay attention to what they click on, what questions they ask, and what problems they mention.

Your readers are constantly dropping hints - you just need to listen.

Remember, relevance is your secret weapon. Use it wisely, and watch your emails transform from "meh" to "must-read"!

To sum up

We all know how annoying it is when your thoroughly crafted emails end up in spam. But with the tips we've shared, you can increase your chances of landing in the inbox.

This is just one piece of the puzzle, though. The email world is always changing, so keep an eye on our blog for more practical advice to stay ahead.

Remember, great email marketing isn't just about what you write - it's about making sure your messages actually get seen.

So here's to more opens, more clicks, and more success with your emails.

FAQ about spam folder

Where can I see my spam folder?

You can see your spam folder in most email services by navigating to the folder list on the left-hand side of your inbox interface. It's typically labeled as "Spam" or "Junk."

Do I empty my spam folder?

Yes, you should empty your spam folder periodically to maintain an organized inbox and prevent important emails from being overlooked.

How long does spam stay in folder?

Spam typically stays in the folder for a certain period, often around 30 days, before it is automatically deleted by the email service provider.