Oklahoma City Web Design

I'm assuming you already have a rockin' newsletter, branded to your company. I'm also assuming that you already have a Marketing Campaign Management Software to help you effectively collect recipients and distribute newsletters. If you don't then let me give a shameless plug for our Traffik system. It truly is a one stop shop for eMarketing. You can sign up for a free demo at http://www.playintraffik.com.


With that out of the way, you have a regular newsletter ready to email to the masses. You need to grow your list and you need to ensure that it actually arrives in the inbox - not the spam folder. Two big problems that could make your endeavor a big waste of time.

Let's tackle both since they are closely related.

First, we strongly recommend and adhere to the notion of Double Opt-in. This means that once a user signs up for our newsletter, they receive a notification via email that notifies them that they are about to be added to our mailing list. To complete the process they must click a link in the email to confirm they want added to the list. This keeps you from adding me to a mailing list simply because you know my email address. Unfortunately these emails can often wind up in the spam folder which results in them never being added to the list.

The spam folder is often the final resting place of your newsletters as well. Let me stress that even by following double opt-in practices and sending out wanted material to users doesn't always keep you off the spam radar.

You see where this is going. You need to know how they determine the good from the bad.

Essentially its this: Spam filters are now used by your recipients' Internet Service Provider (ISP) and often-times on their computer. These programs give each email a "score" based on a list of words and phrases that they deem to be high risk. The score is cumulative meaning the more words on the list, the less likely your email will arrive in their inbox.

Here's a list of the top 20 words and phrases to avoid in your eMarketing:

   1. amazing
   2. cancel at any time
   3. check or money order
   4. click here
   5. congratulations
   6. dear friend
   7. e-mail marketing
   8. for only ($)
   9. for free
  10. great offer
  11. guarantee
  12. increase sales
  13. order now
  14. promise you
  15. risk free
  16. special promotion
  17. this is not spam
  18. to be removed
  19. unsubscribe
  20. winner

Although there are other words and phrases that mean instant death (sexual references, etc.) these are some you may not have considered.

How can you be sure how your eMarketing stacks up?

You can visit http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker to check your content against a popular Anti-Spam database called Spam Assassin.