How to Avoid Landing in Spam

Importance of Email Authentication

Email authentication is the process of verifying the origin and integrity of an email. With new changes to Google as of Feb 1, 2024, this is now, essentially, necessary to be able to email scale.

It involves implementing mechanisms such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance). These authentication protocols add credibility to your emails and help ISPs identify legitimate senders.

Understanding IP and Domain Reputation

Your sending IP and domain reputation directly impact how ISPs perceive your emails. It's crucial to maintain a good reputation by adhering to best practices, avoiding spammy behavior, and monitoring your sender score. Regularly check your IP and domain reputation through reputable email deliverability tools to stay on top of any potential issues.

PS: Additional $10 domains from Namecheap or GoDaddy certainly won’t hurt!

Navigating Email Spam Filters

Email spam filters are designed to protect recipients from unwanted or malicious emails. They use a combination of algorithms, heuristics, and blacklists to analyze incoming emails. They assess factors such as sender reputation, email content, subject lines, and recipient engagement.

And while they serve an important purpose, they can also sometimes flag legitimate emails as spam. To increase your chances of bypassing spam filters, consider the following tips:

Understanding how spam filters work can help you tailor your cold emails to increase deliverability.

1. Use reputable email service providers (ESPs) that have established relationships with ISPs.
2. Avoid using excessive capitalization, exclamation marks, or excessive repetition of words in your email content.
3. Regularly update your email list to remove invalid or inactive email addresses.
4. Include a clear and easy unsubscribe option, as this reduces the likelihood of recipients marking your emails as spam.

Maintaining a Healthy Email List

List hygiene refers to the practice of regularly cleaning and managing your email list to ensure that it consists of active and engaged recipients. By removing invalid or inactive email addresses and reducing spam complaints, you improve the overall health and deliverability of your cold emails.

Strategies for Regular List Cleaning

To maintain a healthy email list, consider implementing the following strategies:

1. Regularly remove bounced email addresses from your list.
2. Monitor engagement metrics such as open rates and click-through rates to identify inactive subscribers.
3. Implement re-engagement campaigns for subscribers who haven't interacted with your emails for an extended period.
4. Provide value and relevant content to keep subscribers engaged and reduce the likelihood of them marking your emails as spam.

These strategies are all simple to implement. All that this will require is a bit of your time and attention to detail. Given the investment, you can very significantly improve your cold email deliverability and increase engagement rates. An entirely new channel with meaningful results, readily available for your business.

Close more deals, and close deals faster, by getting a cold email channel implemented now.