You're a regular reader of this blog (or you're about to become one! Welcome to Datavenutre!). So you've become a master of e-mail acquisition...
Your latest campaign has finally gone live, and its deliverability is excellent. The Christmas bonus is yours!
But here's the thing... the open rate is very low, which is very unusual compared to the KPI's observed on your previous campaigns..
As a good analyst, you immediately tell yourself that you've surely been the victim of a SPAM arrival... Impossible, " Surely Not To Me!".
And yet, an e-mail may be perfectly delivered to an Internet user, but end up in SPAM and not in the main mailbox! Worse still. You've tested your mail reception on different webmails, and yet the perfect e-mail ends up as SPAM!...
ISPs and e-mail providers have significantly tightened their anti-spam policies, with Internet users being swamped by advertising messages. But don't panic. We'll tell you how to avoid digital purgatory and spoil the whole family this Christmas with your special year-end KPI's bonus!
To get the full picture, let's take a look at the main reasons why bad reputations are put to the test...
But why did this admirable email end up as spam?
There are two main reasons why an email qualifies as SPAM and lands in the wrong box:
- Spam spam filters set up by email servers (Gmail, OVH, Orange etc) or email clients (Outlook, Thunderbird, etc) systematically and automatically deliver certain emails to the Junk box;
- Some Internet users qualifying certain e-mails as undesirable (from the above-mentioned players) help to enrich the spammers' database and to constantly "improve" anti-spam filters.
Which indicator lets you know if your email is classified as spam?
his is the SPAM Score(SPAM Score if you want to show off a bit, or if, of course, you're working in English!) It's awarded by providers and their anti-spam filters. Unlike Scrabble, the higher your score, the worse it is!
Your e-mail is classified according to certain criteria and rules. By complying with a certain number of best practices, you won't be considered the ugly duckling of e-mail!
Several tools can help you estimate the Spam Score of your emails. One of our favorites is https://www.mail-tester.com
What can you do to rectify your emails and escape the spam box?
You now know your Spam Score. Now it's time to test all the elements (one by one for each test mailing) that could potentially prevent you from passing the filters... It's tedious, of course, but it's the price you have to pay to be sure of getting into... the main box!
Here are six potential troublemakers to keep an eye on, to put the odds in your favor:
- Identification standards : presence of valid DKIM, SPF, DMARC?
- The object : is it potentially blocking? Does it contain spammy words?
- The message body: does it also contain blocking elements such as spammy words, the absence of an unsubscribe link, the presence of JavaScript content, iframes or the absence of alt tags on images? Have you taken care to balance the image/text ratio? Are any links broken?
- The message : a problem with the sender? has the domain name been blacklisted? and are the IP address or the reply address respectable? is the email too heavy?
- The performance of my previous mailings : have you taken good care of your e-reputation? You may have been penalized in a previous mailing, which is why you're now showing up as SPAM. Check what could have penalized you: the presence of a spam trap, a high complaint rate, a party that got a bit too drunk, etc.
- Recipients : All addresses must be Opt-in ! This will prevent you from being flagged as spam by Internet users and save you from possible torment with the CNIL/GDPR !
Follow this essential checklist during the test phases before launching your email and see your KPI's improve significantly, avoiding the hateful oubliettes of the Spam box.
