Can one really get through those SPAM filters?

By Anubhav Sinha
Posted Sunday, July 4, 2004

The e-mail marketing scenario has certainly changed over the past year or so (the most significant changes being the increase in e-mail blocking and filtering). These changes have resulted in updates to e-mail marketing best practices that all legitimate e-mail marketers should follow. The difference is that some of these practices are now required by law. An innumerable amount of SPAM complaints have forced the law to enforce certain norms that should be complied to so as to keep your business out of disputes. Hence, there are certain precautions which are recommended to keep your marketing campaigns unblocked and on the other hand law friendly.

There are a couple of questions which need to be answered before you press that send button:

Are you using a good permission policy?
Make sure you have a preexisting business relationship and/or affirmative consent i.e. the recipient of your e-mail has made a purchase, requested information, responded to a questionnaire or a survey, or had off-line contact with you and that he/she has been clearly and fully notified of the collection and use of his/her e-mail address and has consented prior to such collection and use.

Now, coming to the "From" and "Subject" part of the e-mail:

Does your "From" line include your company name or brand?
Is your "Subject" line the right length? (5-8 words, 40 characters including spaces)
Does your "Subject" line describe a specific benefit?
Does your "Subject" line include your brand?
Does your "Subject" line create a sense of urgency?

After implementing the above, the body of the e-mail comes into action:

Mailing to a targeted audience eliminates the chances of being filtered in the future. Is your e-mail personalized with the recipient's first name, last name or both, if appropriate? With respect to the above, it should also be kept in mind that the consent has been taken to collect the recepient's details.

According to the law, all the e-mail campaigns should include a way for recipients to unsubscribe or opt-out. This can be in the form of a link or instructions provided anywhere in the e-mail And the most important of all, unsubscribe requests must be handled within 10 days of the request. Apart from this, the law also requires you to include your physical address in the e-mail campaign. Follow these and you are a legitimate business in the the e-mail arena. Remember, when your answer is "yes" to these questions, you are ready to hit the send button and maximize your success.

About the Author
Anubhav Sinha is the webmaster and creator of lead-solutions.com which is a reknowned newsletter in the field of internet marketing and advertising. For more information on legitimate online marketing practices, visit (www.lead-solutions.com).