How can I test my email campaigns to see if they will get hung up in spam filters?
Does anyone know of any websites where I can submit and test my upcoming email html/creatives to see the likelihood that my emails will get inadvertently filtered?
Typically, while I have opt-in email lists consisting of over 700,000 email addresses, my open rates are only around 5% and my click-through rates are around 3%.
Aside from avoiding words like "FREE", "DISCOUNT", "SALE" and many other obvious triggers, I'd like to see what how email marketing testing websites or software packages rate my campaigns before I send them.
Thanks!
Michael
Good Answers (3)
Tamara G.
Email Marketing Consultant, Trainer, Speaker & Author
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Hi Michael!
Your open rates seem to be pretty low compared to industry averages - at least for an in-house mailing list. Did you build this list yourself or have you rented/bought these lists?
While I think it's a good idea to run your email through a spam checker, I would advise you to also set up a couple of test email accounts in Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and some of the other big ISPs. You should then test-run your emails to these accounts before the actual launch of your campaign. That way you can actually see for yourself if the email arrives in the inbox, in the junk folder or not at all.
I would also advise you to check if the IP address through which you send your emails isn't blacklisted.
While avoiding spammy words is still the way to go in a B2B environment, it is no longer enough when the bulk of your mailinglist has a web email account (such as Hotmail/MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Gmail...). Why? Because for these ISPs the "reputation" of your IP address is much more important than your content. Ever heard of Sender ID, DomainKeys or SPF? If not, I suggest you get yourself familiar with these terms as they are crucial when it comes to email deliverability.
Hope this helps!
Tamara
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Marty M. F.
Helping my clients grow their business and make more money
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For checking one or two emails, SiteSell has a tool you can cut and paste into (Link #1 below)
For commercial/enterprise applications, I've used SpamAssassin with pretty good results (Link #2 below)
Good luck!
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Jay H.
CEO, The Annuitas Group
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Here are two...
http://spamcheck.sitesell.com
www.emailreach.com
If you're open rates are that low from an opt-in list, you may want may want to...
-Assess your data (is it old, obsolete, etc.)
-Review your offer/creative, etc. Is it enticing enough?
-Consider your frequency. Are you a resounding gong or a clanging symbol?
Just a thought...
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More Answers (4)
Christopher B.
CEO SensorPro Research
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Michael
Tamara has nailed this for you. It's really down to IP reputation.
if your subscribers are Hotmail look at the guidelines for Hotmail deliverablilty below. It also describes how you can see your IP reputation live with SNDS. If AOL then your messages need to be formatted differently.
Are you using a shared IP or dedicated? This could have an impact for a large mailer. If you wish, send me an example email (as a subscriber) and I will have a look.
Chris.
Links:
I've had good success using Return Path's tools. Return Path checks individual messages against desktop, server and gateway filters. Since each filter can have its own triggers ("worth" might trigger one, but not another), Return Path lets you know the percent of filters passed and give the overall Spam Assassin score.
Return Path also renders your messages in a variety of email clients, meaning you don't have to set up and check multiple email accounts to test your messages.
For a list that size, you are probably already using an email service provider, but just in case you're not, I can recommend Bluestreak's ionMX.
Links:
Gavin A.
Sports Nutritionist and writer at Sports Nutrition Vlog
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Is the list a double optin list.
This will affect the deliverability rates if you are using a proprietary mailing system.
Gavin
Wallace J.
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This is where viral marketing kicks in. Ascertain and extract the 5% and that those 35,000 users and send them something so cool that they send it to all their friends (inherently trusted e-mails and not spam!) and they to theirs and so on... Now that PDFs are rich media enabled the X!Factor that can be done via viral marketing is virtually unlimited. Good Luck! WJ
