I have been blogging recently about how Realtors and builders are not getting the results that they once enjoyed from their emarketing efforts. See the posts Email Marketing: Have we Killed the Golden Goose Part I & Part II - Improving Your Open Rate.
To recap, fewer emarketing messages are getting opened by consumers. Many are bouncing either because the "e-address" is no longer valid, the mailbox is over quota, or the subscriber’s account has been suspended by the provider due to lack of use, but the biggest challenge facing marketers today is getting past the spam blockers.
In the previous posts I made some recommendations to help you get your mail opened by creating credibility with your list of subscribers, such as using an opt-in system, segmenting your database, and targeting those segments with content relevant to the subscriber. When I use segmentation to target my database, people are more likely to let me know that they have made a change since they are interested in receiving relevant material from us.
How to Get your Offer or Message Past the Spam Blockers
Some SPAM filters use a point-based system to flag key words in your email. As you use certain words or punctuation or symbols, the points add up, and even though your subscriber may want to receive your message or offer, by innocently tripping the spam filters you will get a false positive and your email may be blocked.
Below is a list of words and symbols that you should not use in either the body or title of your email. I recommend that you use a SPAM CHECKER, prior to sending your email to see your score. Also, set up a couple of email accounts for yourself with yahoo, aol, hotmail, etc. (do not put them into your address book) and send a test message to yourself to see if it gets past the gate.
How many of these you have inadvertently been using in your emails?
As I continue to compile the list, I'll post an update when the additions merit a revision. If you know of any additional words or phrases that we are likely to use in the real estate, mortgage and home building industries, please let me know and I will add them to the list.
This is a list of almost 200 words or phrases that SPAM TRIGGERS that are often used in email marketing.
% symbols
$ symbols (such as Save $, Make $, $xxx,xxxx)
1-800
1-888
Accept credit cards
Accept credit cards
Acceptance
Accordingly
Act now! Don't hesitate!
Ad (Contains word)
Additional income
Addresses on CD
All New
Amazing
Apply now
Apply Online
As seen on
Auto email removal
Avoid bankruptcy
Be amazed
be considered spam
Be your own boss
Being a member
Below is the result of your feedback form
Big bucks
Billing address
Billion dollars
Bonus
Bulk email
Buy (direct, recommendation)
Buying judgments
Call (free, now)
Calling creditors
Can't live without
Cannot be combined with any other offer
Cash (bonus, in on)
Cents on the dollar
Certified
Check or money order
Claims not to be selling anything
Claims to be in accordance with some spam law
Claims to be legal
Claims you are a winner
Claims you registered with some kind of partner
Click (below, here)
click here (for removal, to be removed,)
Compare rates
Compete for your business
Confidentiality assured
Congratulations
Consolidate debt and credit
Credit bureaus
Credit Card (#, offers)
Custom quote
Dear (email , friend,home owner, fellow entrepreneur, somebody)
Deleted from further communication
Different reply to address than the sending email address
Direct (email. Marketing)
Discount
Discusses search engine listings
Do it today
Don't delete
Double your income
Drastically reduced
Earn (extra cash, per week)
Easy terms
Eliminate (bad credit, debt)
Email marketing
Excluded from our mailing
Extra income
Fantastic deal
Fast cash
Featured on tv
Financial freedom
Financially independent
Find out anything
For (free, instant access, just "some amount", instant removal)
Free (access, debt, call, consultation,cruise, gift, info, investment, leads, membership, offer, preview, quote, trial, sample) Free money,
Full refund
Future (mailing, promotion)
Get (out of debt, started now, your free sample)
Gift certificate
Great Offer (or Deal)
Guarantee, Guaranteed
Have you been turned down?
Hidden assets
In accordance with laws
Income from home
Increase (sales, traffic)
Increase your revenue
Incredible deal
Info (or information) you requested
Insurance
Internet market
Investment decision
It's effective
Join millions of Americans
Joke of the day
Limited time only
Lower (interest rates, monthly payment)
Lowest price
Marketing solutions
Mass email
Message (contains disclaimer)
Message has reached you in error
Message is being sent in full compliance (or any variation of this)
MLM
Money (back, making)
Month trial offer
More Internet traffic
Mortgage rates
Multi level marketing
Name brand
New customers only
No (catch, cost, credit check, disappointment, experience, fees, gimmick )
No (inventory, investment, middleman, obligation, questions asked, strings)
Not intended
Off shore
Offer expires
Offers (coupon, extra cash)
Once in lifetime
One hundred percent (free, guaranteed)
One time (mailing, message)
Online (marketing, promotion)
Opportunity
Opt in
Order (now, status)
Outstanding values
Pennies a day
Please read
Please respond
Potential earnings
Print out and fax
Prizes
Produced and sent out
Profits
Promise you
Pure profit
Reached you in error
Real thing
Receive this message (or any variation)
Received this email (in error, by mistake, etc.)
Receiving this (special offer, email because, message)
Refinance home
Remove, removed or removal (phrases that contain the word remove: to be removed from our list me, request, you @, from, or any variation)
Requires initial investment
Reserves the right
Respond
Risk free
Round the world
Satisfaction guaranteed
Save ($, big money, up to)
See for yourself
Sent in compliance
Serious (cash, only)
Shopping spree
Sign up free today
Social security number
Special (offer, promotion)
Statement
Strong buy
Subject to credit
Subscribe
Take action now
Talks about hidden charges
Talks about prizes
Tells you it's an ad
Terms and conditions
The best rates
The following form
This message is not spam ( or junk, or any variation of that phrase)
This message is sent in compliance (or any variation)
To be deleted from our database
Unlimited
Unsecured credit/debt
Urgent (Information you requested, Important information regarding)
US dollars
Vacation offers
Visit our website
Wants credit card
We hate spam
We honor all
Weekend getaway
What are you waiting for?
Why pay more?
Will not believe your eyes
Winner
Winning
You have been selected
Your income
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WOW, that is a great list of words! I would like to be able to print out that list of words, however, I need permission from you as copyright law's do apply...would you mind?
Karen, I hope you will print it out and use it. Good luck on your email campaigns.
Happy Marketing!
Super words, thanks for sharing, must have taken you forever to type those
Dave
Thank you for the permission...this list is long and I didn't realize some of them...so this is a great post and thank you!
Thanks, Dave. Hope they help you. You might want to check out those other posts. Email marketing has become quite the challenge. You can no longer just send out a couple of thousand emails and expect results. Although it is cheap to send out thousands of emails to your database, your time is worth far more. The effort result equation just doesn't work without doing a few other things to insure that people open your emails.
Grat post and very good advice, thanx Deborah. the more help we all get and give for our biz the better for all. I hope more will reply to thie post and give what they know. Marketing and growing your biz is very hard and $$ to do and with AR it will get easier and cheaper, Thanx, Chuck.
Thanks, Chuck. It is important to give back and share what we know. No one knows it all, and you never know when someone will throw something new out there or remind you of something you have long forgotten.
Hope the list helps you to retool and refine your email strategies.
Deborah
Deborah, thanks for the list. (Maybe they should add "Replica Watches" "Lottery" "Finance Minister of Nigeria") I'll avoid using the words off the list when possible.
Thanks for the list! I think there are also certain colors also that raise a flag: red on signature line and "?" on the subject line. Thanks again! We need all the info we can get!
Thanks, Meli. Check out my earlier post where it says to stay away from ALL CAPS, etc.
Thanks for the information. I had no idea how spam filter worked, but now that i do, I'll be very careful with what i put into my e-mail.
Thank you for your post. That's great advice and warrants further research. I am working on building a data base of email subscribers who give permissin to receive my email newsletter in advance in order to avoid spamming. I will ask them to include my email in their address book and give them an opportunity to "opt out" at any point in time.
I am also researching mass email programs that will send out individual emails automatically instead of having to send out "mass emails" to multiple recipients. I am looking for a program that will give me feedback on whether or not the mail was opened, etc.
As a Realtor, I do want to respect the privacy of my clients and potential clients and can least afford to upset people that I could have an opportunity to work with in the future.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for taking the time to comment.
Amazing how many of those phrases we use in our emails. Watch out for CAP and BOLD letter, red letters and more. Take a look at Email Marketing: Have We Killed the Golden Goose - Part 1 and Have we Killed the Golden Goose Part II - Improving Your Open Rate for more tips and info that may be of help you to.
Hope all of your ecampaigns are successful ones!
Thanks for your comments, Jon.
Personalization is one of the keys to improving your emarketing results, and you might also want to think about making your messages targeted to different segments of your listbased on their needs. If you keep your content relevant to your prospects, they are less likely to unsubscribe. I posted some tips to help you get better results in Email Marketing: Have We Killed the Golden Goose - Parts I and Parts II - Improving Your Open Rate.
Hopefully these posts will give you a few ideas to help you produce better results. While emarketing can be relatively inexpensive, we are using valuable time that would be better spent elsewhere if we don't take the necessary steps to make sure they get opened.
Happy marketing!
Deborah, this is great. I think so many times we in this business send emails and find that they just end up in someones spam box and they never read them.
Thanks, Danny. You're right. We need to work at creating a message that will get past the SPAM blockers and then interest the reader enough to get them to open it.
Thats quite a list, fortunately I don't think I use too many of those words too often emailing new customers and clients.
Oh no! Now even Joke of the Day is bad?! What if I send an email that says Can't Live Without my Joke of the Day? :)
thank you so much I cannot believe how many of those I had in my
Automatic Signature Files
Deborah,
It's getting to where you can't say anything. :)
Homes for Sale: It is very frustrating to believe that we have crafted the perfect (!) message only to have the egods send us into SPAMblivion. Keep your list up to date, be sure to get permission before sending stuff, and immediately after the customer has registered with you send them a confirmation by email telling them how often you will likely be in contact with them, what type of content you will be sending them, and then asking them to add you to their address book.
Good luck with your marketing efforts,
Deborah
Brenda: ain't it the truth!
Morgan: Interesting. You are clearly ahead of the game. Quite a few of those terms appear daily in my spam box from Realtors. Everyone is trying to get me to open their email by teasing me with special offers, price reductions, save big, why pay more, etc. The egods send them into SPAMblivian and the sender has totally wasted their time, money and efforts.