How to Keep Your Emails Out of the Spam Folder in 2024

I‘ve been running HubSpot’s Marketing Daily emails for about as long as I’ve been with the company (a slight nudge for you to subscribe), so I know a thing or two about getting your marketing emails to the right inbox.

why spam trigger words are no longer relevant: spam emails infecting a laptop

I also know a lot about avoiding spam trigger words and filters. Though avoiding trigger words isn‘t enough to evade the robust systems of spam filters, it’s good to know them to keep your marketing emails in good standing with email providers like Google Mail.

To ensure your marketing emails reach your target audience, here‘s a list of spam trigger words and habits to steer clear of in your messages. But first, let’s get into the details of spam trigger words.

What are spam trigger words?

How to Avoid the Spam Folder

Spamming Examples

Spam List: Words to Avoid When Possible

What are spam trigger words?

Spam trigger words are keywords and phrases that alert email providers that a message could likely be spam. Emails containing these words would then be sorted into the dreaded email graveyard that is your inbox’s spam folder — never to see the light of day again.

Some spam trigger words are easier to avoid in marketing emails than others. For example, you don’t have to refer to your email recipients as “dear” in your marketing emails (in fact, you shouldn’t).

However, avoiding specific calls to action like “Act now!” or “Discount” could be difficult, primarily if you sell products and services.

Fortunately, spam trigger words aren’t as relevant as they used to be now that inbox service providers (ISPs) have more sophisticated methods of determining if an email is spam.

That said, I strongly urge you to be aware of words and phrases to avoid (or use sparingly) to ensure your emails reach your target recipients and avoid spam folders.

How to Avoid the Spam Folder

Here are some tips to help you protect your brand’s reputation and ensure your emails reach the inbox.

1. Send targeted content to those who have asked to receive it.

In my experience, sending marketing emails to contacts who have consented will result in positively engaged mail.

It’s also essential to send mail that contacts are expecting to receive.

For example, I only send Marketing Blog Daily emails to contacts subscribed to receive them. I do not send them to our weekly email subscribers. Contacts requesting a weekly newsletter may engage negatively if they’re emailed daily.

This may include leaving it unopened or taking more drastic measures like unsubscribing or marking it as spam.

In addition to obtaining consent and being thoughtful with outreach, I also suggest protecting a strong reputation by not sending materials to those who have stopped engaging with your emails.

It’s normal for lists to depreciate and for contacts to become unengaged. It’s important to start thoughtfully suppressing unengaged contacts before they start dragging down engagement rates and impacting reputation.

This strategy is often accompanied by a sunset policy, a plan for managing contacts that have stopped engaging.

Pro-Tip: Always include a visible unsubscribe link in your emails. This will help avoid spam triggers and will help ensure your recipients are choosing to still remain subscribed.

2. Use the same name for every email.

I always include the same sender name for every HubSpot Marketing email I send: HubSpot Blog, Marketing. Spammers will often change their sender name between emails to confuse recipients.

So, ensure your sender name is consistent and authentic so you don‘t get lumped in with the fakers. Be authentic by using your company name, brand name, or person’s name.

3. Be mindful of your email’s content.

Include your business’ physical address so spam filters can confirm your authenticity. Also, keep a balanced ratio of images and texts, and avoid using just one large image or too many in your marketing emails.

For example, my HubSpot Marketing emails consist of 3 medium-sized featured images split up by headings and short body paragraphs.

4. Authenticate your brand’s marketing emails.

DMARC, SPF, and DKIM are means of authentication, and all are considered best practices.

Adding authentication to your brand’s sends won’t reverse negative reputation impact or ensure that mail is delivered to a primary inbox. Still, it can improve the trust recipients’ mail servers have in your mail.

You should also take steps to protect your brand’s sending reputation by regularly monitoring the following metrics:

Open Rate

Low opens indicate a need for unengaged contact suppression or that your sending reputation has been negatively impacted.

Click-through Rate

Low click-through rates can mean an opportunity for better segmentation or clearer CTAs.

Hard Bounce Rate

A high hard bounce can indicate that a list is outdated, although reading the bounce message will be the best way to diagnose bounce issues.

Unsubscribe Rate

A high unsubscribe rate can also mean that a list is stale or that contacts are being sent something they didn’t subscribe to.

Spam Compliant Rate

A high spam complaint rate is always a reason for pause, as that’s a strong indicator that contacts weren’t expecting mail from your brand.

Spam complaints are taken seriously by inbox service providers (ISP) and can negatively impact your brand’s sending reputation quickly.

5. Avoid the abnormal.

ISPs are looking for senders to remain as “normal” as possible from send to send — of course, “normal” is a relative term.

In general, sending to the same audiences (with the necessary segmentation) and avoiding large volume spikes can help your brand avoid the abnormal.

Knowing what you’re linking to can also help avoid the spam folder.

Just like how your brand’s reputation can dictate whether or not your mail is delivered to a primary inbox (not spam, junk, or other filtered inboxes), websites you link to carry their reputation.

Sharing a link to an external website with a poor reputation can make your mail more likely to bounce or get filtered out.

For this very reason, I only link to other HubSpot content in my marketing emails.

Speaking of abnormalities, avoid making unrealistic promises or claims (more on that later).

6. Comply with local email regulations.

Whether it’s GDPR, CAN-SPAM, CCPA, CASL, or one of the many other local regulations, complying with these local requirements will be vital to a successful mail strategy.

You must comply with the regulations and your email-sending platform’s requirements (ESP). This protects you as a sender (violating local regulations can have ramifications) and allows you to treat your contacts the way they expect to be treated based on their location.