Today, it’s more than just the “usual suspect” keywords that are landing e-mails in the junk folder.
Most of us are aware of the kinds of words that trip spam alarms and cause e-mails to be sent straight to the junk folder – or not to be delivered at all.
How about these for starters:
- Cash
- Congratulations
- Discount
- Free
- Income
- Make Money
- Urgent
- Viagra
- $$ / $$$
But research done by MailJet, an international e-mail service provider, looked at more than 14 billion e-mail communiqués and found that a bunch of other keywords are setting off alarm bells nearly as often as terms like “Urgent” or “Viagra.”
… Especially when considering the business categories that are so active in e-mail communications — retail goods, pharmaceuticals, providers of personal services, and the like.
Some of the other terms MailJet has found to be nearly as “toxic” are these:
Dear Friend- FedEx
- Increase Sales
- Increase Traffic
- Internet Marketing
- Invoice
- Lead Generation
- Lose Weight
- Marketing Solutions
- Online Degree
- Online Pharmacy
- Order
- PayPal
- Search Engine Optimization
- Sign Up
- Trial Offer
- Visa/Mastercard
- Winning
… And there are more, of course – including various permutations of the words and phrases above.
The inevitable conclusion: It’s becoming more difficult all the time to use the most common phrases in “subject” lines and “from” lines that’ll land your e-mail in someone’s inbox successfully.
And getting into the inbox just the first step, of course. The next is motivating the recipient to actually open your e-mail and engage with it, which are additional hurdles in themselves.
What words or phrases have you found to be surprisingly problematic in getting your e-mails delivered to your customers’ inboxes? How have you dealt with it? Please share your experiences with other readers here.
Nones Notes 