Beat the Spam Filter! Trigger words to avoid

Writing a great marketing email can be a difficult feat at the best of times. Audiences are becoming ever more cynical, inundated with hundreds of emails a week from companies claiming to offer something that will improve their lives in some way. So when you have managed to draft the perfect email to share your message with your potential customers, the last thing you want is for it to end up sitting in their spam folder, never to be seen- let alone opened. Thankfully there is a wealth of information out there to help you come up with an engaging subject line that won’t doom your hard work to obscurity.

Spam filters are becoming more and more sophisticated but you can beat them if you know how they work and what to avoid. There are a lot of reasons an email will be redirected into a Spam folder on arrival but when it happens, it’s usually because the subject line contained a trigger word or phrase. Most spam filters work on a point-based system so that having just one offending phrase won’t trigger rejection- except for some phrases which the filter considers irredeemable. SpamAssassin 2.43 for example assigns default points for these top offenders: 

Reverses aging Compare rates ‘Hidden’ assets Compete for your business Free investment Promise you Stock disclaimer statement Free Preview Multi-level marketing Compare rates

The above phrases are almost certain to nab you a one-way ticket into the dreaded spam folder, but even if you avoid them, other suspect words and phrases can add up. Here are some of the top offenders for each category of business email. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

(Just for the record, avoid the word “Free” in your subject line at all costs!)

Commerce: “As seen on”, “Shopper”, “Clearance”

Employment: “Additional income”, “Be your own boss”, “Compete for business”

Financial – General: “Affordable”, “Credit”, “Cheap”

Financial – Business: “Credit cards”, “Hidden Costs”, “No investment”

Financial – Personal: “Out of debt”, “Child support”, “Your income”

General: “Satisfaction”, “Freedom”, Lifetime"

Greetings: “Dear [name]”, “Friend”, “Hello”

Marketing: “Increase your sales”, “Marketing solutions”, “Member”

Medical: “Hair loss”, “Diagnostics” “Snoring”

Numbers: “Join millions”, “Guaranteed”, “100%”

Offers: “”Deal”, “Per day” “Trial”

Calls-to-Action: “Compare”, “Sign up”, “Apply Now”

Descriptions/Adjectives: “Congratulations”, “Amazing”, “Certified”

We’ll be running a series of articles on Spam filters over the coming weeks so watch this space for more tips on how to make sure your emails reach their intended target!

Adapted from Hubspot's great article here