A recent study found that email marketing has an ROI of $36 for every $1 spent. However, the vast majority of Alexandria and Arlington businesses that run email marketing campaigns find those numbers to be far less.
Why is this?
There are a lot of reasons why email marketing campaigns fall flat.
- Poor quality lists
- Ineffective copy
- No call-to-action
- Poor offer
Another reason is due to your emails hitting the spam boxes before the recipient ever sees them. In this blog post, we will examine why emails get flagged as “spam” and what you can do to help prevent that from happening.
Purchased Email List
While there are legitimate ways of purchasing a good email list, there are just as many fly-by-night list sellers out there on the internet.
These email lists are populated with “bad” emails that are either no good or are people who would have zero interest in your products or services.
These types of scammers will often send you an email or design their site in such a way that it looks too good to be true—and it usually is.
This is why you should stick with a reputable
email list acquisition service, like the ones offered by AlphaGraphics of Alexandria and Arlington.
Your IP is Blacklisted
The email server that sends out your emails could have had its IP address blacklisted. This means that some spammer or scammer abused the service, and that ruined it for honest people like yourself.
Another way to get your IP address blacklisted is to send emails from your company domain. If you’re sending emails to a poor-quality list, and the people that do open click the “SPAM” button, there’s a good chance that your IP address will eventually be blacklisted.
The best way to avoid this is to use a reputable email service provider, such as MailChimp or AWeber. They have active anti-spammer protections in place that help to ensure you’re sending emails from a good IP address.
Poor Offer, Content, and Copywriting
One of the quickest ways to get someone to click the spam button on your email is to send them content that adds zero value. For example, suppose you send out an email asking people to stop by your restaurant to have a bite to eat.
What value does that offer them? You basically just sent them a self-promoting email that adds zero value.
Promoting a holiday sale or event is an alternative if offering coupon codes and discounts is out of the question. This way, you’re at least offering something that coincides with an upcoming holiday.
Misleading Subject Lines
People dislike being misled. If you get too “creative” with your subject lines, you risk getting flagged as spam. For example, pretend you own a restaurant. In your bid to get people to come and visit, you use the email subject line: “A Message from Gordon Ramsey.”
The body of your email had better contain an actual message from Gordon Ramsey to your patrons. If not, people will feel misled and take their frustration out by smashing the spam button.
Your subject lines should always reflect the content of the email. That’s not to say that you can’t get a bit creative. For example, pretend you own a travel agency. If you write a subject line that reads: “You could be vacationing in Hawaii next week!!” —this is acceptable, provided that you’re offering a vacation deal to Hawaii.
Emails Aren’t Properly Authenticated
If you’re sending emails from your company domain, you need to ensure that you have DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework) set up correctly.
These two authentication methods help to ensure that your emails appear legitimate to spam filters. The reason they exist is to help make it harder for actual email spammers to ply their evil trade.
If you don’t know what those are, pick up the phone and contact the company that’s hosting your website. One of their tech reps will be able to walk you through the process and explain why SPF and DKIM are so important.
Email Marketing Help in Alexandria and Arlington
If you’re not getting the results you’re looking for when self-managing your email marketing campaigns, reach out to the marketing experts at AlphaGraphics of Alexandria and Arlington. We can help you set up and create the perfect email marketing campaign that will help drive new sales and leads through your front door.
We’ve helped countless local organizations with their direct mail and marketing needs over the years. If you’d like to speak to an expert about your business, give us a call at (703) 549-2432 or
contact us on our website.