{"id":1052,"date":"2022-04-01T21:17:12","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T21:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heathertankersley.com\/emaildelivered\/?p=1052"},"modified":"2022-04-01T21:17:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-01T21:17:14","slug":"dont-use-gimmicky-email-copy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heathertankersley.com\/emaildelivered\/2022\/04\/01\/dont-use-gimmicky-email-copy\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Use Gimmicky Email Copy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>At some point, a decade ago, there were lots of \u201cgimmicks\u201d that online marketers tried to use to get their messages through the spam filters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, as time has passed, these filters have gotten more sophisticated and accurate, so such trickery will not only NOT help you get past the spam folder, but could have long lasting negative effects on your deliverability. Not to mention\u2026 some of these tactics are straight out Can-Spam violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Common email copy tricks include:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Using misspellings, dashes, and unnecessary periods<\/strong>in the middle of words attempting to \u201ctrick\u201d the filters into not recognizing the words. You\u2019ve undoubtedly seen them before, and possibly even tried to use them.We\u2019re talking about disguising words like \u201cF.R.ee\u201d, \u201cPr!ze\u201d, \u201cMuney\u201d, \u201cMillion$\u201d and so on\u2026<\/li><li><strong>Deceptive \u201cFrom\u201d lines.&nbsp;<\/strong>There are 2 ways that from lines can be deceptive. One is the actual name that shows up in the recipients from name (i.e. Bill Gates). The other is the from email itself. More and more \u201cmarketers\u201d are trying to get away with this by sending event reminders with from names similar to bigger, well-known companies.<\/li><li><strong>Deceptive Subject lines.&nbsp;<\/strong>While some may argue that deception and \u201ccreative marketing\u201d are gray areas, the fact is it\u2019s pretty cut and dry! You can use curiosity to get your messages opened without flat out lying. If your subject line does not relate to your email copy, it\u2019s deceptive!<\/li><li><strong>\u201cImage\u201d text.&nbsp;<\/strong>Instead of using the word \u201cFree\u201d straight out, it\u2019s concealed in an image. It looks the same to the recipient, but shows as an image to the email client that\u2019s simply reading the data file.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Adverse Effects of Email Copy Gimmicks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>While it may be appealing to use some gimmicks to increase your open rates and click-through rates, there are some unintended \u2013 possibly long term \u2013 consequences that can result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First and foremost, some of the deceptive tricks are flat out violations of Can-Spam which can result in penalties, expenses, and other actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Second, there\u2019s the perception from your subscribers. If you come across as sneaky and as if you are trying \u201ctrick\u201d spam filters, then there\u2019s a loss of credibility when it comes to whether or not they should listen to what you have to say. If you were legitimate, then why would you have to resort to trickery to earn a living?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, while some \u201cblock lists\u201d are automatic, there are a number that are not and actually require a live person to review\/remove the block on your behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, let\u2019s look at this from a logical standpoint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Your messages are going into the spam folder and you want to figure out how to get them to the inbox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, you find a way to send a request to the ISP to do just that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You fill out a long form, explaining \u2013 and demonstrating \u2013 that you comply with all the can-spam requirements, that you\u2019re sending communications only to people that have requested them, and that you\u2019re a legitimate business owner marketing your products and services through email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, you copy and paste your entire message into the form INCLUDING the deceptive subject lines, copy, and words with extra characters, extra spacing, and misspellings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The administrator making the decision reads your email and determines you\u2019re trying to TRICK the filters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It would appear that you\u2019re doing something that\u2019s not on the up and up and that your messages SHOULD end up in the spam folder. Again, if you were legitimate, why would you be trying to trick the filters!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to email copy, the bottom line is quite simple: Write for your customers and prospects. Don\u2019t write for the spam filters and robots! Sure, every now and then a message may wind up in a spam folder. It\u2019s going to happen if you send enough email, but you\u2019ll have a better reputation with both your subscribers AND the email administrators that come across your messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Author: Heather Seitz<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Attention Readers, Publishers, Editors, Bloggers, and Marketers: You may republish or syndicate this article without any charge. The only thing I ask is that you keep the newsletters, article, or blog post exactly as it was written and formatted, with no changes. You must also include full publication attribution and back links as indicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This information has been provided by&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.emaildelivered.com\/\">http:\/\/www.EmailDelivered.com<\/a>&nbsp;and written by Heather Seitz. To find out more about bad email copy, visit http:\/\/www.emaildelivered.com\/email-marketing\/dont-use-gimmicky-email-copy\/. Don\u2019t forget to sign up for the EmailDelivered Pulse newsletter for articles, tips, and recommended resources related to email marketing and email deliverability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At some point, a decade ago, there were lots of \u201cgimmicks\u201d that online marketers tried to use to get their messages through the spam filters. But, as time has passed, these filters have gotten more sophisticated and accurate, so such trickery will not only NOT help you get past the spam folder, but could have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1053,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-email-delivered"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v18.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Don\u2019t Use Gimmicky Email Copy - EmailDelivered<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/heathertankersley.com\/emaildelivered\/2022\/04\/01\/dont-use-gimmicky-email-copy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don\u2019t Use Gimmicky Email Copy - EmailDelivered\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At some point, a decade ago, there were lots of \u201cgimmicks\u201d that online marketers tried to use to get their messages through the spam filters. 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