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bleep

by Sean Phillips
10 replies
Hey folks,

Quick question regarding a weird little thing I've noticed with email marketing.

It seems like a lot of the emails I receive from marketers (in various niches) have words bleeped out. Swear words are the obvious examples, but I've noticed that the word "free" tends to get bleeped too (they usually say "fr*e" or something like that).

Since I'm currently putting together my first autoresponder series, I was wondering if this is something I kind of have to do, to avoid spam filters or something.

First of all I kind of like swearing at my subscribers

Second of all, I'm giving away a bunch of free stuff: can I really not use the word "free" ?

Are there any other words I need to bleep?

Sean
#bleep
  • Profile picture of the author lisag
    Originally Posted by Sean Phillips View Post

    Hey folks,

    Quick question regarding a weird little thing I've noticed with email marketing.

    It seems like a lot of the emails I receive from marketers (in various niches) have words bleeped out. Swear words are the obvious examples, but I've noticed that the word "free" tends to get bleeped too (they usually say "fr*e" or something like that).

    Since I'm currently putting together my first autoresponder series, I was wondering if this is something I kind of have to do, to avoid spam filters or something.

    First of all I kind of like swearing at my subscribers

    Second of all, I'm giving away a bunch of free stuff: can I really not use the word "free" ?

    Are there any other words I need to bleep?

    Sean
    Spam filter words: Trigger Words That Filter Emails
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  • Profile picture of the author John A Goodwin
    If you use AWeber, they have "Spam Score Analyzer". When you write your messages they will show your "spam score" which will tell you which words can get your messages to spam box. I used word ''free" in my messages before and all my emails got delivered to inbox.
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    "Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve." - Napoleon Hill
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    • Profile picture of the author Jagged
      Free....just another 4 letter word that starts with "F"
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      • Profile picture of the author melanied
        I wouldn't have wanted to see the score on "Free at last, Free at last, Thank God Almighty I'm Free at last."

        Not only does it use the word free, but the keyword density for "free" is WAY out of proportion for natural speech! Must be spam!

        My point being - these things don't take context into consideration, and it doesn't matter if you're legit. Steer clear of the trigger words!
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        *melanie

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  • Profile picture of the author Headfirst
    Most email systems now have some sort of filtering in place for spam. Many of these rely on a bayesian filter that looks at patterns in emails that have been previously flagged as spam by other users of the filter.

    The theory is that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck it must be a duck. Make sure your emails don't look like ducks.
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    Golf Outing Sponsor Signs, Banners and Flags||Plymouth, MI Marketing || Plymouth Dentist
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  • Profile picture of the author bethparker
    Nothing looks more like spam to me than fr*e. I get a lot of e-mails that contain the word free. They come through the spam filters just fine. Fr*e looks amateurish. It also looks like you are trying to get around something. It makes you look like you have a guilty conscience. You know you are doing something wrong but you are trying to hide it, and in the process drawing unnecessary attention to the fact that you know you are doing something wrong.

    When people send me e-mails that have bleeped out words, I unsubscribe. It's annoying. I know my opinion is probably not the most popular one, but it's mine nonetheless.

    Beth Parker
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  • Profile picture of the author ppcpimp
    whatever you do don't use Fr*e or any variation either for Free - most filters pick this up now as well plus to the consumer it just looks spammy.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sean Phillips
      Thanks everyone, that's super helpful.

      I totally agree with the fact that "fr*e" looks like total spam to me. Glad to hear that I don't have to use it.

      Lisag, thanks very much for posting that list, I'll definitely be referring back to that.

      Sean
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      • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
        Originally Posted by Sean Phillips View Post

        Thanks everyone, that's super helpful.

        I totally agree with the fact that "fr*e" looks like total spam to me. Glad to hear that I don't have to use it.

        Lisag, thanks very much for posting that list, I'll definitely be referring back to that.

        Sean
        What becomes frustrating is when you are giving away something for free.

        You have to say "at no cost" or something similar.

        I actually just tell my list I'm not allowed to say the F word.
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        "May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"

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