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iContact - Going to spam

by Woodward82
5 replies
I just decided to sign up to an email list manager, I went with iContact.
I dont have any subscribers yet, but I sent out a test message to myself, and
it went to my spam folder. I'm not sure what would cause this. Is it iContact or does the type of message sent have anything to do with it.

Hope someone can explain this to me

Thanks
#icontact #spam
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Woodward82 View Post

    Is it iContact or does the type of message sent have anything to do with it.
    Not possible to tell, without seeing the message. And even then, probably not with certainty.

    This sounds discouraging, though.

    Suggestion: subscribe to your own list from newly formed gmail, hotmail and yahoo accounts (all free). (Create a new list, if needed, just to test this). Then send out a non-spammy message, without any obvious spam-trap things in it. You need that to reach all your inboxes, otherwise you're using the wrong autoresponder.
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  • Profile picture of the author Woodward82
    Can you explain more on what might be some spam-trap things to avoid?

    Thanks for your reply, I will make some accounts and test this further.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Woodward82 View Post

      Can you explain more on what might be some spam-trap things to avoid?
      Avoid things like "free", capital letters, exclamation marks, kind of "things typical of spammy, promotional-only emails"? I think this is the general idea. (Some autoresponders allow you to test outgoing messages against a kind of built-in "spam filter" which will warn you if their software thinks it might have problems reaching people's inboxes).

      Others who reply will probably know more detail of these things than I do.

      (With some set-ups, you may need to use a proxy server to register multiple times on your own lists, if your IP number's recognised by the software, I think?).

      They're always going to vary a bit, partly because people may well have different settings in their own email clients, but you want to be able to reach the inboxes of the common online email suppliers like hotmail, gmail and so on, because those will perhaps be quite widely used by your own potential subscribers?

      A reply from Paul Myers would doubtless be particularly helpful to you, here, as he has great expertise on the subject of "sending autoresponder email to people".
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      • Profile picture of the author iContact Support
        Alexa is correct, the most common reason for a message to be delivered into spam is content. If your content triggers Google's or anyone else's spam filters it will be filtered or blocked accordingly.

        Typically if the sender is blacklisted then the message is usually bounced back as opposed to being filtered into spam.

        iContact does have a spam check tool that points out the most common issues. However since it is not specific to any particular provider's email filters it does not flag everything.

        Feel free to contact our support team if you need further assistance.
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  • Profile picture of the author brentb
    I have used iContact before with good inbox rates...

    Don't worry about it getting spammed from them, its something in your message. Do what Alexa Smith suggested.

    Lots of multi color/size/font text is bad.

    Do not use the word "free" at all. Use complimentary or no purchase required... etc

    Do not use symbols or excessive numbers... you should spell it out "Forty Dollars" for maximum inboxing/delivery rate

    Subject lines should be short (50 Characters or less), free from symbols and excessive punctuation (Try not to use exclamation points or if you really want to, only use 1).

    Do not send emails with only graphics... ie one giant graphic sales pitch.

    Do not send excessive links... ie every word is a link... figuring if they click on anything it will take them to your page...

    Did you do any of those things?
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