Most words and phrases that get the spam alarm bells ringing are obvious: income, urgent, Viagra; as well as congratulations, discount, make money. Those are among the many in categories such as retail, personal, and pharmaceutical that legitimate marketers should avoid, according to research by MailJet.
But some spam-tripping words and phrases may be surprising. For example, FedEx, Paypal, and Visa/Mastercard—certainly to the chagrin of those companies—can trip the spam alarm. Potentially challenging for universities that have gone beyond the traditional classroom is “online degree” as a phrase that may lead an email to be trapped as spam.
For those companies that sell to marketers, there are obvious losers, such as “email harvest” and “increase sales.” But, interestingly, there are also unlikely spam-alarm trippers, including “direct mail,” “lead generation,” and “search engine optimization.” Even “Internet marketing” and “marketing solutions” can sound the spam alarm.
“In sending over 12 billion emails…we’ve seen good senders land in the spam folder when accidentally using words heavily used by spammers,” says Anthony Marnell, Mailjet’s VP, North America. “We compiled a sample of words from these findings to help senders improve deliverability when crafting email copy.”
So, before you tell prospective customers that they can “sign up free today” for a “month trial offer” to test a “marketing solution” that will “increase traffic” or “increase sales,” or offer “congratulations” or a “discount” to customers, be sure to consider the likelihood that spam bells may ring.
MailJet’s full list of words can trip the spam alarm if used in either the subject line or email body:
