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Newsletters & Spam

Avoid your newsletters landing in junkmail

Spam filters are more rigorous than ever. Globally, email has an inbox placement rate of about 83%. That means roughly 1 in 6 emails get sent to spam or blocked for your subscribers’ inbox altogether.  If you choose to use a third party tool to send out newsletters, you want to be aware of your compliance requirements, and how to avoid your email newsletter from ending up in your client's spam or junk folders.  

This has four-part responsibility:
1. Your Client's email set-up | 2: your Email Contents | 3: Your Newsletter Provider | 4. Your email Domain set-up (likely Manulife Wealth Inc. email)

  Tips to Avoid Filters    CAN-SPAM act  Template Client Letter  


Let your client's know what to expect

It is recommended you email your clients in advance of starting a newsletter.  Let them know in a short and easily digestible note that you are starting a newsletter, and how to ensure it is not in their junk mail.  You can use this template below to start with, or create your own.

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Hello Client
To keep you informed and up-to-date on important business messages, or timely insights our team will be sending our a regular newsletter to keep the communication open. We hope you will find this valuable and informative, and would love to hear your feedback or suggestions for topics that interest you. 

To avoid these newsletters from landing in your spam or junk folders, please be sure to whitelist our emails by adding the “From” email address to your email contacts or list of safe senders now!

Should you wish to be removed from the newsletter at any time, you can click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the first newsletter.

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Tips & tricks to avoid spam filters

  • Ask Subscribers to Whitelist Your Email Address
    • Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! all work hard to ensure that their email program spam filters don’t catch emails that come from people in your contacts. These companies (rightly) assume that if an email is from someone in your contacts, it’s not spam.

    To ensure that your emails get this privileged treatment, ask your subscribers to whitelist your emails by adding your “From” address to their contacts or list of safe senders.

  • Always get permission before sending an email; it’s the best practice both ethically and financially. Client's opt in, but if you send emails to those who did not opt in or not a client, they can mark your email as spam - which in turn will cause issues longer-term for that domain.

  • Always ensure you BCC a mailing list, never expose email addresses on the TO or CC line.

  • Use a Reputable Email Marketing Program 
    One sign that spam filters keep a look out for when trying to catch messages is to look at the IP address associated with the sending email address and see if there are any spam complaints associated with it. If there are, then legitimate email addresses can get flagged simply due to association. AdvisorStream (included content), Mailchimp, Constant Contact are good options.

  • Proofread Your Emails
    If your emails sound like they were written hastily (or by a computer), that can be a red flag for spam filters. If a typo slips into your emails occasionally, that’s not going to cause you any serious trouble. But if your emails are riddled with typos, grammatical errors, and sentences that just sound…off, then there’s the risk that spam filters will stop them.

  • Don’t Write Spammy Subject Lines
    While in the past there were specific lists of “spam trigger words” to avoid in your marketing emails, spam filters are now much more sophisticated. Instead of focusing on specific words to avoid, it’s best to think more holistically and ensure that you don’t write subject lines that sound like spam.  Many of these emails make references to money, use too many exclamation points, or generally promise discounts

  • Purge Abandoned Email Addresses from Your List
    One metric that spam filters use to catch errant emails is to look at how many of the emails to which you are sending are active. If the percentage is too low, then that can be a sign that you’re sending spam email content.  To ensure this doesn’t happen, you should regularly remove addresses associated with email accounts that don’t appear to be active. If someone hasn’t opened your emails in a long time, then it’s probably safe to remove them from your list.

  • Have a clear Sender Address
    Your sender address is what appears in the “From” field when someone looks at your email. If you have a sender address full of random characters or that just sounds suspicious, you run the risk of your email getting flagged as spam. Stick to either a person’s name or your company name.  

  • Keep your emails and newsletters concise. Do not ramble on, or add in too many non-reputable links. If the content of your email seems like spam, the filters will opt for safety. Plus, your clients will be turned away by overly long communications.  Instead, write small introductions, clear call-to-actions, and link to your website articles or landing page articles for the full versions.