According to a study conducted by Assurance Systems, on average 15% of all e-mails sent to valid e-mail addresses never arrive, mainly because they are still seen as spam. So does this go to show that e-mail marketing is pointless? Not at all. But it is a sign that the anti-spam battle is not over yet and that e-mail marketing is increasingly becoming a matter of achieving a balance..

Six tips to circumvent spam filters
There are countless variants of spam filter techniques which can be applied at various levels (personal computer, company e-mail server, ISP, etc.) in one combination or another. These few simple guidelines can help you get started in the right direction:

1. Choose a technology partner who is familiar with the spam problem and has geared its technology to this. It is difficult for you as a marketer to check a number of filter-related aspects yourself.
2. If you send your e-mail campaigns via your own infrastructure, check whether your infrastructure is included in a spam database before sending the e-mails. You can do this, for instance, via www.dnsstuff.com. If this is the case, you can find the deregistration procedure on the spam database site.
3. KISS ‘Keep It Simple & Stupid’: Keep your e-mails as simple as possible. Avoid using capital letters and fluorescent colours. Any coloured background will increase your spam score.
4. Read the contents of your e-mail for typical spam features. For instance, the word ‘free’ should be avoided as much as possible. You will find a list of do’s and don’ts on the Emailgarage.com website. In fact, the Dynamic Broadcaster system checks the content of your e-mail automatically.
5. Manage your e-mail lists carefully. Always ask permission from those to whom you wish to send an e-mail and after your campaign, clean up your lists by removing bounces and deregistrations.
6. Use our free SpamCheck tool to analyse the content of your e-mail messages.