So I have hired an intern to start writing custom creatives and from/ subject lines for all of our deals. Our advertisers are starting to take notice and wanting to improve what they are giving us. I have a couple requesting lists of words they should avoid, so I figured where better to compile that list. =) The obvious like Free even escape most advertisers, as they have no concept of mailing.
Frequently, more sophisticated anti-spam methods used by ISPs use a "point system" that identifies trigger phrases commonly used by Spam. If an email goes over the "points" it is filtered out, and is never delivered to a customer. Some of the more commonly used phrases that ISPs and mail clients filter out include: Free! 50% off! Click Here Call now! Subscribe Earn $ Discount! Eliminate Debt Double your income You're a Winner! Reverses Aging "Hidden" Information you requested "Stop" or "Stops" Lose Weight Multi level Marketing Million Dollars Opportunity Compare Removes Collect Amazing Cash Bonus Promise You Credit Loans Satisfaction Guaranteed Serious Cash Search Engine Listings There are other problematic phrases that can trigger some Spam filters, or start adding "Spam points" to emails sent out, and should be avoided. These include: Act Now! All New All Natural Avoid Bankruptcy As Seen On… Buy Direct Casino Cash Consolidate Your Debt Special Promotion Easy Terms Get Paid Guarantee, Guaranteed Great offer Give it away, Giving it away Join millions Meet Singles MLM No cost, No fees Offer One time Online pharmacy Online marketing Order Now Please Read Don't Delete Save up to Time limited Unsecured debt or credit Vacation Viagra Visit our web site While Supplies last Why pay more? Winner Work at home You've been selected Using quotation marks, dollar signs and exclamation points in subject lines will frequently trigger mail filters, as well as using all capital letters (shouting). You should also never put a toll-free number in the subject line, since that will also cause your email to be filtered out by many Spam filters. And never use a font size larger than 2+, or you could trigger some Spam filters. Please be aware that the above lists aren't meant to be comprehensive, and only identify some of the more common words and phrases that trigger Spam filters. One way to check? Send an email to yourself and some select friends (such as other Internet-based marketing moms) with Spam filters first, before sending it out to your customers, and see if it makes it through. Or, go out and buy one of the better software programs that will highlight words that could be identified as Spam. If you depend on email marketing to bring traffic to your web site, it is well worth the investment. source: internetbasedmoms.com
Then you could always send them to the following link and have them pull from this rather extensive list: SpamAssassin Tests
Or you could send them this: I built this list of some 250 words and phrases from two spam filter lists. It is not complete. I have left out porn trigger words. Most spam filters work on a point system, so that the occurrence of just one "spam phrase" probably won't trigger rejection -- except some which the filter considers notorious. SpamAssassin 2.43, for example, assigns default points for these top offenders, as follows: Reverses aging 3.37 'Hidden' assets 3.28 stop snoring 3.26 Free investment 3.19 Dig up dirt on friends 3.12 Stock disclaimer statement 3.04 Multi level marketing 3.01 Compare rates 2.83 Cable converter 2.75 Claims you can be removed from the list 2.70 Removes wrinkles 2.69 Compete for your business 2.57 free installation 2.51 Free grant money 2.50 Auto email removal 2.36 Collect child support 2.33 Free leads 2.29 Amazing stuff 2.26 Tells you it's an ad 2.21 Cash bonus 2.20 Promise you ...! 2.15 Claims to be in accordance with some spam law 2.11 Search engine listings 2.09 free preview 2.07 Credit bureaus 2.03 No investment 2.01 Serious cash 2.00 But even if you don't use these notorious phrases, other spam words can add up. Here are some to be aware of in your e-mail newsletters -- and ads contained in your newsletters. 4U Accept credit cards Act now! Don't hesitate! Additional income Addresses on CD All natural Amazing Apply Online As seen on Billing address Auto email removal Avoid bankruptcy Be amazed Be your own boss Being a member Big bucks Bill 1618 Billion dollars Brand new pager Bulk email Buy direct Buying judgments Cable converter Call free Call now Calling creditors Cannot be combined with any other offer Cancel at any time Can't live without Cash bonus Cashcashcash Casino Cell phone cancer scam Cents on the dollar Check or money order Claims not to be selling anything Claims to be in accordance with some spam law Claims to be legal Claims you are a winner Claims you registered with some kind of partner Click below Click here link Click to remove Click to remove mailto Compare rates Compete for your business Confidentially on all orders Congratulations Consolidate debt and credit Stop snoring get it now Special promotion Copy accurately Copy DVDs Credit bureaus Credit card offers Cures baldness Dear email Dear friend Dear somebody Different reply to Dig up dirt on friends Direct email Direct marketing Discusses search engine listings Do it today Don't delete Drastically reduced Earn per week Easy terms Eliminate bad credit Email harvest Email marketing Expect to earn Fantastic deal Fast Viagra delivery Financial freedom Find out anything For free For instant access For just $ (some amt) Free access Free cell phone Free consultation Free DVD Free grant money Free hosting Free installation Free investment Free leads Free membership Free money Free offer Free preview Free priority mail Free quote Free sample Free trial Free website Full refund Get paid Get started now Gift certificate Great offer Guarantee Have you been turned down? Hidden assets Home employment Human growth hormone If only it were that easy In accordance with laws Increase sales Increase traffic Insurance Investment decision It's effective Join millions of Americans Laser printer Limited time only Long distance phone offer Lose weight spam Lower interest rates Lower monthly payment Lowest price Luxury car Mail in order form Marketing solutions Mass email Meet singles Member stuff Message contains disclaimer Money back Money making Month trial offer More Internet traffic Mortgage rates Multi level marketing MLM Name brand New customers only New domain extensions Nigerian No age restrictions No catch No claim forms No cost No credit check No disappointment No experience No fees No gimmick No inventory No investment No medical exams No middleman No obligation No purchase necessary No questions asked No selling No strings attached Not intended Off shore Offer expires Offers coupon Offers extra cash Offers free (often stolen) passwords Once in lifetime One hundred percent free One hundred percent guaranteed One time mailing Online biz opportunity Online pharmacy Only $ Opportunity Opt in Order now Order status Orders shipped by priority mail Outstanding values Pennies a day People just leave money laying around Please read Potential earnings Print form signature Print out and fax Produced and sent out Profits Promise you ...! Pure profit Real thing Refinance home Removal instructions Remove in quotes Remove subject Removes wrinkles Reply remove subject Requires initial investment Reserves the right Reverses aging Risk free Round the world S 1618 Safeguard notice Satisfaction guaranteed Save $ Save big money Save up to Score with babes Section 301 See for yourself Sent in compliance Serious cash Serious only Shopping spree Sign up free today Social security number Stainless steel Stock alert Stock disclaimer statement Stock pick Strong buy Stuff on sale Subject to credit Supplies are limited Take action now Talks about hidden charges Talks about prizes Tells you it's an ad Terms and conditions The best rates The following form They keep your money -- no refund! They're just giving it away This isn't junk This isn't spam University diplomas Unlimited Unsecured credit/debt Urgent US dollars Vacation offers Viagra and other drugs Wants credit card We hate spam We honor all Weekend getaway What are you waiting for? While supplies last While you sleep Who really wins? Why pay more? Will not believe your eyes Winner Winning Work at home You have been selected Your income source: WilsonWeb
Thank you Push. This is exactly what I was looking for. My intern and advertisers will definitely make good use of this post...which hopefully makes you more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.
It would be very interesting to see how much "avoiding specific words" would actually help you. The real problem is that most words indicating commercial intent are likely to end up on the list sooner or later and just FYI modern spam filters used by TLDs do not just filter / score specific words but learn on the fly to associate new words / phrases with recipient feedback. Fixed word list filters are more common on GI with pretty unsophisticated SpamAssassin setups. I think the bigger benefit to rewriting creatives is not as much getting them past modern spam filters as just adding a fresher spin to drive recipient action. /2 cents
How ya gonna get if you don't do better at ?? I know you love pickin' shit apart, but anything a network can do to help mailers in general is a step in the right direction, no? Not every mailer takes the time to unique everything for themselves. And if you ever worked in a role such as airin does (and I have) you know anything you can do to help the advertisers ends up making EVERYONE more money. Remember - the clowns writing from/subjects most often are NOT mailers so they don't know shit about this stuff. They're copy writers and it it sounds good it has GOT to sell, right? They don't think in the same way as you and I as mailers do.
Not sure why my comment is causing the controversy. Of course it is a great idea to have a network come up with better creatives... I just think maybe the focus should be not as much on avoiding spam words (though it could be possible to some extent) as just coming up with fresher calls to action to drive response. Best of all, come up with all possible ideas and then test and see. Of course if you have patience to actually run a test vs. just blast out the whole mix and hope it makes more money. Cheers
And I'm not picking on you per se, just trying to point a couple of things out: call to action you say? Wouldn't the 1st call to action be the subject line? And if you can improve it in order to get around a few extra filters wouldn't that in turn work towards what you're talking about which would be the actual CTA within the creative itself? All I'm saying is that it can't hurt a thing if networks like Crush take the time to educate their advertisers in the ways of emailing such as she's trying to do. Nothing more bro...got nuttin' but love for you my man...just trying to support her point a bit is all. :five:
You are correct, you have to get through filters before the call to action is seen. However I am doubtful that massaging a few words in a typical offer would make a big difference in getting through filters. But CTA on whatever gets through can make all the difference. It is generally very hard to figure out what increase in response can be attributed to better delivery/inboxing vs. just better CTA.
I agree with Push on this one. Although it isn't the be all end all to not use any of these terms, it made a huge difference early on for me to utilize and understand info on this shit. You can't avoid using all of them, but not using the obvious ones that give u huge points against right out the box and testing to check ur scores previous is huge man.
I suppose this goes along with other stupid stuff in creatives that clueless designers leave in the HTML - all the retarded tags I clean out before mailing. Makes me wonder how peeps mail with full API integrations. Like Adstation where most of the creatives are the same exact dimensions. Hats off to the networks that actually mail as well and clean some of the crap up. Two more I see all the time in subjects: "Get (anything)" - Spamassasin seems to hate this one and "Your Family" No it doesn't actually hate your family
