Did you know that spam messages accounted for 45.37 percent of email traffic in December of 2021? Given that rate, it’s more important than ever to make sure that your emails don’t get caught in spam filters. In this article, we’ll cover some of the best practices in a healthcare setting for avoiding spam filters when sending emails.
Why Do Emails End Up In Spam?
Have you ever wondered why your emails end up in spam? It’s a common problem, and there are a few reasons it can happen. One reason is if you’re using a shared IP address. This means that other email users who have been flagged for spamming are also using the same IP address, which can cause your emails to get caught in the spam filter. Another reason is if you’re using generic terms like “free,” “click here,” or “save now.” These terms trigger spam filters, so it’s best to avoid them in your email content.
Finally, if you’re sending a lot of emails to people who don’t know you, that can also cause your emails to end up in spam. The bottom line is that if you want to avoid having your emails marked as spam, it’s important to be aware of how spam filters work and what kinds of content will trigger them.
Top Tips To Ensure Emails Are Deliverable
Spam costs American consumers and firms billions of dollars each year, which means that as a healthcare organization, you’ll want to do everything in your power to make sure your emails don’t get caught in spam filters. Here are some tips to help you avoid the spam filter to ensure you’re running a successful email marketing campaign.
Get Permission To Send Emails
The first step is to make sure that you have permission to send emails to the people on your list. When you’re collecting email addresses, be clear about why you’re asking for them and what kinds of emails they can expect to receive from you. It’s also a good idea to give people the option to opt out of receiving emails from you at any time. This way, people who don’t want to receive your emails can unsubscribe, and you won’t have to worry about them marking your emails as spam.
Use A Double Opt-In Process
A double opt-in process is when someone subscribes to your email list, and then they receive a confirmation email that they need to respond to in order to confirm their subscription. This may seem like an extra step, but it’s actually a great way to avoid having your emails marked as spam. That’s because when people have to confirm their subscription, it shows that they’re actually interested in receiving your emails.
Plus, when you use a double opt-in process, you can be sure that the email addresses on your list are valid and active. This is important because inactive email addresses can trigger spam filters.
Ask Clients To Whitelist Your Email Address
If you have clients or patients whom you email regularly, it’s a good idea to ask them to whitelist your email address. This means that they’ll add your email address to their list of approved senders, which will help ensure that your emails are delivered to their inbox. When emails are delivered to the inbox, there’s a much higher chance that they’ll be read and not marked as spam.
As reported by Digital Authority Partners, to whitelist an email address, each client will need to add your email address to their contact list or address book. They can usually do this by opening one of your emails and clicking on the “Add to contacts” or “Add to address book” button.
Use A Professional Email Service Provider
Consider using a professional email service provider to send emails to your lists. This is because free email providers like Gmail and Yahoo are often associated with spam. So, if you’re using a free email provider to send your emails, there’s a good chance that they’ll get caught in spam filters.
A professional email service provider will give you a more personalized email address that’s associated with your domain name. This helps show recipients that you’re a credible sender, which can help avoid having your emails marked as spam.
Follow All Privacy Laws
One of the main reasons emails get marked as spam is because they violate privacy laws. For example, suppose you’re sending emails to people who haven’t given you permission to contact them. That’s a violation of the CAN-SPAM Act. So it’s crucial to ensure that you’re only sending emails to people who have given you permission.
Another privacy law to be aware of is HIPAA, which stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This law prohibits healthcare organizations from sending emails that contain protected health information (PHI). So, if you’re sending emails to patients or clients, make sure that they don’t contain any PHI.
Proofread Your Emails
Have you ever read a professional email with typos or grammar mistakes? It makes you think less of the sender, doesn’t it?
Before you press “send” for your emails, make sure you or someone whose proofreading abilities you trust, proofread your emails. That’s because typos and grammatical errors make your emails look unprofessional too – and can lead to them getting marked as spam.
If you could be a better speller or grammar expert, there are plenty of online tools that can help you proofread your emails. For example, Grammarly is a free grammar-checking tool that you can use to check for typos and grammatical errors.
Avoid Spammy Subject Lines
The subject line of your email is one of the first things that recipients will see, so it’s important to make sure that it’s not spammy. That means avoiding subject lines that are all in caps, contain a lot of exclamation points, or make promises that are too good to be true.
Instead, try to use subject lines that are clear and concise. For example, if you’re sending an email about a new service, you could use a subject line like “Introducing the new XYZ service.”
Segment Your Emails
Lastly, it’s a good idea to segment your emails. This means sending different emails to different groups of people. For example, you could send a different email to first-time patients than you do to repeat patients.
The benefits of segmenting your emails are twofold. First, it allows you to personalize your emails, which can help increase engagement. Second, it helps you avoid sending too many emails to people who might mark them as spam.
Sending segmented emails is easy to do with most email marketing platforms. For example, Mailchimp allows you to create segments based on things like location, purchase history, and engagement.
Conclusion
Email marketing is a great way to reach out to your clients and customers. However, it’s important to avoid having your emails marked as spam. Follow the tips above to avoid having this. Take the time to implement these tips, and you’ll be sure to see an improvement in your email deliverability and, hopefully, your open rate too.
