How to Avoid Emails Going in the Junk in Gmail?

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Every day a total of 333.2 billion emails are sent globally. Interestingly, 85% of those messages are spam, which means only a few mails (you do the math) successfully reach the inbox.

Now, as a business owner, where do you want your mails to land? The inbox of your potential customer or the junk folder?

I am guessing the answer is inbox, but we all know how challenging it is. However, learning ways to prevent mails from landing in the spam folder in Gmail will help you. It will not only teach you the dos and don'ts of email marketing campaigns but also help you understand your target audience better than before. 

First and foremost, let me tell you about the spam folder.

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Spam Folder | What is It? 

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Consider it as the store room of your email account where you will find all the unnecessary messages you receive.

In other words, the mails that fail to reach your Gmail inbox end up in a separate folder called the spam folder or the junk/bulk folder.

Let's take a quick look at why your emails end up in spam.  

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Reasons Behind Emails Ending Up in the Spam Folder

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The primary reason why mails end up in the junk folder is the spam filters that judge whether your email content is a spam email or a legitimate one. 

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Spam Filter

It's a feature provided by ESPs (Email Service Providers or email providers) like Gmail that comes along with the account. It uses AI and machine learning to restrict unsubscribed, unsolicited, and harmful mails from reaching the inbox and sending them to the junk folder.

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The scary fact is that ESPs keep updating spam filters from time to time. So, if your open rate is fine for current email campaigns, it might fall drastically in the future campaigns. 

To ensure that your open rate is similar to the email deliverability rate (or at least closer), you must learn the main causes behind spam emails. Some of the major reasons are:

• Misleading subject line
• Mails from newly created domains
• Hidden embedded content
• Poor content with email spam triggers
• Non-consensual mails
• Image-based messages

Now that you know why messages go to "spam", let's see how to prevent it.  

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8 Emailing Tips & Tricks to Reach the Gmail Inbox

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Yes, email marketing is difficult, especially when your messages are directly landing in the junk folder. But, hey, you've nothing to worry about. I have the ultimate methods that can prevent your email from ending up in the spam folder. 

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Keep Your Volume of Emails 50 Messages Per Address

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Never send 200 messages from a single sender’s address, no matter how old and reputed it is. If you keep doing this even in 2023, I am sure your email reputation will go down and soon your mails will end up in Gmail junk. 

To avoid this, you can use tools like smartlead. Tools like this use several email addresses for outreach to send only 50 mails from each address. 

Also, try to send mails in a healthy interval. Receiving too many messages can overwhelm the recipient–some may report your address, eventually sending you to an email blacklist.  

Wondering how to schedule your future messages? Click here. 

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Check Email Sender's Address

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Messages with an informal sender's address are more likely to end up in the junk folder than the others. Keep the following points in mind to come up with a reliable "from" address:

• Use an official address connected to your domain name, such as support@emazon.com 
• Avoid using numbers, symbols, and punctuations like fairy123!%@yourdomain.com and hulk958@yourdomain.com
• Use a real person's name, such as hannah@yourdomainname.com

• Don't use famous names such as miketyson@yourdomainname.com or bradpitt@yourdomainname.com
• Don't use the names of movie characters

I repeat, always check your email address before marketing with it. If you've bought a domain name and have a legitimate website, then use your official email address. 

Also, never use noreply@yourdomainname.com. If you don't want to use a real person's name in the address, then go with contact@rightsize.com or newsletter@thebingebuff.com, etc.  

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Rewrite the Content

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Many marketers underestimate the power of good content in email engagement. They think grammatically correct content is all you need to gain a customer's trust.  

Well, you're wrong if you've got a similar mindset. Here's a checklist for the content. 

Avoid Salesy Language | Keep It Subtle

Around 60% of consumers buy a product/service from marketing emails. 

The point is your target audience is aware that you're a seller. So, don't make it obvious with salesy words like "buy it today", "lowest price", "guaranteed", "once-in-a–lifetime-opportunity", etc.

Nothing works best as a sales-repellent than a salesy tone. TBH, a sales pitch doesn't work in this type of marketing. 

Straightforward Subject Line

Never FOOL your clientele with misleading subject lines. The body of the mail must say what your subject proposed. Also, here are a few more points to keep in mind while writing the subject.  

• No punctuation marks or symbols
• Don't write in all CAPS
• Avoid spam trigger words like "...% OFF", and "Sale! Sale! Sale!".
• Don't add "Re" or "Fw" 

Forget About Image-Based Content

Generally, spam messages with phishing and malware content are either image-based or contain malicious links. As a result, spam filters with advanced ML and AI read messages with bigger images and little-to-nothing text as spam. 

Always try to use value-adding content. Even your promotional emails shouldn’t look like an advertisement. 

Use AI

From using actionable language to personalizing the content, email-writing is a whole new world. So, obviously, it's not everybody's cup of tea. Therefore, it's always recommended to hire professional copywriters for successful campaigns.  

However, if you lack the time and patience to manage another team, you can always try an AI writer like Smartwriter. Such software can create 1000s of personalized emails within minutes and increase your open rate up to 8 times. 

Even if you have a team, using the right AI-based tool can boost their performance and save their valuable time. 

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Don't Buy "Email Lists" From Random Forums

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The web is full of random forums that sell lists of "targeted leads". Sometimes sellers buy long lists of potential leads from random places only to find out that most of these are dead leads. Besides being an absolute waste of money, this habit can damage your IP reputation forever. 

Therefore, instead of sketchy sources, buy active leads from safe platforms to avoid deliverability issues. Smartlead is one such example. Its basic plan provides 2000 active leads with an emailing limit of up to 6000 per month at a minimal price.   

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Use Reputed EMS [Email Marketing Service]

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Spam filters of many mailbox providers read messages from new IP addresses or domains as spam. Therefore, it's essential to get whitelisted. 

Here swoops in the value of reputed EMS. 

If you buy services from reliable EMS, they will ask ESPs–such as Google, Yahoo! Mail, or Hotmail–to whitelist your domain or IP address. In other words, they will do the job on your behalf, and your mails won't end up in the spam reports.

Think about it; it's the easiest way to get through tight security and do your business. 

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Stay Away from Spam Traps

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"Spam Traps" are email addresses created by ESPs, not for general users but to trap spammers. 

Sometimes, when a mail account remains unused for around 270 days, ESPs begin to use it as a trap. These are called recycled spam traps.

In other words, if you, "a marketer", send messages to an account that wasn't used in the last 270 days or more, you might get listed as a spammer by the ESPs. Please note that such actions can mark your domain/IP address as a "spammer" or, worse, blacklist you forever.     

Moral of the story: buy active leads from reliable sources to stay away from spam traps. 

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Learn About Can-Spam Act

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The "Can-Spam" stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003. 

Dear reader, consider this act (and its dos and don'ts) as the firm line that you should never cross as a marketer. Its 7 major requirements are:

1. Don't use false or misleading header information.
2. Don't use deceptive subject lines.
3. Identify the message as an ad.
4. Tell recipients where you're located.
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future emails from you.
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. 
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. 

(Source: Federal Trade Commission) 

Although the Can-Spam Act is an American law, following its requirements will stop you from breaking similar laws–GDPR, the Australian Spam Act, Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation, etc. 

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Keep Up With the Latest Spam-Filter Updates

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Last but not least, you have spam-filter updates. Google (Gmail) keeps updating email filters from time to time. They develop various AI and ML features that are as good as human readers. 

For instance, the spam filter used by Gmail can dissect the fact that somebody's unwanted emails can be valuable to others. 

Therefore, understanding your customer base's likes and dislikes has become more important than ever. Keep up with updates to learn more about email marketing strategies and how to avoid sending mails to the spam folder. 

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Conclusion

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No matter how much you're caught up with the SMM fever, remember that emails are way higher in conversion rates. Therefore, it's essential to learn how to reach the inbox of your potential customers. 

One last suggestion: try to seek permission before sending emails. Although it's not possible while sending messages to 2000 new leads, it can work for small-scale businesses. This small step can build a long-lasting relationship with your customers. Don’t forget to add unsubscribe links.  

With that said, I bid you farewell for today!

See you in the next blog!  

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FAQs

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Where is the spam folder in Gmail?

Open your Gmail account on your phone/PC/Mac or Google it by typing the word in the search bar. Check out the menu on the left-hand side that has several options–Inbox, Starred, Snoozed, Important. 

There's a "more" option beneath "categories". Click there. Now, scroll below, and you will find "spam" right above the option "trash". 

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Is spam the same as junk mail?

Yes, spammed messages are also known as junk or bulk email. 

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What is the best email marketing tool?

Smartlead is one of the best email marketing tools for online businesses. Unlike the popular ones, it's affordable and provides unlimited auto-rotating email accounts. Its "AI Warmup" feature makes it stand out from the crowd by increasing your chances of landing in the inbox.

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