Words to avoid to get your newsletter past spam filters
Howard Lake | 3 December 2002 | News
Publishing an email newsletter to supporters can be a major undertaking for some charities, but newsletter editors now need to avoid using some common words and phrases that will trip spam filters and prevent their newsletter getting through. Do you know which words to avoid?
While many charities are only just getting used to creating and publishing email newsletters to their supporters, another issue is rapidly arising to make this a more complicated process. Newsletter editors must now avoid a wide range of words or phrases that will trigger anti-spam filters and thereby prevent their email newsletter getting through to its intended recipients.
Some trigger words and phrases are obvious to anyone who receives spam. “Multi level marketing”, “Amazing stuff”, and “cash bonus” will all be intepreted by SpamAssassin, the popular anti-spam software, as likely indicators of spam. They are unlikely of course to appear in a charity’s email newsletter.
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However, there are many other phrases that will appear in charities’ newsletters, and seem innocuous, yet they too contribute to a message’s total spam rating by SpamAssassin. These words include:
free preview
serious cash
free offer
get started now
gift certificate
order now
what are you waiting for?
Urgent
do it today
don’t delete
dear friend
please read
So should charity newsletter editors avoid these words completely? Of course not. Using one or two of these words or phrases probably won’t result in your newsletter failing to get delivered, but using several in one issue could produce that result.
The best approach is to remain aware of these trigger words and phrases, and the new ones which get added to SpamAssassin’s database, and either use alternatives or use them sparingly.
In addition, each issue of the newsletter should be tested using some of the free spam filter testing tools available online. In addition, if your organisation uses SpamAssassin, send the test issue to yourself and see the summary report that SpamAssassin includes in the headers of the email.
Remaining unaware of the effect of certain words in email newsletters is not an option, assuming a charity wants as many of its opt-in supporters as possible to receive its email newsletter or fundraising appeals.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.