Whitelisting: How to prevent your emails from being marked as spam – part 2
Last week we talked about how spam filters work. This week we’ll talk about how getting your clients to whitelist your email address will help make sure your emails don’t end up in their spam folder.
First off, I want to stress that simply asking them to whitelist you doesn’t always work. That’s because people may not know what whitelisting is, or how to do it, or even bother to do it even if you do ask.
So there are a few other approaches you can use.
1. Tell them to check their spam folder
2. Get them to reply to one of your emails
Here’s how each of those tactics work.
Tell them to check their spam folder
When people first sign up for your email list, it’s a good idea to tell them right from the start to CHECK THEIR SPAM FOLDER.
Do this right when they are signing up.
The easiest way to do that is to have text right under the sign up box that says something like the following.
After you sign up, make sure you check your spam folder in case our emails go there!
If you use an autoresponder, you can instead have a message box appear after they click submit, with a similar message to the above.
It’s also a good idea to give them a timeline of when to expect your email. For example:
We’ve just sent you a welcome email. If you don’t see it within a few minutes, check your spam folder.
Get them to reply to one of your emails
With many modern, advanced email applications, once you reply to an email, the address of the original sender is marked as safe. The program figures if you are replying to that person’s email, you must want to be seeing emails they send to you.
So, how do you get people to reply?
It’s actually quite simple: give them a reason to!
There are a number of ways to do that. Here are a few.
Ask them to complete a survey
One way to get people to reply to your first email is to include a short survey. Make sure it’s one they will want to participate in!
Put it right in your email, so that the only way they can complete the survey is by replying and filling in the answers.
Example:
A guitar teacher asks:
How long have you been learning guitar?
Less than 1 yr 2-4 yrs 5+ yrs
Approximately how many chords do you know?
0-5 6-10 11-15 20+
Make sure you introduce the survey with a short message that will encourage the reader to reply.
Example:
Welcome aboard! I’m looking forward to helping you get more enjoyment out of your guitar.
To start off with, I’d like to find out what level you are at. That will help me develop a personalized learning plan for you.
I’m going to ask you 2 short questions. Just answer by replying to this email and typing in the answers underneath each question (or you can just bold your answers).
As soon as I receive your email, I’ll start working on your plan. And I’ll email that plan to you as soon as it’s done.
Here are the questions.
Ask a question
Instead of a survey, you could ask just a single question. Again, make it something they will want to answer.
Welcome aboard! I’m looking forward to helping you get more enjoyment out of your guitar.
One of the ways I do that is to keep adding songs to my library. And, actually, I need your help here.
I want to add music that my students want to learn. So I’d like to ask you to answer one question for me:
What song do you most want to learn how to play this year?
Please answer so I know what titles of music I need to add to my library. I can’t teach it to you if I don’t have it in my library!
Just reply to this message, type in the song name, and send. That’s it. Then I’ll start searching for your song so I can be ready for your lessons!
Run a Contest
Who doesn’t love free stuff?
Nobody.
That’s why running a contest is a great way to get people to reply.
Example:
Welcome to my classroom!
I know you’re eager to start, and I’m eager to help you!
But first I want to let you know that just by signing up for my newsletter you have earned a free entry into my Win 3 Free Guitar lessons contest.
One lucky person will win 3 one-on-one lessons with me!
All you have to do to enter is reply to this email. You don’t need to type anything. Just change the subject line to Contest, and send. That’s it!
Past winners have told me how much they learned in just those 3 lessons. So what are you waiting for?
Reply now!
Give them something for free
You can also just give them something for free.
Example
Welcome!
To show my appreciation for signing up for my newsletter, I’m giving you a free gift.
It’s a songbook I created: Guitar Favourites you can play now.
This book includes 20 of my favourite guitar songs. And it’s great no matter what your playing level, because each song has two versions: beginner and advanced.
The book includes some guitar standards such as Wipeout, and Green Onions. But it also includes some classic rock tunes such as Stairway to Heaven and Let it Be. I even threw in some great folk songs.
To get your copy, just reply to this email. That’s it! That’s all you have to do! I’ll then send it to you.
Those are just a few of the ways you can get people to reply to your welcome email.
And there is an added bonus: you’ve gotten them to engage with you. That makes them feel a stronger connection to you.
Of course, the key to any of these methods is that the recipient has to SEE the email. If it’s the first one you send, it may end up in their spam folder, so combining this method with the first one (telling them to check their spam folder) is the way to go.
One final note
We don’t know how many emails any person’s email system will mark as spam. Maybe most get through. Maybe a significant number don’t.
So it’s always a great idea to use some tactics to MAKE SURE your emails are going to your recipient’s inbox, not their spam folder.
Cheers,
Tim
Helping you engineer the business of you