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THE LEVISON LETTER
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Action Ideas For Better Direct Mail,
E-mail, Web Sites & Advertising
Published by
Ivan Levison, Direct Response Copywriting
January, 2002
Volume: 17 Number: 1
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Spam filters and email marketing
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My friend Mac McIntosh, an expert in lead generation,
was fed up with all the spam he was getting. So he
decided to do something about it.
Mac activated the junk e-mail filter (default setting)
on Outlook and set up a folder to which all the spam
would automatically be sent. Two weeks later he
checked out the messages that had accumulated.
Sure enough, there was all the usual garbage . . .
money-making plots from Nigerians, news about valuable
prizes waiting to be claimed, etc.
What troubled Mac, however, was that among all the
junk were two letters from clients -- letters that he
wanted to receive and never got!
How had they wound up in the junk folder? Simple.
Mac's clients had inadvertently used "trigger words"
in their e-mails that the junk filter spotted. The
software then automatically shunted the e-mails
containing the trigger words to Mac's junk folder.
Bad news for my friend and bad news for you. You see,
if you're sending e-mail to large numbers of people,
and they have their junk filters turned on, your e-
mails may be getting deleted automatically.
What can you do to avoid junk filters?
Don't use the trigger words that get you trashed.
For example, if you use the Outlook Express spam
filter in default mode, you'll be trashed if:
From is blank
Subject contains "advertisement"
Body contains "money back "
Body contains "cards accepted"
Body contains "removal instructions"
Body contains "extra income"
Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "$"
Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "free"
Body contains ",000" AND Body contains "!!" AND
Body
contains "$"
Body contains "for free?"
Body contains "for free!"
Body contains "Guarantee" AND (Body contains
"satisfaction" OR Body contains "absolute")
Body contains "more info " AND Body contains "visit
"
AND Body contains "$"
Body contains "SPECIAL PROMOTION"
Body contains "one-time mail"
Subject contains "$$"
Body contains "$$$"
Body contains "order today"
Body contains "order now!"
Body contains "money-back guarantee"
Body contains "100% satisfied"
To contains "friend@"
To contains "public@"
To contains "success@"
From contains "sales@"
From contains "success."
From contains "success@"
From contains "mail@"
From contains "@public"
From contains "@savvy"
From contains "profits@"
From contains "hello@"
Body contains " mlm"
Body contains "@mlm"
Body contains "///////////////"
Body contains "check or money order"
And that's just for starters!
The moral here? You have to be very careful. For
example, you'll notice that if you use an exclamation
point ("!") and the word "free" in the subject
line,
your message is filtered out. I pay close attention
to this and urge you to do the same!
By the way, Outlook Express isn't the only product
that contains a junk mail filter. Yahoo offers spam
filters for its e-mail accounts. So does Eudora. Then
there are all the other screeners like Spam Motel and
Spam Cop.
What's a poor e-mail marketer to do?
Here are three suggestions for you to consider:
1. Start a testing program. I recently asked Jeff
Wilkins, the CEO of MarketModels and an expert on all
aspects of e-mail marketing, his thoughts about
filtering. Jeff told me:
"Client-side filtering is a giant wildcard for
e-mail
marketers. No one really knows exactly how widespread
the filtering problem is. However if someone does have
a filter on, and your message contains trigger words,
you're history.
I think this issue would best be addressed by doing
some good old-fashioned cell testing. For example, if
an e-mail with "order today" in the body performs
significantly worse than a toned-down version, then
you'll naturally need to make changes."
I think Jeff's absolutely right. As so often, testing
will give you answers you can count on. One of the
great things about e-mail is that it can give you
answers fast.
2. Start researching the subject. If you're a heavy
e-mailer, start checking out spam filters and avoid
trigger words that will get you in trouble. This may
take some effort but it is well worth the work.
3. Stay tuned right here. I will pass along
additional information on the subject just as soon as
I pull more data together. (And if you have thoughts
or information on the subject, I'd sure love to hear
from you!)
The take-away message this month? Spam filtering is
an important issue that's worth paying attention to.
A little research on your part can help keep your
e-mails where they belong.
Right in front of your prospects.
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How To Get In Touch
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Ivan Levison
Direct Response Copywriting
14 Los Cerros Drive
Greenbrae, CA 94904
Phone: (415) 461-0672
Fax: (415) 461-7738
E-mail: ivan@levison.com
Web Site: http://www.levison.com
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