Why Does Email Go to Spam? The 4 Things you should know

Let’s start sharing the fact that 85% of emails received will go to the inbox. The other 15% will go to spam.

It’s important to also know that spam filters do not guarantee precise analysis. Thus, legit emails could be categorized as spam. 

Keep these in mind when you are writing your content and your email will sure be delivered.

1. Your IP address was used to send spam

You may not have sent a spam email, but a computer sharing the same IP address could have done it. For starters, one household would normally share the same IP address.

Another factor would be if you are sending emails with the help of an email marketing service. The email utilizes its servers. If one customer decides to send a spam email, it could affect everyone using the same service.

That is why it is utterly important to carefully choose a prominent email marketing service that strictly abides by the proper procedures.

2. You have low open rates

Email providers always check how often an email is used, how many emails are sent, how many emails are opened, and so on. These items could be a factor in their decisions in declaring an email as spam or not.

If you have low open rates, you can expect the emails you send to have a higher chance to be considered as spam. In 2018, the average open rate of business emails was 24%.

3. You do not use your mailbox often

One of the most common causes is not using your email often. Low usage would also mean low inbox placement.

Email providers consider how a person is actively using his mailbox. Your email account would be labeled as inactive if the said account has not been used for long intervals or is rarely used.

The same is true if you are sending emails to inactive accounts. If you are sending emails to a bunch of inactive accounts, that could also be one of the reasons why your emails are targeted by strict spam filters.

To avoid complications, take time to clean your email list and delete those emails you have not contacted in a long while. Some email providers have added a clean feature; be on the lookout for it because it’s surely something helpful to keep your emails out of the spam folder.

4. You used a trigger words

Email service providers could also have a tool to check for spam trigger words. Before they deliver your email to the recipient, they have to scan it first to see if there are suspicious words in the contents of your email.

It doesn’t matter if these words are in the subject line or the body, the spam filter can still detect them. To name a few trigger words, they are:

• free
• congratulations
• winner
• dear friend
• great offer
• amazing
• order now
• special promotion

If you are curious about other spam trigger words, check out this blog post where we provide a comprehensive list.