Have you noticed that your marketing emails are not getting as much attention as you expected? It’s not that your clients are uninterested in your promotions, and you are not the only one experiencing this issue. Studies show that only 79% of marketing emails actually reach their audience’s inbox. Why aren’t these marketing emails reaching their targets? They may be getting marked as spam.

When you get a spam email, you probably delete it or mark it as spam. Your email provider’s spam filters then learn which phrases and patterns are commonly linked with spam emails. To prevent these annoying emails from flooding your inbox, your email provider will automatically filter them into a spam folder. Super convenient -- when it works the way it’s supposed to. Unfortunately, mistakes happen and non-spam emails get marked as spam. This means that your clients may never see your emails, or may incorrectly believe they are spam. Fortunately, there are ways you can fix this.

Fix or remove incorrect email addresses. A hard bounce occurs when you send an email to an email address that does not exist. It can happen when you type “.cmo” instead of “.com”, “gmal.com” instead of “gmail.com”, or any other common typo mistake. When there is a typo in an email address, the target recipient is not going to receive the email. An even bigger problem? You are more likely to be marked as spam when your emails frequently hard bounce. Go through your email list and fix any obvious mistakes. Make sure to get a current, updated email address from all clients the next time they stop in.

Looks matter. A well-designed, visually pleasing email is far less likely to get marked as spam. Say you’re announcing a hair coloring special. That’s a great opportunity to show off pictures of your stylists’ best work. Make sure to include any images inside the email, not as an attachment. Try not to include more than three images -- image-heavy emails set off spam filters. Need help designing your email? SalonCloudsPlus offers a template gallery. If none of those work for you, you can easily build your own email template with our drag-and-drop editor.

Timing is everything. If you have low open rates, you may be sending too many emails. If you send more than one email in a day, for example, your clients are not likely to open both. Frequent emails may also -- you guessed it -- get picked up by spam filters. Similarly, if you do not email your clients enough, they may forget about your business. You need to find a happy medium. If you have a month-long special for spa packages, for example, send one weekly reminder throughout the month.

Finally, did you know that certain words in your subject line can set off spam filters? Next week’s blog will feature tips and tricks for crafting your ideal anti-spam subject line. Interested in learning more about beating spam? Check back next week!