Spam Trigger Word List

Every email marketer’s worst nightmare: the spam folder. Nearly one in five emails gets caught by a spam filter and sent to the spam folder. Now your spam filters can be triggered for a number of different reasons, causing your email to skip the recipients' inboxes and land straight in their spam box. The Context is what matters, spam filters have become more sophisticated over time and can now analyze the context in which you use these keywords. However, one of the easiest ways to avoid spam filters is by carefully choosing the words you use in your email's subject line. Trigger words are known to cause problems and increase the chances of your email getting caught in a spam trap. By avoiding these words in your email subject lines, you can dramatically increase your chances of getting beyond spam filters.

Of course, if you need to write to prospects about inbound marketing for example, it’s quite a challenge not to use words or expressions like “traffic”, “marketing solutions” or “ sales”, just use them carefully, and find ways not to use them in a possibly suspicious way.

Next time you sit down to write an email subject line, consult our list below and make sure you aren't using any words that could land you in the spam folder. Chances are that a creative subject line might also positively affect your opening rate.

6 Deliverability Tips

staying out of the spam folder

Here are more strategies for improving email deliverability and making it into your subscribers’ inboxes.

1. Run a spam check

The spam score feature applies artificial intelligence to analyze the content of each marketing email message and then generates a score that predicts how likely the message is to be flagged by content-based spam filters.

Dynamics 365 for Marketing runs a spam check on every campaign and automation email you create. A spam check is always made as part of the standard Check for errors and Go live processes, and spam-score results are shown together with other results of the error check. Spam-score results are classified as high, medium, or low (lower is better). If you get a high or medium spam score, you should consider revising your content.

Our Spam Check tool scans the content of your message and gives you a list of issues that triggered at least one rule for the spam score. Because email content can be nuanced — especially when it comes to spam words — Spam scores won’t stop you from sending your email. Plus, Spam Checks only scan the content of your message, it doesn’t know anything about the reputation of your domain or the makeup of your list.

2. Practice good email list hygiene

Good email hygiene means regularly cleaning out inactive email subscribers.

How does good list hygiene help your deliverability?

If you have a lot of unengaged subscribers, your open rates will be lower
Your open rates and engagement rates affect your sender reputation
Your sender reputation affects your deliverability
Low deliverability means your emails could be marked as spam — no spam words necessary
You will receive a higher bounce rate if you have an invalid email address on your lists

Once you remove unengaged subscribers, keep your remaining list engaged (and your deliverability high) with consistent, high-quality campaigns.

How can you clean your email list?

Use AI to track who opens your messages (and who ignores them)
When a contact hasn’t engaged for 60 days (or the time period that makes sense for you), trigger a “last chance” engagement email
Remove contacts who don’t interact with the “last chance” email campaign

3. Don’t break the law

With many rules that are among us today such as the Canada's anti-spam legislation (CASL) or General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), theyall serve to protect and regulate the digital environment for the consumers and businesses from the misuse of digital technology, including spam and other electronic threats.

Some rules to follow:

Don’t use false or misleading information
Don’t use a deceptive subject line
Including you information/address
Requiring the consent of subjects for data processing
Give subscribers a simple way to opt-out of your emails, meaning include a unsubscribe button easily accessible
Honor all opt-outs quickly
Anonymizing collected data to protect privacy
Providing data breach notifications
Safely handling the transfer of data across borders

Visit the Canada’s anti-spam legislation page and the General Data Protection Regulations page for more information.

4. Consider a double opt-in

On behalf of the above rule, only send emails to people who give consent to receive your campaigns. Double opt-in requires new subscribers to verify their email address, so they can’t give you a fake one.

A typical double opt-in process looks like this:

A potential subscriber visits your website
A form on your website offers a lead magnet in exchange for their email address
After your new subscriber gives you their email address, they get a confirmation email
If they confirm their email address, they get their lead magnet – and have officially gone through double opt-in

This helps lower your bounce rate and keep your delivery rates high.

5. Make your emails more engaging

The more people who open and engage with your email campaign, the better your sender reputation and deliverability. Two quick tips for creating more engaging emails:

Write better subject lines.
Use segmentation and dynamic content. Serving up different messaging to different recipients can get more contacts to engage with your emails.
Utilize AI to see what content is working and what isn’t
Use A/B testing, also known as split testing, is a way of working out which of two campaign options is the most effective in terms of encouraging opens or clicks
Research your audience before sending content out, by use of Buyer Persona’s to can create tailored messaged to fit your customers interests, questions, and pain points.

6. Be smart about your cold email marketing

Cold email marketing promotes your business, product, or service to someone that you don’t have an existing relationship with.

People who receive your email marketing expect your emails because they have opted in. No one signs up to receive cold emails, so you need to make sure your cold email marketing is:

Targeted
Personalized
Relevant
1-to-1

This is the difference between cold email marketing and email marketing spam.

Unlike typical email marketing to opted-in contacts, you can’t blast cold emails to a list of prospects. If you do, you’re not sending cold emails. You’re sending spam.

Conclusion: Spam words and avoiding spam filters

You’re not sending spam on purpose. I trust you. But a spam filter can still snatch your email before it can land in your subscriber’s inbox.

Here’s a recap of spam words and phrases to use with caution:

Words that make exaggerated claims and promises
Words that create unnecessary urgency and pressure
Words that look like shady, spammy, or unethical behavior
Words that are jargon or legalese

Avoid spam words and keep your deliverability high with the tips in this post, and you’ll be well on your way to steering clear of spam filters.

The Ultimate Guide to Spam Trigger Words