Spam testing is the process of testing emails to ensure they are delivered to recipients' inboxes instead of being marked as spam or junk mail.
Spam testing works by analyzing various elements of the email, such as the subject line, sender information, and content. Testing process typically involves using spam filters or software programs that simulate the behavior of email providers' spam filters.
Spam testing tools can assess the email's likelihood of being flagged as spam based on specific criteria, such as the use of certain words or phrases, excessive use of capital letters, or a high ratio of images to text.
By performing spam testing, email marketers can identify potential issues with their emails and make necessary adjustments to improve their chances of reaching their intended recipients' inboxes. This can include making changes to the email content, subject line, or sender information to avoid triggering spam filters.
Spam testing offers numerous benefits that make this process crucial for any email campaign. The following are some of the specific advantages you'll see with a comprehensive spam test:
The most obvious advantage of spam testing is the ability to maximize the deliverability of emails. If inbox providers see that your emails are valid and aren't attempting to spam recipients, your emails will have a better chance of landing in people's inboxes. In the meantime, you'll minimize instances when your emails wind up in spam folders or are blocked altogether.
If you neglect to test your emails before sending them, there's a chance that people will mark them as spam, even if it isn't and passes through the spam filter. Spam testing will help make sure your emails only go to those who've subscribed to your emails. It will also make sure you're compliant with all relevant laws and regulations, including the CAN-SPAM Act and many others.
Through spam testing, you can optimize the quality of your emails, driving more opens, clicks, and general engagement. If inbox providers see that people value your email content, they'll be more likely to enable your emails to reach the intended audience. As such, you'll see an improved reputation among both email providers and recipients.
Together, these benefits make spam testing one of the most important processes for all emails to undergo before sending them out. With the help of spam testing, you'll be able to avoid wasting time on email campaigns that fail to appeal to or even reach recipients.
Here are the steps to perform a spam test:
Once you've conducted a spam test using your checker, you can measure the results. The test will clearly indicate areas of improvement to help you determine which steps to take next. You'll see which elements of your emails are flagging spam filters and keeping them from reaching recipients.
Keep in mind that all filters are different and give emails varying scores to indicate the level of spamminess your emails exhibit. If your emails don't hold up to scrutiny during these initial tests, this indicates your emails are likely to count toward spam.
Your spam test should give you results according to different spam filters on some of the biggest platforms. For example, you may want to test your emails across platforms such as Yahoo, Gmail, Spam Assassin, Symantec Cloud, and Outlook 2013. If your emails pass all spam tests on each relevant platform, you can then proceed to send your emails to legitimate recipients with confidence.
If your emails appear to be spam to filters, you can optimize your campaigns to perform better. The right tool will help by making recommendations based on the data it collects. You can then build a checklist and go down each item until your emails perform optimally.
Over time, as you build more email campaigns and conduct repeated tests, you'll better determine how to bypass spam filters and streamline your emails' performance. Eventually, you won't need to worry about winding up in spam folders at all if you take the right approach to each email and campaign.
Some specific steps you can take to improve your emails and minimize spamminess include:
The more experience you have optimizing your email campaigns, the easier it will be to do so and keep your emails in the inbox folder.
Spam tests are invaluable for your campaigns if you want to ensure that your emails reach the right people at the right time. Using the right solutions, you can properly run spam tests and take the right actions to optimize your campaigns.
To find out how Storyly can supplement your email campaigns with engaging web and app Stories, check out our innovative tool today and see what it can do for your marketing efforts.
Group of experts from Storyly's team who writes about their proficiency.
