Exclusive Excerpt: The Permission Emailer's Guide to Avoiding Filters

How much "good" permission email is filtered?

-> According to MarketingSherpa research, at the very least 4% of
permission email is filtered even if there are no "bad" words and
it's not HTML. According to Assurance Systems research 17% of
all permission email is not delivered: that’s 1 out of 6 emails
not making it through

-> Up to 75% of mailers identified as "spammers" by blacklists
are inaccurately identified as such by people who are confused
(Yes, that means 75% of blacklisted mailers are potentially "good
guys".)

-> Every single major filter company, as well as AOL,
acknowledges a percent of the mail they block as junk is actually
legitimate email that's been stopped by mistake.

-> If your permission email campaign isn’t "filter-friendly",
filters may block up to 80% of your broadcast - only 2,000 out of
every 10,000 emails may be delivered.

So, in a word, the problem is HUGE.

We're not saying that companies and ISPs shouldn't use filters.
If it weren't for the hard work filter professionals put in,
every person online might get thousands of spam messages each
week. (As it is now, we only get dozens or hundreds.) Email
would probably have to be completely abandoned as a publishing
and marketing platform.

Filters are saving the email world. And, many filter
professionals are deeply concerned about the false positive
issue. They are working on the problem, but it's going to take a
while.

In the meantime, the ball is in your court as a mailer.

You must optimize your email message and the manner in which your
messages are sent, plus the manner in which your list is
generated, in order to reduce false positives.


-> How much are filter mistakes costing you now?

Email filters erroneously block tens of billions of permission
emails every year at a cost of $3.5 billion dollars to
legitimate email marketers.

According to our research, roughly 20-50% of your non-opens are
filtered out prior to the recipient seeing your email. The
percent varies on how filter-friendly your messages are, and what
systems your recipients use to get email.

This data makes it fairly easy for you to take your non-open rate
and do some rough math to see how filtering financially affects
your organization.

First: Multiple your average non-open number by 35%.

Next: Divide your average email-related revenues by the
total number of emails that are generally opened.

Then: Multiply the first number by the second.

That's the amount you could be making if all your mail got past
filters.


-> How much risk does your message stand of being filtered?

The problem is in general filters have no way of knowing whether
your email is wanted or not. They work on probability.

Most filters work on a scoring system – score enough “junk-
potential” points and you’re blocked as though you were a junk
mailer even if you have permission to mail.

So what do the scoring systems look for? You are at high risk of
high filtering if you are doing any of the following 11 things:

1. Sender of bulk email distribution to over 500 names –
regardless of opt-in status.

2. Marketers or publishers who broadcast their own messages
instead of relying on an outside service.

3. Senders who acquire email addresses outside of a double opt-
in process conducted online. Examples: Names acquired
offline, single-opt-in names, opt-out mailings (yes, even to
people with whom you have a business relationship.)
"Networks" without significantly strong brand names
(especially those using sweeps) that send email addresses a
wide variety of unrelated offers. Senders who rent lists
that are not double-permissioned, etc.

4. Senders selling products directly through email using classic
direct response copy, graphics and offers.

5. Senders of long text articles

6. Senders with heavy B2C distribution such as @aol.com,
@hotmail.com, @msn.com, @earthlink.net, @yahoo.com

7. Senders of HTML without text alternatives

8. Messages with hotlinks that are colored blue

9. Senders of messages containing a large number of hotlinks --
such as a newsletter that's a list of links to information or
news available online.

10. Senders of attachments or logos that are not properly
prepared for email distribution.

11. Senders using BCC or CC distribution methods with over 10
names per email


[Note: If you'd like to learn more about the Permission
Emailer's Guide to Avoiding Filters:
http://sherpastore.com/store/page.cfm/2094

Yes, review copies are available for accredited press and
key marketing partners. Contact
CarolM@MarketingSherpa.com]