Mailchimp is an email marketing service provider that’s creating a lot of buzz nowadays. However, despite being a good email marketing tool, Mailchimp emails may land in your subscribers’ junk or spam folders instead of their inboxes. And you are left wondering, “Why are my Mailchimp emails going to spam?”
Well, that’s what we’re going to find out today. So, let’s get to the bottom of why your emails are landing in the spam folder and how to avoid it altogether.
Why are My Mailchimp Emails Going to Spam?
Let’s discuss five reasons your marketing emails are landing in spam.
1. Your SPF/DKIM records are not set up correctly.
Spam filters flag your Mailchimp emails because you have not set up your Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKey Identified Mail (DKIM) records correctly.
In a nutshell, SPF enables senders to determine which IP addresses are allowed to send email campaigns for a particular domain. Meanwhile, DKIM provides the digital signature and encryption key that verifies that the message was not altered or forged.
Both of them are essential email authentication techniques.
These protocols verify that your emails are genuinely from you and not from a malicious source. Without SPF and DKIM, email servers may flag your messages as suspicious or fraudulent, reducing their chances of reaching the recipient’s inbox.
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2. Your domain reputation is poor.
Domain reputation is the most crucial factor in email deliverability. Think of it as something similar to the reputation we build as individuals, affected by who we are associated with and our actions.
Suppose your domain has a history of sending spam or has low engagement rates. In that case, it will be flagged as untrustworthy, and your emails will be filtered into spam folders instead of reaching the recipients’ inboxes. Other factors include spam complaints and bounce rates.
Regular monitoring and maintaining good email practices, such as sending relevant content and cleaning your email list, are essential to improving and sustaining a good domain reputation.
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3. You used spam trigger words in your email.
When your email content contains spam trigger words, there’s a high chance it won’t reach your target audience’s inboxes.
This is because you’ve used words in the subject line or email body that classify as pushy, sleazy, manipulative, or evoke negative emotions in potential readers.
A few examples of these are:
- Act Now
- Call Now
- 100%
- All-New
- Bonus
- Prize
- Will not believe your eyes
4. There are grammar and spelling errors.
This may not seem like a big deal, but having a poorly written email is another reason your Mailchimp emails land in the spam folder.
Scammers historically don’t bother perfecting the grammar and spelling of their emails when attempting to exploit people. However, this gap is closing, raising the bar on your email copy even more essential to avoid spam filters.
Aside from giving priority to your email design, we suggest you avoid all of these:
- Flashy color and big fonts
- A lot of “$” signs and exclamations (!!!!!!), and
- Poorly written email copy
5. You have low email marketing engagement.
Once you’ve crafted good content, perfected your email design, and hit “send,” tracking your email engagement is essential.
Email marketing engagement measures how the recipients interact with your email. Did they open it? How many of them read the content? Were there clicks on the links? Do they follow your call to action?
If most users don’t open your Mailchimp email, ESPs may have a solid reason to send you to spam since your emails are not adding value. Additionally, when users repeatedly mark your emails as spam using the “report spam button,” it signals to email providers that your content is unwanted, further harming your sender reputation.
How to Stop Mailchimp Emails From Getting Trapped in Spam Filters
Now that you know the reasons why your Mailchimp emails go to spam, here are some quick solutions to avoid it:
Check campaign content
Here are some helpful guidelines when designing your email:
- Ensure your HTML email body is well-coded and free from errors. Poorly formatted HTML can trigger spam filters.
- Use a balanced text-to-image ratio. Emails that are too image-heavy or text-light are often flagged as spam.
- Include alt text for images and ensure all links are correctly formatted.
- Create engaging and relevant content tailored to your audience. High-quality, relevant content is less likely to be marked as spam.
- Avoid using spammy words and phrases, such as “free,” “guarantee,” or excessive use of exclamation marks.
Courtesy of Canva/YuriArcers
Have a double opt-in list.
A double opt-in list (DOI) means that once a user signs up for a communication, they are sent an email that contains a link to confirm their subscription.
Although your email marketing list will be smaller (faster growth of address book if it’s a single opt-in), a double opt-in list can help your future emails land in your subscribers’ inboxes.
Recheck SPF/DKIM records.
As discussed above, setting up your SPF/DKIM records is essential. You can log in to Mailchimp and check your SPF/DKIM settings to set them up.
Most users often have settings verified at the start, but sometimes, they change their DNS settings and tamper with their SPF and DKIM settings.
So, do some double-checking.
Test email score
To prevent your Mailchimp campaigns from going to the spam folder, test the “spammy-ness” of your email first before hitting send.
Use our free email spam checker for a free audit and to calculate your spam score.
To get closer to 10, take the hints the email spam checker gives you, whether in your content, related links, product resources, or subject lines.
Maintain a healthy email list.
Another way to improve the deliverability of your Mailchimp campaigns is to maintain a healthy audience. These are people who have good email subscription practices.
So, go through your subscribers and clean up your lists if some email addresses have gone cold and no longer interact with your mails.
Remember that ESPs take spam complaints seriously and would likely block you if you’re sending emails to people who have not allowed you to send emails to them.
Check blacklist databases
By identifying if your domain or IP address is blacklisted, you can take early corrective actions to resolve issues before they impact your email campaigns. This proactive approach helps prevent your emails from landing in spam folders, ensuring they reach your subscribers’ inboxes.
Monitoring these databases also provides insights into the reasons for blacklisting, allowing you to address underlying problems such as high spam complaints or sending to invalid email addresses. Overall, staying vigilant with spam database checks enhances your email marketing effectiveness and keeps your email list clean and engaged.
Courtesy of Canva/Robert Kneschke
Use merge-tags
An audience field with a merge tag, which is a unique identifier, stores the data you import into Mailchimp. This provides extra information about the subscriber, enhancing personalization and targeting, regardless of whether they have a Mailchimp account.
Using merge tags can help you avoid ending up in the junk folder by making your emails more personalized and relevant to each subscriber. Personalized emails are more likely to be opened and engaged with, sending positive signals to email providers that your content is valuable and desired. This improved engagement reduces the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam.
Consider emails as an extension of your brand.
Think of your email marketing campaign as an opportunity to promote your brand identity.
Your clients already recognize your design features, graphics, and content style, so maintaining consistency helps reinforce your brand identity. Straying too far from your established brand elements may confuse recipients and risk your emails being marked as spam, impacting your domain’s acceptance factor.
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Final Thoughts
We hope you find these tips helpful. One important note to remember: whether you’re sending through Mailchimp or other email platforms, the key to success is to keep your target audience at the core of all your email marketing efforts.
Ultimately, your marketing campaigns should be about your business and what’s in it for your audience.
Other related articles:
- Why is Gmail Blocking My Emails and What to Do About it?
- Why are My Emails Going to Spam and How to Avoid the Spam Folder?
