Why email best practices are important
Adhering to email best practices is not just a recommendation; it's imperative. Follow this guide to help ensure emails navigate through spam filters and reach their intended recipients.
Who can I email? We can't talk about email best practices without talking about email lists. The purpose of this guide is focused on email content, but please review our email terms here.
Best practices for email text content
Meaningful Content 📝
Ensure that your email contains meaningful and relevant content. Provide enough information to convey your message effectively, and to make the intent of the email clear to both email filters and the recipient.
Personalization ✍️
Personalize your emails when possible. Address recipients by their names and tailor the content to their interests or needs. Learn more about using merge tags to personalize your email here.
Avoiding Red Flags 🚩🚩
Avoid spam filter "red flags" in your email content and fields (like subject line), including:
Steer clear of common spam trigger words and phrases. Words like "free," "urgent," etc. Full List of Some Popular Spam Keywords to Avoid
Avoid excessive use of exclamation marks (!!!!) and other special characters.
Avoid excessive use of all capital letters.
Use correct spelling and grammar. Frequent spelling errors may contribute to the perception of spam. Proofread your emails thoroughly before sending.
Don't Send Payment Details 💳
For both security reasons and to avoid being flagged as spam, we strongly advise against sending payment details, such as payment account names and bank account details, via email. If you need to share payment details, use secure and trusted platforms designed for such transactions to ensure the safety and privacy of financial information. You can also securely collect payments with Stripe and RSVPify.
Sufficient Color Contrast 🎨
Ensure that there is enough contrast between text and background colors to guarantee readability, especially for individuals with visual impairments. Poor color contrast may not only hinder accessibility but can also trigger spam filters due to a potential association with unprofessional or suspicious content. Utilize tools like WebAIM's Contrast Checker to confirm adherence to accessibility standards.
Avoid Repeatedly Sending the Same or Similar Emails 🔁
Avoid resending the same or very similar emails to the same audience multiple times, especially within a short timeframe. While it might seem like a good way to reinforce your message, it can lead to email fatigue among your recipients, resulting in higher unsubscribe or spam complaint rates.
Tips to Avoid Over-Messaging:
Segment Your Audience: Instead of sending the same message to your entire list, segment your audience based on their interests, behaviors, or past engagement. This allows you to tailor your content to different groups, reducing the need to send repetitive emails.
Respect Frequency: Be mindful of how often you are reaching out to your audience. If you’re sending event reminders, ensure they are spaced out and provide new, relevant details each time.
Focus on Value-Driven Content: Every email you send should offer something valuable to your recipients. Whether it’s important information, an exclusive offer, or engaging content, make sure each email stands on its own merit.
Allow Time Between Similar Campaigns: If you have a message that you believe is important enough to send more than once, allow sufficient time between sends to avoid overwhelming your audience. Consider using different channels (e.g., social media, in-app notifications) to reinforce your message without relying solely on email.
Clear Call-to-Action (CTA) 🫵
If your email has a purpose, such as prompting the recipient to take an action, make sure to include a clear and compelling call-to-action.
Incorporating clear and properly formatted CTAs, such as buttons or hyperlinked text, instead of plain URLs, can improve deliverability. Plain URLs, especially when overused, may trigger spam filters.
Structure the Email Clearly and Professionally:
A well-structured email with proper headers, formatting, and alignment is less likely to be flagged as spam. Organizing content with headings and bullet points enhances readability and demonstrates professionalism.
Optimized Subject Line 📧
Craft a subject line that accurately reflects the content of your email. Misleading or clickbait-style subject lines may lead to spam reports.
Recognizable From Name 💡
Use a trustworthy sender name that your recipients will recognize. Do not enter an email address in the 'from name' field, as it can trigger spam filters.
Add a physical mailing address to your email footer 📍
Some email filtering technologies are less likely to flag an email as SPAM if a physical mailing address for your organization or person is included at the bottom of your invitation or email message. This suggests to automated filtering services that the email is originating from a trusted source that has a physical address where they can be reached.
We recommend including a physical mailing address in small text in the bottom of your email invitation or message.
Best practices for email image content
Avoid image-based content 🖼️
Avoid creating image-heavy emails, as some email clients may interpret them as spam.
Mailchimp advises a ratio of 80% text to 20% images in an email.
If most of your email content is included in a single graphic, add text to the footer area such as a physical address and/or permission reminder (why the recipient is receiving the email).
Update image alt text ⌨️
Alt text in emails is vital for accessibility and deliverability. Keep it concise yet informative, ensuring it includes crucial details from the images. This not only improves the experience for recipients with images disabled or using screen readers but also helps avoid spam filtering, as the alt text contributes to content relevance assessments by email filters.
Optimize image content 🤏
To avoid image size impacting your deliverability, we'd recommend uploading images no larger than 100kb. Optimize and compress your image(s) with TinyPNG or any other image optimizer tool to reduce the file size.
❌ Prohibited Content ❌
There are a few straightforward guidelines to follow. Please refrain from sending anything offensive, engaging in harassment, or endorsing/selling anything illegal.
Sending the following is strictly prohibited:
Sexually explicit content
Emails offering/selling illegal goods or services
Emails that violate CAN-SPAM Laws
If we recognize that any of these restrictions is violated, your account will be blocked immediately.