Avoid Spam Filters

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Overview

Mailbox Providers (MBPs) often have strict rules to protect users from unwanted or undesirable emails. To avoid these "spam blockers" you need to follow email best practices. If you do not, your emails may bounce and never reach your intended audience. This, in turn, puts your domain health at risk.

Read on to learn how to avoid spam filters and improve email deliverability when you send emails via a mailbox connected to Apollo.

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Email Deliverability Best Practices

At a high level, there are 2 primary causes for email bounces and MBPs marking emails as spam:

1. Domain authentication
2. Email content

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Domain Authentication

To prevent malicious senders from spoofing or taking over domains, MBPs mandate that all incoming traffic comes from properly authenticated servers and domains. Authentication also helps MBPs track sending reputation by creating common identifiers for all messages from a given source.

Configuring domain authentication won’t guarantee your messages reach the inbox. However, if you do not use domain authentication in the form of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, you almost guarantee your messages won’t pass spam filters.

Configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

• Set Up SPF Records: An authorization method that specifies which email servers can send emails on behalf of your organization.
• Set Up DKIM Policies: An authentication method that uses cryptography to sign messages, proving they are associated with your domain and have not been altered in transit.
• Set Up DMARC Policies: An authentication method that specifies how strict to be when validating SPF and/or DKIM, what to do with messages that don’t validate, and whether to send reports on failed authentication to alert the sender about potential domain spoofing.

When you have configured SPF, DMARC, and DKIM, consider implementing the following:

Set Up a New Subdomain

You should never send cold emails from your primary domain. Instead, you can set up a subdomain from which to send your marketing emails.

Each subdomain you create has its own reputation. This means that when you create subdomains for your outreach emails, you add a layer of protection for your root domain.

Don't forget though, that subdomains are still connected to your parent domain. This helps spam scanners identify and trust the domain to be real. However, it means you must continue to follow best practices. If you start spamming contacts from a subdomain, you also put your primary domain at risk.

If you create any new mailboxes from your subdomain, make sure you connect them to Apollo. You can then safely increase the number of emails you send in your campaigns without putting your domain or mailboxes at risk.

Apollo strongly recommends you set up a tracking subdomain before sending emails and sequences. If you have not set one up, please make sure you turn off open and click tracking in Apollo.

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Email Content

• Personalize your messaging: Make sure you research each contact well and always draft your message with the recipient front of mind. Remember to talk about what your contacts want to hear and not what you want to tell them. Consider their specific circumstances and goals, and try to meet them where they are at. The more tailored your message is to each specific contact, the more likely they are to engage in your messages.

• Focus on engagement: To keep clear of spam filters, you need to focus on engagement, not on booking meetings. You'll get better results sending fewer messages per hour and thoroughly researching each contact, speaking personally to their goals, responsibilities, and pain points than you will if you send thousands of contacts the same superficially personalized template.

• Don't use "bulletproof" templates word-for-word: Avoid copying email templates and subject lines word for word from sales influencers online. However good they might sound, you're not the only one to see and send them. You can take inspiration from good templates, just make sure you adapt them to your recipient's interests and needs before sending. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to put in the extra effort and speak directly to each recipient.

• Ignore old myths: There's no such thing as a shortlist of words, formatting, and tactics to avoid. The key is to make sure your recipient looks at your message and knows it's not spam. Try to focus on communicating in a professional, personable way. As a best practice, ask yourself if the email you intend to send is one you would want to receive yourself. Does your message sound spammy? If you were on the receiving end, would you open and reply or would you click delete? For further recommendations, watch the master class on how to write cold emails anyone will respond to.

• A/B Test Your Messaging: Always test your messaging to see what works best. You can A/B test in Apollo to try multiple versions of a message. For more guidance on A/B testing tactics, watch lesson 5 of the master class on building a world-class outbound progam.

• Include an Unsubscribe Link in Your Email Signature: If you do not include an unsubscribe link, you violate the CAN-SPAM act and risk being fined. Customize the text in an opt-out link from your email settings. Apollo then automatically adds the link with your signature on all of the emails you send via mailboxes connected to Apollo. Recipients are also more likely to click an unsubscribe link instead of marking your emails as spam. When a recipient unsubscribes, it does not affect your overall sending reputation. If they mark you as spam, it does. For more info on how to configure your unsubscribe link, refer to this article.

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Additional Considerations

Still having issues with spam-blocked emails? Here are some additional steps you can take:

• Connect Apollo to a SendGrid or Mailgun Account: SendGrid and Mailgun are mass emailing services that use their own email servers. They also replace the tracking URLs and direct them to their servers to resolve deliverability issues. If you already use SendGrid or Mailgun, you can integrate your account with Apollo. If you do so, you do not need to configure a tracking subdomain. SendGrid and Mailgun manage your tracking links on their end.
   

  For Old-Timers Only!

  Please note, Apollo only recommends integrating with your SendGrid or Mailgun account if you already actively use their platform for transactional or marketing emails related to your service or product. If you don't, consider using this Apollo partner to help you follow deliverability best practices.

  Click here for more info on the SendGrid integration or here for more on the Mailgun integration.
   

  There Can Only Be One (Tracking Link)

  If you've connected your Apollo account to SendGrid or Mailgun and your emails are flagged as spam, you may need to replace the tracking link within your SendGrid or Mailgun account. Both platforms provide a feature that functions like Apollo's tracking subdomain. For more info and support on deliverability with your SendGrid or Mailgun account, refer to this help article for SendGrid or this support article for Mailgun.

• Update Apollo Send Limits: Head to Settings, click You, and then click the Mailboxes tab. Click a mailbox and consider lowering the sending limits to 50 emails per day with a delay of 300s between each email. For more info, refer to the Email Sending Limits Overview article. Want to follow best practices but need to send more emails? You can link more mailboxes to send a higher volume of emails without putting your domain at risk.

• Only Send Messages to Contacts with Verified Emails: Use the email status filter and the date refreshed in Apollo filter when prospecting. You should only add contacts with valid, up-to-date emails into your sequences.
   

  Stop, in the Name of Accuracy!

  If a contact with a verified email spam blocks you, it doesn't mean the email address is inaccurate. It means the contact likely exists and your email was either automatically or manually marked as unfit or inappropriate for delivery.

• Engage with contacts who have a history of opening emails: Take it one step further and apply the "Likely to engage" filter to only send messages to contacts that have a track record of opening cold emails.

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