By their very nature, there is absolutely no reason that newsletters should belong in the spam folders of a mailbox. However, this can sometimes happen when the content within a newsletter falls within the ambit of spam. Sometimes this can be inevitable but to a large extent, some slick copy writing and style can ensure that this does not happen to your newsletter. Ideally, instead of sending regular bulk email marketing campaigns, one should be sending newsletters. This is because of a fundamental tenet of sales: even if you do not make the sale, enrich the life of the recipient in some way through your interaction.

Users aside, the challenge that you have to face is not a human one. Spam filters are the biggest challenge that one has to face when sending an unsolicited mail. Usually, solicited mail should not face the same fate as unsolicited mail. This is because solicited mail can be sent after a confirmation from the user, which effectively renders the newsletter immune to the filters. Beyond this, it is important to understand how some filters work to weed out spam from a mailbox and what to look out for.

Spam filters work by using complex arithmetic and probability. They calculate the chances of a key word being repeated in an email. What is kosher and what is not is not hardcoded into the software. These filters work by learning a user’s habit and then creating a formula to check keywords. Filters that check by the word are called Bayesian filters and filters that check whole phrases use Markovian discrimination. As a bulk email marketer, you must understand, in detail, how these filters work. From an analysis of the methods used by these filters, one thing is for certain, you can’t keep repeating words and phrases continuously to allow the filter to form a pattern.

When writing your newsletter, keep your content blocks small and just about fifty words long along with a “read more…” link to your site. Next, the writing style you should follow should not be a sales spiel in tone. It should be more of a newscaster or newsreel tone. The objective should be information. Good information will promote a sale. For instance, instead of saying “Viagra at a fifty percent discount”, state, “Paradigm change in retail over-the-counter prescriptions.” The possibility of spam filters tagging this as spam is relatively lower.

There is also much to be said about using multimedia. The fact is that once you place your text in an image, it cannot be read by spam filters, so keep the text to a minimum and try and use images, links to flash videos, and bare minimum text to impart your message. Also, the objective of your newsletter is to bring the user back to the website, not to send him, or her, the morning paper. Therefore, learn from newspaper copy style of using a slug to make the user want more.