Develop Relationships to Stay Out of the Spam Folder
Part of your list building efforts will include getting people to actually open your emails. The first hurdle to climb is to make sure your emails land in your readers’ inbox, and not the spam folder.
First, let’s address your subscribers who use Gmail addresses. As you are probably aware, Google created its own message filters, and most promotional emails will land in the promotional folder. There is a technique that will not only help you to avoid the Gmail promotional folder, but it will also help you to avoid landing in any reader’s spam folder.
The purpose of this technique is to get your readers talking with you, engaged in conversation, as soon as they subscribe to your list. The first engagement will most likely be the click in the confirmation email. Once your opt in is delivered, you need to get your reader to open the email and talk to you.
Would you believe, many people sign up for a freebie and never open the email or download the freebie? So you have to get your reader engaged right away!
The Trick to Stay Out of the Spam Folder
Once your freebie is delivered, you need to get your reader to respond to that email. A reply lets the email service know that your email address is one that the reader wants to see in their inbox.
How do you get the reader to respond to your freebie?
Ask a question.
Really, this is the trick! You will want to pose the question in the email that delivers the freebie.
One approach is to ask your new subscriber a question that directly correlates to the freebie they signed up for. For example, if you are a productivity coach and your opt in freebie is an ebook detailing “10 Tips to Maximize Your Productivity Before Noon”, you can ask your new subscriber what their most productive time of the day is. You could also ask them if they’re a morning person or a night owl.
Another approach is to pose a question related to the insights shared in your regular newsletter. For example, if you are a graphic designer and you regularly share resources for creating your own graphics, you could ask your new subscriber about their favorite source for stock photos. Then you could tailor tips around selecting and customizing stock photos.
Or you could ask about their favorite app to create social media images. Then you could create a series of tips around the most popular apps.
You can also ask your new subscriber about their biggest pain point. A new reader has opted in to your list for a reason, and this is the perfect time to learn about what they need right now.
When you ask your readers questions, be sure to respond to their answers. Their answers will give you further insights that you can use to craft content and your next offers. Perhaps the most important benefit is that the engagement will help to build a relationship with your new subscriber AND ensure your emails skip the spam folder.