Of course, with sports comes the sport’s fans need to complain about officiating.  We heard it throughout the NBA and NHL playoffs.  The World Cup has been a heyday for officiating complaints, most recently with the last USA goal being disallowed, but let’s not forget the umpire who missed the call that broke up a perfect game and I’m sure hundreds of other examples.

Complaining about officiating in sports is considered a part of the game.  As an official, I have had more losses blamed on me than I care to count.  The final score may have been 8-0 and the shots on goal were 45-6, but somehow it was my fault they lost.  I’d like to explain that logic to you, but I have yet to figure it out myself.

Email marketing, on the other hand, is different.  Everything done with marketing efforts is, essentially, under the marketer’s own control.  Time is taken to prepare messages that will engage readers, getting them to open the email, click the links, buy the product, download the information, or whatever the objective is of our message.  Special care is given to segment out the perfect list so that efforts are not diminished by recipients who will not be interested.  An Email Service Provider may also be used so that the resources of many working to achieve maximum deliverability can be harnessed.

The only third party involved is the ESP.  Even using a third-party to send messages, the ultimate control over deliverability is in the hands of the marketer.  Despite the efforts of a team of deliverability experts working tirelessly to maximize the likelihood of our message reaching the inbox of recipients, the marketer still controls the key influences.  The easiest way to get into a junk folder or bounced from the server is to not take care with each mailing that is sent.  All those things above, if done incorrectly (or not at all), have the potential to ruin a sender’s reputation.  A marketer’s reputation is their lifeblood. Control your message and your list, and you will likely end up in the inbox.

There are senders out there, however, who don’t do this.  They continually send to bad email addresses or create messages that will be picked up by spam filters.  They may use an ESP, but they still find their messages bouncing or ending up in the junk folder.  They call the ESP and see what they can do to fix their deliverability.  But, there is likely nothing that can be done.  The ESP may be able to fix it for a short while, but, unless sending practices are changed, they quickly find themselves back where they started.  They may even try changing ESPs.  This again, will work for a short time, but they end up in the same situation.  It isn’t until they change their sending practices, message creation, list maintenance, delivery schedule, etc., that they will start to see improved results.

If only officiating were more like email marketing.  If only teams could do so the game was more in their control.  I could suggest things like practice or playing a complete game (rather than going down 2-0 in the first half), but this will fall on deaf ears.  I’m not suggesting that the blame is never on the officials.  The umpire who made the wrong call to break up the perfect game made a mistake.  He apologized to the pitcher, the team, the fans and anyone else who asked for an apology.  He got an ovation the next game at that stadium.  I am suggesting that typically, the official’s judgment is not what wins or loses a game.  Like email marketing, it is the efforts of the players in the game that ultimately decide the fate of the game.

After upgrading to the latest version, I had the joy of testing to make sure that everything was working. Normally, testing is not something people look forward to. When that testing involves creating a message that is the definition of spam, however, testing takes on a game-like quality. So, I set out to create the message no spam filter would let through. Below are some of the lessons I learned as well as a copy of the message that I created. This message is not G-rated, so feel free to stop reading before you get there. I will also break down the score I received on the message to give you an idea of how the message was evaluated.

The biggest thing I noticed is that the older versions scored things like having HTML in your message would score you about 0.6 points. This is now worth 0.001 point which we round to 0.0. Bold characters were also looked down upon. Additionally, the types of filters have changed. In the older version, there was less checking for drug references and more checking for DVD and Toner sales. The focus of spammers has come a long way since then. It is very possible that the same message that scored points in the old version will no longer score any points with the latest version.

For more information about Spam Assassin, you can visit their website at http://spamassassin.apache.org/  All the tests that they perform can be found there.

Lesson 1: The subject is the key

When I set out to score high, I started with the message. I just started with every phrase I have ever had sent to me that either ended up in my Junk Folder or should have. Even doing that, my score was not as high as I would have liked. It wasn’t until I started tweaking my subject line that I got some real spam points. Some phrases you may not think would be bad, like “Your Family”, “As seen”, or starting with the word “Buy” will make your message appear to be spam. Also, avoid using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. First, this is just bad internet etiquette, but doing so will also make you more likely to be picked up by spam filters. A perfectly good subject like, “Buy your family a vacation”, would likely end up in the junk folder. That subject alone would score 4.5 points from Spam Assassin.

Lesson 2: Pick a good From Address

This may seem like common sense, but use a real address when you send your message. This is the first thing that spam checkers will look at with the address. It should actually contain an email address. Also, avoid words in the email address like “Get” and “Offers”. This means a from address such as “GetOffers@mycompany.com” would likely get you sent to the junk folder. This address alone would score 5.4 points from Spam Assassin.

Lesson 3: Message Body

Believe it or not, the message itself is not likely to get you sent to the Junk Bin, unless, of course, you really are sending spam. There are a few simple phrases that you may want to avoid using. Phrases like “this advertiser”, “to stop further distribution”, and a header of “Dear Friend” are all considered to be typical of spam and should avoided. Personalizing the name, rather than “Friend”, is enough to do the trick to avoid that trap. A message which contained the line “Dear Friend, to stop further distribution from this advertiser, click here” would score you 9.6 from Spam Assassin alone.

Conclusion

What can we learn from all this? First, don’t send spam. Second, when you are going to test your message, make sure to test it as it will be sent. This includes the from address as well as the subject that you will use when sending. Third, you should choose your words carefully. The system is looking for words and phrases that are typical of spam. Avoid these and you will be more likely to get to the Inbox.

The message I created scored 110.2 on the Spam Check. There are no images in the message and no fancy fonts. Adding some big images may have brought that up a little, but probably not significant enough to make it worth adding them. I just created a simple message full of one-liners that the spam checker does not like. I included the subject and from address I used in the message. Spam Assassin strongly recommends that I revise my message before distributing it.

Spam Assassin Results and Message

Here’s a preview of the message:

Dear Friend,

Subject = BUY YOUR FAMILY APPROVE YOU AS SEEN YOUR BILLS CHE@P A BIGGER AT NO COST L E VIT RA NUDE 120% SEX

From = @OFFERS’_GIVEAWAY_FDSJDLKSJFJFDKLFJ.GET

Generic Viagra p1ll

No prescription needed

Replica Rolex Watch

Quality Replica

P0rn V!@GR@

LEVITRA® (vardenafil HCl) Sildenafil Tadalifil citrate

Fast Viagra delivery – Male enhancement.

Grow your body parts. Get larger body parts.

Cure your impotence.

Online Pharmacy

100% Guaranteed

Ciales C1al1s Softabs

F R E E

Link to this advertiser

to stop further distribution if you’d like

$10,250,000.00

Money back guarantee.

Lowest Price

Eliminate bad credit.

No medical exams

Become financially free. Free financially.

Join millions of Americans

Banking Laws changing.

People just leave money laying around. Unclaimed Money. Unclaimed Funds.

ACT NOW!!!

AMB!3N CR3D1T M1LL10N PH4RM4CY XP1LL

Increase your energy Independent Reward

With the release of their CertifiedDomain™ service, Goodmail now has two offerings for certifying senders and their e-mail.  They have long had the CertifiedEmail™ service which will continue to exist.  The purpose here is to compare the two services and look at why you might choose one service over the other to help improve deliverability.

CertifiedDomain™

CertifiedDomain™ is a domain-based whitelist of email senders that have been approved by Goodmail.  The approval process consists of a short survey where they take a look at how the sender collects and maintains their recipient list as well as checking across several other databases to ensure the sending has a good reputation.  It appears as though the certification process is not as extensive as the process for CertifiedEmail™, however, given the reputation of Goodmail, it is probably safe to assume that removal from the list will be swift for those that violate the terms of the program.

The CertifiedDomain™ service works like a white list, except it is at the domain level rather than at the IP level.  Email servers, whether corporate (e.g. yourcompany.com) or personal (e.g. gmail.com, yahoo.com) would be able to point to this list of senders and use the list as a criteria in judging whether to allow or block the email from the sender.  The decision may combine this service with other reputation based services, including blacklists, other whitelist services, or other internal metrics.  These other metrics, include factors such as open rates and links clicked that measure engagement are becoming more common when the email service is deciding whether to allow or block the message or whether it will end up in the inbox or junk mail folder.

CertifiedEmail™

CertifiedEmail™, on the other hand, is a service that will certify the sender and guarantee delivery of emails to the inbox with images and links available to certain domains.  The certification process for this is more extensive; if you can pass this certification, you should be able to pass the one for CertifiedDomain™.

This service has established relationships with several of the larger email services out there, including AOL, Yahoo!, Comcast, Cox and others.  Messages being sent to these domains will be delivered to the inbox with links and images available.  Messages sent to other domains, however, do not receive any additional benefit from the service.

Summary

Each service has its positive side.  The CertifiedDomain™ service will potentially assist with delivery across a large range of domains, both B2B and B2C.  The CertifiedEmail™ service will guarantee delivery at the partner domains.  If most of your email is B2C, sent to individuals at their personal email accounts, you will probably receive a large benefit from CertifiedEmail™.  If you are sending a large volume of B2B emails or most of your accounts are not at the domains supported by CertifiedEmail™, then CertifiedDomain™ would be a better choice.  It does not look like the two have to be mutually exclusive either.

Fees for the two services are also different.  CertifiedDomain™ has a one-time application fee.  No other fees are listed, however, there may be annual or monthly fees associated with the program.  CertifiedEmail™, on the other hand, is charged for each email sent through the program.  The cost per email is small, but depending on volume, this can be a larger fee.  Essentially, with CertifiedEmail™, the more you send, the more you pay.  However, you know those emails are being delivered and are getting to the inbox.  With CertifiedDomain™, the fees are fixed, but there are no guarantees.

In the past, corporate email was used to disseminate information.  If you needed to get a message to a group of people, an email was generated and sent to the list of recipients.  The email would contain the full text of the message and that would be the end of the communication.  In the cases of promotional emails, there might be a link to click that would take you to an ordering website.  If the email were a newsletter, the full text of the message would be in the email.  Alternatively, an attachment might be included with a more styled version of the message.

Over time, there has been a shift in the content of messages being sent.  The purpose hasn’t changed; disseminating information or promoting a product are still the message.  The way that message is delivered to the recipient has changed though.  Information is now sent in smaller bits with links to full stories.  Large attachments are now mostly a thing of the past. Content is personalized based on the recipient to whom it is being sent.  More thought is being put into the message.  What interests a person?  What content will they care about?  These are questions that are now being asked that were not asked in the past.

Today, however, another shift is taking place.  The messages are not just going to the recipients.  If you send someone content they find interesting, they will share that content with their network.  You will find that content scattered about through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks.  A message sent to a list of 1,000 recipients, assuming the content is relevant, will likely end up in front of far more than those original 1,000 individuals.  According to Facebook, the average user has 130 friends.  If even 1% of the original list posts to their Facebook page, that’s an additional 1,300 people receiving the message.  That’s 30% more than the total it was sent to originally!  If you put the content people want in front of them, social networks are an amazing complement.  There are downsides to this as well though.  Those same social networks that will increase your reach can also create bad press.  It is more important than ever to make the content relevant and ensure that the list it is being sent to contains the appropriate people.

So, to answer the question of whether email is dead from a corporate marketing perspective, the answer is definitely no.  Its use, however has changed.  It is still a channel for getting information to the people who are interested.  The reach of that email has been extended by the social networks.  Social networks have the ability to exponentially increase the reach of the email.  It all starts with getting the information in front of people though and email is still the leader at that.