How To Prevent Shopify Emails From Going To Spam?

What does email going into spam mean?

First things first, let’s define what email going to spam means, before diving into the solutions. Email spam, including Shopify emails going to spam, happens when a marketing or sales email, newsletter as well as any other type of content appears on the recipient’s spam folder. As a result, people receiving the email are not notified about the new email. Neither do they see the incoming notifications counter grow on the inbox. These emails are visible only when people navigate to the spam folder. In fact, depending on mail clients and account settings, normally spam emails are deleted after a certain period of time. 

In short, you definitely do not want to see Shopify emails going to spam, considering how much time, effort, and resources you spend on it and how much those emails can potentially benefit your business. 

Now that we have an idea of what email going into spam means, let’s see what makes emails end up in this folder.

Why do emails land in spam?

There are many reasons why Shopify emails go to spam folders. 

1. You send out emails to people without their permission.

   Email scraping, buying email lists and similar tricks are very common nowadays. However, they are not only unethical and not effective but also not legal. To learn more about the legal regulations on this end, you should check out the CAN-SPAM act. 

2. You are not mentioning your physical address.

   Even though this may sound bizarre, your emails can end up in the receiver’s spam folder if you are not mentioning a valid physical postal address. This is another requirement from the Federal Trade Commission and the reasoning behind it is to increase traceability. 

3. The wording of your content is tricky and seems suspicious. 

   “Maximize your income,” “Congratulations, you won…” among other similar phrases make your content look suspicious. These questionable phrases may be another reason why your email may appear in the spam folders even if you are absolutely honest and don’t want any harm. 

4. You are not putting enough effort to come up with possibly the best subject line.

   The recipient name and subject line are the first two things that capture our attention while scrolling through the inbox. They also are indicators for us to understand whether the email is spam or legitimate. To give you an idea, 69% of email users report emails as spam based on the subject line. The more people mark your emails as spam the less likely it is that your emails will land on inboxes in the future. 

5. You include attachment files in your emails.

   Attachments are one of the most common ways of getting viruses. No wonder most people and email clients filter out suspicious emails with attachments as spam. Plus, they can make your email load slower. So there are really no reasons for adding attachments to promotional or marketing emails with attachments if you can avoid them.

How do I stop Shopify emails from going to spam?

Now that we know what are some of the most common mistakes that result in Shopify emails going to spam, let’s look into their solutions.

1. Try to limit your recipient list with people who opt-in be it through subscriptions, registration, sharing contact information, and so on.

2. Make sure you add a valid address in your email footer or signature. The address can be your current, post office box you have with the US Postal Service or your private mailbox for commercial mail that is under Postal Service regulation.

3. Review your email content and make sure it does not look spammy. There are lots of resources online that share the list of so-called “trigger words” you should avoid using when writing emails. Consider checking them out and eliminating them from your texts.

4. Put in the time, energy and do the necessary research to get the best and most effective subject lines for your emails. They should explain the point of the email without sounding suspicious. 

5. Avoid adding attachments to your Shopify email content to make it look safe and risk-free for people to open.

Why do my Shopify emails go to promotions?

Besides Shopify emails going to spam, another common problem you might face is Shopify emails going to promotions. As we do not know how exactly the Gmail logic works for sending emails to the promotion tab, we can only draw conclusions based on data and previous trials and errors. Here is a list of Dos and Don’ts you should keep in mind:

Do

1. Try to keep your content as plain text as much as possible. 

2. Add a maximum of one link beside the “Unsubscribe” link.

3. Make it look like the sender of the email is a person who is representing it.

4. Ask your subscribers to whitelist your emails. Once they move your emails from promotions to inbox this will be an indicator for Gmail that your Shopify emails are important to recipients. 

Don’t

1. Add lots of images in your email. 

2. Include multiple links in the email.

3. Send emails as a company, without specifying who exactly is the sender.

4. Include templates that are coded with HTML especially if it is a complex, fancy template.

We hope these tips help you keep your Shopify emails from going into spam or promotions and help your business use this marketing channel as effectively as possible.