Navigating Content Compliance and Spam Filters for Small Businesses

Content compliance isn't just about playing nice; it's a strategic necessity for small businesses. With over 293 billion emails sent daily, ensuring your communication cuts through the noise and avoids the dreaded spam folder is crucial.

Google’s recent February 2024 changes to enforce sender authentication have led to a material change in how spam is captured by inbound mail filters, reducing the effectiveness of email marketing.

Great for the consumer but bad for small businesses.

Spam filters have grown sophisticated, using AI algorithms that scrutinize everything from your email's subject line to the frequency of sends. Still, according to recent studies, approximately 20% of legitimate emails end up in spam, which poses a significant risk for small businesses trying to reach their audience.

The key to successful email deliverability is understanding the rules of engagement. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Content Relevance: Ensure your content is highly relevant to your audience. Personalization can increase open rates by up to 26%.
   

2. Avoid Spam Triggers: Words like "free," "guarantee," and excessive exclamation marks can trigger spam filters. Crafting clear, concise, and professional content can help avoid these traps.
   

3. Consent is Key: Always obtain consent before sending emails. This enhances trust and complies with regulations like GDPR, which stipulates strict guidelines for email communications.
   

4. Regular Cleaning: Maintain your email list hygiene. Regularly remove unengaged subscribers to improve your engagement rates and overall deliverability.
   

5. Technical Setup: To authenticate your emails, implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. This tells spam filters that your emails are secure and trustworthy, reducing their chances of being marked as spam.
   

6. Domain Reputation. If you’re unfamiliar with this term, the trustworthiness and credibility of a domain are assessed by email service providers and spam filter algorithms. It is a crucial factor influencing whether an email reaches the inbox or gets diverted to the spam folder. Domain reputation is built on several factors:
   

   1. Email Volume: Sudden spikes in email volume from a domain can trigger spam filters.
      

   2. Recipient Interaction: How recipients interact with emails from the domain (e.g., opening emails, marking them as spam, or deleting them without reading) heavily influences reputation.
      

   3. Spam Complaints: High spam complaints can severely damage a domain’s reputation.
      

   4. Authenticity Protocols: Proper implementation of email authentication protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) can improve a domain’s reputation.
      

   5. Blacklists: Being listed on email blacklists due to previous poor behaviors can negatively impact domain reputation.

7. Comply with CAN-SPAM. The CAN-SPAM Act is a critical legal framework that U.S. businesses must adhere to when sending commercial emails. CAN-SPAM stands for "Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing," and it was enacted to set standards for sending commercial email, establish requirements for commercial messages, give recipients the right to have businesses stop emailing them, and outline tough penalties for violations.

   Here are the main requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act that are particularly relevant to small businesses:
   

   1. No False or Misleading Header Information: The "From," "To," "Reply-To," and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
      

   2. No Deceptive Subject Lines: The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
      

   3. Identify the Message as an Ad: The message must be identified as an advertisement, unless the recipients have already consented to receive such messages from the sender.
      

   4. Tell Recipients Where You’re Located: The email must include the sender's valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox registered with a commercial mail-receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
      

   5. Tell Recipients How to Opt Out of Receiving Future Emails: The email must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of receiving emails from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that's easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand.
      

   6. Honor Opt-Out Requests Promptly: Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after sending the original message. You must honor the recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You cannot charge a fee, require the recipient to give any personally identifying information beyond an email address or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request.
      

   7. Monitor What Others Are Doing on Your Behalf: If you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you cannot contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. The company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that sends the message may be held legally responsible.

The pathway through content compliance and avoiding spam filters is clear: prioritize relevance, consent, and technical soundness. Concentrate on domain reputation and CAN-SPAM compliance. This will improve your email engagement rates and build a lasting relationship with your customers.

If you’re a small business and need help with the technical setups mentioned here, just schedule some time with us. We’re here to help.