Guide helps email past spam filters

Which words and phrases should be avoided?

Electronic marketing specialist Email Reaction has launched a spam vocabulary guide, to help firms prevent legitimate emails from being consigned to trash folders.

According to Email Reaction’s research, seemingly innocent words that could count against firms in the eyes of mail filters include acceptance, degrees, dollars, presently and trademarks.

Spam filters score words based on how likely messages including them are junk. The filters then combine word scores along with factors such as the sender’s details, to judge whether the message is legitimate.

The research found that certain common business terms increase the chance of emails being blocked, such as organisation, percent, statements and transaction. Hotmail, Paypal, Amazon and eBay were identified as companies most often mentioned in junk mail, while Nigeria was the most common country.

Vicky Carne, Email Reaction’s managing director, advised firms to run keyword checks to identify ways messages might be edited to improve their chances of being delivered to intended recipients.