Keeping Your Newsletter from Getting Filtered

Most email spam blockers will block most newsletters most of the time.

Legitimate newsletters contain almost all the tell-tale components of spam. They often aren't sent directly to the recipient. They almost always have an "unsubscribe" link. Frequently they are laced with graphic content. Links to external sites and copyright notices also frequently trigger the filters.

Also, most filtering systems see attempts to comply with CAN-SPAM as being indicative that the message in fact is unwanted email.

CAN-SPAM regulations don't discriminate between junk messages and wanted commercial email. If you think about it, this makes sense. Spammers of course insist everything they send is actually welcomed by their recipients.

In theory, if your newsletter is even remotely commercial, its subject to regulation. So, if your newsletter plays by the rules, its going to get filtered.

The good news is that most antispam software programs have a "whitelist" or known good senders feature. Senders on the "whitelist" aren't subject to normal filtering rules.

The only way to make sure your newsletter gets received is to specifically tell your subscribers that they need to add your address to their spam filter's configuration.

In an ideal world, there'd be a standardized way to do this through their web browser. A standardized file format could trigger filters to prompt users if they'd like to add the address to the list.

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