Users are more tolerant of spam

Spam may not be as big a hindrance to email marketers as once thought. According to a recent report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, Americans are getting more spam in work and home email accounts than ever before but aren't as bothered by it as they have been in the past.

by Kristina Knight

In fact, 28% of those surveyed said spam wasn't a problem .

The majority are using filters (71%) to send spam messages to bulk folders. Still, the prevalence of spam has hurt the email marketplace with 55% of the study respondents saying they mistrust email communications.

However, there are things that emailers can do to cut down on the risk of having messages sent to junk or bulk folders and to increase the open rates of messages.

The first step is to keep email lists up to date. Cull out non-responsive or bouncing email addresses regularly. Then, remind users to add your address to their address book to decrease the risk of bounced messages.

The final step is perhaps most important. Email marketers should have their emails authenticated. By authenticating emails, recipients will see a logo or icon beside a message. This icon indicates that the message is from a legitimate company, not a phisher. This, in turn, could impact the open rate which will likely impact the ROI of the campaign.