In the early days of email marketing, content was the most important reason why your message might be blocked by an internet service provider (ISP). Now ISPs have complex algorithms - based on spam complaints, sender reputation, volume of email, content, reader engagement etc. - that help to determine if your email will be delivered. The difference these days is that content isn’t the sole criteria for determining inbox placement, it’s just one piece of the puzzle.

Does that mean that you should stop testing your email marketing content to determine if it is considered "spammy"? Absolutely not! Your content alone can still get you blocked - just try sending the words Viagra, free, and credit and see what happens to your message. Some important content factors to consider include:

• testing your message against blacklists
• testing whether the common spam filters will block your email message
• ensuring that your HTML is validated properly
• testing that all your links work

Although content is not your sole criterion for determining inbox placement, it is still essential to your business so you must test it. Even if all you do is send an email to yourself at work and to an ISP email address, you’ll be better off than not testing at all. Most email service providers now make it so easy to test that there’s no reason for you to be skipping this step. Your content will make an impression on your customers regardless of whether you test or not; you just have to decide what you want that impression to be, good or bad?

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About The Author

Valerie Jones-Harvey is a senior technical program manager for Lyris, and she has previously worked in product management, recruiting and sales. Valerie also enjoys playing with her new electronic gadgets and video games in her spare time.

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