Last month, I told you about one mistake that people do when sending emails on safelists. It is using standard headlines that given at the program they promote. I also explained why it's dangerous for your campaigns. If you missed it read it here.

Another mistake that ruins your marketing is attempt to bypass the spam filters by masking spammy words in your copy. I tell about smart-at-first-glance tactic of replacing some letters with symbols. For instance, instead of typing the word "money", they type "mo.ney" or "m@ney". Sometimes "m0ney", where 0 which is a number replaces the letter o.

Some people who think they can bypass new technologies go further. They don't use the same pattern all the time but switch it along the message. In this case, the first word would be "mo.ney" while the second one would be "m@n.ey", etc.

Messages like these keep going all the time so you can make a false assumption this tactic is working. I want to warn you against following it.

Let me explain why this is useless and ridiculous.

One way to detect a spammy word is by using regular expressions. Don't afraid, I'm not going to put my glasses and explain what are they. I just show you one expression that match a lot of variations of word "money". Here it is:

m[^a-zA-Z]*o[^a-zA-Z]*n[^a-zA-Z]*e[^a-zA-Z]*y

This will match “m@o#n^e&y”, “MONEY”, “m-o-n-e-y”, and so on. A simple search will find all masked words.

There are other approaches to detect spammy texts. They are not only recognizing separate words, but also the sense, the voice, and the tone of a whole message.

For example, chat bots have been trained to recognise any texts even if they contain typos and errors. Very well they understand context and the meaning of any part of texts. I tried a combination of languages, English and Russian, and bots recognised my messages accurate and effortlesly.

That's why I don't afraid to use spammy words as examples in this email. Because it's not to grab your attention but to educate and warn you from falling into this trap.

There are two disadvantages for those who want to use masked spammy words in their texts. 

First of all, your messages are at risk of being detected by spam filters. They can end up in the spam folder, which is the worst scenario for your email marketing. This means that your audience may never see your message which will totally ruin your business.

Secondly, think about your readers. They'll see it as a false and manipulative tactic. Some of them will just laugh on such a weak attempt to bypass the filters... and they will make the right decision about your authority.

What to do instead?

Focus on creating the best content that provides value to your readers. Entertain, educate, and engage your audience with every message you send. Grab their attention by using ethical approaches and avoid the mistake of masking words at any cost.

Thanks.