Email Marketing - Spam Filter Trigger Words

Probably the easiest way to fight spam is to use a spam filter. Many ISPs offer a spam filter to each customer. If yours doesn't you either need to switch to another ISP or to use a stand-alone spam filter on your mail client.

From an email marketer's point of view it is very difficult to sail past those spam filters. It is especially unfortunate if you are a genuine marketer and you just do your fair bit of business. The most straightforward solution is to ask the people on your opt-in list to add your email address to the white list. However, many customers don't understand how to do it or just forget to white-list you.

To ensure that more emails get past the various spam filters, you have to keep the trigger words in mind.


The trigger words or no-no words are the most common terms used by professional spammers to entice recipients into fraudulent schemes. I offer you a table of the most popular spam trigger words. The second column will suggest a replacement for the word.

You should never use these trigger words in the subject (title) line or the "from" line.

Trigger Word	Substitute Word
bonus	extra, plus
cash	avoid
celebrity	star, superstar
chance	option, prospect
clearance	avoid
credit	own your dream house
deal	proposal
discount	reduction
earn	receive
free	gratis, complimentary
freedom	liberty
get paid	boost your salary (wage)
guarantee	assurance, pledge
home	house, dwelling
income	salary, wage
lifetime	forever
loan	borrow
million	loads of…
miracle	phenomenon, sensation
mortgage	avoid
offer	proposal
opportunity	option, prospect
per day	daily
per week	weekly
price	value, worth
problem	avoid
refinance	avoid
rolex	avoid
sale	avoid
shopper	consumer, customer
unlimited	unrestricted, boundless
warranty	assurance, safety
win	triumph, be victorious
won	triumphant

Check back soon for more trigger words.