Email marketing is as much an art as it is a science. You want your subject lines to effectively capture the attention of your recipients and entice them to click, but you also don’t want to risk being flagged as spam. Unfortunately, email platforms are becoming more intuitive by the day, which means if you’re not careful, your messages could easily end up rerouted before they ever even reach your readers.

One of the easiest ways to avoid triggering spam filters is to choose the words you use in your subject line very carefully. To make things a little easier, we’ve put together a rather exhaustive list of common email spam trigger words. Feel free to bookmark this post and consult back whenever you’re crafting an email message.

Numbers / Symbols

• 100% (including 100% free, 100% satisfied, etc.)
• 50% Off
• $$$ (including earn $, save $, make $, only $, etc.)
• #1
• 4U
• Billion
• Join Millions
• Million
• One Hundred Percent
• Thousands

Greetings

• Dear {name}
• Friend
• Hello

Sales & E-Commerce

• Act now
• As Seen On
• Bargain
• Best Price
• Buy
• Buy Direct
• Cheap
• Clearance
• Compare
• Compare Rates
• Discount
• Fantastic Deal
• Free
• Great Offer
• Incredible Deal
• Limited (i.e. Limited Time Offer, etc.)
• Lowest Price
• New Customers Only
• Name Brand
• No Purchase Necessary
• Offer
• Offer Expires
• Order
• Order Now
• Order Shipped By
• Order Status
• Order Today
• Risk Free
• Sale
• Save
• Shopper
• Shopping Spree
• Supplies
• Why Pay More?

Marketing

• Ad
• Auto Email Removal
• Be Amazed
• Bulk Email
• Call
• Click
• Click Below
• Click Here
• Click to Remove
• Compete for Your Business
• Direct Email
• Direct Marketing
• Email Harvest
• Email Marketing
• Form
• Increase Sales
• Increase Traffic
• Increase Your Sales
• Internet Market
• Internet Marketing
• Marketing
• Marketing Solutions
• Mass Email
• Member
• Month Trial Offer
• More Internet Traffic
• Multi-Level Marketing
• One Time Mailing
• Online Marketing
• Opt-In
• Performance
• Removal
• Removal Instructions
• Sales
• Search Engine Listings
• Search Engines
• Subscribe
• The Following Form
• Unsubscribe
• Visit Our Website
• Web Traffic
• Will Not Believe Your Eyes

General Offers

• Being a Member
• Billing Address
• Cancel
• Cancel Any Time
• Cannot Be Combined with Any Other Offer
• Exclusive Deal
• Financial Freedom
• Gift Certificate
• Giving Away
• Guarantee
• Have You Been Turned Down
• Important Information Regarding
• Mail In Order Form
• Message Contains
• Not Intended
• Obligation
• Off Shore
• Offer
• Opportunity
• Per Day
• Per Week
• Priority Mail
• Prize(s)
• Produced and Sent Out
• Purchase
• Removes
• Reserves the Right
• Reverses
• Score
• Sign Up Free
• See For Yourself
• Terms
• Terms and Conditions
• The Best Rates
• They’re Just Giving It Away
• Trial
• Unlimited
• Unsolicited
• Vacation
• Vacation Offers
• Warranty
• We Honor All
• Weekend Getaway
• What’s Keeping You?
• Who Really Wins?
• Win
• Winner
• Winning
• Won
• You Are a Winner!
• You Have Been Selected
• You’re a Winner!

General Finance

• Affordable
• Beneficiary
• Big Bucks
• Billing
• Cash
• Cash Bonus
• Cents on the Dollar
• Check
• Claims
• Collect
• Cost
• Credit
• Credit Bureaus
• Earn
• Easy Terms
• Extra Cash
• Fast Cash
• Hidden Assets
• Hidden Charges
• Income
• Insurance
• Investment
• Loan(s)
• Million Dollars
• Money
• Money Back
• Mortgage
• Mortgage Rates
• No Cost
• No Fees
• One Hundred Percent Free
• Pennies a Day
• Price
• Profits
• Pure Profit
• Quote
• Rates
• Refinance
• Refund
• Save
• Save Big Money
• Save Up To
• Serious Cash
• Subject to Credit
• They Keep Your Money – No Refund
• Unsecured Credit
• Unsecured Debt
• US Dollars

Business Finance

• Accept Credit Cards
• Cards Accepted
• Check or Money Order
• Credit Card Offers
• Full Refund
• Investment Decision
• Requires Initial Investment
• Stock Alert
• Stock Pick

Personal Finance

• Additional Income
• Avoid Bankruptcy
• Be Your Own Boss
• Calling Creditors
• Collect Child Support
• Consolidate Credit
• Consolidate Debt
• Consolidate Your Debt
• Debt
• Double Your Cash
• Double Your Income
• Earn Extra Cash
• Earn Extra Income
• Eliminate Bad Credit
• Eliminate Debt
• Expect to Earn
• Extra Income
• Financially Independent
• Get Out of Debt
• Get Paid
• Home Based Business
• Home Employment
• Income from Home
• Lower Interest Rate
• Lower Monthly Payment
• Lower Your Mortgage Rate
• Lowest Insurance Rates
• Make Money
• Money Making
• Online Biz Opportunity
• Potential Earnings
• Pre-Approved
• Refinance Home
• Social Security Number
• Your Income

General

• Acceptance
• Access
• Accordingly
• Action
• Amazed
• Avoid
• Beverage
• Bonus
• Boss
• Cashcashcash
• Casino
• Celebrity
• Chance
• Claims to Be Legal
• Congratulations
• Costs
• Diagnostics
• Dormant
• Extra
• For You
• Freedom
• Get
• Here
• Hidden
• Home
• Info You Requested
• Information You Requested
• Junk
• Leave
• Legal
• Life
• Lifetime
• Lose
• Maintained
• Medicine
• Medium
• Miracle
• Never
• Notspam
• Open
• Passwords
• Phone
• Presently
• Problem
• Promise
• Remove
• Request
• Reverse
• Sample
• Satisfaction
• Solution
• Spam
• Stop
• Success
• Teen
• This Isn’t a Scam
• This Isn’t Junk
• This Isn’t Spam
• We Hate Spam
• Wife

Adjectives/Descriptive Words

• Affordable
• All Natural
• All New
• Amazing
• Certified
• Cures
• Drastically Reduced
• It’s Effective
• Fantastic
• For Free
• Guaranteed
• Home Based
• Luxury
• Outstanding
• Real
• Risk-Free
• Satisfaction Guaranteed

Sense of Urgency

• Act Now
• Apply Now
• Apply Online
• Call Now
• Can’t Live Without
• Do It Today
• Don’t Delete
• Don’t Hesitate
• Expire
• For Instant Access
• For Only
• Get It Now
• Get Started Now
• Instant
• Limited Time (i.e. offer, only, etc.)
• Now
• Now Only
• Offer Expires
• Once in a Lifetime
• One Time
• Only
• Order Now
• Order Today
• Please Read
• Special Promotion
• Supplies are Limited
• Take Action Now
• This Won’t Last
• Time Limited
• Urgent
• What Are You Waiting for?
• While Supplies Last

Variations of the Word ‘No’

• No Age Restrictions
• No Catch
• No Claim Forms
• No Cost
• No Credit Check
• No Disappointment
• No Experience
• No Fees
• No Gimmick
• No Hidden
• No Hidden Costs
• No Interest
• No Inventory
• No Investment
• No Medical Exams
• No Middleman
• No Obligation
• No Purchase Necessary
• No Questions Asked
• No Selling
• No Strings Attached
• No-Obligation

Variations of the Word ‘Free’

• Free
• Free Access
• Free Consultation
• Free DVD
• Free Gift
• Free Grant Money
• Free Hosting
• Free Info
• Free Installation
• Free Instant
• Free Investment
• Free Leads
• Free Membership
• Free Money
• Free Offer
• Free Preview
• Free Priority Mail
• Free Quote
• Free Sample
• Free Trial
• Free Website

So there you have it! Your up-to-date, comprehensive list of spam trigger words. Will all of these words put your email straight into the junk folder? Not likely. Will avoiding these words guarantee that your messages won’t get flagged? Unfortunately, no. But knowing which words and phrases to steer clear of can certainly increase your odds of success.

Of course, being thoughtful and more personal with your email communications while also utilizing an automated email marketing platform like Benchmark can also help you streamline your process and guarantee that more of those important emails are making it into the inboxes of your prospects and customers.