I started, 7 years ago, as a Virtual Assistant, helping clients with everything from Mailchimp to invoicing to simple email communication. It was an incredible way to start working for myself from home while gaining a lot of online marketing experience.

And there are many different types virtual assistant jobs. What is one creative virtual assistant job that someone can obtain with little to no experience?   

To help you with finding a creative virtual assistant job at the entry level, we asked  CEOs and career experts this question for their best insights. From content researching to working as a social media virtual assistant, there are several suggestions that may help you find the perfect virtual assistant job in the future.

Here are ten creative virtual assistant jobs that require little to no experience:

Content Research

For someone looking for real-world experience in a creative niche, starting off as a content researcher could be the right fit for you. This role is typically offered by companies who are really serious about the quality of their content. The applicant would want to exhibit that they could research for content ideas and trending topics, and learning to do keyword research could even be another big plus to add to your resume.

Lindsay McCormick, Bite

Virtual Assistant For a Travel Company 

One creative VA job someone can obtain with little to no experience is becoming a Virtual Assistant for a travel company. A travel company is always looking for people who are familiar with the travel industry and can help manage different areas of the business, such as social media, customer service, and marketing. If you have some experience in the tourism field or are just passionate about traveling, this could be a great opportunity for you.

Claire Westbrook, LSAT Prep Hero

Copy Editor or Proofreader

Proofreaders and copy editors have similar goals: to ensure written material is error-free. Corrections to grammatical or stylistic problems, poor formatting, and typos are checked by proofreaders before a work is printed, published, or placed online. Copy editors do the same thing, but they may additionally edit phrases or paragraphs for correctness and clarity. Companies that produce a lot of written material may hire part-time or full-time proofreaders or copy editors, but this work can also be done as a contractor or freelancer. A proofreader or copy editor must have a thorough grasp of English spelling and grammar rules, as well as a sharp eye for detail. Experience in the company’s field or acquaintance with their style guide will be a plus. Copy editors and proofreaders frequently have degrees in English, communication, or related fields, but they can also work without prior professional experience.

Jay Bats, ContentBASE

Engage in Social Media Posts

Chances are that you have experience posting content to social media, and engaging with other people’s posts. Clients will pay you to do this on their behalf, to help them drive engagement on their own profiles. Look for eCommerce brands and others who want to engage new audiences and pitch them on the idea of hiring you.

Dennis Consorte, Snackable Solutions

Virtual Administrative Assistant

Administrative assistants may respond to emails, plan meetings, make memoranda, maintain databases and files, or execute other clerical activities as assigned by their employers. Executive assistants are administrative assistants that usually work for a company’s executives. In addition to administrative chores, they may plan their executive’s travel, take notes for meetings, and conduct research. 

An ideal candidate will be flexible in their work schedule, be well organized, self-directed, and have strong problem-solving skills. Many administrative assistants can now work full- or part-time online in an increasingly digital world. (However, not every administrative or executive assistant just works online, so check the job description carefully!) Most of these jobs require only a high school diploma, although some employers prefer a college diploma. These positions are entry-level, but executive assistant positions may require additional experience.

Sumit Bansal, TrumpExcel

Content Production

If your passion is creating, curating, and editing videos or images, you could start a VA business as a content production creator. Creating content is extremely time-consuming and most businesses don’t have time to commit to this and will look to outsource these tasks. You can offer to help with: Writing blog posts. Researching content ideas. Creating graphics. Sourcing photos. Editing pictures. Creating videos.

Stewart McGrenary, Freedom Mobiles

Email Marketing

If you have a flexible work schedule, creative teams are often looking for extra help. For example, you can help them organize their email lists so that you can learn more about email marketing. It’s super important to understand that in order to become a full on digital marketing expert. No matter what task you’re doing, make sure you’re focused and thinking about it deeply so that you can ask any questions later. This is what helps you learn and grow and shows that your interest is real.

Anne-Marie Faiola, Bramble Berry

SEO Content Writer

Creatives should consider a content writer job in SEO. This digital marketing strategy uses keywords in blog posts and websites to increase domain ratings while improving organic search methods. Most SEO agencies can teach writers a specific formula, which is great for those with little experience in SEO but a strong writing background. This is a career that is easy to learn, with or without a college degree.

Lillie Sun, Three Ships Beauty

Graphic Designer

Graphic designers create images that communicate an organization’s, brand’s, or individual’s ideas, messages, and aesthetics. Graphic designers use text, images, or both to produce digital art or transform handmade art to digital. Graphic designers can create logos, product packaging, infographics, social media imagery, and even website and software aspects. An online career, graphic designers operate mostly alone utilizing a computer and other equipment they may easily keep at home after they know what their employers or clients require. 

For their own or clients’ graphics, some organizations hire full-time or part-time designers, while others build partnerships with freelancers or contractors they admire. A graphic designer must be creative, artistic, and proficient in the newest design, picture, and layout applications. You’ll also need good communication skills to ensure that you and your client are on the same page.

Jamie Opalchuk, HostPapa

Social Media Virtual Assistant

A social media virtual assistant. It’s a field that has a higher amount of entry-level job postings. They need to ask for something, so what is usually required? Proficiency in social media platforms, which everyone has to an extent in this day and age. They may ask for experience using Canva, a graphic design platform. The platform itself is so well-built and intuitive, it’ll take you 15min to get the hang of it. And just a few hours to understand its functions. Very easy. Apart from that: general communication skills along with an ability to cater them to a specific social network, and an eye for aesthetics. Again, spend some time analyzing different brands or accounts on the chosen platform. You’ll find that grasping the basics is intuitive.

Nicole Ostrowska-Cobas, LiveCareer

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What are the best ways in which email marketing fuels inbound strategy? 

To help marketing professionals truly understand the impact email marketing has on inbound strategy, we asked marketing managers and experts this question and their best tips on how to best use email marketing. From remaining relevant to nurturing your audience, there are several simple ways that may help you fuel your inbound strategy.

 

Here are 6 ways email marketing can fuel an inbound strategy:

• Remain Relevant
• Turn to Subscribers for Content Ideas & Promotion
• Refine Your Brand Messaging 
• Create Long-term Relationships
• Open Communication and Network
• Nurture Your Audience

Remain Relevant

Email marketing can maintain brand awareness and nurture an ongoing relationship between the company and customers. Even if email list leads are not yet ready to close the sales funnel and make a purchase, and even if not every campaign results in conversion, sending timely emails keeps your company at the top of a client’s mind. After seeing your organization’s name repeatedly in their inboxes, leaders are likely to pay your company consideration and make a visit when finally ready to buy.

Michael Alexis, TeamBuilding

Turn to Email Subscribers for Content Ideas & Promotion

One innovative way to keep email subscribers engaged in the content you are producing is to ask for their input. Find out what topics they are most keen on seeing you publish next as blogs or long form guides. Send your email subscribers a quick survey to gather their feedback, align ideas to your inbound strategy and search rank potential, and then when you publish the new content, thank your subscribers by providing them early access.

Segment the survey respondents before you create the content and let them know they can be the first to share it if they wish before you start promoting across your social channels. It is a great way to improve your content ideation, increase organic sharing, and better align your next content pieces to what your audience wants to read.

Colton De Vos, Resolute Technology Solutions

Refine Your Brand Messaging by Funnel Segment

One inbound strategy is to use email funnels to segment different demographics in your ICP. The more precise your brand messaging is to a specific audience, the more likely they will be attracted to your brand or find your messaging relatable. The best way to pinpoint the risk areas of your funnel is to audit each segment for leads, conversions, and churn. You can do this using most analytics software and subsequently tighten your brand consistency where it’s missing the mark. 

Many companies get the basics down with inbound marketing and funnels but fall short on optimization. The more refined your brand messaging, funnels, overall consistency, and so on, the better your returns.

Zach Goldstein, Public Rec

Email Helps Create Long-term Relationships

Whenever you email people who have willingly given you their email address, it’s basically inbound marketing: your prospect has come to you. Adding email to your inbound strategy is a great way of ensuring that your message is coming to those who want to hear it, and it’s perfectly tailored to their needs.

The core of inbound marketing is producing valuable content that meets the demands of your target audiences and creates long-term customer relationships. And there is almost no better way to build a relationship than email marketing. Personalized content, automated messaging and segmented audiences are the most important and effective tools you can use. If you manage to generate content that will make your customers go “oh I really feel like they’re talking to me”, your inbound marketing will be on a great path.

Klara Dumancic, Investors Club

Open Communication and Network

Email marketing can have a positive impact on your business. There are approximately 1.3 billion email users spread across the globe, and the growing number is bringing marketers into the e-mail marketing industry. It provides an open communication system with the consumers, and the option of personalizing the email works as a cherry on top. You can sync it with CRM and improve your customer relationships and grow your business. It can influence your inbound marketing strategy by grouping your customers and providing them with relevant content. The eventual goal of turning leads and generations can be achieved with the intersection of both.

Meera Watts, Siddhi Yoga International Pte. Ltd.

Nurture Your Audience

While email marketing has its limits, it remains the most effective way to nurture people from dabbler to buyer to brand advocate. Too many marketers categorize email as a conversion channel. It certainly plays a role at the conversion stage, but its most powerful use is as a way to warm your audience up before going for the sale.

Bobby Klinck, BobbyKlinck.com

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What is one way to make your email marketing strategy more gender-inclusive?

To help you create a more gender-inclusive email marketing strategy, we asked DEI leaders and email marketers this question for their best insights. From avoiding generalizations to using a mixed gendered content team, there are several ways to update your email marketing strategy to be more supportive and inclusive to all genders. 

Here are 9 ways to be more gender-inclusive in email marketing:

• Avoid Generalizations
• Don’t Focus On Just One Aspect 
• Focus On Behavior Instead of Gender
• Expand Your Range of Photos, Icons, Emojis
• Design Forms that Acknowledge Gender Inclusivity
• Provide Multiple Options On Email Sign-up Pages
• Use “To Whom It May Concern”
• Go Neutral
• Use a Mixed Gender Content Team

Avoid Generalizations

Your email recipients are likely a wide range of individuals of different races, genders, cultures, sexualities, abilities and so many other characteristics that make them unique, so your email campaigns should never try to fit your customers all into one neat little box. The language you use in your emails should never be presumptuous or niche in language but instead, should be general and address the different needs and interests of your readers. Use gender-neutral pronouns and rely on behavior metrics of your customers rather than gendered stereotypical assumptions to ensure that your emails remain inclusive to each group.

Saneem Ahearn, Colorescience

Don’t Focus On Just One Aspect 

When thinking about making your email marketing strategy more gender-inclusive, don’t just focus on one aspect. It can be easy to focus too narrowly on your email copy or images when trying to be more gender-inclusive. This can cause issues with the other aspects that are not getting as much attention. You should be giving the same amount of attention to each aspect of your email marketing strategy in order to be truly authentic and inclusive.

Maegan Griffin, Skin Pharm

Focus On Behavior Instead of Gender

Avoid segmenting your email lists by gender. Many consumers have interests that don’t conform to traditional gender roles. Instead of focusing on the gender of your customers, focus on their behavior instead. Their likelihood to open your emails provides more applicable data for you to analyze than their gender does.

Jean Gregoire, Lovebox

Expand Your Range of Photos, Icons, Emojis

Images, icons, and emojis are an integral part of email marketing campaigns today, so ensuring that these visual assets follow the rules of gender inclusivity is essential. Although representing every gender in a single campaign is not often possible, a healthy mix of different genders turns out to be a way better approach than only including one. Doing away with stereotypical visuals and putting in efforts to source the right images go a long way in promoting inclusion and painting your marketing campaign in gender-neutral colors.

Jerry Ford, 4WD Life

Design Forms that Acknowledge Gender Inclusivity

If you include a form in your email marketing campaign to collect opinions or feedback, make sure that every element in the form sticks to the rules of gender inclusivity. Collect information related to gender only if it is essential to your campaign. Even when doing so, it is preferable to ask a question on the lines of who the respondent identifies as instead of only offering them the usual traditional options. Also, do away with the now redundant title section that asks respondents to choose their preferred one.

Azmaira Maker, Ph.D., Aspiring Families

Provide Multiple Options On Email Sign-up Pages

For your email sign-up portal, make sure you have options not just for “male” or “female,” but for “non-binary,” “other,” and “prefer to withhold.” When you send emails, make sure you either aren’t using gendered pronouns at all or using the increasingly more standard “they.”

Michael Williamson, Hoist

Use “To Whom It May Concern”

Public perception of gender as a spectrum rather than a binary is becoming more and more acceptable by the majority. There are a few bureaucratic issues that appeared, such as coming up with a better and more inclusive language in a promotional/professional setting.

If you’re trying to keep up with the times, which you should, it is time to retire the old “Dear Sir/Madam” at the beginning of your emails. With the advancements in technology, there’s a high chance that your tools know the name of the recipient, in which case your email can start with “Dear <Name>”.

If by some chance you don’t know the gender/name/pronouns of the recipient, you may address them as their department/title in the company, or if it’s a customer you may just say “Dear Valued Customer”. It may be better to be awkwardly formal and write “to whom it may concern” rather than assuming someone’s gender and their pronouns.

Gosia Hytry, Spacelift

Go Neutral

One easy way to make your email marketing methods more gender-inclusive is to simply omit gendered content altogether. If you tend to reference women in your emails, as an example, a gender-inclusive practice might entail shifting to a second-person perspective or using only gender-neutral language. Naturally, this tactic won’t work for every brand or business, but thinking about how you can achieve a gender-neutral approach can still be productive.

Consider your current use of language, images, and even colors. Identify if there are any areas where you can make small changes to reduce unconscious bias. For example, be mindful of the language you use; even when not explicitly gendered, many words have gendered connotations that can alienate some of your leads and dismiss others. At the end of the day, evaluating your current strategies and honing in on areas that promote a gender binary or fail to include diverse genders can help you identify areas of improvement.

Sydney Fuhrman, Conklin Media

Use a Mixed Gender Content Team

One surefire way of delivering a more gender-inclusive email marketing strategy is to infuse your email content team with multiple perspectives. If you already utilize a team approach to running your email marketing campaigns, ensure you have at least one male and one female on the team. Likewise, if you currently just have one person managing your email marketing, consider adding a second person to the team, or at the very least seeking input from another person on the broader marketing team of a different gender. 

For gender-inclusivity it all starts at the top with the people that create the content. Thus, the more that you can create a campaign based on an amalgamation of views and opinions, the better off you’ll be. Even if we think we are unbiased and can incorporate gender-inclusive views into our content, the truth is that everyone has unconscious biases. Not to mention, we simply lack the life experience of the other sex to connect fully with them.

John Ross, Test Prep Insight

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What is one company swag idea that is good for remote employees? 

To help companies come up with swag ideas for remote workers, we asked creative professionals and business leaders this question for their best advice. From insulated lunch bags to portable power banks, there are several company swag ideas that remote employees will actually use and enjoy for a long period of time. 

Here are 12 company swag ideas for remote workers:

• Branded Insulated Lunch Bags
• Clever Tea & Coffee Accessories
• Send New Hire Swag Packs
• Custom Thermos
• Self-Care Swag Box
• Branded Headphones
• An Item They’ll Actually Wear Out in Public
• Warm Up With Insulated Mugs
• A Custom Memory Foam Seat Cushion
• Cocktail Kits
• Custom Business Card Holders
• Portable Power Banks

Branded Insulated Lunch Bags

Swag should be practical and useful, especially if it’s being sent out to a hybrid team made up of in-house and remote employees. Something simple, like a branded insulated lunch bag, can be easily mass-produced and shipped everywhere, and be of benefit to employees near and far. Even if it’s never used by remote employees to bring lunch into the office, the practicality and thought behind the swag will be what counts.

Randall Smalley, Cruise America

Clever Tea & Coffee Accessories

Most branded items will not be visible online. The exceptions are the coffee & tea accessories that could accompany colleagues at morning and afternoon calls alike. Providing thoughtfully designed tea infusers, isolative bottles, or filtering straws like those used for yerba mate can make a difference. It can also satisfy many employees, including those seeking eco-friendly options.

Michael Sena, SENACEA

Send New Hire Swag Packs

We mail a swag pack to every single employee who comes onboard Curricula. We call our team members “Curriculoos” and we want them to feel like part of our company culture from Day 1. Each new Curriculoo gets a Curricula mug, tumbler, t-shirt, hoodie, stickers, and coozie all in a branded mailer. It’s so important for new hire onboarding and training to create a great experience, especially with so many people continuing to work remotely.

Nick Santora, Curricula

Custom Thermos

Corporate swag is an awesome way for people to represent their company in and outside of the office. Maybe skip the t-shirts this round and go for something you know everyone will actually use, like a thermos. Almost everyone goes for a coffee or tea in the morning so it is almost guaranteed everyone will use it at some point and there are some really awesome customizable options. You can opt for a custom thermos featuring your company’s logo, and for the ecologically conscious, you can find retailers who have recycled material options. If you give it some really good thought you’ll have a gift that everyone will think is pretty cool!

Tom Mumford, Undergrads

Self-Care Swag Box

A self-care swag box is a fantastic option for remote employees, regardless of industry. Equipped with candles, bath bombs, and teas, swag boxes are a great way to appreciate those who work from home and occasionally need a short break to refresh and recharge themselves. By sending a swag box, you can show your remote employees that you care about their health and well-being.

Allan Switalski, LendThrive

Branded Headphones

More employees working from home tend to share an office space with their significant other or children. Providing them with company-branded headphones can ensure that company conversations are kept private and enable their family members to stay in the office space with them. They also have the opportunity to listen to their favorite music to drown out noise or to help them get through the day.

Annette Harris, Harris Financial Coaching

An Item They’ll Actually Wear Out in Public

So many times, people are given swag that will stay confined at home or get lost in a drawer somewhere. I try to think about swag items as something I personally would want to wear. Something I wouldn’t be embarrassed to wear…and something I’d wear often. The point of swag is to create free marketing for your organization. If you want it to be worth it – make hoodies or beanies or scarfs that have the company name and a fun logo/slogan on them. Avoid obnoxious colors, pick neutral tones or a simple black/white, which will get more wearability. Essentially, the more it’s worn in public, the more eyes/awareness around your company.

Annie Raygoza, WebEnertia

Warm Up With Insulated Mugs

A great corporate gift idea is insulated mugs (with lids) which are perfect for using when you take a walk, in the car, or are working at your desk. That’s something employees will actually appreciate because it’s something they can actually use all the time. Plus, colleagues see each other using it on video chats and feel more connected (or reminded to use theirs!) It’s a win-win, and if you get a high-quality one they last a really long time.

Lisa Odenweller, Kroma Wellness

A Custom Memory Foam Seat Cushion

Give your remote employees a custom swag item that will make them more comfortable as they work from home. A cool item would be a memory foam seat cushion. This is a creative solution to a common problem that remote workers face: their home office chairs are not comfortable. A memory foam seat cushion will not only alleviate the pain they feel in their bottom, but also in their back, legs, and hips.

Melanie Bedwell, Olipop

Cocktail Kits

One gift that can be sent out to remote workers but also will help build your team would be cocktail kits. Though you would not be able to mail alcohol to your employees, you can include all the necessities of a cocktail such as glasses, coasters, shakers & dry ingredients to top off the drink. After sending them out, plan an after-work virtual happy hour where each employee shows off their creation and plays some games. Gifting an item that leads to an event will not only bring your team together without being in person but also strengthen employee relationships with one another in a relaxed setting.

Sacha Ferrandi, Source Capital

Custom Business Card Holders

Personalized business card holders are practical gifts that are appreciated by anyone who’s always giving their old, beat-up one away at networking events or other professional gatherings. With personalized business card holders, they’ll always have an up-to-date collection of contacts and will be reminded of your company every time they’re exchanging cards with someone new.

Marc De Diego Ferrer, MCA Assessors

Portable Power Banks

Portable power banks, in my opinion, are the most useful instances of luxury company swag. When an outlet is unavailable, these gadgets allow people to charge electronics such as cellphones, tablets, and laptops. Charge the bank first, then connect the gadget with a cable. These portable chargers are ideal for use during public events, vacations, and activities. The power banks can be used for both business and personal purposes by employees. The best possibilities are high-end brands, which may still be personalized with the corporate name and emblem. Because this swag is more expensive, it may have a greater influence on employees and be more impressive to onlookers.

Anjelica Rivera, Cell Tracking Apps

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What is one spam trigger word that is sure to send an email to spam? 

To help you know which spam words to avoid, we asked marketing managers and email copywriters this question for their best insights. From using the word “Exclusive” to “Congratulations!”, there are several trigger words that should be avoided to prevent your emails from landing in a spam folder. 

Here are thirteen spam trigger words to avoid:

• Friend
• Order
• Exclusive
• Services
• Click
• Alert
• Bargain
• Investment
• Congratulations!
• Opportunity
• Free
• Guarantee
• 100% Satisfaction

Friend

A trigger word that you should look to avoid is using “Friend” to refer to your email recipient instead of their actual name. This is an indication of mass email marketing and low personalization to the sender. If you are using Mailchimp, be sure to include Merge tags (https://mailchimp.com/help/all-the-merge-tags-cheat-sheet/) in your email so that your recipient’s first name appears in the greeting. There are also plenty of other merge tags to personalize your emails, decreasing the likelihood that your email ends up in spam!

Thylan Le, Markitors

Order

“Order” is a spam keyword to avoid. “Order now” should be avoided as well since both are sure to send an email directly to spam. You don’t want your customers to miss your direct marketing. You also don’t want to sound as if you’re making a demand of the customer. If it comes across as too forward or abrasive, it could turn the customer off. It’s best to protect your domain reputation by avoiding the use of “order” altogether.

Shaun Price, MitoQ

Exclusive

Anything labeled ‘exclusive’ in an email has normally been sent out to thousands of ‘exclusive’ customers already, if not more. And spam filters are well aware that this word is often used to lure in customers. This is why the word triggers a red flag and prompts email spam filters to send the email straight to the spam folder. Some common variations of the word you can avoid while drafting your email subject line and content are “Exclusively for you,” “Grab this exclusive offer now,” “This exclusive offer is just for you,” and the likes.

Jase Rodley, Entrepreneur

Services

Often, when an email sender uses the word “services” in their email subject line, it can be a fairly clear indicator that the offer inside will be a sales pitch for – guess what – a particular service. If you receive enough of these emails and begin sending them to Trash, this will eventually alert your Spam filter. This will keep your Inbox clean, and stop as many sales pitches from making their way through as possible.

Ryan Rottman, OSDB Sports

Click

If you really have to ask the recipient to “click” on the email, then you can pretty much guess that it’s not an email that they are expecting. And even if the recipient doesn’t recognize the sender, they may sometimes do exactly what the subject line directs them to do, and “click.” However, this word can be seen as very “spammy,” and the chances of an email like this getting past your security filters are slim.

Lauren Kleinman, The Quality Edit

Alert

When a “spammer” is trying to get your attention, they may go completely over the top with their word choices. A word like “alert” can indicate that the email contains a sales pitch that is not welcomed. The subject line may say “Alert: Special Offer” or “Alert: You’re Running Out of Time.”  These types of email subject lines aim to create a sense of urgency so that the recipient will open them right away.

Lindsay McCormick, Bite

Bargain

The word “bargain” is a trigger word that will send your emails to spam. Words or phrases that make your brand sound too discount-focused (like “cheap” or “save $”) should be avoided. Instead, focus on the specific offer and make sure to use an AB-tested subject line and clean email format. You never want to risk being flagged as a dangerous or irrelevant email.

Ryan Brown, Kenra Professional

Investment

There are corrupt people trying to take advantage of innocent ones as long as there are foolish people in the world. But that’s not always the case. The word “Investment” has no negative connotations. Nonetheless, this word is linked to unethical or illegal activity and may be flagged by the spam filter. Spam filters may consider the word “Investment” manipulative & shady. It’s worth noting that a single occurrence of these words might not be enough to set off the spam filter. So, if you insist on using this word, you should do it with caution.

Axel Hernborg, Tripplo

Congratulations!

“Congratulations!” in the subject line of an email can be tricky. The first question the recipient asks is: congratulations on what? And he already imagines that congratulations may refer to winning a prize, which does not exist, for a game he never participated in. So, these fake awards and recognitions go straight into spam!

Chiara Sternardi, PhotoAiD

Opportunity

Unless you’re a known email contact of a recipient, one buzzword that is almost certain to get your friendly email pulled into the dreaded spam folder is the word “opportunity.” The word opportunity is typically associated with all kinds of spammy and soliciting emails – the “opportunity to win,” the “opportunity to enter,” the “opportunity to save a shelter dog.” You get the picture. When someone you don’t know is emailing you, 99% of the time they’re trying to scam you or sell you something, and the path to getting a “yes” from you is through the magic word: opportunity. So my advice for all the email marketers out there – though it may be one, don’t call it an opportunity.

John Ross, Test Prep Insight

Free

Our email campaign analytics always come back with significantly low open rates every time we talk about a ‘free’ or  ‘discounted’ offer in the email. It’s even worse if you try to evade spam-triggering tools by spelling ‘free’ with spaces in between each letter.

Francine Kaye Acelar, Formicidae, LLC

Guarantee

Including the word, “guarantee” can send emails to spam. This is a sales term that is used far too often and thus should be used carefully, if at all. If you can, think of synonyms such as “ensure” (if you’re going for a verb) or consider somehow rephrasing a sentence if you were originally trying to use “guarantee” as a noun.

Schuyler Hoversten, Swoopt

100% Satisfaction

No matter how quality-driven the product is, 100% satisfaction is an unrealistic expectation and Google scans this for sure.  Make sure you don’t use this word in your email subject, title, and content. If the email title or subject line features words making unrealistic claims then the email will land directly in the spam folder. In place of this, try using satisfaction as per the standards. Exaggerating things will only do more harm than good. So, be realistic and set realistic expectations for customers.

Jonathan Tian, Mobitrix

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What is one Mailchimp merge tag to use in an email campaign? 

To help you with your business’ Mailchimp efforts, we asked marketing experts and business leaders this question for their best insight. From utilizing date tools to adding a poll to a campaign, there are several strategies that may help you better utilize Mailchimp’s merge tags for your next email campaign. 

Here are 11 top Mailchimp merge tags: 

• Don’t Overlook Personalization
• Utilize Date Tools to Save Time
• Put a Professional Step Forward
• Confirm the User’s Email Address
• Speak in the Reader’s Language
• Add Convenience for Your Email List
• Provide Dynamic Content
• Make an Impact With Subject Line Merge Tags
• Always Enable Users to Unsubscribe
• Help Knew Customers Get to Know You
• Add a Poll to a Campaign

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Don’t Overlook Personalization

Without a doubt, you should make use of the “*|FNAME|*” merge tag, which inserts a subscriber’s first name into an email. Personalization should never be overlooked since people are more likely to open and interact with messages they feel are directed at them. This is true even if they know they are on a list. So, giving it that personal touch can make a world of difference for your email campaign.

Eric Blumenthal, Zoe Print

Utilize Date Tools to Save Time

We send out weekly email campaigns to our users about new opportunities on our platform. Therefore, my favorite Mailchimp tag to use is “*|DATE:X|*” which will display the current date in whatever format that you prefer. 

This tag is a big time saver when creating weekly emails. To use this tag, replace “X” with a date format, such as “*|DATE:d/m/y|*”

Thylan Le, Markitors

Put a Professional Step Forward

To insert your brand’s logo into the email utilize the merge tag | brand : logo |. This merge tag is great for inserting your brand logo into the email that you are sending to your customers. 

This personalizes the email and makes it more presentable to your customers. You will come off more professional and it will help you tailor your emails better to your audience.

Chris Gadek, AdQuick

Confirm the User’s Email Address

The EMAIL merge tag is useful in email footers. It confirms the current email address of your database contacts. This is especially important when confirming which email will be unsubscribed if the user decides to unsubscribe.

Amber Reed-Johnson, Giraffe Social Media

Speak in the Reader’s Language

It’s really important to include the language merge tag |MC_LANGUAGE|. It allows users to see content in their preferred language based on their profile information. This merge tag inserts a language code at the top. For example, it’s ‘EN’ for English.

Ryan Brown, Kenra Professional

Add Convenience for Your Email List

There is a merge tag that provides a link that says, “Add us to your address book.” This gives your email recipients the option to add your company’s email to their address books in case they want to email the company in the future. 

Down the line when one of your email subscribers is trying to find your company’s email address, they’ll be able to discover it quickly in their address books instead of having to take longer to search for it. People will appreciate this small way of making their lives a little bit easier when they want to email your company.

Joaquín Roca, Minerva

Provide Dynamic Content 

Collecting information about your audience through the Mailchimp signup form is saved in an “audience” field and tied to merge tags. As a marketer, using their services for sending email campaigns (you should be!) allows you to insert personalized or dynamic content for these people into any of those mailings they’re involved with!

Saskia Ketz, Mojomox

Make an Impact With Subject Line Merge Tags

The first thing that a person sees when opening their email is the subject line, and that is why the subject merge tag in Mailchimp is so critical. The subject acts as your call to action and drives the person to open your email. 

Mailchimp’s program allows for both a prominent subject line in the receiver’s mailbox and in the body of text. It creates uniformity while driving the topics that the sender wants to emphasize. It is the most impactful merge tag that Mailchimp offers and is the most effective in an email campaign.

Jeff Meeks, EnergyFit

Always Enable Users to Unsubscribe

You should always have the option for your subscribers to unsubscribe from marketing emails, and you can include this as a merge tag. This will allow people to click a button that says “unsubscribe” which will open up a new page where they can enter their email address to officially take themselves off the email list. If you do not include this merge tag, this will likely bring in complaints.

Mike Clare, Mood Health

Help New Customers Get to Know You

An important aspect of email marketing is to provide a history of previous links and newsletters, so as potential new customers are added to your list, they have reference points to learn about your business, which is exactly what Mailchimp’s List:RecentX merge tag accomplishes. 

This tag provides a list of recent campaigns and categorizes them according to subject matter and date. It can be adjusted to show the ten most recent campaigns or less, depending on how far back you would like your new members to reference. The List:RecentX merge tag is a great tool to demonstrate not only previous campaign highlights but to establish the history of your business.

Adelle Archer, Eterneva

Add a Poll to a Campaign

One really impactful way of gauging subscriber sentiment on a topic is through a simple poll, and Mailchimp makes it super easy. You can embed a very quick and aesthetically pleasing survey on a 1-10 rating scale right in the body of your email. 

By embedding it directly in the email, poll responses are much greater than asking users to link over to a SurveyMonkey poll through a URL. To use the “add a poll” merge tag in your campaign, just use the *|POLL:RATING:x|* and *|END:POLL|* merge tags to open and close your poll.

John Ross, Test Prep Insight

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