You can have the best offer, the most beautifulest (yes, I did that on purpose) template, and subject lines that would make even the biggest skeptic open your email, but if your content is breaking these rules, it’s going straight to spam. Not "maybe." Not "eventually." Immediately.
If your emails aren’t getting opened, it might not be your platform….
Let’s go!
🧠 What Even Is WILF?
Here’s the cheat code:
In email land, WILF stands for Words, Images, Links, Formatting and if you ignore it, your deliverability is toast.
Your content — the actual stuff inside the email — directly impacts whether it lands in the inbox, the promo tab, or the dreaded spam folder.
WILF helps you check your content like a pro.
Do your WORDS pass the spam sniff test?
Are your IMAGES too extra?
Are your LINKS silently tanking your trust score?
Is your FORMATTING helping or hurting your chances?
Look, I see it all the time…
People obsess over email tools and delivery settings, but never question the words they’re using or the 14 gifs they stuffed into one message.
I had a client who swore her emails were “simple.”
Sis had:
- 6 links
- 4 images
- CAPS IN THE SUBJECT LINE!!!
- and ended her email with “Click here for a FREE offer!”
Guess where it landed? The spam folder. Every. Single. Time.
And then there was Tasha.
(Bless her heart)
Tasha was getting ready for a big launch. We’d been working together for months and were moving her from Mailchimp to ConvertKit. She wanted every email to be a mini work of art. But when we tested them internally? They ended up straight in the Promotions tab.
When I told her to strip the branding from mission-critical emails, she hesitated.
“How will they know it’s from us?” she asked.
Here’s the thing: branding is great. But you have to choose: pretty or SEEN?
For newsletters, go wild. But mission-critical? Stick to plain and simple.
Because inbox = income.
1️⃣ WORDS: What You Say and How You Say It Matters
Most people think words only matter for persuasion.
Nah.
They also matter to robots. Spam filters scan your words — subject lines, body copy, buttons, links, all of it — and they judge hard.
Words That Get You in Trouble:
“Free”
“Dear friend”
“Click here”
“Make money”
“Cash bonus”
“Act now”
You get the idea. If it sounds like it belongs in a scam email from the 90s, avoid it — especially in three critical areas:
Subject line
Preheader
CTA buttons or links
That’s where filters zoom in.
And no, changing “click here” to “grab your spot” won’t solve everything. The context matters. Filters use machine learning. If spammers use the same phrases or sentence structures you do, you might get flagged by association even if your content is innocent.
Hot tip:
Don’t use default merge fields like “friend” — change it to a real name or something human. “Dear friend” is a straight-up spam flag.
The Real Test:
Does your email sound like you?
If it sounds like you, you’re safer. If it sounds like a template, chances are a thousand other people are sending the same thing and some of them are probably not following the rules.
Even the best templates can screw you if you don’t rewrite them. Just changing 30% of the text isn’t a magic fix. Filters care about the overall pattern, not just keywords.
2️⃣ IMAGES: Stop Flexing. Compress That Thang.
We love a pretty email, but here’s the thing:
Spam filters don’t care how sexy your Canva design is if it’s too heavy or image-only.
What Gets You Filtered:
Large images (anything over 300KB = 🚩)
Too many images (more than 3 = likely Promotions folder)
No alt text
Image-based emails with little to no text
Centered or odd layout styles
Mobile Matters:
80% of people open email on their phone.
If your email takes forever to load, guess what? They're gone before they even see it. Especially if the screen just shows a giant blank space while your 1MB hero image loads on 4G.
Best Practices:
Use JPEG over PNG (they’re smaller).
Stick to a 3:1 text-to-image ratio.
Add alt text to every image (this also helps when images don’t load).
Optimize the actual dimensions — not just the file size.
Oh, and yes: even your logo counts as an image. So if you’ve got a banner, logo, plus some design flourishes… you’re already pushing your luck.
3️⃣ LINKS: Too Many, Too Risky
Every link you drop is another chance to wreck your deliverability.
Quick checklist before you link:
Does the link go to your own domain? Good.
Are you linking to social media like YouTube or Twitter? Risky. (They’re often on blocklists!)
Are you using a link shortener (like bit.ly)? BIG red flag.
Are you using http instead of https? Also a no.
You’d be shocked how many emails land in spam just because one link had one wrong letter — like using “http” instead of “https.” That’s all it takes.
Safe Link Strategy:
Stick to 2–3 links max in sales emails.
Keep all links on your own verified domain when possible.
Never use “click here” as your link text. It’s weak and filter-sensitive.
Don’t include social share buttons in sales emails (they’re link bombs in disguise).
Even writing out a domain (without making it clickable) can flag you if that domain has a poor rep. Everything’s trackable. Everything leaves a digital fingerprint.
4️⃣ FORMATTING: This Ain’t a Blog Post
Your email should look like a real email. Not a webpage. Not a newsletter from the good ole days….
Formatting Mistakes That Get Flagged:
Center-aligned text (unless you're a retail brand)
Too many fonts or colors
Giant headers, blog-style subheaders
Rainbow-colored CTAs
Embedded videos or background images
Keep it clean.
Keep it human.
What to Do Instead:
Left-align your text
Use one font size (12–16pt is the sweet spot)
Stick to two colors max (one for text, one for links)
Design with mobile in mind
Use a plain white background
And for the love of all things deliverable, don’t format your email like a sales letter with a CTA waaaaay at the bottom.
People read emails for an average of 8–13 seconds. That’s it.
If you waste those seconds with BS, they’re gone.
This is where people tend to clown themselves….
They format their newsletter like a sales page. They put 9 links in a “quick check-in.”
They treat a mission-critical onboarding email like a party invite with fireworks and emojis.
STOP!!!!
Every single thing you do in that email — every word, image, and link — either helps or hurts your inbox placement.
Please don’t be the person who blames the tech when it’s your own content tryna be cute and clever.
➡️ TL;DR (Too Lazy Didn’t Read)
Here’s how to WILF-proof your emails:
✅ WORDS
Don’t use spammy words.
Avoid all caps and clickbait.
Sound like you, not a sales robot.
✅ IMAGES
Compress files.
Use fewer images.
Add alt text. Always.
✅ LINKS
No Bit.ly.
Use HTTPS.
2–3 links max. Stick to your own domain.
✅ FORMATTING
Left-align.
Keep it simple.
Write for phones, not desktops.
Final Thoughts (aka: Yes, You Should Probably Rework That Last Promo Email)
Most deliverability issues aren’t because your tech is broken.
They’re because your content is.
And if you’re blaming your platform, but you’ve got 7 images, 9 links, and a subject line that says “GRAB THIS FREEBIE NOW!!!” — it’s not your platform, boo. It’s you.
WILF doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with your emails. It just means you need to send emails that feel human and look clean… while still doing the job.
When in doubt, test it. Tools like Bloggy Tools, Mail Tester, or Litmus can show you exactly what’s getting flagged.
Got questions? Hit reply.
Got a hunch your emails are going to spam and you’re ready to fix it? I’ve got tools. And eyeballs. And strategies. Let’s chat.
✨️ BONUS: What the heck is a mission-critical email?
These are emails your business cannot afford to have skipped, ignored, or lost in spam. They directly impact your money, your client experience, or both.
Examples:
Welcome emails
Onboarding sequences
Login/access instructions
Receipts and confirmations
Appointment or webinar reminders
Policy or service updates
NOT mission-critical:
Newsletters
Birthday emails
Sales announcements
For those must-see emails? Keep it plain, direct, and test it first.
If WILF hit you in the gut…
Wait until you see what we uncover in Inbox Authority!
It’s about your tech, your trust score, and your whole inbox reputation.
📬 SPF, DKIM, DMARC? Handled.
📬 Ghosted emails? Resurrected.
📬 Content cleanup? You’ll know what’s hurting you and how to fix it.
Let’s fix and rebuild your reputation — together.
