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Answer: The fact that you are a "respected organization" is irrelevant to ISPs and corporations. Their spam filters and algorithms are looking at whether email coming from your IP address is trusted and is not on black lists; and at the code and content of the individual email. Subject lines are only one component of what the filters look at from a content perspective.
As mentioned above, code and content filters generally assign positive and negative points to messages based on what is perceived to be good practice and bad or the practices of spammers. The subject line you mentioned – "enter online contest and win prizes!" – is not likely to cause your message to be filtered by itself. But the subject line is rather aggressive and is likely to increase the number of points for a message. Specifically, we recommend not using exclamation points in emails when they can be avoided. By itself, an exclamation point generally isn't problematic, but in combination with words such as "free" your email may be filtered by the Outlook default filter.
Further, "enter online contest and win prizes" reads very much like a spam email. It is neither specific, nor does it appear to be something one would expect from a "respected and credible organization." The challenge of course is to find the right balance of aggressive and exciting copy that motivates subscribers to open their emails, but at the same time does not trigger, or contribute to, being filtered. In your example, try some different subject lines testing for the best combination of delivery and your key metrics – number of contest entries, purchases, new memberships, etc. An example might include:
- {Organization name here} Register to Win Special Edition Posters
Whether you use a content checker or not, set up proof lists and send your messages to key domains such as Yahoo, AOL and Hotmail before emailing to your entire list.
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