If you’re a business owner sending any kind of marketing or bulk emails to clients and prospects and you want those emails actually delivered, it is crucial for you to know and understand Google and Yahoo’s email policy updates that begin on February 1, 2024. Google and Yahoo are setting new standards to prevent spam, enhance security, and improve user experience.
These changes will impact bulk & marketing email senders, who must learn these new strategies to ensure compliance and maintain effective email deliverability. If you want to continue sending emails to clients and prospects in bulk, understanding these updates is crucial for your email strategies.
Key Changes
Starting February 1, 2024, Google and Yahoo are implementing significant email policy updates, primarily targeting bulk email senders and aimed at enhancing email security and deliverability. These changes are set to transition several best practices into mandatory requirements, with a focus on combating spam and email spoofing.
Here’s a comprehensive overview of what these changes entail and how they might affect your email marketing strategies:
– Email Authentication: Bulk senders (defined as those who send 5,000 or more messages a day to Gmail or Yahoo accounts), will now need to authenticate their emails using SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) protocols. These measures are designed to verify that emails are sent from authorized domains, thereby preventing email spoofing and ensuring the authenticity of the emails.
– Spam Management: Both Google and Yahoo are cracking down on spam, with advanced algorithms to identify and block spam. The new policies set a stricter threshold for spam complaints, advising that senders maintain their spam complaint rates well below 0.1% to avoid deliverability issues. Senders with spam complaints averaging 0.3% or higher will start experiencing issues with deliverability, but you should always aim to maintain spam levels at 0.1% or below to ensure your emails are landing in your members’ inboxes. This emphasizes the importance of relevant and wanted content in email marketing. You can check your domain reputation with Google here.
– Easy Unsubscribes: It now needs to be as easy as possible to unsubscribe from bulk emails, which Google defines as supporting one-click unsubscribes in email headers. No more burying unsubscribe links in tiny text in the footer! Also, all unsubscribes must be honored within two days. The hope here is that by making it easy to unsubscribe, users will be less likely to hit the “spam” button, ensuring that legitimate email and senders are making it to inboxes.
– Active Account Management: Google has also announced that it will start deleting accounts that have been inactive for over two years. This move is expected to impact email deliverability, as emails sent to non-existent accounts will result in hard bounces, negatively affecting sender reputation.
Preparing for the Changes
- Plan Ahead: Determine IF and HOW these new requirements will apply to your organization, and make a plan for addressing them.
- Authenticate Your Domain: Ensure your domain is authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. This not only complies with the new requirements but also strengthens your email security.
- Implement Easy Unsubscribe Options: Make sure your emails include an easily accessible one-click unsubscribe option, in compliance with the new policies. Most bulk email senders, such as Go High Level, MailChimp, HubSpot, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, etc., are already on top of this, rolling out new templates, requirements, and functionality for one-click unsubscribes in email headers.
- Manage Your Email List: Regularly clean your email list to remove inactive or invalid accounts, reducing the risk of hard bounces. Using this service can help you clean and validate emails to ensure validity.
- Review Your Content: Focus on sending valuable, relevant content to your subscribers to minimize spam complaints. Employ targeted and personalized strategies to engage your audience effectively.
How to check if you’re in compliance
One of the best ways to improve your deliverability is with MailerCheck’s Email Insights. The tool checks whether your:
- Domain is authenticated
- Content contains spam-like words or unusual formatting
- Links are working
- Images are missing attributes
- HTML and CSS are formatted correctly
It’s a super clear way to see if your email has any issues so you can take steps to solve the problem, and they offer a pay-as-you-go option that is affordable.
What happens if I don’t comply?
Non-compliance with the upcoming email policy updates from Google and Yahoo could lead to significant disruptions in your email delivery process. Should your organization fail to adhere to these guidelines, you might encounter issues such as delays in email delivery, outright blocking of your emails, or your messages being rerouted to recipients’ spam folders.
It’s important to view these changes not as hurdles, but as protective measures designed to enhance overall email security and integrity. These updates aim to minimize spam and prevent malicious entities from impersonating your domain, ultimately safeguarding both senders and recipients from potential threats.
Now is the opportune moment to thoroughly review and update your email systems, policies, and procedures to ensure full compliance. Even if you’ve been diligent in following best practices so far, a comprehensive audit can help you identify any gaps that need addressing in light of these new standards.
By embracing email authentication measures, you not only reduce the risk of being targeted by spoofing and spamming activities but also contribute to a more secure and trustworthy email ecosystem. Additionally, simplifying the unsubscribe process can lead to lower spam complaint rates, further improving your email deliverability and maintaining the integrity of your communications.
In Conclusion
While these email policy updates may seem daunting, they represent a shift towards more secure and recipient-friendly email practices. By adhering to these new requirements, you can improve your email deliverability and maintain a positive relationship with your subscribers. If you need help, schedule a free, no-obligation strategy call with us today!
