In October 2023, two major email service providers (ESPs), Gmail and Yahoo, caused quite a stir in the martech industry when they announced that new email deliverability rules would come into effect on February 1, 2024. These new regulations affect bulk senders, identified by Google as those who send more than 5,000 Gmail messages per day and focus on email authentication, spam complaint rates, and single-click unsubscribing.
Already struggling to overcome stringent spam filters, both B2B and B2C marketers were concerned about their cold outreach and email marketing efforts.
The first rejections for non-compliance started in April 2024.
In this article, we’ll discuss these new rules, the best practices for ensuring compliance, and share expert insights from David Kreiger of SalesRoads and Taylor Haren of Sales Automation Systems.
The New Email Deliverability Rules: What Exactly Changed?
In essence, Google and Yahoo have tightened their standards for incoming emails, particularly those sent in bulk. These changes are largely aimed at combating spam and improving user experience, and focus on:
- Stricter authentication. While authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC have been around for a while, they are now more critical than ever. Google and Yahoo are more actively filtering emails that fail these checks, potentially sending them to spam or blocking them altogether.
- Lower spam tolerance. ESPs are cracking down on high spam complaint rates. If your emails generate too many complaints, your sender reputation will suffer and affect your deliverability in the process.
- Clear unsubscribe. One of the most important elements of good deliverability is offering a clear and easy unsubscribe mechanism in your emails, allowing your recipients to easily withdraw their consent at any moment and stop getting your messages.
The Enforcement Timeline
Google took a phased approach to enforcement. At first, non-compliant bulk senders received temporary errors in a small percentage of their emails. Starting in April 2024, Google began rejecting a percentage of non-compliant traffic, gradually increasing the rejection rate over time.
Decoding the Deliverability Issue
It’s critical to understand how ESPs like Google classify and handle bulk emails. With stricter enforcement of protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, the emphasis is now on ensuring your emails are authenticated and meet the new standards.
If you don’t comply, your carefully crafted messages might end up in the spam folder or never reach their destination at all.
What does this actually mean?
Navigating this new terrain requires a basic grasp of the technical terms. Here’s a glossary of the most important ones:
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework). Think of this as a “whitelist” for your email domain. It tells ESPs which mail servers are allowed to send emails on your behalf, proving your messages are legitimate.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). This protocol adds a digital signature to your emails to verify they haven’t been tampered with in transit and truly come from your domain.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance). DMARC ties SPF and DKIM together, setting policies for how unauthenticated emails should be handled (e.g., rejected or sent to spam).
Properly configuring these records is crucial for maintaining your email deliverability. For sales teams, this means ensuring all outbound emails are authenticated and your domain’s reputation stays clean.
Spam rates threshold
Google has set a clear threshold for reported spam rates. Bulk senders must maintain a rate below 0.10% and avoid ever reaching 0.30% or higher. If your spam rate exceeds this threshold, you risk having your emails rejected or delivered to the spam folder.
So, if at any point in time 4 out of 1,000 emails are marked as spam when you’re emailing personal accounts such as Gmail.com or Yahoo.com, then your entire Google workspace panel is at risk of being suspended. That means the email of the CEO and every single employee in the entire company just stops working.
Best Practices for Improving Email Deliverability
Apart from the tactics we briefly mentioned above, there are numerous other strategies you can implement to ensure compliance with these regulations and boost your email deliverability.
Email is an important marketing channel, so to stay ahead of the curve, sales teams need to be proactive. Here are some actionable tips to ensure compliance and boost your email deliverability:
Keep your lists clean
Regularly update and clean your lists to avoid sending emails to outdated or incorrect addresses.
ESPs frequently use defunct or inactive addresses as honeypots, that is, anti-spam decoys. This means that if you send an email to one of these addresses — even if you send a legit message — you’ll trigger spam filters. By scrubbing your lists, you can avoid such a scenario.
Personalize your content
Personalization plays an important role in your email deliverability. But just using your recipients’ first name or title won’t cut it. Make sure you personalize your content and make it relevant to your target audience.
Incorporate your recipients’ interests, preferences, and pain points when creating your messages. Apart from improving your open rates, this tactic also signals to ESPs that your emails are valuable to recipients.
Get technical
Ensure your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up correctly. Although this isn’t complicated, Taylor Haren of Sales Automation Systems says that out of 30,000 SaaS companies he audited, 63% had their settings wrong. In a nutshell, if you don’t have your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records in place, Google will automatically start flagging your emails as spam. It’s critical to get this right.
There are different online tools you can use to generate and validate these records For example, you can visit MXToolbox.com and run an MX lookup for your domain. It will tell you immediately if your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up correctly. You can also separately check all of these records using dedicated tools to make sure they are configured properly. Online platforms, such as Dnschecker.org, provide an SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checker individually.
It’s also important to perform regular audits to catch any issues before they impact your deliverability.
Consider a secondary domain(s)
To protect the reputation of your primary domain, consider using a secondary one for marketing emails. As we’ve mentioned, it takes only 4 recipients out of 1,000 to report your emails as spam, and your entire domain is at risk.
That’s why Taylor Haren advises his clients to set up a separate domain in case the one used for marketing gets suspended.
Similarly, for organizations with sales teams doing cold emailing, a multi-domain infrastructure is crucial. This involves using multiple domains to ensure a high output of outbound emails without risking the reputation of the main domain.
Monitor your performance
Implement tools like DMARC monitoring services to track your email authentication status and spot any red flags early on.
The same applies to your reported spam rate. Keep a close eye on it, and if you notice it going up, take immediate action to address the issue by refining your targeting or improving your content.
Pay attention to your audience’s preferences
Although you have little control over whether a recipient will decide to report your email as spam, you can still exercise caution and implement strategies to minimize the odds of that happening.
For example, timing plays an important role since many bulk messages are sent at the top or the bottom of the hour, so avoid these times.
Another tactic is implementing preference centers, as they let end users (i.e., subscribers) select their preferences. This will, in turn, allow them to control their experience by deciding about the frequency and type of content they receive. This empowers end users and reduces the likelihood of them marking your emails as spam.
How Can Sales Teams Stay Ahead of the Email Deliverability Game
Sales teams often rely heavily on email for outreach and engagement, making compliance with new email deliverability rules even more complex. Here are some tips to help sales professionals navigate this evolving landscape:
- Prioritize quality over quantity. Focus on sending personalized and relevant emails to targeted prospects. Avoid blasting generic emails to large, unsegmented lists.
- Segment your lists. Tailor your messages to specific audience segments based on their interests, demographics, or behavior. This can improve engagement and reduce the likelihood of your emails being marked as spam.
- Embrace a multichannel approach. The trick is to diversify your outreach. Don’t rely solely on email for prospecting and lead nurturing. Incorporate other channels like social media, phone calls, and targeted advertising to connect with potential customers.
- Collaborate with marketing. Work with your marketing team to develop an integrated multichannel strategy that aligns with your sales goals. This can help you reach a wider audience and generate more qualified leads.
- Respect unsubscribe requests. Honor unsubscribe requests promptly and efficiently. Make it easy for recipients to opt out of your emails by including a one-click unsubscribe button.
- Monitor your sender reputation. Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools to track your sender reputation and identify any potential issues.
- Choose the right tools. Select sales engagement platforms and email automation tools that prioritize compliance with email regulations.
- Use email warm-up. If you’re using a new email address or sending a large volume of emails, consider using an email warm-up service to gradually increase your sending volume and establish a positive sender reputation.
Expert Insights
Industry experts David Kreiger from SalesRoads and Taylor Haren from Sales Automation Systems recently discussed these changes on a recent episode of the TEMPO podcast.
They emphasized the importance of staying informed and adapting proactively. Kreiger noted that while the initial panic was overblown, the message from Google and other ESPs is clear: they want to enhance user experience by cracking down on unsolicited and poorly authenticated emails.
Haren stressed the need for businesses to take these changes seriously, especially with more regulations likely on the horizon. He highlighted the importance of having a robust email infrastructure, particularly for companies sending large volumes of emails. To listen to the entire episode, click on the following link:
https://vanillasoft.com/resource-center/podcast/tempo-email-deliverability
The Bottom Line
The recent changes in email deliverability serve as a reminder that compliance and respecting your recipients is a must. For sales teams in particular, staying ahead and compliant isn’t just about avoiding penalties. The main goal is to maintain the trust and credibility that are essential for effective email communication.
By understanding the technical aspects, implementing best practices, and staying informed, you can ensure your emails continue to reach your intended recipients. As the email deliverability landscape shifts, only those who adapt will achieve success.
