Mark Your calendar for February, 2024.

Email deliverability is getting some new rules from February 2024. This is the timeline for Google. Yahoo set the time for Q1, 2024.

Google and Yahoo both have announced new requirements for senders who want to send emails to any Gmail, Googlemail, or Yahoo mail accounts.

New rules are already applied from the beginning of February 2024 gradually and more updates will come over time.

This post is helpful for Email Marketers (Especially bulk senders), Marketing managers, and business stakeholders ( Founders & CEOs) to understand the latest sender requirements from Google and Yahoo. If you are one of them, you are welcome here.

If you run a Newsletter or any other email campaign, you are subject to follow these requirements for better email deliverability and protect your brand from being marked as spam.

After reading the post, I hope you can learn the email deliverability best practices and ensure your emails have a safe landing in other’s inboxes.

Table of Contents

The Importance of Email Deliverability

In today’s digital era, email marketing remains one of the most powerful tools for businesses to connect with their audience. However, with changes in Gmail and Yahoo Mail algorithms, ensuring that your emails reach your subscribers’ inboxes has become increasingly challenging. That’s why understanding the importance of email deliverability is crucial for boosting your inbox success and ensuring safe email landings.

Email deliverability refers to the ability of an email to successfully reach its intended recipients without being filtered or marked as spam. It goes beyond simply hitting the “send” button; it involves a complex set of factors that determine whether your message will make it to the inbox or get lost in cyberspace.

Why is email deliverability so important? Well, imagine spending hours crafting a compelling marketing campaign only to have it end up in the spam folder or never be seen at all. Low deliverability rates can significantly impact your business’s bottom line by reducing open rates, click-through rates, and ultimately conversions.

Furthermore, poor email deliverability can harm your sender’s reputation. If you consistently send emails that are flagged as spam or ignored by recipients, receiving servers may start filtering more of your messages into junk folders.

In short, non-compliance to email deliverability might cause these uncomfortable situations:

Your emails are getting blocked by the receiving server.

Emails landed in the SPAM folder instead of the primary inbox.

Emails marked SPAM and phishing by the receiver and getting reported by them.

Your emails are getting breached on the way to the receiving server.

High unsubscribe rate due to lack of trust from receivers.

That’s why Google and Yahoo both have announced new requirements( setting up SPF, DKIM & DMARC) for senders who want to send emails to any Gmail or Googlemail or any Yahoo mail accounts to ensure better deliverability.

Understanding the Latest Changes in Gmail and Yahoo Mail Sender Rules

If you are sending emails to Gmail, Googlemail or Yahoo users, you are required to follow some common rules. (rules for all senders).

Additionally, If you send 5000 or more messages per day, you have to follow some extra bulk sender requirements.

What are the rules to follow?

General rules

Not to use Gmail, Yahoo, or other free email addresses for email campaigns.

A custom domain is required that represents your brand or store.

Authenticate your domain using DKIM.

Set up SPF whether you use a shared IP or a dedicated IP for email sending.

Authenticate outgoing emails.

Make it easy to unsubscribe for your receivers with a single click.

Keeping spam complaints under 0.3% per email service provider.

Rules for Bulk senders

Match your sending domain and subdomains with authenticated SPF and/or DKIM domains.

2. Setting up DMARC is necessary for bulk senders.

Personally, we use Brevo Email marketing platform which provides SPF & DKIM records in their any plan. We heavily recommend you to try Brevo for setting up your SPF & DKIM.

Read the article below to authenticate your domain by setting up SPF and DKIM records.

Learn to setup SPF and DKIM With Brevo

How will the new rules help your email deliverability (and your customers too!)?

Customers benefit

Protect your recipients from phishing messages and email breaches.
Helps your customers what messages to receive and what not through easily visible unsubscribe buttons( A safe & happy exit point for your readers).
A safer and spam-free inbox is one of the core benefits for email users.
An increased user experience for your subscribers.

Senders benefit

Your brand is not impersonated and establish yourself as a legitimate and authentic sender.
Help your emails to be delivered accurately to customers’ inboxes.
Don’t get your emails marked as spam or getting blocked by the receiving server.
Earns more trust for your business and brand.

What if you don’t implement the requirements?

Non-compliance can lead to blocking your emails and/or being marked as spam.
Your reputation as a sender may decline.
You may face email deliverability issues.
You may experience low effectiveness of email marketing campaigns.

Crack some technical terms

Email Deliverability

It simply indicates your emails are arriving in the receiver’s primary inbox legitimately.

Think of a practical scenario: You are sending a gift to one of your friends. You wrapped it well so that no one can open it except your friend. Then you go to a trusted courier service that has a high reputation for delivery. Then the service provider delivers the gift to your friend with acknowledgement.

SPF

SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework. What does it actually mean?

When you add an SPF record to your Domain name system, You are indicating to the receiver server that you have authorized this sender(the email service provider) to send emails on your behalf.

Just like the previous example, the courier service you have chosen and gave them permission to deliver your gift on your behalf.

In short, setting up an SPF Specifies servers and domains that are allowed to send emails from your organization.

How can SPF improve your email deliverability?

SPF helps your emails safe from phishing and spoofing.

Hackers send phishing emails to steal receiver’s passwords, credit card information, etc. Spoofing emails are sent in such a way that receivers think they came from the actual sender.

SPF tells the receiving server that the email came from an authenticated sender. Thus, as a sender, your emails will not get blocked on the way or marked as spam by the receiving server.

DKIM

DKIM stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail.

DKIM helps receivers to identify that they have received authentic emails from the original sender.

Think about the previous example of sending a gift to your friend.

You are worried about the privacy of the gift. So you add a special seal or signature in the gift which is unique and lock the gift. Only your friend can unlock the gift and verify the gift seeing the signature on it.

DKIM does exactly the same with your emails-

Adds a digital signature that verifies the message is actually coming from the sender.

Ensures the message is not altered or forged between the route to the sending server and the receiving server.

DMARC

DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance.

It’s a complex protocol to understand and implement. It tells what to do with emails that are not coming from legitimate senders.

Think about our earlier gift case. You can advise your friend what to do if he receives a gift from an unknown courier service with/without your signature. He can either accept or reject the gift. Another option can be to put that on hold and get confirmation from you.

You can publish your DMARC record for the receiving server on how to manage emails that don’t pass authentication. You can set it to three possible situations like none, quarantine, or reject.

There are some more complex scenarios involved here but I want to keep it short for now.

In short, DMARC provides,

Direction for receiving server for what to do when emails don’t pass SPF or DKIM.

Help to successfully prevent direct domain spoofing.

As setting up DMARC is bit complex and requires some technical knowledge, we suggest you to take help from DMARC specialists.

We recommend you to check EasyDMARC for setting up your DMARC. They have provided superior DMARC experience to more than 45,000 businesses over the years.

Strategies for remaining compliant with new sender requirements from Google and Yahoo

Apply for all senders

Set up DKIM for your domain.

Set up SPF for your domain.

Keeping Spam complaints under 0.3%

Not to use Gmail or Yahoo or others for sending emails. You need a business domain.

Additional requirements for senders sending over 5000 emails per day.

1. Set up DMARC for your domain.

2. Match the sending domain with the SPF or DKIM domain.

Follow these simple steps and win over Google and Yahoo sender requirements!

Step 1

Get a Business Domain

Start Sending Emails With Your Own Brand

Step 2

Select An Email Service Provider

Manage your contact lists and send email campaigns easily. You can also set SPF & DKIM with it.

Step 3

Setup DMARC

Land safely in customers inbox, build your sender reputation and earn trust.

Conclusion: Your Path to Inbox Success!

Remember, these updates aren’t just about compliance, they’re about building trust and respect with your audience.

By prioritizing email authentication, offering seamless unsubscribe options, and maintaining low spam rates, you’re demonstrating your commitment to delivering valuable, relevant content. This not only improves deliverability but also strengthens relationships and boosts engagement.

So, take action today! Embrace these changes as an opportunity to refine your email practices and elevate your sender reputation. By following the guidelines outlined above, you’ll navigate the new landscape with confidence, ensuring your emails reach the right people at the right time, every time.

Ready to master email deliverability and achieve inbox success? Start implementing these changes now and watch your email marketing efforts soar!

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Resources

1. Email Sender Guidelines from Google.

2. Sender Best Practices from Yahoo.

3. Brevo Guidelines on SPF & DKIM setup.

4. DMARC.org

5. SPF Record Checker, DKIM Record checker, DMARC record checker

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