A Guide to New Google and Yahoo’s E-mail Sender Requirements
E-mail marketing is set to change forever.
To protect privacy and improve e-mail security, Google and Yahoo announced In October 2023, sweeping changes to their requirements for bulk senders.
"No matter who their email provider is, all users deserve the safest, most secure experience possible,” said Marcel Becker, Sr. Dir. Product at Yahoo in a Google blog post. “In the interconnected world of email, that takes all of us working together. Yahoo looks forward to working with Google and the rest of the email community to make this common sense, high-impact changes the new industry standard."
A bulk sender is defined as sending more than 5,000 e-mails to Gmail or Yahoo recipients a day.
However, even if you don’t think your brand qualifies as a bulk sender, it’s wise to practice standard interwebs hygiene to prevent being labeled as spam.
Below we explain the changes and actions needed to make to comply. Make sure to consult an IT professional with any questions or concerns.
Google and Yahoo will require all senders to authenticate their emails. Authentication of e-mails assures the recipient that a message actually came from your organization or was sent on your behalf from an authorized third-party, like an e-mail platform. Click here for specific instructions on how to authenticate e-mails. Tip: This is the most technical update and might require guidance by your IT professional.
Clear and easy way for people to unsubscribe to e-mails. If you use an e-mail marketing platform, this one should already been in place. However, if you handle unsubscriptions manually, add a one click unsubscription option and make sure to remove people no more than 48 hours after the initial request.
Enforcement of a Clear Spam Threshold. People get hundreds of e-mails a day. It can be a pain and time consuming to read numerous business e-mails and on top of that receive a multitude of personal-related messages. Senders should keep their spam rate below 0.1% and should prevent spam rates from ever reaching 0.3% or higher, as described in Google’s e-mail sender guidelines. Failure to comply may result in e-mails not being delivered to their intended destination.
What does this mean for CPG brands?
Think of how many times your brand utilizes e-mail on a typical day.
Announcing a new product, promotion, or store location? Confirming a purchase order? Requesting feedback from a customer? We send hundreds of e-mails a day and rely on the tool for communication and sales generation.
It is imperative to make sure our messages get to where they are supposed to go.
A spam e-mail could result in a missed investor, loss of business and decrease of credibility.
How to use digital marketing platforms and programs for more information and guidance?
Do you rely on Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp, HotSpot, Constant Contact, Klavyio, or another platform to send out marketing e-mails? If so, the organization might have already communicated the new procedures and addressed how the platforms are responding to them.
The Enthuse Foundation uses Campaign Monitor to send out bulk e-mails. The platform sent out the following guide as it relates to the upcoming changes to Google and Yahoo.
If you work with a digital marketing consultant or freelance, make sure they are aware of the upcoming changes and have a strategy in place for implementation.
Bottom Line: E-mail marketing should be part of every CPG brand’s marketing strategy. According to the Direct Marketing Association, two-thirds of customers have made a purchase based on an email. Additionally, research from McKinsey found that email has been shown to be almost 40 times more effective at helping companies acquire new customers than Facebook and Twitter combined. Based on the popularity and reliance on e-mail, it makes sense that it is increasingly being used for malicious purposes. To combat security breaches and maintain safety, it is proactive for e-mail providers to strengthen their standards. CPG brands should adapt accordingly to ensure there’s no disruption to their digital marketing strategy.