Google and Yahoo are certainly shaking things up! Starting in February 2024, the two will require email senders to follow new sender guidelines to improve the email experience for both senders and recipients. These deliverability requirements will mandate bulk senders to use DMARC authentication, provide easy unsubscribe options, and comply with a designated spam threshold. At TFD, we constantly tout the best email practices and data hygiene to our clients. While the words DMARC and spam threshold may seem like a lot to digest, these requirements have consistently been recognized as best practices for email marketing. Evaluating your current status will help you determine whether you are on track or need a plan to enable these changes before the deadline. We're here to help you understand what is needed and guide you through the necessary steps.
What You Need To Know About the New DMARC Requirements
DMARC AUTHENTICATION
TL;DR: Starting in February, Google and Yahoo will require anyone who sends more than 5,000 emails a day to have a valid DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) policy in place. They also recommend setting up SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) for optimum email delivery. SPF helps prevent email spoofing and phishing. DKIM acts like a seal of approval, acknowledging that an authorized sender sent the message. DMARC builds on SPF and DKIM by outlining what specific action to take when an email fails authentication. Check if some of these requirements are in place before sounding any alarms. A good place to start is to check if your domain follows DMARC, SPF, and DKIM protocols.
ONE-CLICK UNSUBSCRIBE
TL;DR: Google and Yahoo will implement new email policies that require a single-click unsubscribe experience for email recipients. Senders are now required to include an unsubscribe link in the email body and are obligated to comply with any opt-out requests within two days. This change allows users to opt out of unwanted emails with just one click.
LOW SPAM RATE
TL;DR: Both Gmail and Yahoo are taking steps toward curbing spam and ensuring a better inbox experience for users. The new sender guidelines require senders to keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and avoid a spam rate of 0.30% or higher.
Impact on your newsletters
With February fast approaching, the urge to take proactive measures to meet these requirements is top of mind. Proactive measures will ensure compliance with regulations and improve the overall experience for subscribers. Making the necessary changes now will not only help improve email hygiene but also optimize your email marketing efforts. These changes can ultimately lead to more effective email campaigns and better engagement with your audience.
To help you, we've put together the next steps to ensure you're on the right track. A few of the requirements may already be implemented, but it's still important to check to avoid any issues down the line.
Next Steps
CONFIRMING DKIM AND SPF
To link your domain with HubSpot, you must modify your DNS records. It is important to ensure that you have the login details for your DNS provider and access to the CNAME records. After connecting your email-sending domain, you can add HubSpot to your SPF record if you have a DMARC policy. You can check if your DKIM is set up by going to Settings in your HubSpot portal and reviewing Domains and URLs under Website.
SET UP DMARC
You can set up DMARC outside of HubSpot. Do you have a DMARC policy in place? HubSpot suggests using a third-party tool like dmarcian to check if you have a policy. We tested it out and were surprised at the ease of the tool. The dmarcian wizard was our friend, guiding us through the process and providing us with the records we needed. In the end, we successfully added the DMARC record to our DNS! *Please note, to fully take advantage of DMARC, the policy should be set to p=reject rather than p=none. This is a great resource to understand the differences between none, quarantine, and reject DMARC policies.
SET UP SPF
HubSpot portals provide an SPF policy in the HubSpot portal that covers marketing emails. Your SPF record is found under Settings in HubSpot. Navigate to Website - Domains & URLs in the left-hand sidebar. Nestled under the Advance Options is a copy of the SPF record. Copy the record and apply it to your DNS records. For users that do not currently have an SPF record in their domain, add “v=spf1” to the copied value provided in your HubSpot portal to enable SPF for outgoing emails using HubSpot.
ONE-CLICK UNSUBSCRIBE
To comply with anti-spam laws and best practices, HubSpot includes a link in the footer of every email that allows recipients to unsubscribe from your mailing list or manage their email preferences. A crucial component of a successful email marketing strategy, the unsubscribe link helps maintain a good reputation and avoid spam complaints.
We suggest you review your email templates to ensure all newsletters have unsubscribe or preference management links. This easy task can significantly improve the user experience and increase engagement with your email campaigns.
LOW SPAM RATE
Maintaining spam rates should always be top of mind. High spam rates indicate the need for more relevant, engaging content. Or, an issue with your email capture or list management efforts. What to check your spam rate? You can use Postmaster tools to analyze your email performance or navigate to your HubSpot portal and look at your email health. HubSpot makes it easy to check your marketing email health. Under Marketing Emails, select the Analyze tab. The Delivery report provides a Spam Report Rate. For HubSpot users, a spam complaint rate is already implemented at 0.1%.
SET UP POSTMASTER TOOLS
Monitoring your email health directly from HubSpot can determine if you are on track to follow the upcoming sender requirements. An additional and optional step, suggested by Google, is to set up Postmaster Tools. Enter your domain, and the tool will walk you through the rest of the setup. Copy and paste the TXT record into your DNS and then click verify. Once the record is added, Postmaster will show a Verified Status. From there, data will start aggregating, and you can keep track of your reported spam rate.
Rather than seeing this as another to-do before the holiday, embrace this change as an opportunity to leave 2023 with a healthy email-sending framework. This is a great chance to review your current practices and make any necessary adjustments to align with the new guidelines. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We're here to help you navigate these changes and ensure your newsletters remain effective and impactful.