How to Navigate the February 1, 2024 Gmail and Yahoo Email Marketing Compliance Changes as a Small Business

How to Navigate the February 1, 2024 Gmail and Yahoo Email Marketing Compliance Changes as a Small Business

Oh no tomorrow is February 1st and you just remembered that there is some huge change coming to Gmail and Yahoo!! What do you do?!! Worry not, you're in the right place, I've got you.

The TLDR is:

• **This change is most important for those who are sending more than 5000 emails per day. But that does not mean that those with smaller lists shouldn't be following these new best practices as well.

• Make sure you are sending from your own domain (as opposed to a “free email” domain, like gmail.com or yahoo.com)

• Verify your domain via DKIM and SPF (see this section below for more details on this!)

• Add a one-click unsubscribe button (this is different from the unsubscribe option in your footer) and make sure to process unsubscribes in two days.

• Make sure you keep your SPAM complaints below 0.3% (aka: if you have a high spam rate, you will know, or rather, you should know!!)

Now, if you've got a few minutes and you want to dive a bit further into these changes in Gmail and Yahoo's email policies and how they impact your small business marketing efforts, let's go.

Understanding the Importance of Email Compliance

Before we get to the good stuff, let's talk about what email compliance actually is.

Email compliance refers to the rules and regulations set by email service providers (ESPs) such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft, as well as legal requirements like the CAN-SPAM Act.

Email compliance ensures that your email campaigns reach your audience's inboxes, maintain sender reputation, and avoid penalties or blacklisting. It's the foundation of successful and ethical email marketing for small businesses.

These are the Key Changes in Gmail and Yahoo's Email Policies

Gmail usually sets the standard for email marketing practices and Yahoo essentially follows suit. Recent changes have put more focus on user privacy and security, including stricter filtering for promotional emails and enhanced anti-phishing measures. As a small business, it's crucial to adapt your email strategy to align with these changes to maintain deliverability, engagement and to be a good "digital citizen" (a new to me term, I'm very much into).

Marketing emails must be send from a custom domain

No more @gmail or @yahoo sending, get a domain and check this step off your list.

Why do you need to own your domain, you may be asking?

While there are plenty of reasons to go ahead and get your domain set up, a few reasons it is helpful include:

1. Sender reputation: Emails sent from @gmail @hotmail or @yahoo can actually get lost in Spam without you knowing. As a result, this hurts your open rate and engagement.

2. Searchability - Sending from your domain email address gives Google more information about your site, which can help it rank higher in search results.

Verify your domain via DKIM and SPF

First, what are DKIM and SPF??

DKIM stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail. It is used to validate the identity of a domain. I highly recommend this video for learning about DKIM, because its cute and informative:

SPF stands for Sender Policy Framework and it specifies which IP addresses can send emails on your behalf. This helps with email security.

So wait, what do I need to do with DKIM and SPF?

If you are using an ESP (email service provider) like FloDesk, Mailchimp, ConvertKit or one of the many others, just go to their documentation or support site and it will guide you through it. If you're sending more than 5000 emails per day and the ESP you're using doesn't have a guide on this, you probably need a new ESP.

What about DMARC?

DMARC stands for Domain-Based Authentication, Reporting and Conformance. DMARC is like the third layer of protection in sending emails. FloDesk does a great job of explaining what to do for DMARC:

You can choose between 3 levels of strictness for your DMARC records depending on your desired level of security.

• p=none: This means nothing will happen to your message if DMARC fails

• p=quarantine: This means “quarantine a message that fails DMARC”. You’ll usually find your email in spam when this happens

• p=reject: This means if the email doesn’t pass DMARC it will be rejected (resulting in a bounce)

~~From FloDesk

Again, if you are using a reputable ESP, check their documentation for all the details you need to make these updates and stay compliant. That's literally what you are paying them for!!

Ensure you have a one-click unsubscribe and complete unsubscribe requests in two days

As I mentioned above, this is different from the unsubscribe option in the footer of your emails. That should stay in place! Don't touch that one!

But now, if you're sending more than 5000 emails per day, this is also something your ESP should be able to provide/update/give you info on. The second piece of this compliance step is to make sure you are actually unsubscribing people within two days of their request. Just be prompt and no one gets hurt.

Keep your Spam in check (less than 0.3% to be exact)

There are a lot of good tips and tricks here and I would highly recommend Cheryl Rerick's webinar if you are interested in diving deeper. But a few tricks to take along for today are:

1. Write like a human, try the "Friend Test" (a phrase I think I heard from Cheryl!), gut check your copy to see if it sounds like something you would reasonably send to a friend without cringing.

2. Practice good list hygiene (aka: clean your email lists)! If you have subscribers who haven't interacted with your content within 6 months (3 months even), clean them off your list. Why? The likelihood of your emails getting marked as spam or sent to junk increases dramatically after as little as 30 days, so if they haven't engaged in 6 months? Get ride of 'em (otherwise, they could really hurt your deliverability).

3. Just send better emails. Include useful information that your lists are actively showing interest in, segment your subscribers in ways that reflect their interests and demographics, and keep your lists clean, people!

(Want help with sending better emails? Reach out to us and we can help you stay compliant and on top of all your email marketing!)

Ok, that's a lot of info! But it is January 30, so its fairly close to February 1. If you have any more questions, feel free to reach out or comment below!