Email marketers have overcome many changes over the years. There was the transition to making emails work for mobile devices, then the shift to adding more engaging capabilities to emails like gifs and video, and smart sends. There was pushback on too many buttons and too much text, and of course, the addition of email preview text and images.
But many businesses likely aren’t prepared for how Google’s newest changes to Gmail will impact email marketing in 2024.
What’s Happening to Gmail?
Google has reached a breaking point with spam. While they use AI to filter out over 15 billion spam messages a day, generative AI is getting so good that even Google’s filter could become less reliable. So to prevent more spam while making Gmail safer, Google is introducing new email requirements for bulk email senders (5,000 messages or more per day.) Since the announcement, Yahoo has also announced similar changes coming in early 2024.
Here are the changes coming to bulk senders on Gmail starting February 1, 2024:
- Email Authentication: Bulk senders will be required to authenticate email domains to prove they are who they are. This will prevent spammers from finding loopholes and better enforce best practices on Gmail.
- One-Click Unsubscribe: Many email senders require multiple clicks just to allow someone to unsubscribe from an email. Now, those days are numbered. Under the new guidelines, bulk senders must have a one-click unsubscribe option.
- Updated Spam Threshold: Senders must stay below Google’s 0.3% spam threshold to avoid being marked as spam. Typically, anything over 0.1% is considered high.
How Will it Affect My Business?
These changes are for bulk senders and they will affect a large number of B2B and B2C businesses, but all marketers should prepare for these changes to impact everyone. Email metric forecasts for 2024 should adjust and brace for any potential shifts to spam, click, and open rates.
Businesses will likely rely less on email and more on various channels to share their message. Email isn’t dead, but emails will be sent less frequently. Senders will be more cautious about using it to send emails to appropriate audiences.
If anything, email will be used more intentionally to market to customers and consumers, which is a good thing. Google’s goal is to reduce spam, which will reduce noise and encourage marketers to be focused on their message and send it to the right people, encouraging engagement and hopefully, more business.
Many of these changes are first in the industry and will cause uncertainty for some time, but one way to respond to the changes is to improve email reputation.
What Can I Do to Improve My Email Reputation?
There’s never a bad time to improve email reputation and, if anything, that should always be a priority. But this shift alone is enough to take immediate action.
Here are a couple of ways businesses can address improving their email reputation immediately.
1. Implement Google’s Changes ASAP
If you haven’t already, get ahead of the game and make these changes to your marketing emails. Email domains are likely already authenticated, but most marketers don’t use one-click unsubscribe. It might hurt to change it, but keeping email recipients who don’t want your messages is more risky under the new spam rate threshold.
2. Diversify Marketing Efforts
The saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” has existed this long for a reason. All marketing outlets hit some kind of roadblock like this at some point. Just look at what happened to print with the rise of digital marketing and social media when chronological algorithms went away.
Eventually, these standards will become the new normal. Smart businesses that utilize a variety of marketing tools and channels will continue to find success long-term.
3. Update Lists & Contacts
It’s always a good idea to update CRM lists and contacts regularly, but this change is the perfect excuse to do it. People change jobs, titles, companies, and industries all the time, but businesses usually don’t notice they need to update a contact until an email bounces back.
Make this a recurring task to do quarterly, biannually, or yearly. It’s a great way to stay on top of prospects and leads, clear out unnecessary contacts, save time, cut costs on CRM contacts, and improve email metrics.
4. Stop Buying Lists
It’s 2024 and people are still buying email lists despite best practices. When businesses do this, they run the risk of destroying their email domain integrity, and getting it back takes time and effort. If you want to keep the integrity of your email and your business intact, please stop buying email lists.
Email marketing will continue to exist, but being intentional will be a vital part of making it work. While these changes are a little scary, they could benefit a lot of businesses and improve the way they market to customers and consumers.
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