*Please note: If you're currently receiving a welcome sequence of mine and this email feels like a lot, it's not by accident. This is an important email and immediately after receiving it, you'll go back into the sequence.*

I haven't seen anything like the chaos the Google/Yahoo update that has thrown the universe into since the Apple iOs changes in 2021. It's hard to believe, but these changes, though hasty and not well explained to the public, are going to make being an awesome email marketer that much easier.

How?

Let's first start with what.

What is the Google/Yahoo, or the GooHoo as I'm affectionately calling it, update?

Recently Google and Yahoo announced new sending requirements for bulk senders in order to aggressively filter the incoming emails landing in their client's inboxes.

The good news is that if you're here, there's probably a good chance you're already doing some or all of these things, or they are mostly on your radar to pay attention to, so there likely won't be too much to worry about.

The bad news is the bullk sender definition has been changed and now this is a requirement for every marketer using email to sell or build their brand. There is no getting around this. So buckle up and let's talk about what it is and how to tackle it because it's going to be the difference between emails getting delivered and not getting delivered.

Here are the three rules they will be introducing as of February 1, 2024. If you aren't adhering to these rules, you run the risk of your emails not being delivered to Google or Yahoo emails. These aren't even best practices any longer. They are just the way things will be required to be.

Spam Rates

Your spam rate must be around 0.1% (1 out of every 1000 emails). A few weeks ago, 0.3% was mentioned as the standard, however, Google has lowered it to 0.1%, so that's awesome (insert immense sarcasm).

I recognize this is often out of your control, but being marked as spam can also give you valuable data. Sometimes, it's because the reader is just being annoying, but often it's because you're not making sure to welcome them properly. ALWAYS employ at least one welcome email, but hopefully 2-4 is where you land. This familiarizes you with your new subscriber and builds trust. Always remind them how they got there in the first sentence if you can. This is critical to them trusting you and not marking you as spam.

You also might have the exact wrong reader you're attracting so pay attention to where you're getting your subscribers from.

The other reason authors get marked as spam is too many emails without any substance. Inside the email, make it entertaining. Tell stories. Sell your books. Try not to always be selling other people's books and please don't have giant emails full of promotional swap material. That's only going to attract the type of reader who will mark you as spam the minute you try to actually connect with them. Spam rates as a deliverability marker are new, but IMO, a very useful tool to track your effectiveness at building trust with your reader.

How can you tell your spam rate? You will want to set up Google Postmaster. It's the quickest and most accurate version of your spam rate. And don't feel too bad about your rate. My spam rate last month was 1.5%. If this was February, I'd have been in trouble. Now it's my job to make sure this month goes back to normal. It's 0.0% for the most part so I'm hoping it was a holiday email influx fluke!

Authentication

ALL accounts must be authenticated by February 2024. This is also known as inserting the following records into your domain host's DNS management: SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail) and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance)
Every email service provider should be able to offer you records for the DKIM and SPF step, and if they don't, leave them. The DMARC record is a bit trickier, but your email service provider should be giving you assistance with it as well as your domain host. It will soon become impossible to deliver emails without this step being implemented. The DMARC step prevents your email from being stolen and used as a spam account and it's no longer optional.

These strings of code (records) that you insert into your hosting domain service create a digital passport of sorts that tells Google and Yahoo and all the other receiving services, that you are legit. It's not always an easy task to get done, but it's an important task.

Hand in hand with this, if you are sending email from a Google, Yahoo, Hotmail, or Outlook address, you will need to stop and get yourself a verified email sending address. These are addresses attached to your domain. For example, one of mine is hello@hollymortimer.com. You should never send emails from an address other than a verified address and in fact, you will find it will become impossible to do so after February 1. This is a one-way ticket to the spam folder for most of your emails in 2024 regardless of how many you send and where you send them from. Most reputable email service providers will stop allowing this shortly. (I'm looking at you Mailchimp)

One-Click Unsubscribe

This one is super simple, but the messaging on it out there is super confusing. Here's what it means.

When sending a marketing email, you must make it as easy and transparent as possible for the subscriber to unsubscribe from your emails from your header. Here's what that looks like. The first image is the opened email in Google and the second is what it will look like in your reader's inbox.

There's a decent amount of chaos and confusion out there surrounding this rule and there are still a lot of email service providers and companies out there trying to scramble to make the necessary changes, even as more information comes in on this topic. This should be taken care of by your email service provider for you. If they don't have it available yet, it's on its way. If they never have it available to you...start looking for a new provider. This is nearly impossible to achieve on your own without understanding code and where and how to insert it.

So, to simplify, make it easy for people to unsubscribe. Make it clear and easy to find. Don't try to fancy up the unsubscribe process (as Mailerlite encourages you to do), but make it simple and you'll be just fine. This is the one rule that developments are ongoing, but not on your end. This rule is the job of your email service provider.

Okay so I'd say the level of need on getting this all organized is ramping up. All indicators are showing Google is ready to implement and flip the switch on the 1st of Feb.

I've created a video to help you understand the DMARC record as it's the one that is causing the most chaos, but is actually the easiest to implement.

Click the image below to go watch it and then hit reply if you have questions or join us inside the Facebook Group where we've got lots of conversations ongoing.

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Of course, if you'd like me to just do this for you, I have a very limited number of slots available this month to help. Hit reply and let me know.

Happy Emailing!

Holly

PS Want to get started on sending emails that get opened? I've got Learn With Me Lessons ready for you! Quick, affordable video-based lessons on a variety of topics that will help you sell more books with email!
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Learn With Me Lessons

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