Here’s how to keep marketing emails from ending up in your spam box.

In October, Google announced changes to its email delivery policies.like other providers Yahoo and AOL has made a similar announcement and plans to strengthen its spam filters. This change he is expected to take effect in February. If you currently use email as a means of marketing, staying on top of these changes and adjusting your strategy accordingly can help you stay out of the spam box.

According to Google’s policy change, the upcoming update will primarily affect high-volume senders, or senders who send more than 5,000 emails each day. Their stated goal is to keep users’ inboxes safe and spam-free. Google reports that the company’s defenses already stop more than 99% of the approximately 15 billion spam emails per day, so these new limits will reduce the amount of clutter in your inbox. can be further reduced.

main focus

Many bulk senders fail to secure and properly configure their systems, making it easier for attackers to slip in unnoticed. To address this issue, Google focused on a critical aspect of email security: verifying the identity of the sender.

Starting last year, Google implemented a policy that requires authentication for emails sent to Gmail addresses. This change significantly reduces the amount of unauthenticated email that Gmail users receive, helps declutter their inboxes, and improves our efficiency in blocking billions of harmful emails.

Here are seven steps you can take to maximize delivery efficiency.

1. Verify your email: Email authentication is used to prevent fraudulent emails from spammers and imposters, and to allow recipients to trust the authenticity of the email. This serves as an important protection for individuals against malicious impersonators, and for brands against being labeled as spammers. The main types of email authentication include SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Google’s 2024 requirements for bulk senders highlight the need for strong authentication using these methods to prevent spoofing and avoid emails being marked as spam .
2. Include an unsubscribe link: Bulk senders must comply with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. This law requires senders to provide a way for recipients to opt out of unwanted email. You can improve your delivery rates by making it easy to opt out via email and honoring opt-out requests.
3. Don’t send spam: One of the best ways to stay in Google’s favor and in the recipient’s favor is to submit content that people want. Consumers will look forward to receiving your emails if they are engaging, engaging, interesting, and informative. Avoid words that cause spam, such as #1, cash, free, bonus, earn more, be your boss, giveaway, etc. Avoid making exaggerated claims or using misleading subject lines. Before you send, ask yourself: Do you welcome this type of email communication?
4. Keep your database up to date. Maintaining good database health is important for improving deliverability. Remove users who don’t engage with your content, honor opt-outs, and keep your emails up to date. As individuals move from one employer to another, email addresses inevitably change. Staying on top of these changes and deleting old and outdated contact information will help prevent it from ending up in your spam folder.
5. Use advanced segmentation and field merging. Sending a single email to your entire database, or “spray and pray,” is not recommended. Instead, segmenting your database by persona allows you to send more personalized messages to specific audiences. Additionally, custom fields and merge tags allow you to further personalize your message and make it feel like you’re speaking directly to your audience.
6. Monitor engagement and keep spam rates low. Above all, you want users to open, forward, and reply to your emails. When people engage with your content, your email is welcomed and tells the provider that you are a safe sender. Focusing on engagement rates can help you better understand what type of content resonates with your audience. This also means monitoring sending frequency and whether engagement rates tend to drop as email frequency increases. A good habit to follow is to send no more than once a week, and even less if the frequency increases and engagement decreases. To comply with Google’s spam thresholds, it’s also important to keep your spam rate below 0.3% (3 complaints per 1,000 emails sent). However, we highly recommend keeping it close to 0%.
7. Optimize your email structure. Broken links, too many links, short links, or image-only emails will trigger a spam alert. When it comes to images, this is a hot topic. Best practice is to use a 60/40 text to image ratio as a general rule of thumb. This suggests that emails consist of 60% text and 40% images. Additionally, we do not recommend using certain software to shorten links. Instead, try using your email automation tool’s “link” feature.

Following good email sender practices will help you stay in good standing and keep your emails reaching the inboxes of your intended recipients. Keep in mind that this is a long-term practice, and just like building your own reputation, building a positive sender reputation will happen over time. However, if done well, the payoff will be a satisfied recipient and more business growth.

Diana Zaya is the founder and president of. maverick systemsis a data analytics and consulting firm dedicated to providing brokers with in-depth agent and broker analytics, incisive data analysis, and inventive strategies to drive better agent recruitment and retention outcomes. .

related