In October 2023, Google and Yahoo announced a few soon-to-come email sender policies into effect restrictions that could block your emails from going to users’ primary inboxes.
This could potentially hit your sales pipeline, big time.
One good thing is that in December 2023, Google clarified that only bulk sending to personal emails is covered under this policy.
But you never know, there are rumors that it might expand to B2B soon.
If done then it will reshape the rules of engagement for us B2B cold email marketers. So, better safe than sorry.
In this blog, we’ll dissect the implications of this policy for cold email outreach and equip you with a battle-tested survival guide.
We shall also touch base on the features SmartReach.io has in place to ensure your business adheres to the Yahoo & Google email sender policy.
SmartReach is a sales engagement platform used for B2B cold outreach i.e. email, calls, and social outreach via LinkedIn, WhatsApp & text.
As a seasoned sales professional, I believe it’s a step in the right direction. The influx of cold emailing tools is making it super easy for spammers to get away with a lot of stuff
Even large businesses just kept sending out emails irresponsibly. Hence, it was time for Big Daddy to step in and tighten the ropes.
So, let’s start with the key clauses of the policy that could affect cold email marketers
Dissecting the Google Email Sender Policy for Cold Emailing:
Daily Limit of 5,000 Emails
As of February 2024, both Yahoo and Google are setting a daily limit of 5000 for incoming emails to their network from an organization (one domain).
In case you are sending volumes beyond this threshold, you will need to rethink your strategy.
Google’s policy states that the guidelines they’ve mentioned are to help you successfully send and deliver emails to personal Gmail accounts.
But there is a lot of grey out here.
For your understanding, a personal Gmail account is an account that ends in @gmail.com or @googlemail.com
Best practice for adherence
Would you like it, if someone came knocking on your door at home to sell a photocopier for your office? No right?
Similarly, you need to ensure that your B2B emails are sent to only business emails. Remember, for now, you’ll fall under the ambit of the policy only if you’re sending to personal emails addresses.
Getting this right will ensure that you are in check for daily limits and the spam rate
Many experts will recommend you switch to Outlook or another email client, but remember that the policy limits are based on emails received from an organization to the Google or Yahoo network.
Sending from Outlook or any other client won’t make a difference, but you could still switch as it could help with other stuff like email warmup.
On a separate note, email is a means to an end. Start using alternate channels like LinkedIn, Calls, or WhatsApp.
SmartReach witnessed a 73% jump in its multichannel campaigns a few weeks after the Google Email Sender policy was released.
Lastly, it’s time to give up on spray and pray. Strictly, send emails only to prospects based on your ICP & persona
SmartReach.io features to help you adhere
At SmartReach, we have an inbox rotation feature for your cold outreach campaigns. This lets you send emails from multiple email addresses of the same domain or multiple domains.
So if you are currently sending out 25000 emails per day then you could add email addresses of 5 or more domains to a single campaign.
You could also set the daily email sending limit per email address; this way, you will be able to track limits and never go overboard. .
Spam Complaint Threshold 0.3%
That’s a maximum of 3 pissed-off recipients per thousand.
What’s important to know is that the 0.3% spam complaint threshold doesn’t consider Google Workspace accounts marking you as spam.
So, once again, stick to sending cold emails only to business emails and you should be in the green.
Best practice for adherence
Emails used for cold email campaigns are bound to have a bad domain reputation with time. It’s inevitable.
Prepare for the risk of domain blocking, potentially halting your cold campaigns in their tracks.
To overcome this issue, it’s best you have a couple extra warmed-up domains at all times. This way you will not lose pipeline momentum in case a domain goes bad.
Let’s understand with an example.
Your primary domain is <smartreach.io>. This should never be used for any email marketing campaigns.
So, you create a domain called <smartreach.us>. Along with this, you have backup domains like <smartreach.pro> or <smartreach.ca>
All three domains should be warmed up at all times
This could be one reason why you should take domains from Outlook
SmartReach.io features to help you adhere
SmartReach provides free access to WarmupHero, a hi-end email warmup service. This lets you keep existing and backup domains constantly warmed up.
You also are safeguarded with built-in intelligent proprietary systems that verify the workability of prospect emails before sending. So invalid are not sent. Hence spam filters are not activated
This AI-powered system also checks your content for broken merge tags and spam words and also provides a spam score for your content. This way, you know the spam probability for your email content.
SmartReach has over 15 nifty features only to help you avoid spam. Listing them all out will make this blog too long. Schedule a call with our success team, and they will get you up to speed.
Email Authentication Compliance (Mandatory)
While the new Gmail and Yahoo policy might feel like a hurdle for your cold emailing, it actually pushes for stronger email authentication, which benefits everyone in the long run.
So, don’t see authentication as a burden but as a powerful tool. It helps you reach your audience, protects your reputation, and keeps spammers at bay. Consider it an investment in the future of your cold email success.
Starting from February 2024, senders will be required to:
- Authenticate their messages against SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication protocols.
- Enable easy one-click unsubscription for their emails, with unsubscribes to be done in 48 hours
Best practice for adherence
Start with a compliance check run by your IT Admin
- Authentication – Remember, they are responsible for safeguarding your communication channels.
- Ensure your domains are fortified with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC protocols.
- Ensure your sending domains or IPs have valid PTR records.
- Align the sender’s From header with either the SPF domain or the DKIM domain.
- Forwarding – Verify proper email forwarding (enabling ARC) and maintain up-to-date reverse DNS records. This is akin to your email’s forwarding address, ensuring seamless communication.
- Spam Rate – Have your IT team diligently monitor your company’s spam rate. Don’t send emails without awareness of your spam score.
Then, audit your email (Centralised)
a. Identify and eliminate departments or teams that import dubious lists and fire off email sequences recklessly.
b. Simplify the unsubscribing process with a one-click solution. Remember, happy recipients remain subscribed, while unhappy ones contribute to the dreaded 0.3% threshold.
c. Regularly purge undeliverable emails and those who haven’t engaged in ages. A clean list is a healthy list, and healthy lists translate to quality leads.
Finally, embrace the targeted approach
- Adopt Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies, focusing on ideal customers. Quality over quantity.
- Craft emails tailored to individual needs and pain points. You also need a mechanism to make every email unique. This facilitates deliverability.
- Email alone won’t cut it. Diversify outreach with social media, direct mail, and other channels like calling. A multi-pronged attack keeps your audience engaged and receptive. SmartReach lets you do this with ease.
SmartReach.io features to help you adhere
Use our setup wizard to tick off one of the major email sender mandates declared by Google and Yahoo easily!
With SmartReach, your authentication challenges are addressed when you integrate your sending emails.
All of the above best practices could be easily implemented using SmartReach.io
So, if your IT admin is not available, we provide you with step-by-step guides on completing the set-up or authentication for stuff like DNS, SPF, DKIM, DMARC.
SmartReach.io gives you free spam test reports where we check for authentications like SPF, DKIM, Dmarc records on your email account and provide solutions to fix any issues that show up.
SmartReach also checks for issues with email formatting like alt attributes in images, broken link, dangerous HTML or javascript elements in your email, and short URLs in your email and then notifies you of their presence in your emails
SmartReach.io provides a one-click unsubscribe feature that’s in adherence to the policy. You also get the option to edit your unsubscribe link text. So, call it “Not Interested” and hyperlink the unsubscribe link.
You could run account-based sales campaigns with ease. SmartReach allows you to set up daily or weekly limits for prospects contacted from your domain to a prospect’s domain.
Example: Contact not more than 3 emails per day. This way, businesses with stringent internal email systems won’t be able to catch your cold emails sent to 40 personnel across a number of days.
Email deliverability is a part of SmartReach.io’s DNA. Its AI-powered content generator and Spintax feature help you add a draft that makes every email unique. Crazy stuff. You must check it out.
The best part is that SmartReach regularly checks and notifies if your IP is listed in any of the 25 most popular global IP blacklists. This way you can take timely corrective action.
The Evolution, Not the End
The updated Google policy specifically impacts individuals or entities engaged in mass messaging, particularly those dispatching 5000 or more emails daily to personal email or normal Google accounts.
Businesses involved in widespread marketing and sales email must promptly implement measures to enhance email security and deliverability.
Adapting to the new policy isn’t merely about compliance but building relationships with your leads. By embracing targeted, personalized outreach, you will generate higher-quality leads and boost conversion rates.
SmartReach.io has over 7 years of experience tackling the challenges addressed in the policy. We identified them years ago and are building tech around the same
So, visit SmartReach today and discover how to navigate the new Google email sender policy 2024 with confidence.
Let’s conquer them together!
