Gmail deliverability is about to undergo substantial changes! Starting February 2024, the famous inbox will tighten its protections against mass senders.
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What changes are planned? What will their impact be on your current email strategy? And most importantly, what actions should you take to remain compliant? Find our answers and advice in this article!
A turning point in the fight against spam
From February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo will strengthen their anti-spam policies as part of an initiative to improve the user experience. These stricter standards for senders will primarily target accounts that send more than 5,000 messages per day.
The changes to Gmail deliverability mainly include stronger email authentication, easier unsubscribing from commercial emails, and the implementation of a stricter spam rate threshold. These measures respond to a growing need to better protect inboxes from phishing threats.
The impact on deliverability in Gmail
Three key changes, aimed at consolidating sender legitimacy by 2024, were highlighted by Gmail, outlining a more secure and authenticated email environment:
1. Email authentication
To build trust between senders and recipients, email authentication is crucial. It allows email providers to verify sender identities, reducing phishing risks. The SPF, DKIM and DMARC protocols are industry standards that provide this authentication.
2. Simplified unsubscribe
Providing an easy and quick way to unsubscribe remains an important requirement. This measure aims to give users more control while encouraging senders to send only relevant, desired content if they want to avoid unsubscribes.
3. Maintaining a low spam rate
A low spam rate is a sign of trust and good Gmail deliverability. The new standards impose a strict threshold that senders will have to meet to avoid penalties.
How to maintain Gmail deliverability?
To prepare before 2024: the ball is in the marketers' court! Here are the recommended actions to optimize your Gmail deliverability:
Conduct an audit of your emailing strategy
Conduct a complete audit of your current email strategy and identify areas for improvement. This includes reviewing your Gmail deliverability rate, authentication practices and spam rate. That review will allow you to take the corrective measures needed to prevent your emails from landing in spam folders.
Set up authentication protocols
In 2022, when the well-known email app required senders to adopt a form of authentication, it led to a 75% drop in unauthenticated messages received by Gmail users.
The Gmail updates planned for February 2024 refocus on validating your sender identity. If you haven't already, make sure SPF and DKIM are configured correctly, and consider adopting DMARC for added protection, especially if you send messages in bulk.
These measures will authenticate your emails and protect your sender reputation.
Make unsubscribing easy
There were already good reasons to offer an easy unsubscribe for contacts: such a practice harms your engagement metrics, increases your spam rate, and gives a negative impression of your company.
Starting in 2024, Gmail and Yahoo will require senders to provide a one-click unsubscribe process. Make sure it is visible and easy to access so your recipients can unsubscribe easily if they wish.
Carefully monitor the spam rate
Your spam rate, or spam complaint rate, is the number of recipients who report your message as unwanted compared to the total number of emails delivered.
The best way to keep this proportion as low as possible is to unsubscribe silent subscribers before they are tempted to hit the spam button, and to regularly clean your list.
So, closely monitor your spam rate and engagement metrics using resources like Google Postmaster Tools. If the percentage increases, check your sending frequency and revise your emailing strategy. Emails that are sent too frequently or that feel unpersonalized can push your subscribers to "report as spam" your address.
Our tip for creating email campaigns
As a marketing professional, your priority should remain providing added value! To create effective email campaigns and maintain a high deliverability rate, it is essential to send useful, relevant, and personalized content to your contacts.
The effectiveness of your email campaigns mainly depends on the overall recipient experience. Keep this rule in mind and your email marketing will not be affected by Gmail's new deliverability standards!
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