Is most of your email list Gmail users? Chances are that almost 80% of your email list are Gmail and Yahoo users. That’s why you need to pay attention to their latest policy changes. In this article, I'll discuss the key updates that every email marketer needs to know to master the Art of the Inbox.

With the constant awareness of privacy concerns, Google and Yahoo implemented changes to their policies in deciding whether your emails are inbox-worthy. They both have announced that starting Feb 2024, they'll start enforcing email authentication standards. Previously, these standards were "recommended." Soon, they'll be required.

By staying informed about these policy changes, you’ll be making sure that your email list stays your best source of sales revenue. Even if your email list isn't mostly Gmail or Yahoo users, it's crucial to understand these changes and adapt your email sending practices accordingly. It doesn't take all that much effort to come into compliance!

So, let me walk you through the details of these email authentication standards so you'll see how they'll affect the emails you send to your prospects and customers. By the end of this article, you'll know how to achieve inbox mastery by ensuring that the mailbox providers accept your emails every time.

Remember! If your emails ain't makin' the inbox, you ain't makin' money!

Both Gmail and Yahoo have made some major policy changes that will change the deliverability and visibility of your emails. These changes are aimed at reducing spam, protecting user privacy, and improving the overall email experience. As an email marketer, it's important to stay on top of these changes to ensure your emails are reaching your subscribers' inboxes.

One of the most significant changes is the enforcement of the email authentication standards, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These authentication protocols help verify the authenticity of the sender and protect against email spoofing and phishing attacks. I'll show you a closer look at each of these protocols and their importance.

You may be wondering why these policy changes matter to you as an email marketer. The answer is simple – deliverability. With Gmail's and Yahoo's new policies, emails that fail authentication are more likely to be marked as spam or rejected by them outright. This means your carefully crafted marketing emails may never reach your subscribers' inboxes, resulting in missed opportunities and lost sales.

By understanding and implementing email authentication protocols, you can improve your email deliverability and ensure that your messages are reaching your intended audience. This will not only increase your chances of conversion but also help build trust with your subscribers.

SPF, or Sender Policy Framework, is an email authentication protocol that helps prevent email spoofing. It works by allowing domain owners to specify which mail servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of their email domain. When an email is received, the recipient's mailbox provider will check the SPF record of the sender's domain to verify if the email came from an authorized server.

By implementing SPF, you can protect your domain from unauthorized use and improve your email deliverability. When Gmail and Yahoo receive an email from your domain, it will check the SPF record to ensure that it was sent from an authorized server. If the email fails SPF authentication, it may be marked as spam or rejected.

Setting up SPF involves adding a TXT record to your email domain's DNS settings. This record has information about the authorized mail servers for your domain. Your email service provider (ESP) should have a section in your account configuration that instructs you exactly how to create the records. If your ESP doesn't support SPF, then you have just enough time to ditch the one you have and find another one that does.

By correctly configuring your SPF record, you can increase the chances of your emails being delivered to your Gmail and Yahoo subscribers' inboxes.

DKIM, which stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail, is another email authentication method that uses digital signatures to verify the authenticity of the email sender. It works by attaching a unique cryptographic signature to each outgoing email. When the recipient's mailbox provider receives the email, it verifies the signature against the public key published in the sender's domain's DNS records.

The purpose of DKIM is to prevent email spoofing and ensure that the claimed sender indeed sent the email. By implementing DKIM, you can increase your email deliverability by providing Gmail and Yahoo with a way to verify the authenticity of your emails.

To set up DKIM for your domain, your ESP generates a pair of cryptographic keys – a private key for signing outgoing emails and a public key for verification. These keys should be added to your domain's DNS records. Your ESP should also have a section in your account configuration that instructs you exactly how to create those records. The public key used for verification will be provided for you to add to your sending domain's DNS.

Once DKIM is properly set up, Gmail and Yahoo will be able to validate your emails and ensure their authenticity.

DMARC, or Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance, is an email authentication protocol that builds upon SPF and DKIMK. It allows domain owners to specify how email servers should handle emails that fail authentication checks.

If you're a sender who sends more than 5000 emails per day, then Gmail requires you to set up DMARC email authentication for your sending domain.

And DMARC requires that the domain of your From email address must align with your SPF domain and DKIM domain.

With DMARC, you can set policies for what mailbox providers should do to emails that fail SPF or DKIM authentication. You can choose to have the emails delivered, marked as spam, or rejected altogether. Additionally, DMARC provides reporting capabilities, allowing you to receive feedback on email authentication failures.

Implementing DMARC can further enhance your email deliverability by providing clear instructions to email receivers on how to deal with unauthenticated emails. By setting up DMARC policies, you can ensure that your emails are delivered to your Gmail and Yahoo subscribers' inboxes and minimize the risk of crooks using your domain for fraudulent activities.

To sum it all up, mastering your email sending reputation with Gmail and Yahoo requires staying informed about the latest policy changes and implementing these well-established email authentication protocols. By understanding and implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, you can increase your email deliverability, protect against email spoofing, and ensure that your carefully crafted marketing emails reach the inboxes of your subscribers.

Remember! If your emails ain't makin' the inbox, you ain't makin' money!