Heads up, Outlook users, there are some major changes coming up to strengthen the email ecosystem and protect inboxes. They have recently released new requirements and best practices aimed at strengthening email authentication for domains that send more than 5,000 emails per day.
These new requirements will introduce stricter standards by mandating the use of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC settings. Outlook is looking to modify, promote and implement industry-wide best practices to reduce spoofing, phishing, and spam, while giving legitimate senders stronger brand protection and improved email deliverability.
What does this mean for email marketing Outlook users?
Here’s what you need to know about Outlook’s latest requirments for users who send over 5,000 emails
What’s new?
For domains sending over 5,000 emails per day, Outlook will soon require compliance with SPF, DKIM, DMARC. Non‐compliant messages will first be routed to Junk. If issues remain unresolved, they may eventually be rejected. Senders will soon start requiring compliance with the following requirements:
SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
Must Pass for the sending domain.
Your domain’s DNS record should accurately list authorized IP addresses/hosts.
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
Must Pass to validate email integrity and authenticity.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance)
At least p=none and align with either SPF or DKIM (preferably both).
Yahoo and Google users are going to see some major changes in their email systems this upcoming year. This 2024, both tech companies have decided to strengthen their email security protocols. This is to be accomplished by requiring additional authentication requirements for email. Users can expect to see these changes in full swing by February 2024.
Email marketing has proven to be a crucial tool to businesses. Email marketing allows businesses to reach out to customers and potential clients. However, the rise in the number of emails being sent out also causes problems. More emails subsequently means an increase in concerns regarding SPAM and other unwanted emails. In response to these concerns, Google and Yahoo plan on putting up some stringent policies regarding email authentication. These are especially true for users who send out an upwards of 5,000 emails daily.
These requirements primarily aim to assure users that the emails they receive in the inboxes are authentic. More than that, they allow users to easily subscribe and unsubscribe from email lists. Finally, they ensure that inboxes are free from any SPAM or unwanted emails.
Moreover, they plan on implementing the recognized best practices of email deliverability by making users authenticate their emails with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Anyone who refuses to comply with these policies will see their emails sent to SPAM, or have their emails blocked or delayed by the system.
What does this mean for email marketing users?
Here’s what you need to know to get ahead of these upcoming Yahoo and Google email authentication changes.
Email Authentication
Once the new policies are in place, authentication will be key to ensure your emails don’t bounce or end up in the spam folder. However, it is not enough to configure your Email Sending Domain. You will need to verify that your ‘from addresses’ are using your connected domain.
Moreover, you need to make sure that your domain is authenticated with the industry standard email authentication protocols: Sender Policy Framework (SPF), Domain-based Message Authentication (DMARC), and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). Setting these three up will allow users to be verified under Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI). BIMI signifies that emails that are sent through these domains are genuine, indicated by the brand’s logo being displayed alongside the sender’s name when it appears in the inbox.
Mx Toolbox is a tool that allows you to type in your domain in a search box, and complete a Dmarc lookup. It is totally free and comes back with a report that tells you if your Dmarc, Dkim, and SPF are set up properly. If there are any issues, it will show up in the report, along with tools and explanations to help you fix it.
Make sure that everyone on your email lists is able to easily subscribe and unsubscribe from your emails. This has been part of the best practices of email marketing for a long time.
Easily Subscribe
Ensure that everyone on your email lists is able to easily subscribe and unsubscribe from your emails. This has been part of the best practices of email marketing for a long time.
Unsubscribe in 1 Click
Don’t make unsubscribing unnecessarily difficult. Users should not have to actively search for an obscure unsubscribe button or click through various pages if they no longer want to receive your emails. Make sure this is clearly accessible and easy to do to avoid complaints.
Respect your users’ preferences and enable easy subscription and unsubscription processes. Not only will you adhere to Yahoo and Google’s requirements, you will build trust with your audience and improve their user experience.
Send Only Wanted Emails
It is essential that you are sending your subscribers content that they actually want to receive. Not only does this allow you to comply with the new email authentication requirements, it helps improve email deliverability and helps you maintain a good reputation among your recipients.
Here’s how to send out desirable emails that have a lower chance of getting marked as spam:
Provide Quality Content
Make sure you are sending your recipients relevant and engaging quality content. By all means relate it to your product, service or business, but make sure you are sharing things that your audience can directly relate to. Sending information that is deemed valuable is expected to get better reception and more clicks.
Track Your Emails
Be aware of how your emails are doing. You can monitor the engagement of your recipients by looking at open and click-through rates. In the same way, have a look as well at your spam complaints. Google users can use Google Postmaster Tools (GPT) for this. This tool allows users track how many people have marked their emails as spam. With this, users should target maintaining a 0.1% spam complaint level. Anything above a 0.3% spam complaint level is expected to be met with delays, as well as bounces, and other performance issues.
Clean Your Lists
Update and clean up your email lists regularly. Do this by removing duplicate and inactive subscribers. It is important to note that sending out emails to a smaller, more engaged list of recipients has proven to be more effective. This is compared to sending to larger lists of unresponsive recipients.
With all the changes to technology nowadays it can seem pretty daunting to keep up with email authentication policies. However, if you want your emails to successfully land in the inboxes of your audience, it’s best to get ahead and prepare for the chances to come. Ultimately, these new email authentication protocols are brought up with the security of users in mind. Of course it intends to protect users from spam and malicious emails. More than that, it executes what has been long known in email marketing as best practices.
According to the Harvard Business Review, cold emailing can work well.
Cold emailing is when you reach out to someone for the first time via email. When you conduct cold outreach, you have yet to establish a relationship with the receiver. You also have no real-time interaction with your audience and are reliant on verbal feedback to move forward.
Cold emailing can seem a little sketchy to some. It’s garnered a bad reputation because there’s a lot of ways to mess it up. It’s also got people questioning its legitimacy.
You may wonder, Can I send out an email to someone I’ve never communicated with before? The short answer is yes, you can. People have used cold emails in email marketing, lead generation, and sales, among others. However, you need to be careful. The last thing you want is for your cold email to be dismissed as spam.
Although cold emailing does have its challenges, it’s still a practice widely used as it can be highly effective.
When done right, cold emailing can be a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.
It’s a great way to expand your network, reach out to your prospects, and gain traction for your business. Product Hunt, Timehop, and Storefront are just some examples of businesses that have taken advantage of cold emailing to successfully scale their products.
It is important to stress that the success of cold emailing relies on creating a connection with your audience. The reason many cold emails flop is essentially that people don’t know how to approach it. Fortunately, Tucker Max has created A Guide to Cold Calling that was featured on the Harvard Business Review.
Below are some of the key points he made to send out a cold email that garners a positive response.
Personalize your cold email
Know who it is you are writing to. Do your research and personalize the email. When conducting personal cold outreach, that means more than just placing their name at the top of the email. Indicate why you specifically chose to email them, and how their expertise is valuable to you.
“Personalization means that you’ve thought about who this person is, how they see the world, what interests them, and what they want — you’ve developed a “theory of mind” about the recipient. This shows them you have put work into understanding them.”
-Tucker Max
Make a Connection
Remember, this is the first time you’re reaching out to this person. Although you may have done your research to find out about them, they may not know that much about you. Start off with a good impression and show them that you are credible so that they could trust you.
Begin with some common ground, or establish your ties. Let them know who you are and why you are reaching out. Find the connection that will move you from being a stranger to a contact.
Focus on what you can do for them
As your reader is scanning through your email, they are likely looking for one thing: What does this have to do with me?
Give your reader a reason to continue the communication with you by emphasizing what you can do for them. Identify a pain or problem they could have, and offer a solution or a means to help. Your email should highlight how a connection would be beneficial for them, not just how it could help you.
Keep it brief and concise
People are bombarded with marketing messages on the daily. Make sure your email stands out and has value to your audience. Think of your own practices when opening emails. We don’t devote too much time reading through long emails, and we scan for important information before deciding to trash the email or not.
To keep your email from ending up in the trash, try to establish that connection with your reader. Speak to them as if you were having an actual conversation. Be clear about your intentions and show some appreciation and vulnerability. If you are asking for something from your reader, expressing your gratitude could encourage your reader to want to help you. Ultimately, you want your reader to be comfortable enough with you to respond and build on this initial communication.
Cold Emailing Effectivity
Cold emailing can be incredibly effective, but it has to be done right. Those who have mastered the cold email have seen a response rate of 1 in 5 cold emails. Many businesses have used cold emails successfully to build connections in their network, obtain traction for their products, and even make sales. Although cold outreach through email can be tricky to do, a correctly worded cold email is well worth the effort once you start receiving those warm email responses.
You can find Tucker Max’s “Guide to Cold Calling” here.
