Don’t Let Gmail and Yahoo Mail Changes Impact Your Email Deliverability
Gmail and Yahoo Mail have announced that they are making changes to their email authentication requirements early in 2024. Is your nonprofit ready for the changes?
Let’s look at some key points about the changes and how they might impact email deliverability for your organization’s mass marketing emails.
What are the changes to Gmail and Yahoo Mail?
Gmail and Yahoo Mail will have new email authentication requirements that build upon many already established best practices. This change means that Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) authentication will be required for all mass marketing emails going to Gmail or Yahoo accounts. Emails that are not authenticated by all three authentication methods will end up in junk or spam folders.
What steps should your nonprofit take to ensure email deliverability?
It’s a good idea to check to make sure everything is set up correctly in your email marketing system – especially if you’ve made changes to your system or if the system was set up a long time ago. If you’re unsure of how to do this in your email marketing system, reach out to your email marketing tool vendor for details.
The good news is that if you use Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (formerly called “Pardot”) or Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights, you likely already set up SPF and DKIM authentication when the product was configured for your organization, as it is a standard step in the implementation process. For example, here at Heller Consulting, we set up these authentication methods for our clients when we implement these marketing products. We also work with our clients to set up their domain name server (DNS) records to ensure they are DMARC-compliant.
That said, it’s still a good practice to double-check that everything is set up correctly.
Also, be on the lookout for a drop in your email delivery rates after these changes have taken effect. A significant drop could indicate that your emails are getting stuck in spam folders due to the new requirements and that you need to revisit your authentication configuration.
And here’s one more thing: the new Gmail and Yahoo Mail email requirements include offering an easy unsubscribe process in your emails. That means it’s a good time to revisit your approach to email unsubscribing. For example, consider including both a one-click “Unsubscribe link in addition to an “Email Preferences” link within the footers of your emails that take recipients to a page on your website where they can manage their preferences.
Prepare your nonprofit for Gmail and Yahoo Mail email authentication changes
If you have questions about the Gmail and Yahoo Mail email authentication changes coming in 2024, contact us today. We’re ready to help you review your system setup and to make sure you’re ready to keep your email marketing going strong.
Additional resources for configuring your sender authentication:
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud Engagement
- Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Insights
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