Fix list-unsubscribe issues to avoid spam complaints

Email marketers, it's time to mark your calendars. On February 1st, 2024, Google and Yahoo will require bulk senders to authenticate their emails, make unsubscribing easy, and stay under a spam rate limit. Let's walk through the new standards: ✅ Email Authentication: Senders need DMARC, SPF, and DKIM verification. 🚫 Easy Unsubscription: One-click unsubscribe with a two-day honor period. 🙅 Low User-Reported Spam: Under 0.3% spam rate threshold. These new requirements are a good thing! Less spam in inboxes means your legitimate emails are more likely to be seen. Authenticated emails are also essential for security reasons, making phishing attempts easier to squash. Emails also look more reputable and on-brand from your organization's domain than your technology provider's. (The same guidance applies to URLs.) For nonprofits, these rules take effect after the EOY fundraising season. That said, February 1st will be here before you know it. Here are some steps to take: EMAIL AUTHENTICATION There are two ways to verify if you have DMARC, SPF, and DKIM records in place. 1. Find an email from your organization sent to your personal Gmail address. Click the three dots and select "Show Original." Each record should be marked as "PASS." 2. Use a web tool such as EasyDMARC's domain scanner. Enter each domain you use to send bulk emails, and it will show you whether DMARC, SPF, and DKIM records are in place. If you don't have all three in place, check with your tech provider for a how-to guide. EASY UNSUBSCRIPTION To meet the new "one-click" unsubscribe requirements, emails must include a List-Unsubscribe header. Email services use this to add unsubscribe links directly to their interfaces, so readers don't need to dig through the fine print to find the link. Look for an underlined "Unsubscribe" link in Gmail next to the email sender. In Yahoo's interface, click the three dots next to the spam button and look for an "Unsubscribe" option. Most modern email platforms have this covered, but contact yours if it is not in place. Honoring unsubscribes within two days means ensuring you have your email tool(s) set up correctly to exempt opt-outs. This should be instant, but watch out if you send from multiple platforms. When someone asks to unsubscribe from one tool, make sure their choice is respected in all the others. This is all the more reason to integrate your tech stack and have a centralized system for collecting consent, sending emails, and managing opt-outs. LOW USER-REPORTED SPAM With the right tools, the 0.3% threshold is easy to manage. First off, enable Google's Postmaster Tools to see where you stand. Secondly, make sure you only send to engaged contacts. This will reduce your spam rate and increase your engagement rates. Email deliverability doesn't need to be a mysterious process! Familiarize yourself with the terminology, get your house in order, and commit to better email practices.

Are you sending job alerts to subscribers? It will be a pity if they stop receiving them... Email job alerts are the bread and butter of job boards and aggregators, and every company in online recruiting and talent acquisition uses email. Starting in February 2024, Google will have stricter requirements for delivering emails from senders to Gmail. The requirements are even more stringent for those sending 5000 or more email messages daily to Gmail accounts. These changes will impact almost any job board or aggregator with 10000 subscribers. Why 10000? If you send job alerts, 50% of your subscribers likely use on Gmail. How do I know this? I have built five high-scale job alert infrastructures, sending over 20 million daily emails, and the experience taught me that Gmail is one of the most important channels to optimize for deliverability. There are two critical new guidelines: 1️⃣ Keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% 2️⃣ Offer a one-click unsubscribe option The second one is critical and has enormous implications for job boards and aggregators. Most platforms today (a quick test with ten known names in the US – 9 out of 10 did not have that) do not support one-click unsubscribe. You have until June to build it. What's complicated about this, you are saying? Just put a link in the email. But here is where you have to read between the lines. It is not enough to have a URL in the email that unsubscribes the user.  One-click unsubscribe should be implemented according to RFC 8058 by adding List-Unsubscribe headers to outgoing promotional messages. This part will be painful for job boards running on platforms that manage email alerts for you. It is up to you to ensure they comply with the new requirements. Reach out already today. T I have written a detailed blog post outlining all of the changes and made a deep dive into what it means precisely for job boards, aggregators, and job board platform providers. Full article: https://lnkd.in/dkJ3JhNU #google #email #gmail #ses #deliverability

Just witnessed the perfect example of how NOT to handle email unsubscribes... Tried leaving an email list (that I never signed up for) and had to: - Enter my email address (which they already had) - Click an Unsubscribe button - Then check multiple confirmation boxes - Click Unsubscribe AGAIN! - Got a "confirmation" email AFTER unsubscribing With Google and Yahoo's new deliverability requirements, this kind of practice isn't just annoying—it's dangerous for your entire email program. Every time someone has to jump through hoops to unsubscribe, they're more likely to mark future emails as spam. Those spam reports? They're making it hard for everyone! Quick tips for better email practices: 1. One-click unsubscribe 2. Honor requests immediately 3. No confirmation emails 4. Keep it simple Remember: Someone unsubscribing isn't personal. But making it hard to leave? That's a choice. And it's the wrong one.