New rules in school: Google and Yahoo are teaming up to reduce spam

The big buzz of the email marketing world concerns the changes Gmail is implementing to reduce spam. Announced by Google’s product updates in early October, Yahoo swiftly backed the statement to create a safer user experience that cuts out even more spam. 

Our research shows that 77% of B2B buyers prefer to be contacted by email. So, what does this mean for outreach? Will your prospecting emails still be able to cut through the updates? What will be considered spam? Valid questions. And we have the answers *flips hair*.

Here at Sopro, we welcome these new updates, which align with how we’ve approached email since we were founded. Reducing the amount of poor-quality, mass email blasts will only be a positive for the business world. With the same sentiment echoed by Sopro’s Group COO, Monika Joshevska:

“We focus on precision targeting to deliver unique outbound email messaging tailored to each recipient. Our campaigns are fully monitored and compliant. If anything, the new changes from Google and Yahoo ensure that prospecting stands out as a successful marketing solution. Increased authentication will filter out low-quality communications, giving genuine and personalised marketing efforts more scope.

We will continue our best practice foundation to bring only the finest user experience for the recipients of each prospecting campaign.”

You, too, can adapt to work with these new rules, which will launch in early 2024, to ensure your offering attracts smoking-hot leads and doesn’t land you in detention (the spam folder).

What’s with the new rules?

Gmail has already cut out 99.9% of spam, phishing attempts, and malware. Impressive. With the defence of mailboxes a top priority, it’s no surprise that changes and updates will come as part of the territory.

These new rules concern bulk email senders, who are sending over 5,000 emails per day, and the focus lies mainly with validation. Crucial to security for all parties involved, it’s a step that will work on filtering out more of those pesky malicious emails for thousands of individuals and businesses. 

Already recommending a spam output below 0.3%, these extra steps will enforce that threshold and go a long way in unclogging recipients’ inboxes. Now, let’s get on the same page about staying in Gmail’s good books.

Next steps for your outbound email marketing

There are three key steps to stay top of the class with Google’s new rules – and we quite like being teachers’ pet. Copy from our worksheet any day, and let’s get into it:

1. Authentication

Bulk email senders, who send over 5,000 emails daily to a Gmail address, must ensure that they implement and stick to the authentication protocols. Acronyms incoming!

You should, therefore, be utilising SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance), or DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). The latter is referenced explicitly in Google’s announcement, so it’s worth following their guide to prevent spam with DKIM.

2. One-click unsubscribe

Google is making it an absolute must that email recipients should be able to unsubscribe with just one click. That means no more, “Are you sure you want to go?” or “Why are you leaving us?” – and honestly? Yes, please. 

Effectively, this results in a heightened user experience for email recipients and means valuable resources can be focussed on prospects more likely to convert. Everyone’s a winner.

3. Staying within the spam rate threshold

If you haven’t clocked already, spam is the name of the game here – and Gmail wants it gone. Consequently, the team over at Google are implementing a strict spam threshold that bulk senders will now need to be mindful of. Steering clear of the red zone entitles the sender to a stellar reputation and better odds of landing in prospects’ inboxes. 

Want to get the complete picture? Google are never one to mess around. They’ve outlined an informative tell-all for email senders. They are helping you stay out of trouble. Or, you know, the spam filter. 

Top tips to pass the class!

Getting the full attention of your prospects – and delivering relevant, quality content – can be a challenge. Multi-channel prospecting can be a massive boost to this, but despite the plethora of avenues to reach prospects, email is still the preferred mode of communication for B2B buyers.

With that in mind, here are our top tips on how to stay grade A in the Google class of 2024!

1. Segment and target

Segmenting your audience to ensure they get the messaging to pique their interest the most. When recipients interact with an email based on that targeted interest, it strengthens engagement.

Not only is this great for taking prospects from the awareness stage towards purchasing, but it will also help with your sender reputation – a big green tick from Gmail. 

2. Get a little personal

Another quick and easy win for keeping your prospects engaged is using their first name, referencing their role or job title, or inviting them to chat over a coffee.

We’ve been letting you in on our secrets of successful sales emails, and we found that even just mentioning grabbing a coffee in the subject line increased open rates. Emails are more likely to be viewed as less of a hard sale (which could lead to being marked as spam) and more of a collaboration.

3. Reputation is everything

Many aspects can tarnish your business by being branded as the big bad spam.

Bought email lists, though sounding delightfully easy, can cause you more problems in the long run. The data will likely decay relatively quickly, affecting your deliverability and overall domain reputation. Not a Gmail favourite.

Another aspect to remember before beginning any prospecting campaign is who your email service provider is. Different ESPs are suited to various industries, and some ESPs aren’t recognised as reputable, being blocked by other ESPs – yikes!

4. Engagement is king

An informed content strategy is essential. It will determine open, click-through, and overall engagement rates. These factors inform an ESP like Gmail to put your emails into the inbox or immediately filter them as spam. So mass emails, with little personalisation and no attention given to that sales funnel, could be detrimental. 

Every little helps when it comes to creating an engaging email. Copy and paste your content into our Email Awesomeness Checker and score high in the face of those ESPs!

5. Slow and steady wins the race

Send out impersonal emails constantly en masse, and you’re more likely to end up on a blacklist after being reported as spam. If you send out too few, prospects might forget about you altogether. 

Life is one big A/B test, and this is no exception. Have a play around, see what works for your business and keep clear of the DNS Blacklist – end up here and sending emails to prospects will be a real struggle altogether.

Get prepared for the upcoming changes to Google and Yahoo

There’s much to think about ahead of the new rules implemented by Google and Yahoo to crack down on spam. While your business needs to build in these changes now, they are good practices that will strengthen your brand identity and trust. All of these factors go a long way in generating hot leads.

We’ve been doing email outreach for almost a decade, and while we’re not here to toot our own horn, we’re pretty good at it. Why not make the most of our expertise? 

With Sopro as your B2B email marketing agency, your campaign will be fully tailored to your business needs, managed by our knowledgeable team, and, most importantly, fully compliant.

Stick with us; you’ll be a star student in no time.