Here is a scary stat from MarketingOps.com: "30% of companies don’t know their spam rate and 41% of companies are over Google’s recommended 0.1%."
By now most marketing teams are well aware of how their email behaviour impacts email deliverability and how this impacts their overall inbound and outbound performance. But what about Sales and CS teams? The new requirements for spam rates apply to the entire domain.
Personal email only?
It is not entirely clear whether these rules will apply only to Gmail (personal addresses) or also to Workspace addresses (work addresses) according to Martech.org. Google Workspace's spam and abuse policy doesn't mention any specific acceptable rates. Regardless of whether the rules (for now) will only apply to personal inboxes, most B2B companies have plenty of personal email addresses. They might have been acquired through ads on Meta or LinkedIn or through inbound conversions by people who would not like to give up their work email address but are still interested in following the company. Those gmail addresses can be a valuable part of the database that you spend time and energy nurturing, even when you do not sell to consumers.
Sales outreach
I often see Marketing teams having a good grasp on their email performance while large-scale Sales or BDR outreach doesn't consider email deliverability.
This conversation happened earlier this week:
Marketing Ops: Yes, I keep a close eye on my newsletter subscriptions and remove bounces as well as unengaged contacts.
Oh, yes. When the Sales team acquires a cold list the CCO wants me to use HubSpot sequences (an outreach tool like SalesLoft or Outreach) to send the prospects' emails and when they engage the leads are handed over to the Sales team.
Sales Ops: But why?
Marketing Ops: Well, the CCO wants to make money 💁.
Me: How about email validation? What are your spam rates? How is the engagement rate?
Marketing ops: Really bad and very low...
- Quick plug here, GDPR still matters. HelloFresh received a fine for sending 79 million spam emails in January 2024.-
Email Authentication
Email authentication is one part of preparing your domain for the February 1 deadline. These requirements are the same for Google and Yahoo.
To combat potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious individuals, Google is implementing "well-established best practices" for bulk email senders to authenticate themselves. This proactive measure aims to close any loopholes and ensure the security of email communication, as emphasized by Google.
In the realm of email authentication, three powerful mechanisms join forces:
- Sender Policy Framework (SPF) helps prevent domain spoofing by allowing senders to identify the email servers that are allowed to send emails from their domain.
- DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) adds a digital signature to outgoing email, which verifies the message was sent by an authorized sender and wasn’t tampered with along the way.
- Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) helps domain owners specify which actions to take when an email fails authentication. It also enables reporting on email authentication results.
Review your process for all outreach
What else? Email authentication is one thing but when did you last take a critical look at your Sales outreach?
Validating your imported email lists or dormant contacts in your database is a crucial step in maintaining email deliverability and ensuring the effectiveness of your outreach efforts. By utilizing a reliable validation service, you can ping the recipients' email servers to verify the authenticity and quality of the email addresses without actually sending any emails. This process provides you with valuable insights into the safety of each email address, categorizing them as safe, unsafe, or unsure.
If your organization relies on multiple systems for importing contacts, it's highly recommended to consolidate this effort and establish a streamlined process for validation. This approach not only enhances your database hygiene but also helps eliminate duplicate contacts, saving you time and effort in managing your email lists.
Furthermore, educating your Sales team about the intricacies of email deliverability is paramount, especially when targeting enterprise accounts. They need to understand how their emails are perceived by prospects and the potential consequences of having your domain blocked. Once your domain is blocked, getting back into the prospects' inboxes requires their active whitelisting, which can significantly hinder your sales efforts.
By prioritizing email validation, consolidating your contact import processes, and providing comprehensive education to your Sales team, you can ensure optimal email deliverability and maximize the efficiency of your outreach strategies. These proactive measures will not only protect your domain reputation but also improve the overall success of your sales and marketing initiatives.
Let me know if you'd like to review your outreach process!
