2024 Best Practices for Small Business Newsletters
It’s a quiet Sunday morning, I’m well-caffeinated and diving into the latest news related to email marketing, and boy, it's been a ride! ☕ I actually wrote this for my newsletter subscribers but it’s so important I decided it to share it here as well. If you appreciate this info, sign up for my newsletter!
On February 1, 2024, Google and Yahoo are implementing new requirements to tackle spam. Why? Spam and phishing are out of hand, and until now, there have been few rules to rein them in.
This is fantastic news for your inbox, but there are new requirements for everyone with an email newsletter. The biggest hurdles are for businesses sending emails to lists of 5000 or more.
If you send bulk emails to a subscriber list, keep reading, this is important information.
If you send more than 5000 emails a day
Wow! I’m seriously impressed.
Be sure to implement the technical requirements before February 1. Here are the Email Sender Guidelines from Google.
Send me an email if you need additional resources - I can't help with the overly technical email stuff but can point you to people who can.
If you have a smaller list, like me, there is no need to panic. Instead, be inspired to take action.
While a lot of the new requirements don't yet apply to small senders, they will eventually. Below are steps you can take now to avoid being flagged as a spammer and nurture your "email deliverability" (so your emails reach your subscribers and don’t get bounced).
Guidelines for small business newsletter senders
Use an email with your verified domain address like hello@mydomain.com. Don't send bulk emails from @gmail, @yahoo, or non-custom, unauthenticated domains.
Make it easy to unsubscribe in every email.
Tidy or “scrub” your list by removing "cold subscribers" who haven't opened your emails in 90 days. Google only wants you emailing active and interested subscribers. I understand this is painful, but if they're not reading, they're not buying!
Keep your emails authentic and informative. Don’t be a robot. 🤖
Tech Stuff to Address
If you use Squarespace Email Campaigns (my go-to), the tech stuff's sorted for you.
Add DKIM, SPF and DMARC records to your DNS settings - Don’t know how? Here’s a fantastic blog post that walks you through it for Squarespace and Google Workspace.
If you use other platforms like MailChimp or MailerLite visit their website to see if they have platform-specific recommendations.
If you send emails from third-party websites like Quickbooks, Honeybook, or others, visit their websites to see if they platform-specific recommendations.
Add your domain to Google Postmaster Tools to track your spam rate. Above 0.03% may get you blocked by Google.
A final note: There are people out there pushing scare tactics to make $$. Most of the paid solutions are intended for the 5000+ crowd but don’t mention that. Please don't buy anything unless you know it applies to your unique setup.
If you want to delve deeper, Calm Business advocate Kerstin Martin has a comprehensive blog post covering the technical aspects of email.
