What is email deliverability?

Let’s begin by diving into the difference between email delivery and email deliverability.

Email delivery is the technical ability to get an email to the right Mail Box Provider (MBP). This essentially just means making sure your email arrives at the right MBP account (Google/Gmail, Microsoft/Hotmail, Yahoo, Apple/iCloud, etc.) Using a provider like Yotpo, you can rest assured that 100% of your emails will be delivered to the right MBP every time.

Email deliverability, on the other hand, is a different story. This is a measure of whether your emails land in your recipient’s primary inbox, as opposed to being flagged as spam, sent to social folders, or even rejected by MBPs. 

Why does email deliverability matter?

As a marketer, you want to make sure that your email deliverability score is as healthy as possible, and that your subscribers are receiving, and engaging with your emails. If you have a 70% email deliverability rate, that means only 7 out of every 10 emails you send will make it to your audience’s inbox. A solid goal to strive for is around 90-95% email deliverability. 

It’s critical that you take the right steps as an email marketer to continuously maintain and improve your email deliverability rate and sender reputation. 

What do the recent Google & Yahoo changes mean for email deliverability?

As you’re probably aware, Google and Yahoo recently made some updates to how they treat email deliverability. These changes came into effect earlier this year, on February 1, 2024. They include new sender requirements focused on authentication, spam-rate control, and simplified unsubscription processes to combat spam and enhance inbox safety.

None of these principles are fundamentally new – they’ve long been recommended as best practices for email marketers. However, these updates represent a shift in email providers creating stricter and more enforceable standards for bulk email senders. 

It’s a good nudge from Google and Yahoo to help us all focus on building better practices in our email marketing. Failing to implement these changes can result in performance issues, like delivery issues, delays, spam filtering, and even blocking.

Here are the top 6 ways you can stay compliant with the new requirements and improve your email deliverability this year.

1. Authenticate your domain

Proper domain authentication prevents phishing and spoofing attacks. It also improves email deliverability and sender reputation.

Now, senders need to set up proper DKIM, SPF, and DMARC authentication from their own sending domain or subdomain. In other words, you will no longer be able to use your ESP’s shared Sender Domain Authentication.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure how to set this up. By using an email tool like Yotpo’s, you’ll be guided through each step with in-product alerts and hands-on guidance from an email expert. 

2. Be consistent with your sender name

Much like in other areas of life, people generally don’t trust emails from senders they don’t know. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your emails are easily recognizable when they hit your list’s inbox. 

This means being clear – and consistent – with your sending identity. Through your from-name and from-domain to your branding – you want people to know who you are in order to improve open rates and decrease the risk of people reporting your domain as spam. 

3. Create great email content

These days, everyone’s inboxes are overflowing. This means you don’t have the luxury of pressing send without making sure your email is excellent. 

When it comes to creating great content, there are a few common best practices. These include: making sure you have a compelling subject line, clear CTAs, and a good balance between images and text. 

But to really take your content to the next level, it’s important to understand what great means for your specific brand and audience. With Yotpo, you can A/B test various aspects of your email to really learn what gets your audience opening, clicking, and purchasing. Sometimes tiny tweaks like moving a CTA higher up, or making your designs more mobile-friendly, can have a huge impact on results. 

For inspiration on great email content, check out “Is Typing,” a collection of the best eCommerce marketing emails and SMS messages, picked out by eCommerce marketers themselves.

4. Watch your frequency of engagement

Not all subscribers are created equal. Some love daily updates, while others would prefer to only hear from you once in a while.

It’s important to match your email frequency with their preferences. Remember, your goal here is to have high subscriber engagement. Email tools like Yotpo make this easy for you by sharing tips for sending to engaged subscribers only, as well as including a checkbox to easily exclude unengaged subscribers.

You can also create segments based on engagement – we even have a pre-built segment for your most engaged email subscribers, so people who love your emails can get the most of them!

5. Keep your subscriber list clean

Again, you want to make sure people who are getting your emails actually want to receive them. This means you should regularly check your list and remove invalid email addresses and inactive or disengaged subscribers. 

It all comes back to quality and not quantity (of subscribers!). Keeping a clean and engaged subscriber list lowers bounce rates, reduces the risk of your emails being marked as spam, and improves the overall engagement rates of your campaign.

Not sure whether your subscribers are unengaged or not? When in doubt, you can send a reconfirmation campaign to ask them to confirm their preferences.

6. Make it easy to unsubscribe 

When it comes to subscribers, more isn’t necessarily better. Having a smaller list with more engaged readers boosts your engagement rates, which has a positive impact on your deliverability. 

Not everyone wants to stay subscribed – and that’s okay! Don’t make people jump through hoops to stop receiving your emails. 

The new Google and Yahoo updates favor one-click unsubscribes. To support this, Yotpo guarantees that every email you send will contain a clear unsubscribe link that makes it easy for people to opt-out. 

Remember: Email deliverability is constantly evolving

Maintaining a high email deliverability rate isn’t a one-time fix. It requires continuous monitoring and adjustments. Yotpo understands the importance of staying on top of changing regulations, and ensuring that each client is optimizing for email deliverability.