Enter the new Google Postmaster compliance page — a helpful addition to Google Postmaster Tools that simplifies how you obtain your compliance data in all the important areas. 

What is Google Postmaster?

Before we delve into the latest update, let’s quickly recap what Google Postmaster is all about. Google Postmaster Tools is a free service provided by Google that offers insights into a sender’s email performance within Gmail. It provides data on delivery errors, spam reports, sender reputation, and more, allowing senders to identify and address issues that may be affecting their email deliverability.

The importance of compliance

Compliance with email industry standards and best practices is crucial for maintaining a good sender reputation and ensuring inbox placement. Failure to comply with these standards can result in emails being filtered as spam or even blocked outright by email providers like Gmail.

The new compliance page

The new Google Postmaster compliance page is designed to help senders better understand and adhere to Gmail’s sending guidelines and policies. It provides a comprehensive overview of a sender’s compliance status, highlighting key issues that could impact deliverability.

Features and benefits

1. SPF and DKIM authentication
Ensure that your emails are properly authenticated using SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), reducing the likelihood of them being flagged as spam or phishing attempts.

2. From header alignment
Verify that the “From” header in your emails aligns with the DKIM signature, enhancing trust and improving inbox placement.

3. DMARC authentication
Verifies that your DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) record is present and correct.

4. Encryption
Pass/fail result letting you know whether your emails are encrypted in transit, safeguarding sensitive information and enhancing security.

5. User reported spam rate
Lets you know if your user reported spam rate is below the acceptable threshold.

6. DNS Records
Verifies your domain’s DNS A and PTR records.

7. One-click unsubscribe
Coming soon – there are no published details on this but we assume this will be a pass/fail if your email header has a RFC 8058 compliant one-click unsubscribe or not.

8. Honor unsubscribe
Coming soon – again there are no published details but we would hazard a guess that this will monitor whether or not senders continue to email recipients after they have requested unsubscription.

How to access the compliance page

Accessing the compliance page is simple for senders who are already using Google Postmaster Tools. Look for the text link at the top of your Postmaster tools homepage:

The post The email marketer’s guide to Google Postmaster’s new compliance page appeared first on Cordial.

These changes may seem more evolutionary than revolutionary, as they essentially document and reinforce existing best practices. The updates provide a clearer framework for reasoned and documented policy-based blocking of non-conforming mail. The key requirements are as follows:

1. Authenticate email

Authentication of email messages is no longer just a best practice; it is now a requirement for successful inbox placement. Marketers should implement DKIM to meet this authentication standard. Whilst not an explicit requirement, both Google and Yahoo recommend that bulk message senders authenticate with SPF and DMARC as well as DKIM. DMARC can be set to “p=none”.

2. Make unsubscribing easy

Bulk-sending platforms are urged to implement list-unsubscribe, emphasizing support for one-click unsubscribe (RFC 8058) or the “mailto” unsubscribe method (RFC 2369). This is in conjunction with a clear and easy-to-find unsubscribe link in the body of the email. 

3. Ensure wanted mail is sent

Maintaining low spam complaint rates demonstrates that the emails sent are wanted. Google specifically warns that high spam complaint rates (>0.3%) may result in blocking at Gmail. Yahoo Mail already blocks some emails based on high complaint rates, and this announcement could be Yahoo’s way of making the requirement of a low complaint rate more transparent.

Additional resources

Both Google and Yahoo have released statements directly addressing these changes:

Yahoo: More Secure, Less Spam: Enforcing Email Standards for a Better Experience

New Gmail protections for a safer, less spammy inbox

What this means for email marketers

Email marketers should follow the implementation requirements set by their email send platforms. Paying close attention to authentication best practices, ensuring proper DKIM implementation, and avoiding practices that could lead to high spam complaint rates are critical. Including an unsubscribe link and exploring list-unsubscribe or list-unsubscribe-post support, if applicable, is also recommended. Email marketers should sign up for Google Postmaster Tools to monitor spam complaint rates directly.

What action does a Cordial client have to take?

Very little! Cordial already set clients up to meet these requirements, so other than ensuring your mail is wanted and keeping the spam complaints rate below the 0.3% threshold, there is no action required. Detail of how Cordial meets these requirements below:

Easy unsubscribe: Cordial incorporates the one-click unsubscribe via the mailto method (RFC 2369)

Authentication: Sending domains that are delegated to Cordial are set up with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC as standard. Clients who choose to manage their own sending domain will be supplied with the required authentication records. For more information on domain delegation please see our knowledge base article.

The post Google and Yahoo unveil new email sender requirements: What you need to know appeared first on Cordial.

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Maximizing deliverability

Deliverability is imperative to your email campaign’s success – it determines whether your brand’s messages reach customers. What factors influence deliverability, and how can you ensure emails end up in inboxes? These are the most critical considerations:

Building a positive sending reputation

Sending reputation is like a golden ticket to the inbox. ISPs (Internet Service Providers) evaluate various factors, such as your sending IP, domain, and content quality, to determine your reputation as a sender. It’s crucial to build and maintain a positive sending reputation.

Maintaining a low percentage of bounced emails is essential since high bounce rates indicate poor list hygiene and can negatively impact sending reputation. By regularly cleaning email lists and removing invalid or inactive email addresses, you can enhance deliverability and build a positive sending reputation.

Deliverability dos and don’ts

Do create personalized and relevant content that engages subscribers and compels them to interact with emails.

Don’t ignore authentication protocols like DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and SPF (Sender Policy Framework). This is crucial for establishing your brand’s legitimacy as a sender. These protocols verify the authenticity of emails and help ISPs recognize that messages are from a trusted source.

Do respect unsubscribe requests. By making it easy for subscribers to opt out of email lists and promptly honoring their preferences, you demonstrate good sender practices and build trust with ISPs and subscribers.

Mastering subscriber lifecycle management

Subscriber lifecycle management is the strategic approach to nurturing and engaging with email recipients throughout their journey. From initial sign-up to re-engagement or sunsetting inactive subscribers, effective lifecycle management is crucial for maintaining healthy email lists. 

The power of re-engagement

Re-engaging inactive subscribers can significantly impact an email campaign’s success. Crafting attention-grabbing subject lines and compelling content is vital for grabbing the attention of inactive subscribers and enticing them to open emails. Personalization and tailored incentives, such as exclusive experiences or relevant content, can also play a significant role in encouraging inactive subscribers to re-engage.

Sunsetting inactive subscribers

Sometimes, parting ways with inactive subscribers is necessary to maintain healthy email lists and improve overall engagement. Defining inactivity criteria is a crucial first step in sunsetting inactive subscribers. This could be a certain period of time since their last engagement or a specific action, such as not opening or clicking any emails within a defined timeframe. Segmenting inactive subscribers separately allows you to target them specifically with a sunsetting campaign or strategy.

Creating a dedicated sunsetting campaign is essential to re-engage inactive subscribers before removing them from lists. Compelling subject lines, personalized incentives, and exclusive content can entice inactive subscribers to re-engage and take action.

Monitoring metrics and data hygiene

Tracking engagement metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions is crucial to evaluate the success of re-engagement and sunsetting strategies. These metrics provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of email campaigns and help refine strategies for better engagement.

Optimizing email marketing campaigns and monitoring engagement metrics allows you to identify trends and patterns in subscriber behavior. By analyzing open rates, you can gauge the level of interest generated by subject lines. Click-through rates indicate the effectiveness of email content in driving recipients to take action. Conversion rates provide insights into the ultimate goal campaigns, whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a webinar, or completing a form.

Data hygiene is another critical aspect of subscriber lifecycle management. Regularly cleaning and updating email lists helps maintain a higher deliverability rate and improves overall engagement metrics. Removing inactive and unresponsive subscribers ensures that you’re targeting an interested audience and reduces the chances of emails being marked as spam.

Putting it all together

Achieving deliverability success and mastering subscriber lifecycle management are essential for maximizing the effectiveness of email marketing efforts. By implementing these insights, you’ll be equipped to create compelling content, build a positive sending reputation, engage subscribers effectively, and maintain healthy email lists.

Mastering email through deliverability and subscriber lifecycle management is an ongoing process. Continuously evaluate and refine strategies based on the metrics and data you gather. Regularly review and update content, authentication protocols, and list hygiene practices to adapt to changing trends and maintain a strong sender reputation.

The post Mastering email through deliverability and subscriber lifecycle management appeared first on Cordial.

Email marketers implement IP warming to establish their reputation with internet service providers (ISPs). This process helps to ensure that emails reach the recipient’s inbox and don’t end up in their spam folder. By warming IPs, marketers can improve deliverability rates, maximize open rates, and ultimately drive more conversions.

Why do you need to do IP warming?

IP warming is the process of gradually increasing the number of emails sent from a specific IP address over a period of time to build a positive reputation with ISPs. It’s important for marketers to warm their IPs before sending out large volumes of emails, as failure to do so will likely lead to their emails being blocked or junked.

While this may seem like a tedious task, the benefits of IP warming for marketers are numerous:

• Email acceptance rates will improve
• Emails will reach the inbox rather than the spam folder
• ISPs will learn to trust you as a legitimate, responsible sender
• Subscribers will have more opportunity to engage with your emails
• You will see a better ROI from your email marketing campaigns

How long can IP warming take for enterprise brands?

A good estimate is it takes roughly 30-45 days to warm a set of IPs. However, there are many variables at play that can affect the time it takes, such as:

• Data hygiene: The quality of your data can have a huge impact on the outcome of the ramp plan. Hitting lots of traps, disengaged or churned subscribers, and typo addresses will negatively impact your reputation with the ISPs. It is advisable to run your data through a cleaning tool prior to ramping and to only target those who have recently engaged.
• Frequency: The frequency of which you send is important. Having a regular cadence of sending will assist in keeping the process on track. Having multiple days of inactivity causes the IPs to cool down and also trigger a red flag at the ISP for abnormal sending patterns.
• Volume: The size of your audience comes into play. Of course, the larger the database the larger the pool of IPs that are required — and the longer it will take to get the IP fully warmed to your business as usual send volume.
• Content: During the ramp process you may need to send more campaigns than you usually would. You should plan ahead and make sure you have enough good content ready to send so that your subscribers continue to engage.

Example of promotional campaign warm-up plan:

Common terms for your teams to know during the IP warming process

There are a number of terms that you will likely come across while navigating through the IP warming process:

• Sender reputation: Your sender reputation is essentially a score created by the ISPs against your IP/domain to determine whether you are a good, responsible sender. Microsoft and Gmail have tools that allow you to see what your reputation is in their eye.
• Email validation: Email validation involves use of a tool that checks the syntax, spelling, and, in some cases, mail exchange (MX) records of the recipient domain to see if it actually exists.
• Soft bounce: A soft bounce is generally a temporary error, such as a full mailbox, where the receiving ISP cannot accept the email at this time but may accept it later.
• Hard bounce: A hard bounce is when the email is permanently rejected due to reasons such as the recipient domain does not exist or the account is no longer valid.
• Blacklists: There are a number of not-for-profit organizations that will put you on a blacklist and make that information available to the ISPs if you are deemed as spamming and/or have poor data acquisition processes.
• SNDS: Smart Data Network Services is a free reporting tool provided by Microsoft where you can monitor the reputation of your dedicated IPs and request support for deliverability issues.
• GPT: Google Postmaster Tools is a reporting platform provided by Google to see how they view your IP and domain reputation. You can request support and read about best practices.

The following three items are all authentication methods that can be used in conjunction with each other to help stop spammers from sending phishing messages:

• SPF: Sender policy framework
• DKIM: Domain Keys Identified Mail
• DMARC: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance

Best practices for IP warming

In order to give yourself the best chance to be successful in building a good long standing reputation you can start by following these steps:

• Authentication: When setting up DKIM, SPF, and DMARC, you are immediately showing the ISPs that you are who you say you are and are actively taking steps to ensure your subscribers are not phished from your domain.
• Segmentation: Sending emails to only those subscribers who are engaged with your emails will ensure your reputation builds quickly and keeps the negative interactions (spam complaints and unsubscribes) to a minimum.
• Content: Make sure you are sending emails with relevant and interesting content to your subscribers.
• Subject line: While open rates are now hard to measure, it is still worth investing time into creating exciting subject lines that will draw the attention of the subscriber.
• Reporting: Keeping a close eye on performance by domain group (Microsoft, Gmail, Yahoo ,and Global) will help you quickly identify if you are under performing at any of the ISPs.

IP warming is an essential part of any email marketing strategy, as it helps marketers to establish a positive reputation with ISPs and improve deliverability rates. By following the steps outlined above, marketers can ensure that their emails reach the recipient’s inbox instead of their spam folder and maximize open rates and conversions.

Ultimately, IP warming can be a powerful tool for email marketers if done correctly. By taking the time to prepare and execute the process properly, marketers can reap the rewards of improved deliverability rates and overall better email performance.

Imagine a faster migration to activate your customer data

Your marketing team relies on data, but your marketing tech was not built with flexibility in mind. If legacy clouds, like Salesforce, Adobe, or Oracle, are holding you back, you owe it to yourself to upgrade to a modern marketing platform with Cordial’s Architect for Migration.

• Reduce your migration time by 40% to accelerate value.
• Save $50K in migration costs with a team to support you.
• Earn 7x revenue with trigger messaging vs. promotional.

Learn how in our Migration Acceleration Guide.

The post IP warming best practices for enterprise brands appeared first on Cordial.

If you have worked in email marketing long enough, you are likely to have heard a tale of woe about someone, at some time, having all of their emails blocked due to careless behavior, such as buying a list of data from a classified site.

The service Spamhaus provides is incredibly valuable in keeping us all safe on the internet. Spamhaus has been protecting businesses from phishing, botnets, malware, and spam for over 20 years. However, as far as mainstream email marketing goes, they have been relatively off the email marketers’ radar for the last couple of years.

That is until late July, when Spamhaus recalibrated and sprung back into view, where their new detection techniques and data sets have triggered a tidal wave of “informational listings.”

What caused the trigger?

In their words: Poor. Sending. Practices.

Spamhaus has written a great article on this, with insight into the poor sending practices that will cause marketers to receive an informational listing. It also gives advice on the actions to take to stop listings from happening in the first place.

So what is an informational listing?

Simply, it’s a warning to email marketers who have let their standards slip. It gives marketers advance notice that they are at risk of being fully listed on the SBL, which is the Spamhaus Block List.

What are the consequences of an informational listing?

There are no immediate consequences to receiving an informational listing. Marketers should take this as an opportunity to clean up their programs, review their data, and adjust their practices.

While there is no given timeframe on when an informational listing will become a full SBL listing, it would be wise to take swift action. We can assume the notice period won’t last forever. Should you be fully listed, you can expect to see around a 70% bounce rate on your emails. Ouch.

What to do if you are listed?

• Review your engagement window — a year of inactivity is too long. An email address that never engages should be removed long before the end of your sunset period.
• Consider how you process your bounces. A “domain does not exist” bounce or “over quota/mailbox full” bounce are clear indicators that this is not a correctly formatted or primary email address and should be removed.
• Look at validating your new subscribers via double opt-in, or use an onsite validation service that will check the format and domain spelling at the point of signup.

Finally, if you have been listed, how do you request delisting?

Once you have taken the necessary actions to bring your sending practices up to a high standard, you can request to be delisted at: check.spamhaus.org.

The post Who is Spamhaus — and what’s an informational listing? appeared first on Cordial.

Here are our top tips for surviving Black Friday:

1. Get a head start with win-backs.

If you plan to target customers who have previously purchased on a Black Friday but have not engaged with your brand, consider using a  win-back series and start it well in advance of the holiday period (or just run one all year round). Keep it small. Less than 10% of your regular campaign size is a good rule of thumb. Try sending them something like a Black Friday preview event long before the holiday begins, and on the day stay focused on your active subscribers.

Try 1-2-3 email series ideas: 5 popular email drip campaign examples

2. Supercharge your triggers.

Some of the best revenue converters are triggered event campaigns. If you have the Cordial JS listener on your website, you should take advantage of this real-time data. The big hitters, cart and browse abandon, can be supercharged with the extra on-site traffic you can expect over the holiday period. Here are a couple of ideas to boost your chances of converting that purchase:

• Test different delay times on your cart and browse-abandon emails. If you have limited time offers for the holiday period, factor this into your workflow.
• Check the number of triggered emails you send per subscriber. If you have this capped at one per day, consider increasing this threshold. On a day when your customers have such a strong focus on buying, an extra reminder might be welcomed!

Find 30 trigger campaign ideas: Intro to growth marketing in the age of personalization

3. Segment for sweet success.

Build out your segmentation to create more targeted emails. One size doesn’t always fit all.

• Find customers who have unpurchased items in their cart and send a reminder email with the Black Friday offer.
• Use pageviews, past purchases, and event properties (such as specific product URLs) to build audiences with a high propensity to purchase particular products.
• If you have a rewards program, make sure you include their points within the marketing emails so the customer can easily see they can benefit from additional discounts.

Breakdown your process: Segmentation vs. personalization (and why it matters)

4. Send a WUPHF*.

Take it multi-channel! If you have an app or SMS, ensure your triggers are shared and don’t just rely on email to raise awareness of your offers on the day. Push messages can be extremely effective for campaigns such as price drops and in-apps for discount codes.

*For those who are not fans of ‘The Office’, WUPHF was a fictional software company that was meant to communicate with customers across every channel imaginable. When the episode aired in 2010 it may have seemed like a difficult or impossible task, but in 2022 this is very real. Brands that intelligently leverage and orchestrate across channels have a better chance of driving their customers to action. 

Get great examples and stats: Intro to multi-channel marketing in a connected world

5. Clean your data.

Lastly, maybe most importantly, be extra diligent with your data hygiene over this period. Consider using a double opt-in or an onsite validation service to reduce the number of fake addresses, bot sign-ups, or even just typos, the things that could see you end up listed on blacklist groups and your emails hitting the junk folder.

Brush up your lists: Quick tips for maintaining a clean email list

Amp up customer engagement all year long

Today, marketers have an unprecedented opportunity to elevate brand recognition and connect with more people. And multi-channel marketing is the way forward. With Cordial in your corner, you can achieve breakthrough multi-channel marketing success. Get started with a demo of our industry-leading customer data platform.

The post 5 top messaging tips to win more revenue on Black Friday appeared first on Cordial.

What is BIMI?

Brand Indicators for Message Identification, or BIMI, is a logo or “indicator” that displays next to the email sender and appears in popular web apps like Gmail.

Notice in the image below how Wowcher’s logo really “pops” in the inbox versus the other brands. As an added bonus, this is still new so not many brands are taking advantage of this feature as of yet.

Which mailbox providers currently support BIMI?

Why all brands should be using brand indicators

Deploying BIMI is a no-brainer for brands. Here are four reasons why:

• It offers added brand recognition and will make your emails “pop” in the inbox.
• As BIMI requires a DMARC policy, it demonstrates that you are taking subscriber safety and security seriously.
• If you deploy your logo consistently in your email communications, it helps your subscribers easily identify phishing attempts as the brand logo will not be displayed on fraudulent emails.
• It looks fantastic!

How do you qualify for BIMI?

BIMI is built on the back of email security. In order to qualify, you’ll need to have DMARC, Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance, set to 100% quarantine or reject. If you do not already have this, we recommend you use a reporting tool to monitor all email activity from your companies’ domains before adding this to your record. Why? Because you don’t want to be the one who accidentally blocks emails from your HR department!

Once DMARC is in place, what’s next?

You will need to complete the following:

• Create an SVG file (specifications below)
• Apply for a VMC certificate so your logo will appear. There are two providers of these certificates:
  • Entrust Data Card
  • Digicert
• Upload your VMC to your public web server and provide the URL to your CSM so it can be added to your BIMI record. (Get more details.)
• Update your DNS TXT record on your TLD. (Get more details.)

What are the logo specifications?

• Your logo must be square.
• It must be an SVG (scaled vector graphics).
• It must stay within certain restrictions.
• It cannot contain any <script> tags or external links  .

Find tools to help you create your SVG.

That’s it?

That’s it! Note that it can take up to 48 hours for your logo to display so don’t panic if you do not see it immediately. 

One important final note: While you can do all of this on your own, it always pays to enlist the help of an expert. Reach out anytime to the Cordial team if you’d like some assistance in deploying BIMI and in ensuring that you are doing everything possible to extend and uplift your brand across the board.

The post Stand out in the inbox with brand indicators appeared first on Cordial.

Track all event data to enrich subscriber data

Based on what we know now, the open rate will become an unreliable data point for building engaged audiences. To help counter this, ensure you are tracking as many engagement events as possible to enrich your subscriber data. 

Events such as purchases, cart abandon, browse abandon, page view, and send wishlist will help provide vital insight to how engaged your subscribers are. All of these events can be tracked via the Cordial JavaScript Listener. The JS Listener also tracks behavior of unknown users and maps these events back to them once they’ve been identified, giving you vital insight into new subscriber behavior.

Start testing in Podium now

Prior to the iOS 15 update, we recommend starting to test new variants of your triggered emails. This way, you’ll have a benchmark to reference as you optimize the content to drive increased clicks. Use the Experiments feature within Podium Orchestration Builder to split your audience and test multiple variants against the existing control. 

If you use promo codes in your email subject line or body copy, test removing them and only revealing them upon click. While the end goal is to drive a conversion, if you drive a click and still maintain the same conversion rate, that’s a win. 

To test this, use the Experiments feature within templates, or create a Podium orchestration. If using the Experiments feature, you can auto-select a winning variant based on KPIs you set. When you optimize for clicks, the system will automatically send the winning variant to the remainder of the audience.

Build an engagement score for added insight

Because of Cordial’s unique ability to run complex calculations against your subscribers’ actions in the Data Transformations tool, you can use this feature to build an engagement score and write it to your subscribers’ profile. 

An example model would be:

• A page view in the last 30 days = 1 point
• Clicked in the last 45 days = 2 points
• A browse event in the last 60 days = 3 points
• Cart abandon event in the last 60 days = 4 points
• Purchase event in the last 60 days = 5 points

If you’re looking to build a flexible engagement model as an additional layer of insight into your subscribers’ behavior, reach out to your CSM to learn more about Data Transformations.

Want to read more on this topic?

• Cordial CRO, Rachel Bergman breaks down the impact of the Apple iOS changes
• Cordial co-founder, Chris McGreal discusses what we know and what might change

The post Are you iOS 15 ready? appeared first on Cordial.