As a community, we believe that it is not just about sending newsletters or promotional messages; it’s a powerful way to build and maintain relationships with customers, nurture leads, and ultimately drive conversions. We also strongly believe that it’s our responsibility to be trustworthy senders and respect our recipients’ inboxes.

Gmail and Yahoo hold the throne when it comes to email service providers, boasting massive user bases. This means a significant chunk of your target audience likely uses them, making its policies and features crucial to your email marketing success. Now, Gmail and Yahoo are rolling out new spam protections aimed at making inboxes safer and less cluttered.

For Gmail, this will require email validation, easy unsubscription, and they will enforce a Threshold for Spam Rate for senders with more than 5,000 Emails sent to Gmail per day (see details below). 

“Last year we started requiring that emails sent to a Gmail address must have some form of authentication. And we’ve seen the number of unauthenticated messages Gmail users receive plummet by 75%, which has helped declutter inboxes while blocking billions of malicious messages with higher precision. Today, we’re introducing new requirements for bulk senders — those who send more than 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses in one day — to keep your inbox even safer and more spam-free.” (Google Blog)

Yahoo is also turning its focus on domain reputation and sender authentication. The updates to Yahoo Mail mean that if your domain has a poor reputation – often due to sending spam or emails which contain phishing-like activity, you will face much more scrutiny. Additionally, the content of an email will be reviewed much more closely, to ensure it doesn’t contain phishing attempts or other scam-related characteristics.

Yahoo’s approach takes a much more holistic view – considering both the reputation of your domain and the quality of the communications that are being sent.

For Mautic users, this is not just another update to gloss over. These changes will affect how your emails are delivered and interacted with, impacting everything from open rates to click-throughs. So let’s dive in and explore what these new rules mean for your Mautic campaigns.

Ask yourself

• Are you familiar with how to handle email deliverability issues, such as spam filtering?
• What is your current strategy for dealing with email service providers’ varying spam rules?
• How crucial is Gmail for your email marketing strategy compared to other service providers?

Gmail and Yahoo’s New Spam Protections

Gmail and Yahoo are introducing new rules for senders that will impact a lot of people using Mautic to send emails (transactional as well as marketing) to Gmail or Yahoo inboxes.

Bulk Senders Requirements

They are cracking down on bulk senders. If you’re sending more than 5,000 messages to Gmail addresses in a single day, you now fall under a special category with new requirements. For Mautic users, especially those with larger campaigns, this is a pivotal update. Ignoring these changes could result in your emails landing in the spam folder, or worse, not getting delivered at all.

Focus on Email Validation

Email validation is no longer optional; it’s a necessity. Gmail and Yahoo have both emphasized that emails sent to their addresses must be authenticated. This helps in filtering out spam and malicious content. 

For Mautic instances, it means that implementing and monitoring authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is imperative. Not doing so could see your emails sidelined, affecting your campaign metrics.

Enable Easy Unsubscription

Gmail and Yahoo are making it easier for users to opt out of emails they no longer want to receive. Bulk senders are now required to include a one-click unsubscribe feature which is compliant with RFC 8058 and RFC 2369. This was included in Mautic 5.0 and there’s also a backport released in Mautic 4.4.11. 

Threshold for Spam Rate

Another major update is the introduction of a clear spam rate threshold. Gmail and Yahoo haven’t specified the exact rate, but crossing this line means your emails could be flagged as spam. For Mautic users, this requires constant monitoring of campaign metrics. Falling foul of this rule will not only affect your Gmail and Yahoo recipients but could have broader implications for your entire email marketing strategy ad other mailbox providers are sure to follow this lead.

By adapting to these new rules, Mautic users can ensure that their email campaigns continue to reach inboxes, engage audiences, and drive conversions.

Ask yourself

• How are you currently monitoring your spam rates in your Mautic campaigns?
• Do your existing Mautic email templates include a one-click unsubscribe feature?
• Are you familiar with email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and have you implemented them in your Mautic settings?

Actionable Steps for Mautic Users

There are some essential and recommended actions you can and should take to ensure email deliverability stays high for you when sending to Gmail and Yahoo.

Setting Up Main Email Authentication Protocols for Mautic Users

Email authentication is non-negotiable, especially with Gmail ramping up its spam protection features. Let’s dive into the big three: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, and see how you can set them up for better email deliverability.

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

• Identify Your Sending Domain: Your SPF record will be a TXT record in your domain’s DNS settings. So start by logging into your DNS provider’s dashboard.
• Create or Edit TXT Record: Add a new TXT record or edit an existing one to include your mail server’s details. A basic SPF record might look like v=spf1 a mx include:yourserver.com ~all.
• Test: Use SPF validation tools to verify the record’s accuracy.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

• Generate a Pair of Keys: You’ll need a public and a private key. Your public key will go into your DNS, and the private key stays in your mail server (Mautic in this case).
• Update DNS Record: Add a TXT record for the DKIM key, it usually looks like k=rsa; p=YourPublicKeyHere.
• Activate and Test: Once added, turn on the DKIM signing in your mail server and test the setup using DKIM validation tools.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)

• Start Small: Create a TXT record in your DNS settings for DMARC, start with a ‘none’ policy to collect data first, like v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:reports@yourdomain.com.
• Review Reports: DMARC will send XML reports to the specified email. Review these for issues.
• Tighten Policy: Once confident, you can change the policy from ‘none‘ to ‘quarantine‘ or ‘reject‘ for stricter controls.

Final Thoughts

Regularly check the setup using different validation tools. And be ready to tweak settings as email providers update their algorithms.

Ask yourself

• Have you set up these authentication protocols for your Mautic email campaigns?
• How often do you verify the status of your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records?
• Have you noticed any changes in your email deliverability after implementing these protocols?

Implementing Easy Unsubscription

Mautic gives you the flexibility to customize your email templates, so make use of it. Head over to the “Emails” tab, and within your templates, ensure that you include an unsubscribe link that’s easily visible. Ideally this should be connected with a Preference Centre in Mautic, which allows the user to set their preferences or completely unsubscribe.

Mautic automatically takes care of the one-click unsubscribe if you’re on the latest version.

Monitoring for Spam Rates: Leverage External Tools

While Mautic offers robust analytics, it’s prudent to expand your monitoring arsenal with external tools specifically designed to gauge your sending reputation. Remember, different mailbox providers have different ways to evaluate your email reputation. It’s not only Gmail.

Utilize these third-party tools to get a multi-faceted view.

Here are some vital tools you could consider integrating to get a more holistic understanding of your email performance:

• Sender Score by Validity: Think of this as your email credit score. A higher score generally indicates better email deliverability. This tool uses a rolling 30-day average to gauge where your IP address ranks among others.
• Barracuda Central: This tool offers real-time IP and domain reputation lookups. Use it to check whether your emails are being flagged as spam or passing the legitimate test.
• Customer URL Ticketing System by McAfee: This system allows you to dig deep into various data points such as domain history, associations, DNS, and mail server reputation.
• Google’s Postmaster Tools: If you’re sending a high volume of emails to Gmail users, this tool will provide insights into your IP and domain reputation, as well as any specific delivery errors you need to be aware of. Use this if you’re sending a lot to Gmail.
• Microsoft SNDS: Much like Google’s Postmaster Tools, SNDS provides data on your spam complaint rate and IP sending reputation when sending emails to Microsoft’s email platforms. If you’re sending it to Microsoft, use it.

Using these tools in combination can give you a more nuanced understanding of your email reputation. If Gmail or Microsoft flags your emails, it’s likely other providers will too. So stay vigilant, and keep an eye on these metrics to remain in Gmail’s good graces.

Ask yourself

• Are you currently using any third-party tools to monitor your email-sending reputation?
• How often do you check these external tools for insights into your email deliverability?
• Have you noticed any correlation between the metrics from these third-party tools and Mautic’s own analytics?

Don’t let these changes catch you off guard. Adapt, optimize, and keep your Mautic campaigns running smoothly.

Conclusions

Alright, let’s wrap this up. Email marketing is a cornerstone for businesses, and Gmail and Yahoo are too big a proportion of email users to ignore. Gmail and Yahoo’s updated spam protection mechanisms are levelling up the email game, demanding higher standards for authentication, validation, and user experience.

If you’re using Mautic, you need to get your house in order — fast.

The clock is ticking. Adapt your Mautic templates and implement the latest best practices in email authentication, like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Fine-tune your settings to align with Gmail and Yahoo’s expectations, and keep an eye on your spam rates. Numerous tools are out there to help you gauge your sender reputation, and use them to your advantage.

Don’t sleep on this. Make sure you’re ahead of the game. Stay compliant, stay in the inbox.

Ask yourself

• What specific steps will you take immediately to align your Mautic settings with Gmail’s new spam protections?
• How will you monitor the impact of these changes on your email deliverability and overall campaign performance?
• Do you have a plan for continuous improvement and adaptation as email providers continue to evolve their algorithms and user protections?
• Have you verified your DNS settings after setting up email authentication protocols?

Are you afraid that your email marketing efforts using Mautic will be affected by spam bots? Wish that there was another alternative that didn’t involve CAPTCHAs? Research shows that CAPTCHAs are having a negative impact on conversions.

The short story is that CAPTCHAs kill conversions. (source)

The pain is even bigger if you have a high traffic website and use external email services like Amazon SES, Sendgrid and Sparkpost. If you don’t control these spam bots, you won’t be in compliance with their spam rules.

You know what? You aren’t alone.

Honeypot Method

There is a way to get past this struggle, even if you are not a developer. The solution is to implement an approach called the Honeypot method, in your Mautic forms.

First, login to your Mautic instance. Go to Settings (cog icon), then Custom Fields. In the Custom Field window, add a new field.

In the Label field lets call this honey, click Save & Close, and continue to the next step.

The Setup

Now, let’s go to the forms we need to protect using the honeypot method. I would suggest going to the forms that are more prone to attack.

Add a new email field in the forms and select call it email2 and map that field to the honey field we created.

Now in Mautic v2.8+ we have a new field type called HTML Area, we’re going to use this field and add the follow code in the HTML area;

This code will make the email2 field invisible to the human eye, but not for the spam bots.

NOTE: You have to replace the formname and fieldlabel with the form name without space and the field label in your honeypot filed you put in your Mautic.

Another approach to hiding the field would be to specify the Field Container Attribute of the email2 field you want to hide as:

style="display:none"

Now let’s start eliminating spam bots.

Eliminate the Spam

Go to all the campaigns you have attached to a Campaign form;

Now adding this condition at the first step of the campaign will check to see if the person that submits the form has information in the field “honey”. If the field is empty it is likely a real person. If it’s not empty, it is a spam-bot and we are going to delete it.

NOTE: If you use a Standalone Form and you have the action to send email to user you MUST disable this and create a campaign associate with this Standalone Form and replicate the step above.

Using the honeypot method will help you stop spam bots and the negative effect they have on your email marketing activities.

Mautic’s Rod Martin developed a short video tutorial to walk through this approach step-by-step;

Because of Mautic’s robust workflow, there are a number of different ways to accomplish any given task. This is simply one approach. Comment below if you know of others.

The Mautic community is filled with incredible individuals with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. We believe that each perspective represents unique value to the broader community. If you’re interested in becoming a contributor to our blog, please contact us.

Undeliverable Email

But is our email marketing campaign being received? So many articles (like this) have been written to help us get our emails where they need to go. Unfortunately reaching the inbox is now more challenging than it has ever been. According to Return Path;

Regardless of the reason, declining inbox placement rates represent a serious concern for marketers. With one out of every five emails failing to land in the inbox, brands are missing out on a full 20% of their opportunities to connect with customers and earn their business.

There are many factors that impact whether our information/offer will get to our intended audience. SendGrid outlines four key components to determine if your email marketing campaign will be delivered. They are;

• Message Infrastructure Health
• Message Content
• Sender History and Filtering
• Receiving System’s Availability

Interestingly enough, you can impact 3/4 of these factors. Can you guess which ones? The only item that is truly out of your control is the receiving system’s availability. All other elements you have the ability to impact or control. It’s not by manipulating spam filters or blasting out 5 times as many emails in one week to gain a better return.

Greater Email Marketing Campaign Returns

So how do we capitalize on the missing 20% and maximize the existing 80%? I’m glad you asked. There are many tactics that will help you achieve this end. But this post is not your typical how-to. I’d like to step back a moment and look at an approach that will guide your email marketing strategy.

The 2015 Deliverability Benchmark Report produced by Return Path, states that the greatest email delivery rate was achieved by industries that relied the heaviest on customer relationships. Think about that for a moment. The greatest returns are not achieved by the best technology, the most creative campaigns, or the highest budget. These results were due to the development of deep customer relationships.

So if the key to getting your email marketing campaign delivered is deep customer relationships, how do we foster them? As we connect with our customers and influence our buyers via email, we must consider the following elements to effectively reach them.

• Trust: We know that all relationships are built on trust. Why is it so difficult to realize? Because trust is developed over time and requires many interactions. It requires patience. Industries like retail, health & beauty and apparel achieve stronger placement because they are typically high-touch environments. Real interactions with real people provide greater levels of trust. If you want to connect with your audience, humanize your interactions. Make it personal. Understand the need in the context of their environment, and deliver value in a meaningful way. John Kottcamp says it best;
  

  Companies that excel at delivering rich, personalized online experiences not only produce more loyal customers but also outperform their competition on the stock market, according to a recent five-year study conducted by Forrester Research. (source: MarketingProfs)

  Personalized means more than tagging a first name in the greeting. It means gaining a deeper understanding of where they have visited, what their interests are, and connecting your value to that information in an authentic, meaningful way.

• Analysis: Developing trust in a relationship is like strengthening a bridge between you and your customer. It starts on shaky ground and then begins to gain strength as you continue to provide value according to their need in the moment. As you interact with your customer, it is important that you never stop listening. Listening or analyzing the feedback they provide in the form of interactions with you and your brand. This requires time and talent. The proper analysis of traffic and customer data will further ensure that you are a trusted provider. Data is a double-edged sword. It can make you a relevant star, or it can make your brand feel disconnected and irrelevant. Which leads us to our final point.
• Relevance: I was at the local coffee shop the other day, chatting with a friend. We were having a discussion about how many vacationers were stopping in. A gentleman overheard our conversation and tried to make a joke, but it turned out to be an awkward moment as we didn’t understand what he was referring to. This was not about his joke, but about the fact that in that moment we could not relate what he was saying to our conversation. This made his joke awkward and irrelevant. The point is, if you want to develop trust with your audience, you must be able to relate to them in the proper context.
  

  “Achieving such personalization requires knowing deep context: not just a customer’s demographic data but also the time and location she accessed content, the search terms she used to find it, the referring site that directed her toward it, and—most important—her behavior before, during, and after consuming it…” (source: John Kottenkamp)

This approach works. Maximizing each email marketing campaign begins with content that builds trust, is built on proper analysis and is relevant to the customer.

Relevancy is the marketer’s secret weapon, and the fastest path to revenue. Emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened and marketers have found a 760% increase in email revenue from segmented campaigns. (source: Campaign Source)

In summary, the ability to deliver your email marketing campaign is not based on whether you can sidestep spam filters. It is in your ability to develop trust with your customers. If you can not do this with confidence, take the time you need to develop your marketing and communication strategy with these important elements at the helm.

These recommendations are simply the tip of the iceberg. What are other ways you’ve discovered help your email marketing campaign get delivered? Share them in the comments below!

I was traveling the other day and found myself at a restaurant seated next to a couple of gentlemen from the local car dealership. Normally I don’t find myself listening in on the conversations of those around me, but the restaurant was quiet, and I couldn’t help but follow along. It started slow, and as they continued, I gathered that one was the manager and the other was the GM. As they began to discuss the current state of the dealership, the conversation began to take an interesting turn.

The manager was talking about how challenging it was to keep team members from leaving the business. He was expressing frustration that some of the individuals that had left, were now back asking for their jobs back. And as they discussed the nature of their departure and return, the manager began talking about the culture of the business. “It’s not like it was when I was on the sales floor”, he chided. “When I was working the floor we did whatever it took to make the customer feel welcome.”

The day was cold, overcast and it had been raining, and as the manager continued, he said, “You know, on a day like today, our team would have been standing at the front door with umbrellas, waiting for customers to arrive. And when they would, we would be out there asking the customers what they wanted before they event stepped out of the car. And if they did, we’d have the umbrella handy to cover them as they walked into the dealership. Now, the sales team simply stands at the front door and hovers, waiting for them to walk up to the door.”

And if they did, we’d have the umbrella handy to cover them as they walked into the dealership.

He continued to express his disdain for the current sales team and how they have lost the hunger or drive to meet the needs of the customers who have come to their dealership. “It’s a different group.” he muttered.

Why Automation

I think it’s important for us to do a bit of a reset on the purpose of automation. It has only been a couple of years since automation has really taken off, and already, there are marketers that believe automation can replace the entire function of marketing. They are like the sales team in the story our manager talked about. They have quickly forgotten the art of marketing. They have forsaken the customer and believe that they already know exactly what the customer wants, and will wait for them to “make the right decision”.

Friends, marketing automation will not, and should not, replace your marketing team. It was developed to help you see your marketing environment in a more holistic way. It helps you take into account the location and potential needs of your customer and help you provide information and value to them in a quick and efficient manner.

Personal Automation

So let’s get back to our manager. When he was on the sales floor, he was always thinking about the customer. When the rain clouds were out, he was prepared with an umbrella, ready to meet their needs before they even asked. As marketers, we should always consider the needs of the customer based on their environment.

Where are your customers? What is their environment? Is it raining or is it sunny? Who are they with? Is it lunch time, are they hungry? The list goes on and on and on. These questions help us gain a critical view of our customers. When we see them in a way that is not a data point, but a person, seeking value, we will look at them and our marketing in a different light. Here is a great article on developing a value-based model for your business.

Time to Get the Umbrella

As you continue to seek the perfect automation tools to help you share your product or service to your audience, please take a long, hard look at your customer. They are the reason you are in business. Providing value to them goes beyond the sale. As we’ve discussed, you certainly want to maintain a healthy view of your goals, but if you don’t keep your customer front and center, your automation efforts will feel not feel personal. They will end up feeling like the car sales team that our manager talked about.

So stop staring out the window, get the umbrella, go out in the rain and put your feet into the shoes of your customer. Because when you do, your marketing efforts will feel less automated and will start to feel more personal.

The answer is to create a double opt-in email list. In simplest terms a double opt-in email list means that those users who subscribe to your emails must first click a link you send them confirming their desire to receive emails from you. Creating a double opt-in email campaign is a common task for a marketing integrator. Below you’ll find the five pieces of a double opt-in email campaign.

1. Create a pending lead list and a confirmed lead list. These are the lists where you will organize your leads. Before they have completed the opt-in process they will be stored on the pending lead list. Eventually these leads will be moved to the confirmed lead list.

2. Create a landing page to serve as the opt-in confirmation page. This is the page the user will land on if they click the confirmation link in the initial email you send.

3. Create a new template email to serve as the opt-in message and include a link to the above landing page. You can either note the ID of the landing page and use in the token {pagelink=ID} as the URL or start typing “{page” in the editor, and a list of landing pages will appear. Click on it and it’ll insert a link for you. This is where you prepare the email you’re going to send to your potential leads. This email will direct them to click a link to confirm their subscription.

4. Now create a Campaign form to be used to sign your users up. This is the very first step in the process. Creating this form as a campaign form means you’ll be able to select it as a source when you build your campaign (next step). You can collect whatever details you wish (remember to keep it simple) and be sure you include their email address as one of your fields.

5. Finally build your campaign to tie it all together. You’ll add your form as the source where you are collecting leads, then you’ll build out the email to send to them, and the landing page you want them to land on when they opt-in. Your campaign flow might look something like below:

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of a double opt-in email campaign:

The Sign Up (yellow) lead source is simply our form created in step 4. Any lead who submits the form will be automatically added to the campaign.

Add to pending is a “Modify lead’s lists” action that will immediately add the lead to the Pending lead list created in step 1.

Send in Opt-in Email is a “Send Email” action selecting the email created in step 3.

Add a “Visits a page” decision and choose the landing page created in step 2 then connect the bottom of the “Send email” action into the top of the “Visits a page” decision.

And finally, add another “Modify lead’s lists” and choose to remove the lead from the Pending and add to the Confirmed list. Connect the bottom green anchor, or the direct action decision path, of the “Visits a page” decision to the top of the newly created “Modify lead’s list” action.

Now you have a double opt in campaign. You can base all of the mailings, or other campaigns, on lead’s that belong to the Confirmed list. When a lead signs up, they’ll be added to the Pending list and sent the opt-in email. When they click the link to confirm, they will be removed from the Pending list and added to the Confirmed.