Email Authentication Updates

Do you want the good news or the not as good news (but still good news?) first?

I’ll start with the good news! Google & Yahoo have pushed back the enforcement of the email authentication policies to April. So, if you haven’t authenticated your email yet - you’ve still got time!

That being said - we come to the not as good news (but still good news?):

Effective February 1st Google & Yahoo have begun to slowly reject a small amount of emails that come from unauthenticated domains. These will show a “temporary error” at this point & it is not clear if they will impact your sender reputation. I’ve actually heard rumblings from others in the field that they’ve seen changes in email deliverability already this past January.

So, better to take care of sooner rather than later to avoid being a “guinea pig” with potential impacts on your business.

Most email service providers have made authentication of your email quite easy with step by step directions & some even with videos walking you through what you need to do.

That being said - looking at your DNS records can be quite intimidating, so, the offer still stands for assistance if you’ve been putting this off! I’ve helped a handful of business owners and honestly each one has been different in what needs to be put in place based on their tech stack.

Beyond that though there are steps that should be taken post authentication to make sure your email open rates don’t tank and keeping your spam rates low.

Later this week I’ll be sharing more about what you can do as a business owner to help your emails land in your audience’s inbox and likewise as a consumer what you can do to make sure emails from companies & brands you want to hear from make it to you. Stay tuned!