Google's recent updates to their Email sender guidelines are changing outbound sales. From February, 2024 Google will have stricter rules for senders who send 5,000 or more messages a day to priavte Gmail accounts.

Note: This sender guidelines don't apply to emails send to Google Workspaces. Meaning B2B is not impacted by it.

However, it is recommended to follow the principles also if you are a B2B company.

Google will automatically ban users who get reported as spam but they also can block the company domain. Nobody will be able to access your workspace.

This is already happening. I was recently in talks with two businesses that got temporarily blocked. And yes, they had what I would describe as an aggressive outbound strategy and did not follow best practices that we discuss below.

Let's look into detail.

What are the accepted spam rates?

Google is suggesting to aim for a spam rate at around 0.1%. This means that 1 out 1000 of 1000 emails can be marked as spam.

Be honest to yourself, do you think you are right now under that limit? From my experience, I doubt this will be the case.

Should your spam rate be multiple times above 0.3% (3 out of 1000 emails) then Google will automatically ban the respective people and potentially your domain.

Strive to keep your spam rate well below 0.1%, understanding that even a 0.3% rate is high.

Tip: Use Google's Postmaster Tool to monitor how many emails get reported as spam.

What can you do from a technical perspective?

There are a few steps that your IT team or Revenue Operations can do to improve your email deliverability and avoid being flagged as spam.

1. Add a one-click unsubscribe link to respect recipient preferences and comply with regulations.

2. Authentication and set-up. Ensure your email system is correctly configured with ARC, DMARC, DKIM, and SPF.

3. Use HTML Signature Usage: Keep your signature simple and avoid excessive links or images.

4. Use a different domain for outbound efforts to protect your primary domain's integrity. E.g.: Main domain: "@company.com". Sales domain: "@company.so" 

5. Don't use CSS to hide elements in your email. Most tracking software adds a picture for tracking purposes. This will be dangerous from Feb 2024. Recommended to not use tracking.

6. Email Warming: Gradually build your email activity to establish a trustworthy sender reputation. See guide.

7. Avoid sending large batches of emails at once. This practice can trigger spam detectors.

8. Volume Moderation: Limit to less than 50 emails per day per person to maintain quality and avoid spam triggers.

How can you improve your cold emails?

As a next step, you want to have excellent cold emails. 

Do your research before drafting an emails:

1. Use intent data to focus on the right prospects:
   Who is visiting your homepage? (Tools that help: Clearbit, Zoominfo, etc)
   Do you know what they have in the market? (Tools that help: LinkedIn, Zoominfo, etc)
   
   

2. Do research about your prospect:
   Research their LinkedIn, Website, or other relevant report
   You can use AI to make this easier (GPTs can help or special AI tools)

While drafting your email:

• Tailor your emails to each recipient to show genuine interest. (use the research from above)

• Aim for an email length of 75-125 words for clarity and impact.

• Each email should convey one core message for better clarity and engagement.

• Avoid spam words like "free," "limited," "NOW," or "win" that are commonly flagged as spam. You can review this blog for more spam words.

  
  

This is just a quick overview, there are many more best practices about email content. See that as a starting point. But if you do this, it should already put you in the top 10%. Most cold emails I receive don't follow these steps.

Beyond cold email: have a complete outbound sales strategy

Yes, cold emails will be harder in 2024. So, it is more important to diversify.

For a complete outbound sales strategy you should consider:

• Follow the best email best practices in the guide

• Make Cold calling a must

• Be in online communities

• Use intent data to target better

• Conferences and in-person meetings are crucial

• Use LinkedIn for personal brand and social selling.

Should you need any help with the setting of your email, around best practices, or want to talk about your outbound sales strategy, then feel free to contact us.