Marketing Resources

Why Are My Emails Going To Spam? Email Authentication 2024 Update

Ansley Santos
Feb 8, 2024

Error: Your Email Authentication Is Not Set Up Yet

Have you recently noticed a dip in click-through rates for your newsletters and other email marketing efforts? The problem might not be your content or website management, but the culprit may be a lack of updated email authentication. 

This issue is more common than ever, and now Google and Yahoo require email authentication. So, moving forward, when you send emails, you’ll need to integrate Sender Policy Framework (SPF) or DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), or for bulk senders with over 5,000 subscribers, you’ll need to integrate Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting & Conformance (DMARC). Unfortunately, this is no longer optional and has become a standard expectation among email marketing for internal and external communications. 

So, how do you authenticate your emails and prepare your marketing channels for this integration?  

Why Is Email Authentication Important For Email Marketing?

Email authentication is pivotal for securing your business’s communication efforts, delivering your message to clients, and generating leads. To safeguard recipients, its technology distinguishes legitimate emails and fights spam and phishing attempts from website hackers. 

So, what happens if this technology scans your emails and marks them as unauthorized to send? You know your business is legit, so why is this happening? 

This miscommunication, or lack thereof, is detrimental to your business’s brand authority, and your time and effort spent on email marketing is wasted in the ‘spam folder’ void.

How You Can Re-Route The Ship Carrying Your Email Messages

When attempting to correct the course of your dead-end newsletters and successfully steer them in the direction of your clients’ inboxes, you’ll need to understand the various technologies associated with email authentication.

SPF: The First Line of Defense 

First, there is SPF or Sender Policy Framework. It’s the first line of defense in email authentication and uses a Domain Name System (DNS) TXT record to specify which servers can send emails on behalf of your domain. So, implementing the technology is straightforward, but you must know how to create DNS TXT records and identify your email-sending servers. On top of that, if you use both platforms to execute different email marketing campaigns, you’ll need to combine the formats into one SPF.

Take a look at this example of an effective way to combine Google and Mailchimp SPFs:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:servers.mcsv.net ~all

Or, learn to write SPFs for Outlook emails with this example:

v=spf1 include:spf.protection.outlook.com -all

At The Molo Group, we manage email marketing for many clients who utilize both Google and Mailchimp. Both platforms can accomplish the same goal: performing email marketing, but their SPFs are formatted entirely differently.  

Add A Layer Of Security With DKIM

For an air-tight email authentication strategy, you’ll need to employ DKIM. This powerful tool uses public-key cryptography to sign outgoing emails, which allows receivers to verify the newsletter’s authenticity. 

For Google, authentication is straightforward through Gmail settings. For Mailchimp and MailerLite users, follow their specific CNAME records setup.

Bulk Senders Must Ensure Comprehensive Protection with DMARC

DMARC, a crucial step for high-volume senders with over 5,000 subscribers, enhances email security by utilizing DNS TXT to check your SPF record and DKIM. 

Handling individual reports can be overwhelming, so we recommend opting for a service like DMARC. While free for personal use, newsletters may incur charges, so we suggest looking into DMARC Digests from Postmark to save costs.

 

 

Don’t let your email marketing efforts go to waste–get a head start on your email authentication process with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC if you’re a bulk sender who needs quick issue identification and refuses to comb through thousands of emails. 

At The Molo Group, we’ve covered you with our proactive and comprehensive email marketing management services. Book a free consultation with us, and learn more about how we partner with B2B clients to streamline their success. 

 

 

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