Google and Yahoo will be implementing stringent new requirements for bulk email senders, starting in early 2024. Their goal is to reduce spam emails across their network. It is anticipated that other email providers will also adopt these measures subsequently.

Every organization that sends commercial emails, including 6sense Conversational Email customers, is required to align their practices with these new regulations. We strongly recommend that you prioritize going through and implementing our comprehensive guidelines in this article.

Please be aware that effective from February 1, 2024, any bulk-sending organization with an abuse complaint rate of 0.3% or above will find their messages automatically blocked by Google and Yahoo.

To enhance your email deliverability using 6sense Conversational Email, there are significant technical steps you need to take:

1. Email Authentication Setup:

Setting up and successfully passing email authentication protocols, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

2. Monitoring Sending Reputation with Google Postmaster Tools:

Leverage Google Postmaster Tools to keep an eye on your sending reputation. Although this tool primarily focuses on data specific to Gmail, it provides a valuable insight into the overall performance and reputation of your domain/IP.

1. Adjust Daily Send Limit per AI Assistant: Try not to send more than 150 emails per AI Assistant per day. You may benefit from spreading out the volume across your AI Assistants to avoid potential email deliverability issues.

2. Limit Domain Sends: Cap your default Domain Send limit to 2 contacts weekly. This precaution prevents representatives from over-sending emails to the same domain within a specific period, which could trigger spam filters and negatively affect your email domain's reputation.

3. Incorporate Opt-Out messages: Including opt-out or unsubscribe messages encourages recipients to unsubscribe instead of marking your email as spam, which can damage your reputation and deliverability.

4. Prioritize Personalization: We recommend personalizing your email content beyond merge tags like first name. Personalization increases user engagement and helps prevent deliverability issues. You can consider turning on AI-powered Outreach (Beta) to send personalized, relevant emails to each prospect.

To help you maximize the effectiveness of 6sense Conversational Email, here are some best practices and strategies to consider and share with your team:

1. Gradually Warm Up New Inboxes: When you introduce a new inbox, it's essential to nurture it by slowly increasing the email volume over time. This process, known as warming up, helps to establish a good reputation with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and prevents your emails from being marked as spam.

Start by sending emails to high-intent leads or recipients who are more likely to engage with your content. Their positive responses and interactions with your emails – such as opening, replying, and moving your emails to specific folders – will signal to ISPs that your emails are reputable and desired, thereby boosting your sender reputation.

Avoid the temptation to send large volumes of emails immediately from a new inbox. Such sudden spikes in email sending activity could trigger spam filters, leading to deliverability issues and negatively impacting your email reputation.

By carefully warming up new inboxes and prioritizing engaged recipients, you can ensure that your emails reach their intended audience and maximize their impact.

2. Keep Your Email Volume Consistent: After the initial warm up phase, try to keep your email volume consistent. Abrupt changes or spikes in the number of emails you send can be interpreted as spam by email filters, potentially causing problems with deliverability.

3. Prioritize Engaged and Verified Users: It’s not just about the number of emails you’re sending - it’s about who's receiving them. If a large portion of your recipients mark your emails as spam or your emails bounce, it can negatively influence your email reputation and deliverability, even if you're only sending 100 emails per day.

4. Avoid Unverified Emails from Purchased Data: Using unverified emails from purchased data can significantly increase deliverability risks.

5. Leverage List Cleanse Tools: These tools can help minimize the risks of invalid addresses and spam traps. However, remember that they do not prevent the risk of user complaints or being marked as spam.

6. Use Marketing and Intent Data for Targeting: By targeting individuals who are more likely to interact with your emails positively, you can enhance user engagement. Consider warming up new AI Assistants or AI Assistants with low engagement with inbound or 6QA prospects.

7. Avoid Images or Links: To reduce the risk of triggering spam filters, it's advisable to avoid including images or links in your emails. This strategy can enhance deliverability by minimizing potential red flags for spam detection systems.

8. Send Personalized and Relevant Content: Boost user engagement by ensuring that your content is both personalized and relevant to the recipient's needs and interests.

9. Maintain Low Bounce and Complaint Rates: Strive for a bounce rate below 5% and a complaint rate of under 0.1% (complaint rates from Google Postmasters Tools)

10. Remove Inactive Recipients: To maintain a high engagement rate and protect your email reputation, it's recommended to remove recipients who haven't interacted with your emails in over six months. This strategy ensures that your emails are reaching an engaged and interested audience.

11. Update Contact Restrictions Promptly: If a recipient opts out, verbally or otherwise, or if their email address bounces, update your system of record so other systems (like your marketing automation platforms) don't email them again.

Note: If a recipient opts out or unsubscribes through Conversational Email, they will be automatically added to the Do Not Contact list and synced to your Salesforce CRM if you have set it up correctly.