In recent months, email marketers have been grappling with a significant decline in email open rates. This drop coincides with the introduction of new email authentication rules by Google and Yahoo, aimed at reducing spam emails.

The new rules require bulk email senders – those who send 5,000 or more emails, to comply with set guidelines to stand a chance of their emails reaching Gmail and Yahoo users’ inboxes. While this is a positive step for email recipients, it has had an effect on email deliverability for bulk email senders. To comply with these rules, bulk email senders must adhere to the requirements provided below;

How to Improve Email Open Rate

Changes to make in order to improve email open rates;

• Emails must be sent from a domain that supports TLS (Transport Layer Security).
• SPF and DKIM Setup: Senders must implement Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) authentication. These technologies help verify that the email is genuinely from the domain it claims to be from, reducing the chances of spoofing.
• Proper Email Format: Each email should include a valid “From” address, a “Reply-To” address, and the sender’s name
• Each marketing email must have a one-click unsubscribe link in the footer. Users should not find it hard to unsubscribe from your email list

Other factors to consider in order to improve open rates include;

• Email Content: If your email content is not engaging or appears spammy, recipients are less likely to open it. To improve this, consider using subject lines that sound personal and avoid overly sales-oriented words in both the subject line and email body.
• IP Reputation: Sending emails from an IP address with a poor reputation can significantly impact deliverability. If you’re using a shared IP with other senders who have poor sending practices, it might be worthwhile to invest in a dedicated IP to improve your reputation.
• Your Mailing lists should consist of opted-in subscribers. Users who have provided you permission to send them marketing emails

Read more about the new email-sending rules by Yahoo and Google