From February 2024, there are important changes to email delivery that every education marketer needs to know. These email authentication changes are likely to affect us all in some way. Although the changes came into effect on 1 February 2024, it’s not too late to take action. To help you get in top of the essential information, we’ve pulled together this simple guide.

The highlights:

  • Authentication affects most marketers – even those sending to small audiences.
  • It primarily applies to ‘bulk’ email campaigns, rather than day-to-day email exchanges.
  • It affects campaigns to individuals (e.g. parents), as well as to those working in organisations (e.g. teachers and other educators).
  • Your email marketing provider (e.g. HubSpot, MailChimp, Active Campaign) should be flagging this as an important update and will be able to support you with this.
  • Authenticating will ultimately protect and potentially improve your deliverability.

Let’s dive in!

In brief, what are the changes?

To help combat spam and prevent phishing, two major email providers have introduced enhanced requirements for email authentication checks. The providers are Google, which not only serves @gmail.com addresses but also handles many organisational email systems, and Yahoo. Without the authentication in place, these providers may stop delivering your email campaigns. Other providers such as Outlook, could follow.

Do the email authentication changes affect education marketers?

Guidance suggests this could affect all senders of ‘bulk’ emails, big or small volume, either through a platform or your own system. That means your email campaigns to parents, teachers and other education audiences, rather than day-to-day emails. It doesn’t need to be a @gmail.com or @yahoo.com email address you’re sending to. It also applies to e.g. @schoolname.co.uk, if Google Workspace is used as their email provider. Around 30% of UK residents use Gmail, and Google Workspace has over  9 million  paying organisations worldwide.

Is there a volume threshold?

In short, probably not, although there have been some conflicting messages. Email platform provider ActiveCampaign reports that although Google mentioned 5k daily emails constitutes a “bulk sender,” Gmail and Yahoo have clarified that the 5k limit on volume is not a safe zone. Yahoo has said that there is no minimum volume threshold where these requirements are applicable. Gmail is also clear that even senders below the 5k limit can expect to be impacted (read the ActiveCampaign article here). Our take is that if you send above 5k a day (to Gmail or Google Workspace users), it’s a must, below that it will still probably affect you. So, these authentication requirements could apply to lots of schools and education-focussed organisations.

What does it affect?

Basically, it affects deliverability. When you send an email to your audience, the recipient’s mailbox provider checks your email is legitimate and not spam, even if you’re sending via a well-known platform. These changes add an extra layer of security to pass before your email is delivered. Without the right authentication, emails will automatically be blocked, sent to spam, or potentially delivered with a warning.

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What email authentication do you need?

Now we’re down to the nitty gritty. We’re going to introduce the key terms first, but hopefully not get too ‘gritty’. Emails have required authentication for years, but as of 1 February 2024, Google requires all three – DKIM, DMARC and SPF to be in place.

Here’s a quick guide to the three email authentication methods:

  • DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is a digital signature for your emails that helps to keep them secure.
  • SPF (Sender Policy Framework) checks your email came from an authorised server.
  • DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is an email security standard that tells email providers that emails from your domain are safe and not spam. If your email fails DKIM or SPF, DMARC tells the mailbox provider what to do.

Is authentication recommended for all?

Most email providers are recommending all senders self-authenticate their emails with DKIM. Some providers, such as Constant Contact, are authenticating on behalf of senders by rewriting a sender’s ‘from’ address to a domain owned by them. This helps with the authentication challenge but can change a succinct hello@school.co.uk address to a longer.ccsend.com address. Even then, Constant Contact still says self-authentication can help contribute to a solid sender reputation and better deliverability.

Email authentication: What do you need to do?

For many of us, the following will sound a bit technical, but we can attest that several non-techy people we’ve spoken to have done it! You will probably need some help from your IT department in order to access your domain or DNS records. Most email providers are providing step-by-step instructions, some we link to below, and domain hosting providers are ready to help.

  1. Check you have an SPF record set up. If you’re using an email ending platform, they often handle this for you, but check that your SPF covers any platform you send from.
  2. Create a DKIM record. A DKIM record (often made up of two CNAME records) should be created and applied to your DNS records, often referred to as self-authentication. Again, for any platform you send from.
  3. Set up a basic DMARC record. You should create a DMARC record (only one) and publish this in your DNS records, via your hosting provider. This is the authentication that’s a must for people sending over 5k a day to Google-handled users.
  4. Send from a domain – If you are sending from, e.g., @gmail.com address, it’s generally recommended that you transition to your own domain.
  5. Manage spam complaints – If you send over 5k messages a day to personal Gmail accounts, Google now requires you to keep spam complaints under 0.1%.

Your DNS records are accessed via your hosting provider. This free tool will tell you who your hosting provider is.

Need help navigating DKIM, SPF and DMARC?

At this point, you might be feeling a tad worried, but your email provider will be on top of this. Most have provided step-by-step instructions. If you’ve not received anything from them, go to their website. Or Google their name and email authentication or DKIM and DMARC. Here are some links to common providers’ guidance:

How long does it take?

Once you’ve followed the steps and applied the required information, it can take a couple of hours to a couple of days. Most people we’ve spoken to have had quick response.

Are there any risks to setting up authentication?

Large senders may see some issues while they transition, however any short-term pain is likely to be outweighed by bigger deliverability issues going forward of you don’t.

Before these changes, DKIM, on its own, was generally regarded as a good practice. ActiveCampaign reported that regardless of account size, DKIM had a positive effect on open rates, whether the sender is small or large. ConstantContact reports that many customers have seen an average of 10-20% increase in opens and clicks after turning on self-authentication.

Email authentication and effective education marketing

In this blog we’ve focussed on some of the more technical aspects of getting your emails into people’s inbox. It’s ultimately most powerful to send impactful emails that are useful and welcomed by your audience. Emails that connect with parents or teachers, and that they engage with. This not only directly supports the technical aspects of deliverability, but also delivers on all our education marketing objectives. To learn more, check out our blog series From Subscribers to Success, the first of which is here, or download our free ebook.

And if you want to talk through how to deliver impactful campaigns to your education audience, get in touch today. By email, or otherwise!  

ambleglow expert

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