What is DMARC and What Do the Recent Changes Mean for Email Marketers?

Yahoo! and AOL recently announced some changes to the record DMARC, that could affect your deliverability.

It is important to note that the changes to the record DMARC are made at the ISP level, and that means there is nothing email marketers can do to change them. Like many other charges made by Google, Yahoo!, AOL and other Internet companies, the newest DMARC change is something email marketers will have to learn to live with.

These DMARC changes will have a profound impact on email marketers who still rely on @yahoo.com or @aol.com domains in their From lines. The changes mean that email marketing messages originating from both @yahoo.com and @aol.com addresses will automatically be rejected by popular email platforms like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! and Comcast, as well as a host of smaller ISPs. Since the decision to accept or reject @yahoo.com and AOL.com email marketing messages is dependent on the ISP itself, there is little email marketers can do – other than change the way they craft and send their messages.

It is important to note that using other freemail addresses could be just as dangerous, since other providers could decide to make the same DMARC changes at any time. Relying on such addresses is just asking for trouble, and there are much better alternatives available.

The changes to the DMARC actually date back to last April. Starting from that date, email marketers can no longer use an @yahoo.com or @aol.com address to send email marketing campaigns.

That makes using your own business domain more important than ever before. Even before the latest DMARC changes, using a public domain address like @yahoo.com or @#aol.com was a risky proposition. Some recipients might have been turned off by the public address, and others may have found it untrustworthy.

Now that the DMARC changes are official and the @yahoo.com and @aol.com domains are off limits, it is important for email marketers to take a close look at their email marketing campaigns and the domains under which they are sent. Using your own business domain has a number of important advantages, including better brand awareness, added trust and greater consistency.

The From address has always been a critical part of every email marketing message, and the recent changes Yahoo! and AOL made to the DMARC only reinforce this importance. If you were still holding on to that old @yahoo.com or @AOL.com address and using it as your From address, that door is now closed.

That is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact it can be a great opportunity. Changing the From address to your own business domain can improve open rates as recipients get to know you and rely on the top quality useful information you provide. It can improve response rates as customers grow anxious to see what you have to say and eager to try out your great new products. It can increase your brand awareness and help you expand into new categories. In the end, you may be thanking Yahoo! and AOL for making the change that finally prompted you to create better and more effective email marketing campaigns.

Image credits: pha139000084 / gettyimages.com

Download SendBlaster FREE FREE Email Marketing eBook