In case you have not already heard, there is a major change coming that affects Gmail accounts and email marketing campaigns. Simply put, Google has implemented a strict new DMARC policy, and that means all email marketers who use a third-party mailing service like MailChimp and Aweber and have set their “from address” as yourname@gmail.com will not be able to deliver their emails to Gmail anymore. In fact, the current Gmail DMARC policy is p=reject.
The only way to continue sending your mailings through these email third-party senders would be switching your Gmail address to a domain you own.
It is important to note that Google was not the first company to implement a strict DMARC. Other email providers like Yahoo! and AOL applied the same policy a few months ago.
WHAT IS DMARC?
The DMARC is a vital security check designed to keep spammers from impersonating legitimate senders. As email providers improve their processes to stop spam, these DMARC charges will only become more widespread.
CAN SENDBLASTER USERS KEEP USING THEIR GMAIL ADDRESSES FOR THEIR CAMPAIGNS?
They can definitely do it! In fact, our Sendblaster users will not be affected by Gmail’s DMARC policy change as long as they use the SMTP server provided by Gmail every time they send out a mailing from a Gmail address.
Before setting up the Gmail’s SMTP parameters – as shown below – you should remember to change a single setting on your Gmail account. Simply go to the “Less secure apps” section in the Gmail’s My Account section and turn on the option next to “Access for less secure apps“.
Don’t worry! It’s not an issue regarding our email marketing software! SendBlaster is a reliable and secure software and you should not be worried about enabling this feature. Google is asking to do the same even to Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird users, simply because Gmail has different security standards, that change very quickly.
The good news is that you need to make this change only once, but if you do not do this, you will not be able to send out your emails!
After having changed this setting on your Google account you can go back to SendBlaster and set the Gmail’s SMTP parameters. Just use the recommended settings listed below. To do that, open SendBlaster, go to the SEND panel and enter the following information:
SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com
Port: 465 or 587
SSL: enabled
Authentication required: enabled
Username: your full email address, including the @gmail.com suffix
Password: your current Gmail password
It is important to stress that you will only be able to send a message to 100 recipients at a time. If you reach the maximum of sent emails on your Gmail account, you will be re-enabled within 24 hours.
There are not much email marketers can do about the changes at Google. The search engine giant will do what they will do, and all marketers can do is adapt to the changes. By using SendBlaster, email marketers can retain their Gmail addresses and avoid all those deliverability problems that would have if they continue to use it with an online email marketing service.