Black Friday is a big week for email. It’s also the worst week to find out your campaigns aren’t getting through.
Gmail and Outlook now reject bulk email that doesn’t meet their sender rules. Those emails used to go to junk. Now many don’t arrive at all, and nobody gets a chance to find them.
What the rules ask for
Authentication. Your domain needs SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, and they have to match the domain you send from.
One-click unsubscribe. Marketing emails need a proper one-click unsubscribe, not just a link in the footer. Most email platforms handle this for you, but it’s worth checking.
Low spam complaints. Gmail wants your spam complaint rate under 0.30%, measured daily. That’s 120 complaints on a 40,000-email send. If you go over, you need seven days in a row back under the line to recover.
Heads up: order confirmations and shipping emails need to pass authentication too. If you run an online store, check those as well.
Quick checklist before your sale
- Check your SPF, DKIM and DMARC are set up and matching your sending domain.
- If you don’t have a DMARC record yet, start with p=none.
- Verify your domain in Google Postmaster Tools. It’s free and shows whether you’re meeting the rules.
- Test that one-click unsubscribe works.
- Increase your sending gradually rather than all at once, and email your most engaged subscribers first.
What this means for your business
Even with a small list, plenty of your customers use Gmail, Outlook and Hotmail addresses, so these rules apply to you.
The good news is that most of this is one-off setup. Get it right once and it keeps working. Do it this week rather than the night before your sale, so there’s time to fix anything that breaks.
Need a hand?
If you’re not sure your domain is set up properly, the team at Novu Creative can take a quick look. Get in touch and we’ll help get your emails into inboxes.
Sources:
- Google Workspace Admin Help, Email sender guidelines
- Google Workspace Admin Help, Email sender guidelines FAQ
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 blog, Outlook’s new requirements for high-volume senders (April 2025)
- Google Postmaster Tools
