The TL;DR:

• Let’s Chat D2C: Google & Yahoo’s new sender requirements for email marketing are rolling out in Q1 2024.

• What I’m Thinking about this Week: Some quick BFCM wins that every brand needs to implement now, including Rebuy Post-Purchase Offers and Smart Cart with Tiered GWP thresholds, Malomo, a Post-Purchase Survey with Okendo or Fairing, automate CS with Gorgias, and run a Mailmatch campaign with PostPilot.

• The D2Z Podcast: In this week’s episode, I sat down with Alejandro Chaban, the visionary CEO and founder of Yes You Can!, a renowned health and wellness company. Alejandro's journey is nothing short of incredible, having battled obesity, bulimia, and anorexia at just 15 years old, only to emerge as a highly successful entrepreneur.

• App Updates & Highlights: Rebuy Post-Purchase Offers - create up to 10 different post-purchase flows that run simultaneously.

• Upcoming Events: I’m off to Toronto today through Tuesday night for Shopify’s Mid-Market Burst, and then I’m headed to Vegas Wednesday to speak at DigiMarCon World! Also, SeaMonster Studios is hosting a Shopify Meetup in Seattle on Thursday!

Also, you can now easily share this newsletter with a friend! As you refer, you earn:

• 3 Referrals: A Free Tech Stack Audit

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Let’s Chat D2C - Google & Yahoo’s New Sender Requirements for Email Marketing

First and foremost, none of these changes will occur until Q1 of 2024, so do not panic!!! Don’t take action on any of this until AFTER BFCM.

These requirements have always been best practices and recommended by inbox providers, so chances are you are already doing most if not all of them.

Google’s requirements are stricter, so once you meet those, you also will meet Yahoo’s.

DMARC Authentication for your Sending Domain

DMARC lets you tell receiving servers what to do with messages from your domain that don’t pass SPF or DKIM. All of these are preventative measures to ensure a hacker can not spoof your email addresses. DKIM is a set of keys that tell IP’s you’re the original sender and nobody fraudulently intercepted your email. SPF is a special list that includes everyone who is authorized to send messages on your behalf.

A DMARC policy can be placed as a TXT record on your domain’s DNS control panel, and you can learn more about it here.

Align your “From:” Header with your Domain

You need your own sending domain; you can no longer use a shared domain. The domain in your “From:” header (what subscribers see in their inbox) has to align with the sending domain to be compliant with DMARC.

Make Unsubscribing Easier and Clearer

Your marketing emails must include a method to unsubscribe in just one step and have an unsubscribe link in the message body (though it doesn’t have to be one click)

Klaviyo is implementing an “unsubscribe header” beginning before February 1, 2024, to satisfy the one-click to unsubscribe requirement. Brands will not need to configure anything; it will automatically apply.

Keep your Spam Rates Low

Keep them under 0.30% - you can use Google’s Postmaster Tools to monitor spam complaint rates.

There are a few other things you need to do, but Klaviyo automatically takes care of for you:

• Setting up SPF and DKIM email authentication

• The sending domain has valid forward and reverse DNS records

• Format messages according to the Internet Messaging Format standard

What I’m Thinking About This Week - Some Quick BFCM Wins Every Brand Needs to Implement

BFCM is just weeks away, and it’s time to break out all the tips and tricks that are quick to implement but will generate significant ROI for you come rush time.

The Quick Wins:

• Implement Rebuy Post-Purchase Offers (this is literally free additional revenue and boosts AOV dramatically)

• Implement Rebuy Smart Cart with Tiered gift-with-purchase options (i.e., free shipping at $50, a free gift at $100, another free gift at $175, and another free gift at $225).

• Leverage Malomo to move all of your transactional communications out of Shopify into Klaviyo or Attentive and create custom order tracking pages that improve retention and increase LTV.

• Add a post-purchase survey with Fairing or Okendo that asks, “Is this order for yourself or a gift?” If it’s a gift, send them a follow-up email and text with an offer to return and “treat themselves” to your brand.

• Automate up to 30% of your customer service inquiries with Gorgias’ Automate add-on.

• Run a mail-match campaign with PostPilot to target all of your lapsed customers with a winback campaign for BFCM. You can also expand this to non-purchasers on your list, etc.

This Week’s The D2Z Podcast

#81 – Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Health & Wellness Industry with Alejandro Chaban

🎧 Listen Now 🎧

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Alejandro Chaban, the visionary CEO and founder of Yes You Can!, a renowned health and wellness company. Alejandro's journey is nothing short of incredible, having battled obesity, bulimia, and anorexia at just 15 years old, only to emerge as a highly successful entrepreneur. Specifically, we explored the following:

💰 The significance of adapting to the ever-changing landscape of marketing and communication, specifically the social media channels we use to reach our audiences.

📲 The value of embracing change, staying open to innovation, and listening to the needs of your audience.

😎 The intricacies of building and leading a thriving team based on transparency and maintaining accountability.

🚀 What happens behind the scenes when you’re growing a small business!

App Updates & Highlights - Rebuy Post-Purchase Flows

Rebuy Post-Purchase flows just got a big upgrade and are one of the things I recommend EVERY brand implements before BFCM.

You can now create up to 10 different post-purchase flows that run simultaneously and are triggered by custom or AI-powered Data Source rules.

When your customers place an order, an interstitial pop-up will appear offering a cross-sell with “1-click add to your existing order” functionality. You can create a series of follow-on upsells and downsells depending on the customer's action.

These post-purchase flows now empower merchants to:

• Design targeted offers in advance of upcoming promotions

• Segment customer offers for a more personalized experience

• A/B test and monitor the performance of offers across multiple segments

Upcoming Events

I’m off to Toronto today through Tuesday night for Shopify’s Mid-Market Burst, and then I’m headed to Vegas Wednesday to speak at DigiMarCon World! Also, SeaMonster Studios is hosting a Shopify Meetup in Seattle on Thursday!

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