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Here it is - the obligatory New Year's resolution blog post. But this time, we're really going to challenge you to tackle some important email marketing goals.

Usually, people make resolutions for self improvement. While trying to be a better person is a worthy endeavor, how about striving to be a better email geek? Setting your email marketing goals for 2025 can help you do that.

There's no doubt that some of these goals will look familiar. They're almost as perennial as going to the gym more often, cutting back on carbs, and not using the word "literally" all the time. But bear with us as we explain exactly why these five areas of email geek improvement should be on your list this year. (We've got research to back it all up.)

1. Improve your email accessibility

This is an email marketing goal that 99.9% of us should think seriously about. Literally.

For the third year in a row, the Email Markup Consortium (EMC) conducted a sweeping study that found 99.97% of emails it analyzed had accessibility issues defined as "Serious" or "Critical."

Some of those email accessibility issues include:

• Failing to use the <lang> attribute.
• Forgetting to set the role of <table>s to presentation or none.
• Not writing alternative text for all important images.
• Relying on color to identify links in emails.

The good news is that these issues and many others are easy to fix. Email teams just need to prioritize email accessibility in 2025.

Why this email marketing goal matters

Many email accessibility improvements support the inbox experiences of subscribers using screen reading software to engage with your campaigns. However, designing and coding accessible emails makes it easier for everyone to engage with what you're sending - not just those with vision or mobility impairments. Improving accessibility leads to better overall email engagement.

Another reason accessibility is an important email marketing goal involves laws both old and new. In the U.S., we already have the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In 2025, the European Union will also enact accessibility legislation. The EU Accessibility Act mandates that online experiences like email be accessible for people with disabilities.

Check out Megan Boshuyzen's comprehensive guide to email accessbility for expert advice. Sinch Email on Acid provides Accessibility Checks as part of our email QA platform. You can also get accessibility testing features with Parcel's free plan.

Check out an on-demand session from Email Camp 2024 where Megan interviews EMC admins Naomi West and Alice Li about the 2024 Accessibility Report.

2. Be less annoying and more relevant

We're not trying to say your beautiful email campaigns are annoying... but maybe some of your subscribers are starting to feel that way.

While accessible emails are one way to be conscientious of contacts with specific needs, this email marketing goal applies to everyone on your list. We all know that inboxes are cluttered and people are busy, yet brands still manage to get plenty of ROI from email marketing. However, if we overdo it and fail to consider the needs of recipients, email becomes a less effective channel.

People stop engaging and start ignoring emails that do not resonate. Want to make a change in 2025? List segmentation, A/B testing, meaningful personalizations, email preference centers, and carefully considering your sending cadence are all ways to make your email strategy more relevant (and less annoying).

Why this email marketing goal matters

Sinch Mailjet surveyed consumers around the world for the report The path to email engagement 2024. Results reveal that these are the top three reason why people choose to unsubscribe from a brand's emails:

1. Too many messages from the brand (19.8%)
2. No longer interested in the offerings (17.9%)
3. Email content is irrelevant to me (17.3%)

Combined, those three reasons for unsubscribing from a brand's emails represent 55% of the total. However, other reasons on the list also reflect things that annoy and frustrate subscribers.

Keeping people engaged with relevant content keeps them from unsubscribing. But once your emails get annoying, even contacts who opted in could decide to make a spam complaint. You don't want that to happen.

In 2024, new sender requirements from Gmail and Yahoo clarified the threshold mailbox providers use to decide when enough is enough. They say all senders should try to maintain a spam complaint rate below 0.1%. That's just one complaint for every 1,000 emails. Furthermore, your complaint rate should never reach or exceed 0.3%. At that point, mailbox providers will likely see you as a spammer.

3. Drop the dead weight from your email list

Hanging on to subscribers who don't want what you're sending them is like clinging to a relationship that's gone sour. While many New Year's resolutions involve dropping a few pounds, your email marketing goals for 2025 should include a plan to lose those unengaged contacts.

After that, you should strive to maintain a healthy email list. Think of it like losing the weight and keeping it off. One way to accomplish this is with an email sunset policy.

With a sunset policy, you remove subscribers who haven't engaged with your emails after a specific period of time. You can also segment those contacts on a different list and simply send them fewer emails.

When Sinch Mailgun surveyed senders about their list building and hygiene practices, they found that only around 24% of respondents use a sunset policy.

Why this email marketing goal matters

A list with outdated and unresponsive contacts drags down your email engagement metrics. Mailbox providers will notice if not enough people are opening and clicking your campaigns. Good engagement is a positive signal that boosts your sender reputation. But low engagement suggests people don't like and don't want your emails.

That's why proactively unsubscribing contacts who stopped engaging makes a lot of sense.

In the video below, Sinch Mailgun deliverability experts Nick Schafer and Ashley Rodriguez explain how sunset policies work and why they should be part of your list hygiene process.

4. Strengthen your email authentication practices

This kind of strength building involves no weightlifting at all. However, you may need someone in your organization with technical expertise and knowledge of email authentication protocols.

Google and Yahoo put the spotlight on email authentication practices this year when they announced that SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) would be a requirement for all senders. Plus, the mailbox providers also wanted bulk senders to start using DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance).

The goal of these authentication requirements was to make the email inbox a safer place for users of Gmail and Yahoo Mail. Google's Neil Kumaran told cyber security writer Davey Winder it worked. Here's what Gmail is seeing since enforcing the new bulk sender requirements:

• 65% reduction in unauthenticated messages sent to Gmail users.
• 50% more bulk senders started following best security practices.
• 265 billion fewer unauthenticated messages sent in 2024.

Why this email marketing goal matters

Email authentication protocols are at the frontlines of the fight against phishing attacks in the inbox. DMARC in particular is very good at preventing email spoofing. That's when bad actors impersonate your brand. Stronger authentication protects both your subscribers and your brand's reputation.

However, Gmail and Yahoo only required that senders use a DMARC policy of p=none at a minimum. The problem is - the p=none policy tells mailbox providers not to do anything with messages that fail SPF and DKIM authentication. That means malicious emails could still make it to the inbox, and your sending domain still isn't fully protected.

Unfortunately, many subscribers are content with doing the bare minimum. Sinch Mailgun's State of email deliverability 2025 report found 61.2% of those currently using DMARC with p=none won't enforce a stronger policy unless it's required. An additional 13% have no plans to update at all.

If you're not enforcing DMARC with policy of p=quarantine or p=reject, that should be one of your email marketing goals this year. And if you don't, there's a very good chance Google and Yahoo will make DMARC enforcement a requirement soon.

In fact, that's exactly what people in the know from those companies told us during Email Camp 2024. Check out the panel discussion with Marcel Becker of Yahoo and Dan Givol of Google to hear for yourself.

5. Expand your communication horizons

New Year's resolutions that encourage you to travel and explore, pick up a new hobby, or learn something new are often the most fun and fulfilling. While email geeks love email, 2025 may be the year to break out of the inbox and experiment with other communication channels. It's always smart to diversify your skillset.

Don't get us wrong. Email is still relevant. It's just that there are also other options that certain subscribers may sometimes prefer or may be more ideal in specific situations. For example, SMS can be a faster, easier way to receive 2FA messages and one-time passcodes (OTPs). Brands need to determine the right customer communication mix for the people they're serving and the purpose of the message.

In many cases, email and SMS marketing make a really good pair. They can complement each other as part of the same campaign or automation. The art and heart of customer communication from Sinch also found that email and SMS are the most preferred channels among consumers. If you use email and SMS/MMS for marketing and customer communications you already have your bases pretty well covered.

Why this email marketing goal matters

Beyond email and SMS, there are other emerging communication channels that are worth exploring. For example, adoption of WhatsApp in the U.S. is increasing, and it's already quite popular in other countries.

There is also RCS (Rich Communication Services) to consider. This protocol is poised to take text messaging to a new level. In 2024, Apple joined Android in supporting RCS with iOS 18. While iPhone users are already noticing a better texting experience, brands are getting excited about RBM (RCS Business Messaging).

RBM campaigns have the potential to increase trust, branding initiatives, and interactivity through mobile messaging. Imagine all the things you'd like to do with an interactive email but are way too hard. There's a good chance you could do it with an RBM campaign.

Learn more about what RCS has to offer from Katie Brennan and Isabella Rahm in this exclusive presentation from Email Camp 2024.

Reach your email marketing goals in 2025

People use all sorts of tools and tricks to help them stick with their New Year's resolutions. From apps that track your progress to accountability partners, anything that keeps your eye on the prize is a worthy investment.

You need the right tools and partners to help you reach your email marketing goals too. Sinch's product portfolio has what you need. Literally:

• Sinch Email on Acid is here to help you deliver perfection (or as close as you can get) with an email QA platform equipped with everything from 100+ client and device previews to accessibility checks. And every plan comes with unlimited testing.
• Sinch Mailjet is a versatile email service provider (ESP) that's ideal for many marketing teams. Take advantage of features like forms and landing pages to grow your list the right way, and use Mailjet's AI assistant to boost your productivity and creativity.
• Mailgun Optimize is a complete email deliverability suite from Sinch Mailgun with a variety of tools built to help you reach the inbox. That includes reputation monitoring, email validations, and inbox placement reports that predict your deliverability before you hit send.

Looking to expand your approach to customer communications in 2025? Sinch can support your organization's needs as you pursue an omnichannel communication strategy. You can also take a free evaluation to learn more about where you can enhance the way you reach your customers.

Simplify the Email QA Process and Deliver Perfection

What’s the best way to run through your pre-send checklist? With Sinch Email on Acid’s Campaign Precheck, we’ve simplified the process and set everything up for you. Use it to double-check your content, optimize for deliverability, ensure accessibility, and preview how campaigns look on more than 100 of the most popular clients and devices. All before you hit send!

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