New Rules from Google on Email Deliverability About to Kick In

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Hi AI Pro!

Expectations among marketing leaders (in the UK, at least) are overall optimistic for 2024, as some notable AI-focused tech providers in the space gain traction. Also, new rules from Google and Yahoo on bulk email deliverability are set to kick in.

TODAY’S “AI-CENTRIC” MARKETING UPDATE:

• Top News: LoopMe Reports Double-Digit Rev Growth, 20% Headcount Increase

• Survey: UK Marketers Planning Major Spend Increases on Email, AI

• Following the Money: AI-Powered Branding, Content Startup Stori Raises $500K

• Important & Pending: New Rules from Google on Email Deliverability About to Kick In

• Today’s Master Marketing Tip: An idea can turn to magic or dust, depending on the talent that rubs against it. Bill Bernbach

TOP NEWS

LoopMe Reports Double-Digit Rev Growth, 20% Headcount Increase

LoopMe, a privately held, London-based provider of AI tech that improves advertising performance, announced it generated double-digit revenue growth and increased employee headcount by 50 people, or 20%, during the previous 12 months.

“We are seeing the benefit of our decade-plus investment in AI – which powers all of our products and is providing great value for customers – underpinning double digit growth in 2023, which was a difficult year for many adtech companies,” said Stephen Upstone, CEO of LoopMe.

The company, which has offices around the world, secured two new patents last year, Upstone added.

LoopMe also announced the promotions of two senior leaders, including Rob Cukierman as chief product officer, a newly created role for the company, and Brian Bell, as general manager for North America.

SURVEY

UK Marketers Planning Major Spend Increases on Email, AI

According to a new survey of 500 marketing leaders in the UK, 64% plan to increase spending on AI solutions by as much as 60%, while 58% said they expect to increase spending on email-based initiatives by the same amount.

The survey, which was conducted by a search-driven content agency called No Brainer, indicates respondents generally are expecting a “bullish” year in 2024, following four years of slow to no growth.

Here are the survey’s findings on spending expectations for categories where marketing leaders also expect to increase spending by as much as 60 percent:

• AI: 64%

• Website: 64%

• SEO: 62%

• TV, Radio & Podcasts: 59%

• Email Marketing: 58%

• Content Marketing: 57%

• Digital PR: 57%

• Influencer Marketing: 56%

• Organic social: 56%

• Paid search: 55%

“The explosion of innovation related to AI and machine learning has also raised the stakes for performance for real-time data processing and activation, for segmentation and for personalization — with more applications coming every day,” the 76-page report concludes.

FOLLOWING THE MONEY

AI-Powered Branding, Content Startup Stori Raises $500K

STORI, a startup based in the nation of Georgia that uses AI to automate branding and content creation processes, announced it has raised $500,000 in a pre-seed funding round, led by technology accelerator fund 500 Global.

The company is developing AI that automates production of social media content, as well as determining the optimal times to post, which platforms to use, and what hashtags to include.

STORI said the funding round follows a period of rapid growth for the company, which has generated an increase in number of users by 20% month-over-month since its launch last year.

The company reports attracting users in over 110 countries, with the majority in the US and Europe, who have used STORI’s platform to create over 3,000 brands and 65,000 social media posts since its launch.

IMPORTANT & PENDING

New Rules from Google on Email Deliverability About to Kick In

In a new advisory article, Emma Prunty, content editor at the Digital Marketing Institute, offers a brief explanation of the forthcoming standards from Google and Yahoo that will affect companies sending more than 5,000 emails per day, beginning this month.

The new standards will impact three key areas:

• Unsubscribe and opt-out links

• Spam thresholds

• Email authentication

Under the new rules to avoid emails getting flagged and blocked, companies must provide a one-click unsubscribe option in all emails and process unsubscribe requests within two days.

If senders produce multiple newsletters on different topics, then a recipient may choose to opt out of one but remain on a mailing list for other communications.

Google will require that the rate of spam complaints remain below 0.3% (or 2-3 complaints every thousand emails). To comply, Prunty advises senders to regularly review email lists and purge them accordingly.

Both Gmail and Yahoo will require email senders to authenticate their emails, which means adding certain records to their Domain Name System (DNS) provider, including SPF, DKIM and DMARC. These records need to be added to the domain and senders need to publish their DMARC policy.

Currently, Gmail claims around a 30% market share in the email clients market worldwide, while Yahoo accounts for around one-tenth that number.

TODAY’S MARKETING MASTER TIP:

William (Bill) Bernbach was an advertising creative director and one of the three founders of the international advertising agency Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). He was a pioneer of the creative team structures now commonly used by ad agencies.

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THAT’S ALL FOR TODAY, FOLKS!