Do small email senders need their own SPF/DKIM records or can they rely on their ESP?

Email marketer from Mailjet recommends treating SPF/DKIM as a long-term deliverability strategy. Starting early, even with a small list, builds a solid foundation for future growth and ensures consistent inbox placement as your email program evolves.

Email marketer from Litmus suggests that even if you primarily send transactional emails with a small list, authentication is crucial. It ensures these important messages, like password resets and order confirmations, reliably reach your customers' inboxes.

Email marketer from SparkPost emphasizes that sender reputation is critical for all senders. Properly configuring SPF and DKIM helps build and maintain a positive sender reputation, improving deliverability and ensuring your emails reach the inbox.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum responds that not setting up SPF/DKIM is a bad idea. Even with a small list, it can significantly impact your deliverability. Setting up your own records demonstrates that you're a legitimate sender and helps prevent your emails from being marked as spam.

Email marketer from Reddit explains that while relying on an ESP's shared authentication might seem convenient initially, setting up your own SPF/DKIM gives you more control over your sending reputation and helps build long-term trust with mailbox providers, even for smaller lists.

Email marketer from Sendinblue shares that implementing SPF/DKIM is essential for all senders, regardless of size. These protocols verify your sending domain, preventing spoofing and enhancing your sender reputation, which directly impacts inbox placement.

Email marketer from GlockApps explains that proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) has a significant impact on inbox placement. It helps email providers verify your identity and protects your emails from being marked as spam, regardless of list size.

Email marketer from EasyDMARC advocates for comprehensive email security, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, regardless of the list size. Even small businesses are targets for phishing attacks. Proper configuration protects your brand reputation and ensures that your legitimate emails are delivered to intended recipients.

Email marketer from Campaign Monitor advises that setting up SPF/DKIM records is a fundamental step in improving email deliverability. These records authenticate your emails, proving to ISPs that you're a legitimate sender and reducing the chances of your emails landing in the spam folder.

Email marketer from MailerLite explains that while ESPs handle initial authentication, setting up your own SPF/DKIM records is crucial for establishing trust and improving deliverability. It helps mailbox providers recognize you as a legitimate sender, especially as you grow your list.

Expert from Spam Resource says that consistent email authentication (SPF, DKIM) is always a best practice, no matter the size of your email list. It builds trust with ISPs and helps ensure your emails reach the inbox, especially important for transactional emails and important updates.

Expert from Email Geeks shares that it is a really good idea, even for small senders, to sign as themselves, particularly because they have little chance of developing their own reputation on shared resources. Furthermore, it may turn out that the requirement is for anyone sending through an ESP, not based on volume, so authenticating early makes them prepared. It is generally better to stand on your own two feet as filters have gotten a LOT better about reputation for small senders than they used to be. They also have a lot more 'buckets' of mail classification (bulk, transactional, one-to-one, mailing list, kind of things) than they used to. So you're always better off authenticating as your own domain.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that if you’re sending from a legitimate ESP then the IP you’re sending from will have adequate reputation, even in the shared pools, and that should get you in the door. If they’re genuinely too small or tech adverse to own a domain then they’re likely to have an increasingly bad delivery time as mailbox providers ratchet down on authentication, particularly if they try and use a freemail domain in the From:. If they have a domain then using that in the From: header and for DKIM signing will likely give them better results.

Expert from Word to the Wise suggests that while using an ESP's shared IP can provide a baseline reputation, ultimately, controlling your sending reputation through your own authentication is more beneficial, regardless of list size. It allows for more granular control and easier troubleshooting.

Documentation from Google explains that SPF records help prevent spammers from sending unauthorized messages that appear to come from your domain. By publishing an SPF record, you can specify which mail servers are authorized to send mail on behalf of your domain.

Documentation from RFC Editor specifies the technical syntax for SPF records. It outlines the different mechanisms and qualifiers that can be used to define which mail servers are authorized to send mail on behalf of your domain.

Documentation from DKIM.org explains that DKIM provides a method for verifying the sender's identity through a digital signature attached to the email. This helps prevent email spoofing and phishing attacks, regardless of the size of the email sender's list.

Documentation from Microsoft emphasizes that even small businesses benefit from implementing SPF. It helps prevent spoofing and phishing attacks, protecting your brand reputation and ensuring that your legitimate emails reach their intended recipients.

Documentation from DMARC.org details that DMARC relies on SPF and DKIM to function effectively. Even if you're a small sender, implementing DMARC helps protect your domain from being used in phishing attacks, providing an extra layer of security.