How do non-branded domains and shared SFMC hostnames impact email deliverability and what configurations are best?

Email marketer from SparkPost explains that using a subdomain specifically for email sending (e.g., mail.yourdomain.com) allows you to isolate your email reputation from your main website's reputation. This helps protect your brand in case of deliverability issues.

Email marketer from Litmus shares that DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) builds upon SPF and DKIM by providing a policy that tells recipient servers what to do with emails that fail authentication checks, such as rejecting them or marking them as spam. It also provides reporting to domain owners.

Email marketer from Microsoft highlights the importance of maintaining a positive sender reputation. Senders with poor reputations are more likely to have their emails filtered as spam or blocked entirely by Outlook.com and other Microsoft services.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum shares that switching to a dedicated IP address gives you more control over your sending reputation. You're not affected by the actions of other senders, but you're also solely responsible for maintaining a good reputation.

Email marketer from ZeroBounce shares that proper email authentication is crucial for boosting deliverability. This includes setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to verify your domain's legitimacy and prevent spoofing.

Email marketer from Mailjet Blog shares that using shared IP addresses means your sending reputation is tied to other users on the same IP. If they send spam, it can negatively affect your deliverability, highlighting the importance of monitoring IP reputation.

Email marketer from Reddit explains that using SFMC's shared domains (like exacttarget.com) means your reputation is partially tied to other senders on the platform. If they're sending spam, it can hurt your deliverability, even if you're following best practices.

Email marketer from SendGrid answers that authenticating your sending domain by setting up SPF and DKIM records helps to improve deliverability by verifying that you are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. This builds trust with ISPs.

Expert from Spamresource shares that using Multi-bounce domain allows you to get SPF alignment for both domains when sending

Expert from Email Geeks clarifies that DMARC can pass based on DKIM alignment or SPF alignment. Even if using shared bounce domains, DMARC might still pass due to DKIM alignment, but it's less ideal.

Expert from Email Geeks says that SPF alignment is nice to have and worth doing if easily possible, but DKIM alignment is more important.

Expert from Email Geeks shares that the domain mismatch isn't a huge problem, but sharing reputation with other SFMC/ExactTarget customers through shared hostnames can lead to deliverability issues.

Expert from Word to the Wise answers that having control over your hostnames across your email configuration gives you a better experience, and the mismatch of domains in an email isn't a huge problem.

Expert from Email Geeks recommends you implement SAP, that you should brand with DKIM and SPF, and that you should use fully custom image/click/etc domains.

Expert from Email Geeks confirms that there should be an A record for the bounce subdomain for every private domain utilized.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that using multiple non-branded domain touchpoints can negatively impact deliverability, especially if those shared domains get a poor reputation at Gmail.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that SFMC authentication can be tricky, and using SFMC hostnames means sharing reputation with other SFMC customers.

Documentation from RFC explains that SPF (Sender Policy Framework) records specify which mail servers are authorized to send email from your domain. Properly configured SPF records prevent spammers from forging your domain in the 'From' address.

Documentation from Salesforce Help explains that SAP provides a collection of products that authenticate your email sends, improving deliverability and allowing you to brand your marketing efforts consistently. It includes dedicated IP addresses, branded sending domain, and account configuration.

Documentation from Google explains that to ensure reliable delivery to Gmail, bulk senders should authenticate their email with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Additionally, they should avoid sending unwanted email and follow Gmail's best practices.

Documentation from Mimecast shares that a secure email gateway is important to protect your email server from attacks and spam. Implementing strong security measures helps you maintain a positive sending reputation and ensures your emails reach their intended recipients.

Documentation from RFC explains that DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) uses a digital signature to authenticate emails. When an email is DKIM signed, the recipient server can verify that the email was indeed sent from the authorized domain and that the content hasn't been altered during transit.