How does adding DMARC/SPF/DKIM impact email sends and domain reputation, and should I warm domains post-authentication?
Summary
What email marketers say16Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Email Deliverability Community suggests that after implementing DMARC, it's essential to monitor your email deliverability and domain reputation closely. Use tools like Google Postmaster Tools to track your sending reputation and identify any potential issues.
Email marketer from Reddit shares that it's crucial to configure SPF records correctly to include all authorized sending sources (e.g., email marketing platforms, transactional email services). Incorrect SPF configurations can lead to deliverability issues.
Marketer from Email Geeks states that Gmail has been rejecting some unauthenticated senders and enforcing DKIM alignment, urging senders not to delay authentication setup.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum advises ensuring that DKIM signatures are properly aligned with your domain. Misaligned DKIM signatures can cause deliverability issues, even if the signature itself is valid.
Email marketer from SendGrid shares that Implementing DMARC can protect your domain's reputation by preventing spoofing and phishing attacks, but incorrect configurations can lead to deliverability issues. Warming your domain post-authentication is recommended to establish trust with ISPs gradually.
Email marketer from GlockApps states that failing to implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC can lead to deliverability issues, as ISPs are more likely to flag unauthenticated emails as spam or reject them altogether. They emphasize setting up authentication is vital.
Email marketer from SparkPost explains that gradually rolling out DMARC policies allows you to monitor your email traffic and make necessary adjustments before enforcing strict policies that could potentially block legitimate emails. They advise a phased approach.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests sending critical emails before making any changes to email authentication, as incorrect DMARC settings can negatively impact deliverability.
Email marketer from Constant Contact explains that setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC can improve email deliverability by demonstrating to email providers that you are a legitimate sender. If your emails land in the inbox, engagement metrics will improve.
Email marketer from Litmus explains that implementing email authentication protocols improves inbox placement rates. ISPs use these protocols to verify senders, so without them, emails are more likely to land in the spam folder.
Marketer from Email Geeks explains that manually forwarded emails are authenticated by the user's email system, while system-automated forwarding breaks SPF and potentially DKIM.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester recommends using a subdomain for sending marketing emails and properly authenticating it. This isolates your marketing email reputation from your main domain's reputation. They also advise warming this subdomain.
Marketer from Email Geeks says that forwarding often breaks authentication. It breaks SPF, and sometimes DKIM, too, if messages get rewritten.
Email marketer from GMass explains that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are crucial for establishing a good sender reputation and preventing email spoofing, which improves deliverability rates. They also advise monitoring your reputation after implementation.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares a link to Google's announcement that they will start rejecting non-compliant (unauthenticated) mail.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that warming an IP address involves gradually increasing the volume of emails sent from a new IP address to establish a positive sending reputation with ISPs. This helps prevent your emails from being flagged as spam and improves deliverability.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks recommends warming new authentication in most situations.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that DMARC can prevent unauthorized use of your domain. It may or may not influence mail delivery, depending on whether you publish a policy that requests senders to reject or quarantine unauthorized mail.
Expert from Email Geeks confirms that forwarding mail regularly breaks authentication and, with a p=reject DMARC policy, such mail may be rejected.
Expert from Email Geeks expresses strong concern about sending non-aligned/non-authenticated email, noting that Google is currently rejecting such mail.
Expert from Word to the Wise shares the importance of having separate reputations for your marketing emails. Laura Atkins suggests creating subdomains to send marketing emails. If one of your emails receives a spam complaint, only the reputation of that subdomain will be impacted, instead of damaging your overall domain.
What the documentation says3Technical articles
Documentation from DMARC.org explains DKIM adds a digital signature to your emails, verifying that the email hasn't been altered during transit and that it truly came from the sender it claims to be. This builds trust with receiving mail servers and positively influences your domain reputation.
Documentation from Google explains that implementing DMARC helps prevent spoofing and phishing by ensuring that only authorized senders can use your domain, thus protecting your reputation and improving deliverability. It doesn't directly impact sending reputation negatively if set up correctly.
Documentation from Microsoft explains SPF helps validate outbound email sent from your custom domain. By adding SPF records to your DNS, you're essentially creating a list of authorized IP addresses that can send email on behalf of your domain. Mail servers can then check SPF records to verify the legitimacy of incoming email. This reduces spoofing and improves deliverability.