How important is DMARC for email and spam protection, and when should it be enabled?

Summary

Opinions on DMARC's importance vary. While some sources view it as non-critical or only useful in specific cases, a majority emphasize its role in protecting against spoofing, phishing, and brand impersonation, thus improving deliverability. Key considerations include balancing costs with benefits, understanding implementation complexity, and adopting a phased deployment approach. Documentation highlights DMARC's authentication mechanisms and its aim to reduce email abuse.

Key findings

  • Authentication & Protection: DMARC is vital for email authentication, protecting against spoofing, phishing, and brand impersonation.
  • Deliverability Impact: While not directly impacting deliverability, DMARC enhances trust with email providers, improving inbox placement.
  • Situational Usefulness: DMARC is more beneficial for brands concerned with deliverability, security, and those prone to spoofing.
  • Monitoring Importance: Implementing a 'p=none' policy initially is helpful to monitor domain abuse without immediate impact.
  • Building Block: DMARC builds on existing authentication methods, SPF and DKIM, for enhanced security.

Key considerations

  • Cost vs. Benefit: Evaluate the cost of implementation against potential benefits like brand protection and improved deliverability.
  • Implementation Complexity: DMARC setup requires technical knowledge, careful planning, and ongoing monitoring to avoid issues.
  • Phased Deployment: Employ a phased approach, starting with a monitoring-only policy, to identify legitimate sources before stricter enforcement.
  • ESP Compatibility: Ensure compatibility with your Email Service Provider (ESP) when implementing DMARC.
  • Potential Downtime: Incorrect DMARC configuration can lead to legitimate emails being blocked.

What email marketers say
17Marketer opinions

Experts and marketers hold varying views on the importance and implementation of DMARC. Some believe DMARC is essential for protecting against spoofing, phishing, and brand impersonation, leading to improved email deliverability. Others suggest that DMARC's usefulness depends on the specific use case, and it might not directly impact deliverability but helps ensure that email providers trust emails from your domain. A phased approach, starting with a monitoring-only policy (p=none), is often recommended to avoid unintended consequences.

Key opinions

  • Protection: DMARC protects against email spoofing, phishing attacks, and brand impersonation.
  • Deliverability: DMARC improves deliverability by signalling to ISPs that you care about security.
  • Use Case: DMARC's usefulness depends on specific use cases and company types.
  • Monitoring: A 'none' policy is helpful to monitor for domain abuse.
  • Fraud Prevention: DMARC can help prevent fraud, potentially improving domain reputation.

Key considerations

  • Cost: Deploying DMARC has costs, ranging from noticeable to significant. These costs should be weighed against potential benefits.
  • Complexity: DMARC setup can be tricky and requires careful planning, technical expertise, and ongoing monitoring.
  • Phased Approach: It's recommended to implement DMARC using a phased approach, starting with a monitoring-only policy.
  • Domain Type: DMARC is particularly useful for brands that care about deliverability and brand security, as well as companies that are known fraud vectors.
  • Potential Downsides: Incorrect DMARC configuration can block legitimate emails.
Marketer view

Email marketer from Stackoverflow comments DMARC policy should be enabled on all domains, even those that do not send email, to prevent domain spoofing.

September 2021 - Stackoverflow
Marketer view

Email marketer from URIports highlights that DMARC offers valuable insight into who is sending emails on behalf of your domain, improves deliverability by signalling to ISPs that you care about security, and protects your brand from being impersonated in phishing attacks.

June 2024 - URIports
Marketer view

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that while DMARC doesn’t directly impact deliverability, it ensures that email providers trust the emails sent from your domain, improving the likelihood that your emails will reach the inbox rather than the spam folder.

August 2024 - Mailjet
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks argues that DMARC doesn't directly help with spam, but it might prevent fraud, which could help ISPs catch bad emails, thus protecting domain reputation. A 'none' policy is helpful to monitor for domain abuse.

April 2021 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that DMARC's usefulness depends on the use case. For example, it is easier to set up for a subdomain used for invoices and a specific tool/platform. A 'none' policy can help detect domain abuse without negatively impacting deliverability.

November 2024 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Postmarkapp explains that DMARC should be enabled on all domains and it is particularly useful for brands that care about deliverability and brand security.

July 2023 - Postmarkapp
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests setting up DMARC in reporting-only mode (p=none) to have a view into mail streams. The bigger decision is whether to change to a more aggressive quarantine or reject policy which can cause problems if things aren’t squared away.

November 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Agari explains DMARC is essential for domains, especially those prone to spoofing or those with valuable brands. A DMARC record gives domain control and reporting.

May 2023 - Agari
Marketer view

Email marketer from an Email Marketing Forum notes that DMARC setup can be tricky, and requires careful planning, technical expertise, and ongoing monitoring to avoid unintended consequences like blocking legitimate emails.

November 2024 - Email Marketing Forum
Marketer view

Email marketer from EasyDMARC emphasizes that DMARC is extremely important for protecting your domain from email spoofing and phishing attacks. Implementing DMARC can significantly improve your email deliverability and protect your brand reputation.

November 2024 - EasyDMARC
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that while DMARC *might* help with spam filtering by catching fraud, it isn't likely to have a noticeable change. It requires technical knowledge, a monitoring tool, and an action plan for rolling it out and keeping it updated. The cost for getting it wrong is high.

February 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Email marketer from Reddit states that DMARC should be implemented as soon as possible, starting with a 'p=none' policy to monitor email traffic before moving to more restrictive policies.

April 2022 - Reddit
Marketer view

Email marketer from SparkPost emphasizes using a phased approach to DMARC deployment. This involves starting with a monitoring-only policy (p=none) to gather data and identify legitimate sending sources before moving to quarantine or reject policies.

August 2023 - SparkPost
Marketer view

Email marketer from Quora explains that creating a DMARC record is vital if you don't want malicious spammers and phishers spoofing your domain to send email from your domain.

February 2023 - Quora
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that DMARC is not critical.

October 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks says that DMARC can stop specific types of email spoofing, but it might cause some legitimate outbound emails to be dropped.

March 2023 - Email Geeks
Marketer view

Marketer from Email Geeks suggests that DMARC is useful for companies that are known fraud vectors. If you have a simple program using a single ESP, they recommend it. If you have a complex program, costs can start getting rather high.

November 2024 - Email Geeks

What the experts say
4Expert opinions

Experts agree that DMARC plays a vital role in email authentication and preventing domain abuse. While it doesn't directly combat spam, it controls who can send emails using your domain, offering insights into potential misuse. The decision to implement DMARC should be based on a cost-benefit analysis, with organizations prioritizing its use if they are concerned about brand impersonation, phishing attacks, or if their brands are commonly spoofed.

Key opinions

  • Authentication: DMARC is vital for email authentication, ensuring that incoming messages are authorized by the domain owner.
  • Domain Control: DMARC controls who can send emails using your domain, preventing unauthorized use.
  • Abuse Insight: DMARC provides insights into potential domain abuse and misuse.
  • Brand Protection: DMARC is important for organizations worried about brand impersonation and phishing attacks.

Key considerations

  • Cost-Benefit Analysis: Implementing DMARC should be based on a cost-benefit analysis, with the benefits outweighing the costs.
  • Not Directly Spam-Related: DMARC does not directly combat spam; it primarily focuses on authentication and preventing unauthorized domain use.
  • SPF and DKIM: DMARC builds upon existing authentication mechanisms of SPF and DKIM.
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks states that deploying DMARC has costs that can range from noticeable to significant. If the costs outweigh the benefits, it's a poor business decision. Users may not always see benefits.

September 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view

Expert from Spamresource.com details that DMARC is vital for email authentication. It is used to ensure that incoming messages claiming to be from a specific domain were authorized by the owner of that domain. DMARC builds upon the existing authentication mechanisms of SPF and DKIM.

July 2022 - Spamresource.com
Expert view

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that DMARC is worthwhile if the benefits outweigh the costs. It helps control who sends email using your domain and provides insights into potential abuse. It is important for organizations worried about brand impersonation and phishing attacks. DMARC is more important for organizations whose brands are spoofed.

November 2021 - Word to the Wise
Expert view

Expert from Email Geeks explains that DMARC doesn't help with spam; it's a way to prevent others from using your domain.

January 2022 - Email Geeks

What the documentation says
4Technical articles

Official documentation emphasizes DMARC's role in protecting senders and recipients from spam and phishing. It works in conjunction with SPF and DKIM to authenticate email senders, ensuring trust in messages from a domain. Implementation involves a phased approach, starting with monitoring and gradually enforcing stricter policies. DMARC's design aims to minimize email-based abuse, provide reporting for domain owners, and enhance email deliverability.

Key findings

  • Protection: DMARC helps protect against spam and phishing.
  • Authentication: DMARC authenticates mail senders, ensuring destination email systems trust messages.
  • SPF & DKIM: DMARC works with SPF and DKIM to verify sender authenticity.
  • Reporting: DMARC provides reporting mechanisms for domain owners.
  • Deliverability: DMARC aims to improve email deliverability.

Key considerations

  • Phased Implementation: Implement DMARC in phases: monitoring, quarantine, then reject.
  • Gradual Enforcement: Gradually enforce DMARC policies to minimize disruption.
Technical article

Documentation from Microsoft Learn explains that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC work together to authenticate mail senders and ensure that destination email systems trust messages sent from your domain. DMARC uses SPF and DKIM to verify the sender's authenticity.

May 2023 - Microsoft Learn
Technical article

Documentation from Proofpoint explains the phases of DMARC implementation, starting with monitoring (p=none), then quarantine, and finally reject. This allows organizations to gradually enforce DMARC policies while minimizing disruption.

June 2023 - Proofpoint
Technical article

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that DMARC helps protect senders and recipients from spam and phishing by allowing senders to indicate that their emails are protected by SPF and DKIM, and tells recipients what to do if SPF and DKIM checks fail.

February 2022 - Google Workspace Admin Help
Technical article

Documentation from RFC Editor describes DMARC's design goals as minimizing email-based abuse, providing reporting mechanisms for domain owners, and improving email deliverability.

June 2023 - RFC Editor