Should I set up a subdomain for SPF records for email marketing?

Email marketer from Sendinblue explains that setting up a dedicated subdomain, such as email.yourdomain.com, is a best practice for email marketing. This isolates your sender reputation, and allows you to manage the SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records independently from your main domain. It protects your primary domain's reputation from potential deliverability issues with marketing campaigns.

Email marketer from Email Deliverability Community suggests that using a subdomain allows for easier testing and troubleshooting of email deliverability issues. This user also mentions that if you change email marketing platforms or strategies, it's easier to make changes on a subdomain without affecting the primary domain's email setup.

Email marketer from StackOverflow suggests that if you use multiple email sending services (e.g., transactional email service and marketing email service), you should set up SPF records for each subdomain used by these services. This user emphasizes that each service will need its own SPF record to ensure emails are properly authenticated.

Email marketer from Email on Acid explains that using a subdomain like 'email.yourdomain.com' or 'marketing.yourdomain.com' can help isolate any reputation damage caused by email marketing campaigns. This is especially useful if your main domain is used for important transactional emails. Also mentions it's easier to segment and track email performance.

Email marketer from Mailjet explains that a subdomain specifically for email sending, like mail.yourdomain.com, is recommended. This isolates your marketing emails from your transactional or corporate emails, safeguarding your primary domain's reputation. Using a separate subdomain allows you to set specific SPF and DKIM records without affecting other email streams.

Email marketer from Email Marketing Community Forum answers that using a subdomain like `mail.yourdomain.com` for marketing emails helps segment your email traffic and keeps your primary domain safe from potential reputation hits due to marketing campaigns. They suggest setting up distinct SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for this subdomain to manage its reputation independently.

Email marketer from Quora answers that using a subdomain for email marketing separates the email reputation of your marketing campaigns from your main domain. This user suggests configuring separate SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for the subdomain to protect your main domain's reputation if any issues arise with the marketing emails.

Email marketer from Reddit explains that using a subdomain for marketing emails allows you to test different email strategies and platforms without impacting your primary domain's reputation. This user suggests using a subdomain especially if you're experimenting with new email marketing techniques.

Email marketer from Webmaster Forum mentions that a subdomain allows to experiment with marketing campaigns without risking the primary domain reputation. It suggests using a separate subdomain is particularly important if sending high volumes of marketing emails, where the risk of deliverability issues is greater.

Expert from Email Geeks shares an example: if you’re customer.com and the ESP is esp.com and your return path is pineapple.customer.com then the ESP should have a TXT record at something like spf.esp.com, and you should either have a TXT record at pineapple.customer.com that has “include:spf.esp.com” or, more commonly, pineapple.customer.com should be a CNAME to spf.esp.com. Also mentions that If your return path is something like iguana.esp.com then you can’t publish SPF for that mail stream, only your ESP can, and it won’t be aligned.

Expert from Word to the Wise explains that delegating to a subdomain allows for easier tracking and adjustments to email authentication. It means you can manage the reputation of your marketing sends separately from the reputation of your transactional or corporate mail streams.

Expert from Email Geeks explains SPF is only relevant to the return path, not the From: header. If you’re getting a custom return path from your ESP they’ll walk you through what’s needed for SPF. If you aren’t then you don’t need SPF for that mail flow. That needs to be done for each source of mail. For your corporate mail you’ll probably need an SPF record at the apex, to match the return path that’ll be using.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that return paths are specific to the source of the email - you want the bounces to go to the same place the original mail came from. So if you have multiple ESPs, you're going to need to set up a SPF domain for each of them, and they will have different SPF records and different MX records. They CAN use the same d= for DKIM, but you will have separate selectors and multiple public DKIM keys.

Expert from Email Geeks explains that it is worst practice to set up SPF for your ESP at your root domain. Also explains that SPF needs to be set up with whatever domain you're using in the 5321.from address, and in some cases, at the domain you're using for the EHLO.

Expert from Spam Resource explains that using a subdomain for marketing can help protect your main domain's reputation. She notes that a subdomain isolates the impact of any deliverability issues related to marketing campaigns. This allows the primary domain to maintain a clean sending reputation for transactional emails.

Documentation from AWS explains that when using Amazon SES for sending emails, it is recommended to set up SPF and DKIM records for a dedicated subdomain. This isolates the sending reputation of your marketing or transactional emails from your primary domain, preventing deliverability issues from affecting your core business communications.

Documentation from DMARC.org explains that while not strictly required, using subdomains can simplify SPF and DKIM management, especially for organizations with multiple email streams. They highlight that proper alignment of SPF and DKIM records with the domain used in the 'From' address is essential for DMARC compliance, and subdomains can make this easier to manage.

Documentation from RFC Editor explains that SPF is evaluated against the domain used in the MAIL FROM (envelope sender) address. While it does not explicitly mandate subdomains, using them provides better control and management of SPF policies for different email sending sources. The document clarifies how SPF queries are processed during email authentication.

Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help explains that using subdomains for SPF records is a common practice, especially when using multiple email service providers. It isolates the SPF settings for different sending sources, making management and troubleshooting easier. Google recommends configuring SPF records for any domain or subdomain that sends email.

Documentation from Microsoft explains that if you send email from different systems, it is important to configure SPF records accordingly. Using a dedicated subdomain allows for specific SPF settings for each email stream, which can help in managing and troubleshooting deliverability issues. They mention that incorrect SPF configuration can lead to email delivery failures.