What are the requirements to implement BIMI, and which providers support it?
Summary
What email marketers say9Marketer opinions
Email marketer from Reddit explains that the hardest part of BIMI implementation is often obtaining a registered trademark.
Email marketer from Email on Acid shares that Gmail and Yahoo Mail currently support BIMI. Other email providers may adopt BIMI in the future.
Email marketer from Validity shares insights into BIMI adoption and points out that while adoption is growing, it's not yet universally supported across all email providers.
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that BIMI can improve deliverability and brand recognition, but requires careful planning and execution.
Email marketer from ZeroBounce explains that it is important to monitor BIMI performance by tracking email deliverability, open rates, and engagement metrics.
Email marketer from Litmus shares that BIMI implementation costs include trademark registration, VMC costs, and potentially the cost of professional help.
Email marketer from Valimail Blog shares that BIMI helps increase brand recognition in the inbox, improving trust and open rates.
Email marketer from SparkPost explains that while the technical aspects of BIMI can be challenging, tools and guides are available to simplify the setup process.
Marketer from Email Geeks says they have seen BIMI icons for LinkedIn, Groupon, and Indeed.
What the experts say5Expert opinions
Expert from Email Geeks confirms that you need to be in the Google BIMI pilot program, as you can't get a VMC without being in the pilot.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that to have logos shown at Google in their Pilot, you need to be invited to participate in the Pilot, have a valid VMC issued by a participating certificate company, and have a registered logo mark to get the VMC (currently only available to US based orgs).
Expert from Spam Resource explains that BIMI requires a strict DMARC policy (p=quarantine or p=reject) to ensure that only legitimate senders are displaying their logos, protecting recipients from phishing.
Expert from Email Geeks clarifies that Yahoo is the only other provider officially supporting BIMI right now and they do not require a VMC.
Expert from Word to the Wise discusses that BIMI helps increase brand recognition within the inbox and makes it easier for customers to identify messages coming from trusted brands.
What the documentation says6Technical articles
Documentation from Entrust explains the technical requirements for the SVG logo, including that it must be in SVG Tiny Portable/Secure format.
Documentation from Agari by HelpSystems shares that BIMI provides added protection against phishing attacks by ensuring only authenticated emails display the brand's logo.
Documentation from BIMI Group Website explains that to implement BIMI, you need DMARC enforcement (p=quarantine or p=reject), a registered trademark, and a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for use with Google. The logo must be an SVG file.
Documentation from DigiCert explains that to obtain a VMC, you must have a registered trademark and go through an identity verification process with a VMC provider like DigiCert or Entrust.
Documentation from GlobalSign details the trademark requirements and explains that the trademark must be registered with an approved intellectual property office.
Documentation from dmarcian explains that BIMI requires DMARC to be set up with a policy of either 'quarantine' or 'reject' to prevent email spoofing.