What deliverability benefits do I get from FCrDNS? How should I set up SPF records using Sparkpost?
Summary
What email marketers say13Marketer opinions
Email marketer from GMass shares that you can use SPF to allow the GMass servers to send emails appearing to come from your domain. This can improve your delivery rates, as SPF records help to confirm the email is coming from who it says it is.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that instead of using CNAME for your bounce domain (in SparkPost terminology) you can just manually add the MX record, and set the SPF to point to just your dedicated IPs. However, if anything changes on your account and you get new IPs, it will be on you to remember to update the SPF!
Email marketer from ExpertSender explains that SPF is essential for email deliverability as it allows receiving servers to verify that emails from your domain are sent from authorized servers. A properly configured SPF record helps prevent email spoofing and improves your sender reputation.
Email marketer from Quora shares that an SPF record is a DNS record that lists the servers that are authorized to send email from your domain. It helps prevent spammers from forging your domain in the 'From' address, improving deliverability and sender reputation.
Email marketer from SendGrid shares that SPF records enhance email deliverability by authenticating your sending server. Implementing SPF correctly ensures that mailbox providers recognize your email as legitimate, reducing the chances of it landing in the spam folder. When using shared IPs the SPF record should be handled by Sendgrid but on dedicated IPs you should handle it yourself.
Email marketer from StackOverflow states that SPF validates that the servers sending mail on behalf of your domain are authorized to do so. This helps prevent spoofing and phishing attacks, and ensures that legitimate emails are more likely to reach the inbox.
Email marketer from EmailToolTester explains that an SPF record lists all the IP addresses and domains authorized to send emails on behalf of your company. By properly setting it up, you are essentially telling email providers such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook who can send emails for you. This will help improve your email deliverability rate and avoid your emails being classified as spam.
Marketer from Email Geeks advises not to mess with the SPF record, as it could break things. He also notes that there is always a theoretical risk of others using the infrastructure to send fraudulent messages, but providers like Sparkpost have internal controls to prevent this, so there's no need to worry.
Email marketer from EasyDMARC says that SPF helps in preventing unauthorized use of the domain name and prevents malicious actors from causing harm to your brand’s sender reputation, deliverability, and customer trust.
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that there is no extra deliverability benefit once you have FCrDNS set up, but to be wary of hostnames that are IP based, such as <http://111-222-333-444.example.com|111-222-333-444.example.com>.
Email marketer from Mailjet explains that having a matching Forward Confirmed reverse DNS (FCrDNS) record can improve email deliverability by verifying that your sending IP address is associated with your domain. This helps to build trust with ISPs and reduces the likelihood of emails being flagged as spam.
Marketer from Email Geeks reminds that SPF only applies to the bounce domain and not the sending domain.
Email marketer from Reddit explains that reverse DNS is important because it provides a way for receiving mail servers to verify that the IP address sending email for your domain is actually authorized to do so. This helps build trust and can improve deliverability.
What the experts say4Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that SPF helps in preventing spammers from forging the domain in the 'From' address. Word to the Wise highlights that SPF is only a part of an overall email authentication strategy, and that for the greatest protection, implement DMARC as well. (While this site doesn't directly address SparkPost SPF setup, it emphasizes the benefits of SPF in general email authentication.)
Expert from Email Geeks explains that includes: are outsourcing the responsibility / authority to a 3rd party, making sense in many cases. However, if you’re that concerned about someone else hijacking your identity (and thus your reputation) then don’t use an include or a CNAME.
Expert from Spam Resource explains that FCrDNS is important as it helps receiving mail servers verify that the IP address sending email for your domain is authorized. A mismatch negatively impacts the email sender's reputation. While this site doesn't directly provide instructions on setting up SPF records with SparkPost, it highlights the general importance of both FCrDNS and SPF for email deliverability.
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the point of SPF is not what Johan says it is. But, if you have dedicated IPs, the fix is to not use an include: in your SPF record, but instead list the IPs that you are using for that string.
What the documentation says6Technical articles
Documentation from RFC Editor (RFC 7208) specifies that SPF allows domain owners to authorize which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of their domain. This helps prevent spoofing and improves deliverability by providing ISPs with a way to verify the authenticity of email messages.
Documentation from Microsoft explains that SPF records can help prevent spoofing and phishing attempts by validating the origin of emails sent from your domain. It helps improve deliverability by ensuring that receiving mail servers can verify that the email is coming from a trusted source.
Documentation from DigitalOcean explains that reverse DNS (rDNS) lets mail servers verify the hostnames associated with an IP address. Setting rDNS to match the domain used to send emails can prevent outgoing emails from being marked as spam. rDNS is most effective when it matches the hostname presented in the email's HELO/EHLO statement.
Documentation from Google Workspace Admin Help indicates that SPF records help prevent spammers from sending messages with forged 'From' addresses at your domain. When a receiving mail server gets a message from your domain, it can check the SPF record to verify that the message was sent from a mail server authorized by you.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that dedicated IPs can be warmed up to build a sending reputation which provides additional deliverability benefits. They recommend setting up reverse DNS (rDNS) to point the IP address back to your sending domain, which helps build trust with ISPs.
Documentation from SparkPost explains that SPF records authorize SparkPost to send emails on behalf of your domain, improving deliverability. To configure SPF, create a TXT record in your DNS settings with the value 'v=spf1 include:sparkpostmail.com -all'.