Set up DKIM, SPF, and DMARC for your shipments

Setting up DKIM aims to authenticate the identity of email senders. It is an authentication protocol that allows email recipients to discern whether an email has been sent legitimately or not, enhancing deliverability when configured properly. It is configured with your hosting provider using the values indicated in your Acumbamail account.

The SPF indicates which IPs can send emails using each respective domain. The best part of this protocol is that there is nothing to configure, as it is already set up by default in Acumbamail.

The DMARC indicates to mail servers how to act when DKIM or SPF verification fails. It is configured with your hosting provider.

The reasons for making these configurations are more than sufficient:

You will achieve a higher open rate in your sends, as they will not go to the spam or junk mail folder.
You will protect your subscribers from potential virtual scammers who want to use your company's name for phishing.

What is DKIM?

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication protocol whose main function is to link a sending server with each email it sends. Once configured, the message is cryptographically signed with the domain name, verifying the sender's identity. Also, being signed with a cryptographic mechanism ensures that the message has not been tampered with during transmission. This may sound complicated, but all you need to do for this process to occur is configure a record in your DNS; Acumbamail takes care of the rest automatically.

How to set up DKIM in Acumbamail

First, log into your Acumbamail account and go to the Your Account section. Once there, click on the Emails and Domains tab.

To configure DKIM, you must have previously added and verified your domain in My Domains.

Go to Antispam Settings (DKIM) to start the configuration.

Configure DKIM

DKIM, you need to add a CNAME record from your hosting provider. The final value must be the one indicated in the Antispam Settings section. Some providers automatically add the domain name, so check if you need to add the part that includes your domain or not.

Although configuring these protocols is not complicated, in case of doubt, it is best to consult directly with the hosting provider before making changes. Additionally, in Acumbamail, you have the Send to a technician button that will automatically send all the necessary information to configure the records to the email you specify.

Verify the configuration. Once you have it configured, return to your Acumbamail panel and on the DKIM configuration page, click on Verify and you will be able to see if it is correctly configured. If not, you can click on the error message to see if you have configured the records correctly. Remember that they can take more than 48 hours to propagate. Remember that for each new change you make, you will need to click the Verify button again to check if the configuration has indeed been completed.

As you can see, it is a simple process and having this verification method configured will significantly increase the reliability and reputation of your domain, which will translate into an increase in the deliverability rate of your sends.

What is DMARC?

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) is a protocol that unifies the two previous ones. As DKIM and SPF have become so popular, many email providers implement them. The problem is that before the existence of DMARC, email providers could decide for themselves what to do with emails that did not comply with the other protocols.

DMARC basically allows you to specify a policy on what to do with them, for example, send them to the junk mail folder or even reject them. For the DMARC protocol to work correctly, you only need to have the DKIM and SPF records properly configured (no action is needed on the platform).

As of February 2024, major email servers like Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo consider it essential to have DMARC configured. If we do not configure it, it is very likely that we will end up in the desired mail folder.

How to set up DMARC in Acumbamail

DMARC configuration is not done within the platform itself; you have to do it with your hosting provider, where your domain is registered. It is as easy as adding a TXT record.

This could be an example of a DMARC record using a TXT record:

v=DMARC1;p=none;pct=100;rua=mailto:yourdomain.com

To help you understand what the previous record means:

“v” is the version of DMARC and is mandatory.
“p” indicates what servers should do if authentication fails. If set to “reject,” it means that the message is rejected = it bounces.
“pct” indicates the percentage of unauthenticated messages that are subject to the DMARC policy. 100 = 100%
“rua” is the address to which DMARC activity reports will be sent.

If you want to understand all the parameters you can set when configuring the DMARC protocol, check out this article.