Email Marketing terms

DMARC

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance. A protocol that uses SPF and DKIM to detect and prevent email spoofing.

What is a DMARC in email marketing?

DMARC, which stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance, is a protocol in email marketing that uses SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) to determine the authenticity of an email message. It is designed to help protect email senders and recipients from spam, phishing, and spoofing by verifying that an email is actually from the domain it claims to be from and that it hasn't been modified during transmission.

When an email is sent, the recipient's email server checks the DMARC policy of the sender's domain to see how to handle unauthenticated mail. If the email fails the DMARC check, it can be quarantined or rejected based on the sender's policy. This not only helps protect users from malicious emails, but also helps maintain the sender's reputation by preventing unauthorized use of their domain.

How does DMARC work in email marketing?

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is a protocol that uses SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) to determine the authenticity of an email message. In email marketing, DMARC helps in preventing email spoofing, which is a common technique used in phishing and email spam.

When an email is sent, the recipient's email server uses DMARC to check if the email aligns with the SPF and DKIM records published in the sender's DNS records. If the email passes the DMARC check, it is considered authentic and is delivered to the recipient's inbox. If it fails, the email could be marked as spam, quarantined, or rejected based on the DMARC policy set by the sender. This way, DMARC helps in protecting the brand's reputation, improving email deliverability, and increasing customer trust in email communications.

Why is DMARC important in email marketing?

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is crucial in email marketing because it helps protect email senders and recipients from spam, phishing, and spoofing. It allows the email sender to indicate that their emails are protected by SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and/or DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail), and tells a receiving mail server what to do if neither of those authentication methods passes. This helps to ensure that only legitimate emails are delivered, improving the reputation of the sender and increasing the likelihood that their emails will reach their intended recipients.

Furthermore, DMARC provides a way for the email receiver to report back to the sender about emails that pass and/or fail DMARC evaluation. This feedback can provide valuable insight into the effectiveness of your email campaigns and help identify potential issues. By implementing DMARC, businesses can protect their brand, increase customer trust, and improve email deliverability, making it a vital tool in successful email marketing.

How to implement DMARC in email marketing?

Implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) in email marketing involves a few steps. First, you need to set up SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). SPF allows email senders to define which IP addresses are allowed to send mail for a particular domain, while DKIM adds a digital signature to the headers of an email message, allowing the recipient to check that the email was actually sent from the domain it claims to be sent from and that it has not been modified during transit.

Once SPF and DKIM are set up, you can then implement DMARC by adding a DMARC record to your domain's DNS records. This record tells receiving mail servers how to handle mail that fails the SPF and DKIM checks. It can be set to either monitor, quarantine or reject such mail. The DMARC record also specifies an email address where the receiving server can send reports about the mail it receives, allowing you to monitor the effectiveness of your DMARC implementation. It's recommended to start with a "monitor" policy to collect and analyze data before moving to "quarantine" or "reject" policies.

Alsongside email marketing, if you're into video marketing...

You should try Tella.tv - your all-in-one screen recorder, to create launch videos, product demos, social media videos, 1:1s for customers, and more!

Tella isn't just a screen recorder. It combines the simplicity of Loom with the creativity of Canva to create great looking videos with no effort.

With Tella, you can record your screen and/or camera, combine separate clips and quickly remove mistakes, apply beautiful backgrounds, change the camera layout, add zoom effects - almost instantly.

Tella screen recorder

< Back to Email Marketing glossary

Try Tella today!

Screen recording for creators — simple and powerful.

7-day free trial — no credit card required