
We assist marketing professionals with improving the performance of their email programs by providing proven solutions to deliverability and engagement issues.
By Bunyemiya Sambo
The degree of exposure to public notice is a constant priority in email marketing which will eventually lead to email deliverability. Over 270 million emails are being sent on a daily basis, so it is very important you distinguish yourself from your competition and put yourself in front of your target audience or potential clients before your competition does!
There is no solution to provide you with ultimate visibility. Only a set of techniques and guidelines that you constantly have to follow up to stay on the top.
Recently, there is a new update to keep in mind because DNS added BIMI to its information verifying features.
In the past, we have seen the best practice for senders to authenticate their emails using SPF and DKIM. Several senders are also enabling DMARC to solidify their email security.
Brand Indicators for Message Identification (also known as BIMI) is one of the spanking new technologies that plays an important role in email makeover.
It is rare for subscribers to check through email headers for authentication. It is expected of them to think the mail providers have been through emails being sent to them, thus people still fall victims of internet scams, email phishing and spoofing which cause a huge decline in email trust between companies and customers.
Is that correct?
Yes, right?
Buckle up! Because we’ll be going through this new technology in this guide. But before that, what is BIMI?
BIMI stands short for Brand Indicators for Message Identification. This new feature allows your recipients to see your logo next to your incoming email in their inbox.
BIMI also establishes the fact that the email is authentic without requiring any internal checks to prevent any fraudulent emails by adding an additional layer of authentication. “BIMI displays your logo beside your emails to your email subscribers – which boosts brand trust!”
It’s a new standard that allows you to support your visibility and prevent fraud by senders who don’t comply with the SPAM-CAN act. BIMI is also said to be a 2.0 version of DMARC, It works together with DMARC, DKIM, and SPF so the email service providers of your recipients would identify you correctly and let your messages be displayed in the inbox.
BIMI is a visual verification, subscribers can identify and trust the messages you send. They can simply glance through their emails and know which is from what brand.
Get the idea?
But why should I care?
Basically TRUST!
Because BIMI is the very FIRST email identification technique that is visible to the recipient. Think of BIMI as a digitized passport, business card or even a driver’s license specifying “who I am” at the checkpoints or anywhere necessary.
You may be thinking several people fake passports, YES! For sure they do, they are not 100% guaranteed but will certainly help in getting your email delivered to Inbox.
I will rather prefer to see a company’s logo in my email than an email header with question marks, which I would be deliberating on clicking the email sent.
Not all emails sent without logos are fraudulent or SPAM mails but are simply companies which haven’t used BIMI (or don’t even know what it is yet).
Moreover, BIMI improves email deliverability via brand recognition from the user’s end and also makes your recipient trust you, something that has never been done before. Email marketers or brands do not have the need to worry because it has an extra advantage in authentication by the additional layer of authentication.
So it’s a win-win situation for both parties!
In a nutshell BIMI provides you with:
Authentication
Trust
Improved deliverability
Prevents fraud
Now for this guide, we’ll be walking you through a step by step process on how you can set up BIMI for your brand.
The location of the image file is also stored and it must be an SVG file. These two things are difficult to duplicate hence BIMI is said to be a safe method to protect brand image and authenticity.
Note that you will need SPF and DKIM in place before these steps.
If you need help with that, speak to your ESP or you can simply contact us here to help you out.
But, here’s a breakdown:
As mentioned earlier, BIMI is considered a 2.0 version of DMARC, so it is basically the extension of DMARC.
If it does not function as expected, you won’t be able to integrate BIMI. The BIMI standard won’t work if you use the “p=none” DMARC policy.
After setting up DMARC policy at enforcement; set to either “p=quarantine” or “p=reject”.
Recognition of your brand , thus decreasing the chances of being marked as SPAM. It brings awareness and it helps your subscribers to be constantly reminded of your brand.
Recognition of your brand , thus decreasing the chances of being marked as SPAM. It brings awareness and it helps your subscribers to be constantly reminded of your brand.
Security: mailbox providers will have a certified authority to trust on brand logos.
Security: mailbox providers will have a certified authority to trust on brand logos.
With the visibility of your brand’s logo, it will elevate the user experience or trust in the engagement of your mail.
With the visibility of your brand’s logo, it will elevate the user experience or trust in the engagement of your mail.
Asides helping in free visibility of your brand logo, an improvement in deliverability and engagement with recipients, BIMI also plays a role in social media marketing and branding.
How, you say?
With the help of BIMI the presence of social media branding and marketing will be acknowledged and eventually increase with engagement as proposed.
Enabling BIMI will drive good engagement which in-turn could result in improved email deliverability. We are aware that engagement from your users on your emails is monitored by mailbox providers.
The more engagement you receive, the more improved your deliverability is!
Your sending acts will still matter to the mailbox providers to allow your emails into the inbox. But the bad stuff like spam complaints, fluctuations in reputation will matter a lot as long as you are in the engaging process with your recipient.
As mentioned, enabling BIMI will not necessarily guarantee good inboxing, but instead, it will start a chance of positive engagement and improved domain hygiene, which could only indicate good things to follow with ESPs.
To get started, you can take the following steps on how to set up BIMI.
For more information you and visit BIMI.org
Before you go…
Was this post helpful?
What is your take on BIMI?
Can it boost your email deliverability and email marketing?
Kindly leave a comment and tell us what’s your take on BIMI.
We assist marketing professionals with improving the performance of their email programs by providing proven solutions to deliverability and engagement issues.
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |