Lately, many free email address providers have begun updating their DMARC Validation details in ways that can affect bulk senders.
Many domains have made these changes recently, so if you use a “From” address at one of these domains, you may start running into trouble:
- Apple Domains (iCloud, Mac and Me)
- AOL
- Yahoo
- Mail.ru
- Verizon.net
- Gmail
How will this affect me?
For those domains, the DMARC policy has been updated to include p=reject. This means that any mail sent through a third party (like Mad Mimi) with a “from” address at any of those domains will be rejected (bounced) by most receiving inboxes.
While this is being done in an effort to stop spammers from spoofing email addresses, it has the unfortunate side-effect of getting in the way of totally legitimate senders like you, and legitimate third-party services like Mad Mimi.
Because sending third-party bulk mail with any of those “from” domains will result in failed delivery or high bounces, you’ll see a tooltip like this whenever you try to use one of those “from” addresses:
If you do happen to accidentally send a promotion using one of the previously mentioned free email addresses, Mimi will update your sender address to a @*.em.secureserver.net address, as seen in the example above. However, this may not be ideal, as your recipients may not be expecting mail from that address.
How can I avoid these problems?
Your best bet is to set up an email address at your own private domain. If you don’t have your own domain yet, you can check out some affordable options with:
Having your own domain is a great idea in and of itself, too! It allows your business to have its own unique identity, makes it easier for folks to find your organization in online searches, and helps your mail deliver safely and efficiently.
What if my private domain has a strict DMARC policy?
Due to how DMARC checks for domain “alignment”, in order to pass DMARC authentication when sending through Mad Mimi, you’ll need to add in a few records to your Sender domain’s DNS:
- If your domain currently has an SPF record set-up, you can add include:spf.em.secureserver.net to it.
- Or, if you don’t have one set up yet, create a TXT record for yourdomain.com with the value v=spf1 include:spf.em.secureserver.net ~all
It’s best to include our SPF info and not our individual IP ranges as those could change in the future and may break your email authentication.
Next, for custom DKIM, create two CNAME records in your domain’s DNS:
- Create a CNAME record for sable.cloud._domainkey with the value dkim.cloud.em.secureserver.net
- Create a CNAME record for sable.cloud2._domainkey with the value dkim.cloud2.em.secureserver.net
Lastly, for custom Return-Path, create two more CNAME records in your domain’s DNS:
- Create a CNAME record for bounces.cloud.em with the value cbounces.cloud.em.secureserver.net
- Create a CNAME record for bounces.cloud2.em with the value cbounces.cloud2.em.secureserver.net
Please keep in mind this will only work for mail sent from Mimi. If you need any guidance in adding these records, it’s best to consult your IT folks or domain provider for further assistance. You’ll find instructions for configuring DNS changes at some popular providers below:
- GoDaddy: Adding CNAME, Adding SPF
- Dreamhost: How to Add DNS records
- Hostgator: Changing DNS Records
- Hover: Managing DNS Records