DMARC adoption is accelerating. From the initial launch in 2012 by email inbox providers trying to protect their users to large companies looking to improve email delivery, DMARC has achieved worldwide adoption. However, new technology like DMARC goes through a cycle of adoption, and DMARC appears to be lagging among companies that would be typical targets for spoofing, spamming and hacks - Fortune 500 and Alexa 1000 domains.
MxToolbox’s Experts are continually investigating technologies that affect email deliverability. Blacklisting was once the key threat to legitimate emailers. Being on a blacklist could block your email from delivery. Now, without SPF, DKIM and DMARC, your email may make it past the blacklist filters and still never make it to your recipients.
How does DMARC work?
DMARC works in conjunction with SPF and DKIM to report on the compliance of email sent on behalf of your domain. Inbox providers prioritize email from senders that have email that is SPF compliant and DKIM signed.
The important thing to understand is that recipients using DMARC look at your entire email volume, all email that uses your domain in the “From” section of the email header, including your legitimate email, 3rd party senders, spam and spoofing. In some cases, spam and spoofing email sent on behalf of your domain may dwarf legitimate communications. The only way to know is to request DMARC summary reports from recipients and inbox providers, process those reports and take actions based upon key information in the reports.
What do you need to do to protect your email deliverability?
- Adopt SPF to designate who your authorized email senders are.
- Configure DKIM with all your email senders and take ownership of your email by signing all outbound email cryptographically.
- Setup a DMARC record to start receiving reports from inbox providers on the compliance of your emails with SPF, DKIM and DMARC standards.
- Update your sender configurations to improve compliance.
- Block spoofers by moving to a more restrictive DMARC policy.
Consider using a DMARC reporting provider like MxToolbox Delivery Center to process DMARC reports from inbox providers to get a complete picture of your email deliverability.
You rely on email for business critical communication, so you need to know your email has been delivered to your customers and what technologies affect email delivery. MxToolbox Experts are here to help you understand email deliverability.