A properly configured DMARC record can increase your open rate by 10% or more.
DMARC adds a layer of security to your emails that builds trust with email service providers.
The result is that fewer of your emails will land in the spam folder.
Below, we’ll discuss what DMARC is, why it’s important, and how it works. ⬇️
DMARC is an email authentication protocol that stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance.
It's an initiative by some of the biggest senders and receivers of email, like Gmail and Yahoo.
They created DMARC as a response to the increasing amount of fraudulent emails in the early 2010s. (Email is involved in 90% of cybercrimes)
The goal of the DMARC initiative was to combat phishing attacks and other cybercrimes through the implementation of a DMARC record.
A DMARC record is a DNS record you add to your domain’s DNS settings.
Through this record, receiving servers can verify if an email is coming from the domain it’s claiming to come from. It does so through two other DNS records called SPF and DKIM.
DMARC matters because it makes your emails more secure.
It prevents criminals from using your (sending) domain to launch cyber attacks.
In short: DMARC makes the internet a safer place for everybody.
What’s more, apart from the security aspect of DMARC, Gmail and Yahoo’s new email sender rules now require you to have a DMARC record set up.
Without DMARC, forget about landing in your audience’s inbox, especially if they use Gmail or Yahoo as their email provider.
And it doesn’t just concern Gmail addresses, either.
Companies can use custom email addresses through their Gmail account, and without DMARC, you will not reach many of them!
In a nutshell, if you’re doing email outreach in 2024, you need DMARC!
DMARC allows the receiving email server to verify if the email comes from the claimed sending domain.
The server intends to authenticate the email through the domain’s SPF and DKIM records.
If one of these authentication methods fail, it means we’re dealing with an unauthorized email.
It’s here where DMARC comes into place. Its policy settings determine what to do with the unauthorized email.
To make it easier to understand, first let’s take a look at a basic DMARC record:
v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]
While it may look like an incomprehensible line of code, it’ll become crystal clear once you know what the tags mean:
The DMARC record above is a basic but fully functional example, but A DMARC can also include other non-essential tags (see table below).
Since DMARC depends on SPF and DKIM, you must set these DNS records up before DMARC.
Here’s how to set up an SPF record, and go here to configure your DKIM record.
Once your SPF and DKIM records are set up, move on to the next step:
Since having multiple DMARC records can complicate the authentication process, it’s important to check if you already have one set up.
A simple way to find out is through a DNS check.
You can use lemwarm’s free email deliverability checker for this.
It’ll give you an overview of your technical setup, including your DNS records.
A basic DNS record will probably do the job for you now.
All you need to change is the “rua” tag so that it corresponds to your email address.
v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:[email protected]
You can change the policy setting to something stricter once reports start coming in.
Now we’re going to add the DMARC record to your domain’s DNS settings.
You can find those settings in your domain provider’s account.
However, if your domain's name servers point elsewhere, for example, to your hosting provider, this is where to find the DNS settings for your domain.
The exact steps may vary for different providers, but the process below should be a good enough guide to be able to add your DMARC record.
Once inside your domain’s DNS settings, you should see a list of DNS records.
Click on “add” or “add new record.” You should see a form like the one below:
To verify your DMARC record, you need to run a DNS check again.
Go to lemwarm’s free email deliverability tester and check your results.
💡Important: it can take up to 48 hours for your DMARC to propagate. Usually it’ll be active much sooner than that, but please give it some time before running a DNS check.
Setting up your DMARC record is not difficult, but you may want to make things even simpler. Use this DMARC generator to help you out.
Remember the “rua” tag in your DMARC record?
Well, as mentioned briefly earlier, there’s another reporting tag called “ruf.”
The “ruf” tag sends more detailed and elaborate reports than “rua.”
Both tags hold the email address your DMARC reports will be sent to.
The reports will give you insights into the authentication process.
Among other things, the reports will tell you if emails passed or failed authentication and which servers sent them.
Additionally, they allow you to find out what happened to the emails based on their authentication status.
Unfortunately, reports are sent in XML, which can be quite tough to analyze, so a tool that makes those reports more readable, such as EasyDMARC's DMARC report analyzer, can be very useful.
But what information exactly will you see in your DMARC reports?
Reports with a rua tag are essentially broad descriptive reports.
These reports are sent in an XML format. Here’s an example rua report:
Here’s the key information included in a rua report:
The “ruf” tag offers more elaborate reporting.
Here’s what’s included in DMARC ruf reports:
For email outreach, you must ensure that your technical setup is on point, as low open rates will cost you money.
DMARC is a critical component of your technical setup.
Without it, not only are your emails less secure, but they're also more likely to be sent to spam or not delivered at all.
While initially, setting up a DMARC record can seem complicated, once you know how it works, it becomes a breeze.
Use the information in this post to set up DMARC for your domain today!
G2 Rating | Price | Best for | Standout feature | Con | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.9 star star star star star | $30/mo $75/mo $2,999/mo | Large, distributed sales teams | AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs | Lack of tracking system | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Sales operations and finance teams | Powerful configurability | Limited training resources and complex to navigate | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Mid-market and enterprise businesses | Comprehensive incentive management | Potentially high cost and steep learning curve | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $15/user/mo $40/user/mo Enterprise: custom price | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Collaborative teams | Connected planning | Complexity and steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with complex sales structures | Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy | Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts | Simplicity and ease of use | Lack of features like redirection | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $30/user/mo $35/user/mo Custom: upon request | Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software | Ease of use and adoption | Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs | |
4.8 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights | A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility | Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow | |
4.9 star star star star star | $30/user/mo $50/user/mo | Smaller sales teams | Powerful automation | Lesser user base and average user interface | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with scalable needs | Automated Commission Calculations | Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app |
PRM Tool | Rating | Feature | Pro | Con | Mobile App | Integrations | Free Plan | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.65 star star star star star-half | Org-wide alignment | User-friendly layout and database | Suboptimal as a personal CRM | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-check | Team: $20/month Business: $45/month | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Social Media Integration | Easy contact data collection | No marketing/sales features | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-xmark 7-day trial | $12/month | |
4.75 star star star star star-half | Block Functions | High customization capability | Not a dedicated CRM | square-check | Limited | square-check | Plus: €7.50/month Business: €14/month | |
N/A | Open-source | Open-source flexibility | Requires extensive manual input | square-xmark | Limited | square-check Self-hosted | $9/month or $90/year | |
3.1 star star star | Simple iOS app | Ideal for non-tech-savvy users | iPhone only | square-check iOS only | Limited | square-xmark 1-month trial | $1.49/month or $14.99/month | |
3.6 star star star star-half | Smart Contact Management | Feature-rich and flexible | Reported bugs | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 7-day trial | Premium: $13.99/month Teams: $17.99/month | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Customizable Interface | Customizable for teamwork | Pricey for personal use | square-check | Rich | square-xmark | Standard: $24/member Premium: $39/member | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Integrated Calling | Integrated Calling | Too sales-oriented & pricey | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | Startup: $59/user/month Professional: $329/user/month | |
4.8 star star star star star | Business Card Scanning | Business Card Scanning | Mobile only | square-check | Limited | square-check | $9.99/month | |
4.45 star star star star star-half | 160+ app integrations | Comprehensive integrations | No free app version | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | $29.90/month or $24.90/month (billed annually) |
Capterra Rating | Free Trial | Free Plan | Starting Price (excluding the free plan) | Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan) | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-check | €15/month/seat billed annually | €792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat | Versatility and free plan | |
4.2 star star star star | square-check 30-day | square-xmark But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations | €25/user/month | €500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI) | Best overall operational CRM | |
4.3 star star star star star-half | square-xmark | square-check Limited to 3 users | Comprehensive incentive management | €52/user/month billed annually | Small-medium businesses and automation | |
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-xmark | €14/seat/month billed annually | €99/seat/month billed annually | Sales teams and ease of use | |
4.1 star star star star | square-xmark | square-check Limited 10 users | $9.99/user/month billed annually | $64.99/user/month billed annually | Free plan for very small teams up to 10 |
CRM goal | Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months. | ||||
SMART Breakdown | 1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation). | 2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking. | 3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements. | 4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives. | 5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date. |
Actions | Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation. | Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior. | Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads. | Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up. | Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization. |
Outcomes | Increased sales and revenue | Improved marketing automation ROI | Marketing and sales alignment | Data-driven marketing optimization |