Optimal deliverability – step by step

Objective: You authenticate a subdomain in order to optimise your deliverability. You will use the authenticated subdomain for sending your emails in Inxmail Professional.

Step by step

  1. Enter a name for your subdomain. Consult with your IT department in the process.

    An Internet address (or URL) consists of the following:

     

    A URL can have a subdomain, but it does not necessarily need one.

    • Main domain: example.com

    • Subdomain: subdomain.example.com

    For technical and performance reasons, you can use a maximum of 50 domains per XPRO client (as a sending domain or as a redirect URL). Contact us if the maximum number is not sufficient for you.

    The only way to have all the options to optimise the deliverability of your mailings is when you set up a subdomain.

    We recommend setting up a subdomain that you only use for sending emails using Inxmail Professional. In this manner you avoid inadvertently affecting your main domain and your emails for daily business correspondence.

    If your previous domain is a subdomain and you use this subdomain exclusively for sending in Inxmail Professional, you can authenticate and continue to use your existing subdomain in the Brand Identity Protection agent.

    If not, you need to create a new subdomain. Only if you separate your subdomain for Inxmail Professional from your main domain and your emails for daily business correspondence can you be sure that you will not inadvertently impact your reputation negatively.

    We strongly advise you to not use your main domain for sending emails using Inxmail Professional. Loss of reputation that occurs due to sending newsletters affects the core of your company and brand.

    From a technical standpoint, it is possible to send emails using your main domain in combination with scenario 3.

    However, we do not recommend implementing scenario 3. There is a high risk of setup errors and loss of reputation involved with scenario 3. The loss of reputation is particularly serious if it affects your main domain and your emails for daily business correspondence.

    • You would intuitively think that a recipient would trust a main domain more than a subdomain.

    • However, it is exactly the opposite from a technical standpoint: It is much more complicated and error-prone to authenticate your mailings with DMARC when you send emails via your main domain, which you use outside of Inxmail Professional for other purposes. You run the risk of a loss of reputation if setup errors occur.

      Which is why we recommend creating a subdomain that you only use for Inxmail Professional. You can conveniently and securely authenticate this subdomain when implementing scenario 1 or scenario 2.

      If you implement scenario 3, it means that you are using a main domain to send your emails in Inxmail Professional. Or using a subdomain that you use outside of Inxmail Professional for other purposes.

      It means that you use the same domain for different sources to send emails, such as:

      • Newsletters

      • Transaction emails like order and invoice confirmations

      • Your emails for daily business correspondence

      You can run into major problems with your reputation by mixing these things. For example, if a loss of reputation arises from sending your newsletters, this loss of reputation will also affect your emails for daily business correspondence.

      On the other hand, if you differentiate the email types from each other, each domain builds its own reputation and the different sources to send emails do not affect one another.

      There are many systems that send emails using your company name within the company. These include job portals, social media services and acquisition channels. These channels often exist in your company without the knowledge of your IT department. It is also referred to as shadow IT. Not all of these services sign your emails using DKIM, or even adhere to the other technical standards regarding deliverability.

      If you want to implement scenario 3, you need to set the DMARC policy of your main domain to ‘reject’, or at the very least to ‘quarantine’. To do so, you need to ensure that all systems sending emails using your company name adhere to your deliverability standards. This generally means that

      • you need to generate and evaluate complex XML reports in which you use the IP address to determine all programs and services that send emails using your company name.

      • You need to communicate with third-party service providers and require them to sign your emails using DKIM and adhere to your deliverability standards.

      This process is very involving and can take years depending on your IT infrastructure.

      Conclusion: The easiest and most secure way of protecting your domain is to set up your own subdomain that you only use for Inxmail Professional. Implement either scenario 1 or scenario 2 to do so.

  2. You have set up your subdomain with your domain host. Use the assistance of your IT department.

    Each domain host has different configuration options. Please have your IT department take care of the configuration or even consider asking your domain host for assistance.

    You should only use the new subdomain for Inxmail Professional. In this manner you avoid inadvertently affecting your emails for daily business correspondence.

  3. Consult with your IT department before choosing a scenario. You will only achieve optimal deliverability in any of the scenarios by working with one subdomain.

    Scenario 1 means that you have the least maintenance effort in the long term. You store DNS entries once and delegate the domain to Inxmail. Inxmail carries out any adjustments and you do not need to do anything if there are any changes to the domain entries in the future.

    To scenario 1

    Scenario 2 differs from scenario 1 in the type of DNS entries. You use CNAME and TXT entries here. In practical terms this means that in the long run, you are responsible for maintaining and, if necessary, updating your DNS entries (= no domain delegation).

    There is no difference between scenario 1 and 2 with regard to the impact on your deliverability. You are in a good position with regard to your deliverability with both scenarios.

    To scenario 2

    Please only use scenario 3 as an absolute exception. We do not recommend it. If you set up things incorrectly, you risk damaging your reputation and this will affect the domain you use.

    To scenario 3

    If you implement scenario 3, it means that you are using a main domain to send your emails in Inxmail Professional. Or using a subdomain that you use outside of Inxmail Professional for other purposes.

    It means that you use the same domain for different sources to send emails, such as:

    • Newsletters

    • Transaction emails like order and invoice confirmations

    • Your emails for daily business correspondence

    You can run into major problems with your reputation by mixing these things. For example, if a loss of reputation arises from sending your newsletters, this loss of reputation will also affect your emails for daily business correspondence.

    On the other hand, if you differentiate the email types from each other, each domain builds its own reputation and the different sources to send emails do not affect one another.

    There are many systems that send emails using your company name within the company. These include job portals, social media services and acquisition channels. These channels often exist in your company without the knowledge of your IT department. It is also referred to as shadow IT. Not all of these services sign your emails using DKIM, or even adhere to the other technical standards regarding deliverability.

    If you want to implement scenario 3, you need to set the DMARC policy of your main domain to ‘reject’, or at the very least to ‘quarantine’. To do so, you need to ensure that all systems sending emails using your company name adhere to your deliverability standards. This generally means that

    • you need to generate and evaluate complex XML reports in which you use the IP address to determine all programs and services that send emails using your company name.

    • You need to communicate with third-party service providers and require them to sign your emails using DKIM and adhere to your deliverability standards.

    This process is very involving and can take years depending on your IT infrastructure.

    Conclusion: The easiest and most secure way of protecting your domain is to set up your own subdomain that you only use for Inxmail Professional. Implement either scenario 1 or scenario 2 to do so.

  4. Set up the agentBrand Identity Protection by following the step-by-step instructions for your scenario.

  5. Store your DNS entries with your domain host. Use the assistance of your IT department.

    The DNS entries in the Brand Identity Protection agent enable you to send your emails via the Inxmail servers and still authenticate and sign your emails via your subdomain.

    You can find more information on the DNS entries that you need to store with your domain host:

    Each domain host has different options for storing DNS entries. Please have your IT department take care of the adjustment or even consider asking your domain host for assistance.

  6. Store your subdomain in your list settings so that the settings from the Brand Identity Protection agent will be applied.

    Your settings in the Brand Identity Protection agent will have no effect if you do not store your subdomain in the list settings, because your Inxmail Professional emails will not be sent via your newly authenticated subdomain.