DMARC, SPF and DKIM Simplified
In Email Marketing, ensuring your emails hit the inbox stage without a hitch is crucial. This is where the trio of DMARC, SPF, and DKIM takes the spo...
SPF
Sender Policy Framework is a DNS setting that lists which servers can send email for your domain so inbox providers can quickly check if a message is real or spoofed.
SPF is a simple way to tell mail providers which servers are allowed to send email for your domain. You add a small TXT record in your DNS that lists those servers. When an email is sent, the receiving server checks that record. If the server is listed, the message looks more trustworthy.
This matters because without SPF, anyone can pretend to send email from your domain. That leads to phishing, spam, and a damaged sender reputation. If filters see lots of suspicious mail from your domain, your real campaigns start to land in spam. A clean, accurate SPF record is one of the basics for solid deliverability.
As a rule, keep one SPF record per domain and keep it tidy. Add each provider that sends mail for you, like your marketing platform or help desk tool. Remove old services when you switch tools so they do not stay on the list. Use a tool from your provider to test the record after changes so you catch mistakes early.
Related Terms
Authenticated Received Chain (ARC)(ARC)
Authenticated Received Chain (ARC) is an email standard that keeps your authentication results when a message is forwarded or passes through mailing lists. It lets receiving servers see that earlier checks passed even if SPF or DKIM now look broken.
Learn more →DMARC(Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance)
DMARC is an email security policy that tells receiving mail servers what to do when messages from your domain fail SPF or DKIM checks. It helps stop spoofing and gives you reports about who is sending email using your domain.
Learn more →Domain Reputation
How trusted your sending domain is by email providers like Gmail and Outlook. A strong domain reputation keeps your emails in the inbox instead of spam.
Learn more →Message Transfer Agent (MTA)(MTA)
A Message Transfer Agent is the server that moves email from one mail system to another. It takes outgoing messages from your email tool and hands them off to the next mail server using SMTP until they reach the right inbox.
Learn more →Related Articles About SPF
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