Advanced emailing

This guide explains third-party tools and standards you can use to strengthen your email deliverability, monitor your sender reputation, and improve inbox placement.

3rd party monitoring tools

Mailbox providers offer some of the most valuable tools for monitoring your sender reputation. The three most widely used are:

Google Postmaster: Provides an overview of your domain health. Setup requires adding a DNS record on your side.
Yahoo Feedback Loop: Tracks spam complaints from Yahoo users. Setup requires creating a dedicated inbox on your side.
Microsoft SNDS: Shows data on your IP reputation and spam trap hits. Before adding your IP addresses, contact us via live chat or your Customer Success Manager. This lets us anticipate the access request and notify the relevant provider. Once we confirm this step is complete, submit your request and it will be approved shortly.

These tools surface issues such as spam complaints, SPF/DKIM errors, and spam trap hits. To check for blocklisting, use either of these tools:

Bulkblocklist: Checks multiple domains and IP addresses at once and displays your Sender Score.
MXToolbox: Runs a range of diagnostic checks on your domain and mail infrastructure.

Seed list testing

Seed list testing helps you understand how well your emails land in inbox folders versus spam. While results aren't 100% accurate, they offer valuable insight into your email performance trends and help you address deliverability issues early.

The process works by including a pre-set list of seed addresses in your campaign. After delivery, you receive a report on placement results. Multiple third-party providers offer this service. You can also use Mailgun Inbox Placement testing with Bloomreach.

DMARC and BIMI

Set up DMARC

The importance of correct email domain verification is increasing, especially with the implementation of DMARC and BIMI standards. DMARC helps prevent phishing emails from being sent from your domain and encourages you to organize your email infrastructure.

Setting up DMARC can take a few months, particularly if you've previously sent from unverified domains that used your sender name without correct SPF and DKIM records. Because DMARC would block those sends, you need to verify each domain first.

Take a phased approach:

Configure DMARC in reporting mode first.
Monitor who is sending email on behalf of your domain.
Verify all legitimate domains and subdomains.
Switch to rejection mode to block unauthorized senders.

You can use MXToolbox's DMARC setup guide as a reference.

Set up BIMI

Once your DMARC is configured, you can set up a BIMI record. BIMI lets you display your logo next to your sender name in emails. To set it up, add a new DNS record that points to your logo file.

Support for BIMI is growing across email clients — setting it up now puts you ahead of most brands. Visit bimigroup.org for an implementation guide and BIMI record validator.