As mentioned in a recent newsletter, Google has implemented far stricter SPAM filter guidelines for both personal as well as business users of their Gmail services. This may mean you need to further authenticate your email sending domain by updating settings in your DNS hosting account (or where you purchased your domain name, like Godaddy, Network Solutions, BlueHost, or Web.com).
We recommend that you update your email sending domain settings to include DKIM, SPF, and DMARC authentication.
Here’s what those acronyms mean:
- DKIM: DomainKeys Identified Mail. This is information that comes through in the background of an email message. It confirms that there haven’t been any changes to email content between the sender and receiver.
- SPF: Sender Policy Framework is another behind-the-scenes indicator of email sending authenticity. With an SPF record in place, Internet Service Providers can verify that a mail server is authorized to send email for a specific domain.
- DMARC: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance, helps mail administrators prevent hackers and other attackers from sending emails, making them look like they're coming from their organization and domain.
Here’s what they do for email authentication:
- DMARC: Yes, this email is really from this company
- SPF: Yes, this email service is authorized to send email from this domain
- DKIM: Yes, Outlook, Gmail, etc. can confirm this email is legitimate and less likely to route it to a spam folder
Now that you know why these authentication methods are important, let’s talk about setting them up in your HubSpot account.
Setting up email authentication in HubSpot
Most clients set up their DKIM authentication when they connect their email sending domain to HubSpot.
To set up additional authentications, you will need access to your Domain Name host account, or know who can access that account.
Then, follow these steps (or have us or your HubSpot admin complete them):
- Click on the settings icon in the top navigation bar.
- In the left menu, select Website > Domains & URLs.
- In the top right, click Connect a domain.
- You’ll see the below options. Choose Email Sending, then click Connect.
On the next screen, enter an email address you use to send marketing emails, then click Next.
In a separate tab, log in to your DNS provider and locate your DNS record settings (this is who hosts your domain, which is most likely where you registered or bought it). Learn more about adding DNS records to specific providers.
In the control panel, you’ll see areas with information on each of the three authentication methods. Each will outline what information is either missing or needs to be added. See the images below - these will be similar to your own panel but will include the information you need to copy into the DNS host areas.
DKIM
SPF
DMARC
Pro tip for multiple email domains
If you have multiple email domains you use for marketing email, you will either need to validate each domain or you’ll need to choose the winning domain for all.
I recently noticed a message in a client portal that said certain emails were being sent via a HubSpot address because the domain hadn’t been verified. In this client’s case, they were managing two brands in one HubSpot instance, so they had two email domains they used.
If you see that message in your email page, click through to see which marketing emails would be affected by that, then either update the “from” emails or authenticate the additional email domain(s) you use with marketing emails.
Want an even deeper dive? Check out this HubSpot Admins HubSpot User Group meeting on March 5.
Conclusion
Although going through this process may seem confusing, validating your email sending domains will help secure your brand by keeping bad actors from using them for phishing, spoofing, or other schemes. Also, it will improve your deliverability through HubSpot, especially to Gmail accounts.
If you’d like to speak with an expert Yeti, contact us today!
