Using BIMI with your email messages

What Is BIMI?

BIMI, or Brand Indicators for Message Identification, is an email specification that helps email senders display their brand logos next to their emails in the recipient's inbox. It works alongside DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) and DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) to improve email authentication and reduce phishing. When set up, a verified logo appears in supported email clients, helping to increase brand recognition and trust. BIMI is for organizations and marketers that want to enhance their email communication with their branding. Further, its great for email recipients, providing a visual cue that helps them identify legitimate emails from trusted sources, reducing the risk of phishing. 

BIMI and AWeber

BIMI works with fully authenticated email domains. AWeber already recommends setting up DKIM and DMARC to get the best out of your email marketing efforts and bolster your deliverability. With these done you will then publish a BIMI record in your DNS settings with a link to your verified brand mark/logo. Your BMI record will be added to your domain's DNS as a TXT record that contains the URL to your brand logo in scalable vector graphics (SVG) format and the URL of a verified mark certificate (VMC). The BIMI Group's implementation guide has a quick breakdown of the steps needed to setup BIMI.

Note: Some email providers such as Yahoo do not require a VMC as a part of your BIMI record, and will only display your BIMI logo on bulk emailing sent to a sufficiently engaged audience. 

How to Enable BIMI

1. Setting DMARC policy

When setting up BIMI, you will need to log into your website's DNS and set your DMARC policy (p) value to be either p=reject or p=quarantine. If there is an existing DMARC record for your domain you would update the existing record. Do not add a second DMARC record. Only one can be used per domain. 

2. Creating your logo Image

The logo you will use for BIMI will need to be in .svg format and meet the following requirements:

• The image size must be a minimum height and width of 96 pixels.
• The image size must be specified in absolute pixels. Example: width=”96” height=”96”
• The logo image should be centered in a square.
• The logo image should appear on a solid color background.
• The SVG file size should be 32 KB or smaller.
• The SVG file should include the <desc> element (description) for accessibility.

Additionally, some inboxes will display rounded or circular profile photos. 

You'll want to have some extra space surrounding your image so that nothing vital is cropped out by some of these presentations. Once created upload the SVG file to your domain's public web server. The web server must be in the same domain as the domain used for your domain based email address.

3. Applying for a Mark Certificate 

To enable BIMI for your domain, some email providers like Gmail require third-party certification of your domain and logo. This certification comes in the form of a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) or Common Mark Certificate (CMC) from trusted providers like Digicert or Entrust. The process involves obtaining the certificate from one of these providers and hosting the .pem file on your domain's public web server.

4. Update DNS settings with a new TXT record for the logo and certificate

Lastly, you need to update your domain’s DNS with a TXT record that includes the URLs for both your logo's SVG file and your certificate's PEM file to activate BIMI. Below are example records, be sure to use your own domain name and links for your logo and certificate files:

Type: TXT
Name: default._bimi.example.com
Value: v=BIMI1;l=https://images.example.com/brand/bimi-logo.svg;
a=https://images.example.com/brand/certificate.pem

By using DKIM and DMARC records to authenticate your domain, and implementing a BIMI record to display your branding logo, you'll ensure the highest level of email security and enhance brand recognition. This approach not only protects your domain from phishing and spoofing but also boosts your credibility with recipients, making your emails stand out visually and reinforcing your brand identity in email marketing. Implementing BIMI with a VMC will additionally apply Gmail’s blue verified checkmark to messages received by personal Gmail accounts, Google Workspace customers as well those on legacy G Suite basic and business plans. 

What if I need assistance?

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