How to enable DKIM, SPF and DMARC?

If you don’t know what these systems consist of, don’t miss this post where we will explain their functionalities and how to activate them to reduce the chances of your Emails being considered Spam. But first watch this video with 3 measures to prevent your emails from reaching your users’ inboxes.

Content Index:

  • Why is it important to have your own domain to send Email Marketing Campaigns?
  • What is DKIM and how does it work?
  • What is SPF and how does it work?
  • What is DMARC and how does it work?
  • Why do you need to configure DKIM and SPF to ensure your Campaign’s Deliverability?
  • Step by step to configure DKIM and SPF in your Doppler account.

Before we start… Do you know why it’s so important to have your own domain to send Email Marketing Campaigns?

First of all, sending Emails from your own domain is beneficial for your brand image and builds trust towards the Subscribers that receive your communications. It also helps you to:

:: Reduce the chances of your Emails reaching the Spam folder, which may be frequent when you send Campaigns to large Lists from public domains such as Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook and others. 

:: Improve the performance of your Campaigns after reaching your Contact’s Inbox. You’ll see this positive impact reflected on your Reports: lower Rebounds Rate, higher Open and Click To Rates, among other metrics.

:: Ensure the protection of personal data contained in your Campaigns, both your own and those from third parties. 

In Doppler we encourage our Users to implement good practices to keep their Database optimized (content in SPA). Actually this has a huge impact on the effectiveness of their Campaigns, and at the same time it strengthens their reputation as Senders. These are some of the main reasons to have your own domain properly configured under DKIM and SPF standards.

IMPORTANT: When you have more than 10.000 Subscribers in your Doppler account, you must configure your own domain to send your Campaigns.

If you already have your own domain, then your next step is to configure DKIM and SPF in your Doppler account. It will certainly help you take your Deliverability to its highest level! 

Let’s see what DKIM and SPF are and which are the steps to configure them in your Doppler account.

What is DKIM and how does it work?

It’s an Email authentication mechanism that allows the sender to take responsibility for sending an Email. It can either  be the author of the message, the server that manages the Email or even a server that performs as an intermediary in the Email route.

DKIM uses the public key to sign legitimate Emails so that they can be verified by the people who receive them. Two examples of Email clients that implement this mechanism are Yahoo! and Gmail.

This is how DKIM works:

  • DKIM includes a header with a digital signature in the message (it’s unique for each body and header)
  • When an Email is sent, the destination server makes a query to the DNS of the Sender’s domain. If the DKIM is configured in the signature field, it gets the public key of the domain, and it will use it to uncode the value of the signature in the header and to recalculate the one of the signature for the message (as we said before, the header and the body) 
  • If those two values match, the authenticity of the message is confirmed. That’s great news!

What is SPF and how does it work?

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a protection system against the falsification of addresses when sending Emails. In other words, it avoids Senders from issuing Emails on behalf of others. This system identifies, through domain name records (DNS), the mail servers authorized to send messages.

The use of SPF improves the Sender’s reputation and reduces phishing: spammers posing as your identity.

This is how SPF works:

  • The mail server that receives the Emails compares the domain of the Sender’s address with the List of IPs authorized to send messages from that domain.
  • In order to be valid, the sending server must have a SPF record in its DNS, and the server that receives the Emails has to be able to verify it.
  • If the SPF is unvalid, the receiver’s Anti Spam Filters will rate that message negatively, making it more difficult to reach the Inbox.

What is DMARC and how does it work?

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) is a system by which the receiving email server can determine how to handle emails that fail the SPF and DKIM check.

The system works this way:

  • Upon receiving an Email, the destination server queries the DNS of the Sender’s domain to obtain the DMARC record and determine what to do with the received email.
  • Using this record, the Sender domain can set the DMARC policy in different ways, such as instructing the mail server to quarantine, reject, or deliver them.
  • These policies may also include instructions for sending reports to domain administrators about emails that pass and fail checks.

Why do you really need to configure these systems?

The configuration of both systems not only improves your Email’s protection and security, but also helps you avoid bad practices in Email Marketing, such as Spam and phishing

What happens if you don’t use them? The effectiveness of your Campaigns decreases in those mail servers that verify domain’s DNS records. By the way, we are talking about the most popular mail servers.

So if you want to reach your Subscribers’ Inbox with your Campaigns, configure the custom DKIM authentication for your domain and add Doppler in your SPF record.

It’s easy! We’ll show you step by step how to configure both. You may also learn more about the importance of DKIM and SPF in this theoretical pill of Doppler Academy (content in Spanish).

Step by step to configure DKIM, SPF and DMARC in your Doppler account

You have to follow 4 simple steps to configure DKIM and SPF in your account. Make sure you complete all of them, otherwise it won’t be activated.

Step #1 – Add your domain

First of all, go to the Control Panel (on the top right of the navigation chart) inside your account.

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If you scroll down, you’ll find the section Advanced Preferences. Click on DKIM, SPF and DMARC.

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In the DKIM & SPF Setup section, you have to add the domain or domains you want to use to send your Email Campaigns. Just click “Add domain”

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A Pop-up window will appear. There, you must write the domain you want to add. You may add a maximum of 10 domains in your account. Note that the first one you add will be used by default.

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Step #2 – Configure your domain

Before going any further, please note that in order to authenticate your domain, you must take actions both in Doppler and in the DNS editor of your domain provider. You need to copy and paste information from our tool into your domain server Website. We suggest that you work this in two open tabs to be more comfortable. 

Once you’ve added the domain, another window will appear with the following information:

Record name, Public Key, SPF Record and DMARC.

 

What do you need to do with this information? Copy the Record name and the Public Key. Then go to the DNS configuration panel of your domain provider and paste them in the right place, according to that Website.

Regarding the SPF Record:

If you have one of your own, you must add include:spf.fromdoppler.com in the DNS configuration panel of your domain provider.

If you don’t have one of your own, you must copy the record that appears in that window. 

Do you feel lost? Don’t worry! In the next lines we’ll show you how to insert this information in the platform of the most used domain providers.

How to edit DNS records in domain providers?

Domain providers use different names to their fields associated with a TXT record. For example, GoDaddy includes fields with the name TXT Name and TXT Value, while Name.com uses the same fields but calls them Record Host and Record Answer.

No matter which provider you use, you must insert the DNS Host name (TXT Name) in the first field and the Value (TXT Value) in the second one.

Here is a List with information about how to edit your DNS records in the main domain providers. If your service isn’t in this List, we recommend you search for Help Documents in your provider’s Website or get in touch with their Support Team.

Important: if you have the domain DNS delegated in services such as Cloudflare or others, you must configure the domain directly from there and not from the hosting provider.

How to generate a TXT for SPF?

Advice to set up SPF correctly

  • It must be configured with a TXT Record instead of a SPF Record.
  • When you make changes, be sure that the other Email (ESP) or Internet services (ISP) providers you use are included in your SPF Record. 
  • Do not create more than one TXT Record per SPF.
  • Include your ESP or ISP values in your SPF Record.
  • Some DNS providers may need the value to be between quotation marks. For example: “v=spf1 include:spf.fromdoppler.com ~all”

Step #3 – Verify your domain

After completing all this information in the DNS configuration panel of your domain provider, you must go back to Doppler and click the “Verify” button in the DKIM & SPF Set up panel. Then you will see the different status for your DKIM and SPF configurations:

  • Pending. You still haven’t verified your domain. To do so, just click the button “Verify”. If you have completed all the other steps, the status will become “Verified”.
  • Verified. You have completed every step. Well done!
  • Verified with error. Something went wrong during your configuration. Check the process step by step both in Doppler and in your domain provider. If you need extra help, just contact us: [email protected].  
  • Not configured. You still need to go to the DNS panel of your domain provider and proceed with the configuration. Click the icon right next to the “Verify” button in the DKIM & SPF Set up panel and follow every step we talked about in this post. 

Step #4 – Check everything works right

When you finish the DNS configuration process, you’ll get your request approval from us: the Doppler Team. Then, send a test Email to a Gmail or Outlook account.

Open the Email and click in “Show original”.

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Tap Ctrl + F and search the word DKIM. You’ll see this information:

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And that’s it! Note that you need to complete the 4 steps to validate correctly both DKIM, SPF and DMARC. There’s no harm in overlooking all the process again to find some mistakes or uncompleted actions.

Do you want to take step by step on video? Watch this practical pill from Doppler Academy and enjoy. 


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  1. Cristian 9 Jun 2015

    No entiendo que tengo que hacer con el dns

    1. Maria Diaz 12 Jun 2015

      ¡Buen día Cristian! Por esta consulta te sugiero que te comuniques directamente con nuestro equipo de Atencion al Cliente, que ellos te ayudarán paso a paso para que puedas activar el DomainKeys/DKIM y te explicarán particularmente qué debes hacer con el dns. No dudes en escribirnos a [email protected] para poder poner en práctica esta funcionalidad tan útil a la hora de evitar que tus Emails sean considerados como spam. ¡Mucha suerte! Saludos 😉

  2. Christian 25 Feb 2016

    Hola, Soy una agencia y tengo varios clientes, tengo que hacer para cada dominio?

    1. Claudio del equipo de Doppler 29 Feb 2016

      Hola Christian, ¿Cómo estás? Claro, siempre deberás dar de alta el Domainkeys/DKIM asociado a cada dominio. Si necesitas ayuda en este proceso, puedes enviarnos un mail a [email protected]
      ¡Muchas gracias!
      Claudio del equipo de Doppler

  3. mauro cores 8 May 2016

    Buenas tardes, me parece muy interesante esta configuración pero me falta conocimiento para ver si al activarla puede llegar a tener un impacto con los emails que se envian externos a doppler, por ejemplo desde un cliente de correo configurado en mi Celular, PC, o una cuenta del dominio @guiacores.com.ar , que por ejemplo la use un empleado para sus comunicaicones corporativas.
    Tengo muchos problemas de SPAM con nuestros correos, ya que nos usan muchisimo nuestro dominio como suplantacion de identidad para hacer mailing como si fuesen correos enviados desde @guiacores.com.ar y necesito analizar todas las opciones que puedan contribuir a minimizar este tipo de acciones, para que nuestros propios correos enviados desde nuestros dispositivos no sean considerados SPAM y no tengamos que lidiar todo el tiempo en decirles a los destinatarios que revisen su correo basura o spam para ver si nuestros correos no se encuentran alli.
    Muchas gracias por su ayuda!!!

    1. Sebastián de Doppler 10 May 2016

      Hola Mauro, ¿cómo estás? En breve te estaremos contactando desde soporte para asistirte con tu consulta. Saludos, Sebastián de Doppler.

  4. Juan 6 Jul 2016

    Hola, quise comunicarme con uds. hoy y no me atendieron. Es para poder configurar correctamente Domain Keys. Muchas gracias!

    1. Noelia de Doppler 7 Jul 2016

      Hola Juan, ya mismo un Representante de Atención al Cliente se pondrá en contacto contigo para ayudarte a configurar tu Domain Keys.

      Gracias,

      Noelia de Doppler

  5. Rodrigo Corvalán 8 Sep 2016

    Hola, ¿es necesario incorporar el servidor smtp de doppler a los registros SPF?, ya tengo creado los registros DKIM
    No cuentro información al respecto.
    Saludos,
    Rodrigo C.

    1. Sebastián de Doppler 21 Sep 2016

      Hola Rodrigo, un representante de atención al cliente estará poniéndose en contacto contigo este día para ayudarte de manera personalizada con la configuración.

      Gracias,
      Sebastián de Doppler

  6. giancarlo 20 Mar 2017

    hola, cuales el dominio que tengo que colocar, qué es pagina web o que…yo uso gmail

    1. Sebastián de Doppler 20 Mar 2017

      ¡Hola Giancarlo! Nuestro equipo de Soporte y Atención al Cliente te contactará para resolver tu duda. Saludos, Sebastián de Doppler 🙂

  7. Diego 7 Jul 2017

    En el paso 1 luego de ingresar mis datos en el formulario DomainKeys/DKIM y presionar “Solicitar”, la página vuelve al mismo formulario (como si no hubiera realizado acción alguna).
    Por favor, necesito ayuda con esto para solucionarlos y enviar mi campaña.
    De antemano,
    Gracias

    1. Sebastián de Doppler 12 Jul 2017

      Hola Diego, ya hemos derivado tu consulta a nuestra área de Soporte y Atención al Cliente. Muy pronto se pondrán en contacto contigo. Saludos, Sebastián de Doppler 🙂

  8. Soledad 23 May 2018

    Hola! Trabajo con varias cuentas de clientes y notamos que una gran cantidad de correos de Listas Propias no llegan o van a la Bandeja de “Promociones”.

    Consultado el Chat Online para configurar correctamente Domain Key me informan que debido a que existen “Muchos CPanel diferentes” debo consultar a mi proveedor de Hostinga de cada una de las cuentas.

    ¿En el Zone Editor de CPanel se puede configurar?

    ¿Existe la posibilidad de que revean estos Tutoriales y los expliquen más detalladamente?

    Gracias y saludos

    1. Claudio de Doppler 13 Jul 2018

      Hola Soledad, gracias por tu consulta. La misma fue derivada al área correspondiente, a la brevedad se estarán comunicando contigo. Tendremos en cuenta tu sugerencia respecto de la mejora en los tutoriales. Saludos, Claudio de Doppler

  9. Junín de los Andes Turismo 6 Jun 2018

    Buenas noches! quiero integrar doppler a mi portal, debo crear un subdominio o me conviene comprar otro dominio y delegarlo a sus servidores y listo. Gracias

    1. Noelia de Doppler 13 Jul 2018

      ¡Buenas tardes! Muchas gracias por tu consulta. A la brevedad se contactará un Representante de Atención al Cliente para brindarte más información y asesorarte. Saludos, Noelia de Doppler.

  10. Jose Luis Rodriguez 26 Jul 2018

    yo ya tengo generado un spf para mi dominio en office 365el cual incluye IP´s de servidores que usamos de relay cual seria la opción en este caso.

    1. Julieta de Doppler 27 Jul 2018

      Buenas tardes Jose Luis, en breve se contactará contigo una Representante de Atención al Cliente para dar respuesta a tu consulta. Saludos, Julieta de Doppler.

      1. vanesa 7 Sep 2020

        Me pasa lo mismo, y no me está tomando el spf…

        1. Soledad Paz 8 Sep 2020

          Hola Vanesa,
          Te pedimos que nos escribas a [email protected] para que podamos dar seguimiento a tu consulta.
          Saludos, Sole de Doppler.

      2. vanesa 7 Sep 2020

        Me pasa lo mismo y no me lo deja configurar correctamente. Como tengo que hacer?

        1. Soledad Paz 8 Sep 2020

          Hola Vanesa,
          Te pedimos que nos escribas a [email protected] para que podamos dar seguimiento a tu consulta.
          Saludos, Sole de Doppler.

  11. Pablo 9 Apr 2019

    En mi caso tengo que configurar 3 registros para SPF.

    Lo hice de la siguiente forma (con un TXT con valor 14400 TTL e indicando en Nombre el dominio):
    v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:servers.mcsv.net include:spf.fromdoppler.com ~all

    … y en estado SPF dice: “Verificado con Error. Asegúrate de que has cumplido correctamente con todos los pasos de configuración.”

    Me pueden asistir para quede ok ?

    1. Noelia de Doppler 17 Apr 2019

      Hola Pablo, ¿has podido resolverlo? De lo contrario, escríbenos a [email protected] para que podamos dar seguimiento a tu consulta. Saludos, Noelia de Doppler

  12. Pedro 31 Jul 2019

    Buenas noches una consulta: ¿para dominios registrados en nic.ar no se pueden agregar registros DKIM y SPF?

    1. Julieta de Doppler 16 Aug 2019

      Hola Pedro, ¿cómo estás? Sí puedes sumar DKIM y SPF, pero lo más probable es que tengas los DNS alojados en otro hosting. Si tienes más dudas sobre cómo configurarlos escríbenos a [email protected]. Saludos, Julieta de Doppler

      1. cecilia 30 Jun 2021

        como se soluciona? tb tengo en nic.ar

        1. Sole de Doppler 20 Aug 2021

          Buenos días Cecilia, ¿pudiste configurar DKIM y SPF para tu dominio? De lo contrario escríbemos un email a [email protected]. ¡Saludos!

  13. Sebas 25 Aug 2020

    hola, puede ser que falte un registro CNAME? lo quiero conectar a http://www.donweb.com, el DKIM me lo conectó, pero fel SPF me dice que no lo detecta. gracias

    1. Soledad Paz 25 Aug 2020

      Hola Sebas,
      Te pedimos que envíes tu consulta al equipo de Atención al Cliente para que puedan asesorarte paso a paso. El mail es [email protected].
      Saludos, Sole de Doppler.

  14. luis 1 Sep 2020

    no tengo dominio, ya que antes no se requería, que hago

    1. Soledad Paz 8 Sep 2020

      ¡Hola Luis!
      ¿Pudiste solucionar la situación? Puedes escribirnos a [email protected] y te asesoraremos.
      Saludos, Sole de Doppler.

  15. DAMASI 19 Jul 2021

    HOLA !!YO TENGO NIC Y NO PUEDO VERIFICARLO Y NO TIENEN NINGUN EJEMPLO SOBRE COMO COLOCAR EL DNS EN NIC Y LA VERDAD ES QUE ES UNO DE LOS GRATUITOS QUE INTEGRA CON TIENDA NUBE , PODRAN AYUDARME ? GRACIAS

    1. Sole de Doppler 20 Aug 2021

      ¡Hola! La configuración debes hacerla sobre tu proveedor de hosting, que es distinto al dominio que hayas registado en nic.ar. ¿Esto responde a tu consulta? De lo contrario escribe a soporte@fromdoppler para que podamos ayudarte. ¡Saludos!

  16. Lorena 24 Nov 2021

    Es un chino! muy complejo para hacerlo…

    1. Carla Bianchi 26 Nov 2021

      ¡Hola Lorena!
      Voy a derivar tu consulta al área de Atención al Cliente para que puedan ponerse en contacto contigo y acompañarte en la configuración del DKIM y SPF.
      Saludos, Car de Doppler.