Nothing stings more than having your email land in the spam folder. That’s where domain authentication comes into play.
When SPF, DKIM, and DMARC all check out as "Good," you are enhancing your brand’s trustworthiness, protecting your reputation and ensuring emails are delivered.
This snapshot is a reminder of the benefits of a fully authenticated domain. If you are looking at your email results and thinking they could be better, this might be your gentle nudge to take a closer look at your domain settings. It is one of those minor adjustments that can make a big difference.
Common pain points include:
Low open rates for email campaigns.
Emails being flagged as spam despite being legitimate.
Wasted time and effort creating campaigns no one sees.
The Solution: Setting Up Domain Authentication
The key to getting your emails into your audience’s inbox is building trust with email providers. This is done by setting up domain authentication, which includes three main pillars:
SPF (Sender Policy Framework): Confirms you are authorized to send emails from your domain.
DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail): Ensures your emails have not been tampered with during delivery.
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): Helps monitor and protect your domain from spoofing or impersonation.
The Benefits: Turning Problems into Opportunities
Boost Deliverability: Authenticated domains prove you’re a trusted sender, improving the chances of your emails landing in the inbox.
Protect Your Brand: DMARC policies prevent others from impersonating your domain, safeguarding your reputation.
Improve Engagement Rates: With more emails reaching your audience, you’ll see higher open and response rates, driving more conversions.
Complete authentication = Better deliverability = Higher engagement
Framework for measuring the impact of email authentication.
First, let's understand what we are measuring and why.
Email authentication affects deliverability, which creates a cascade of effects through your entire email marketing funnel.
Here's how we can develop this framework:
1. Baseline Data Collection Period (Pre-Authentication)
Track these metrics for at least 30 days before implementing proper authentication:
Primary Metrics:
Inbox placement rate (through tools like Validity)
Spam folder placement rate
Email bounce rates
Domain reputation scores from major ISPs
Delivery rates
Engagement Metrics:
Open rates
Click-through rates
Reply rates
Unsubscribe rates
Spam complaint rates
Revenue Metrics:
Conversion rates from email
Revenue per email sent
Revenue per subscriber
2. Implementation Phase Documentation During authentication implementation, document:
Changes made to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records
Implementation costs (time and resources)
Technical issues encountered
Time to full propagation
3. Post-Implementation Measurement Period
Track the same metrics as the baseline for at least 60-90 days after implementation, allowing for:
Initial propagation period (24-48 hours)
Stabilization period (1-2 weeks)
Sustained impact period (remainder)
4. Analysis Here's how to analyze the data:
Delivery Impact Analysis
Measures changes in inbox placement
Tracks spam rate reduction
Monitors bounce rate changes
Engagement Impact Analysis
Calculates open rate improvements
Measures click-through rate changes
Tracks spam complaint reduction
Revenue Impact Analysis
Analyzes revenue per email changes
Measures conversion rate improvements
Calculates total revenue impact
ROI Calculation
Factors in implementation costs
Includes ongoing maintenance costs
Calculates both total and monthly ROI
5. Control Factors To ensure accurate attribution, we need to control for:
Seasonal variations
Changes in email content or strategy
Changes in target audience
Market conditions
Other technical changes
6. ROI Calculation We can then calculate ROI using:
Implementation costs (one-time)
Ongoing maintenance costs
Revenue improvement
Cost savings from reduced support/reputation management
Long-term brand value improvement
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