Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI): A practical guide (2024)

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is a game-changer for email marketing in 2024. It lets you display your brand’s logo directly in recipients’ inboxes, boosting your credibility and trust at a glance. 

In this guide, we’ll walk you through what BIMI is, why it matters, and how to set it up. Here are all the practical steps you need to make your emails stand out and build brand trust. You’re welcome. 

What is Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI)?

Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is an email authentication standard that lets you display your brand’s logo directly in your recipients’ inboxes. Its main purpose is to boost brand recognition and trust by visually verifying that your email is legitimate. Result: when set up correctly, BIMI strengthens your email security by confirming that your emails come from a verified source.

BIMI is especially valuable for newsletters, promotions, and other opt-in email marketing campaigns where brand visibility is key. It’s not designed for cold emailing and isn’t necessary for those types of outreach. The focus is on building brand trust for audiences already familiar with your business, not on first-time contacts.

Is BIMI necessary? It’s not a must-have for everyone, but if you’re running large-scale email marketing efforts, BIMI can significantly enhance your email authentication and increase engagement by making your emails instantly recognizable. It’s a smart move to strengthen your email security and stand out in crowded inboxes.

The impact of BIMI on email marketing and open rates

BIMI boosts email marketing performance by driving higher open rates. How? It’s simple: when your brand logo appears right in the inbox, it instantly grabs attention and builds brand recognition. Thanks to that, recipients are more likely to open emails from brands they recognize and trust. This visual cue creates a sense of credibility before they even read the subject line.

Good news: Companies that have adopted BIMI have seen a noticeable lift in engagement. For example, brands like Yahoo and Fastmail reported increased open rates simply by displaying their logos through BIMI. This shows that a small visual change can have a big impact on how customers interact with your emails. 

So if your goal is to stand out and boost your open rates, integrating BIMI into your email strategy is a smart move!

Understanding the BIMI DNS record

What is a BIMI DNS record? It’s the backbone of how your brand’s logo shows up in your recipient’s inbox. BIMI is a text record that lives in your domain's DNS settings, pointing to the location of your brand’s logo. 

This record works hand-in-hand with your other email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Only when those checks are passed does the BIMI DNS record tell email providers, "Yes, this is legit, please display the logo."

But be careful: without a properly set up BIMI DNS record, your logo won’t even make it to the inbox, no matter how strong your sender reputation is. It’s what ties everything together, ensuring that when your emails land, they’re instantly recognizable and trusted. 

You want your brand to stand out and grab attention in crowded inboxes? Nailing your BIMI DNS setup is non-negotiable. Really non-negotiable.

How to implement BIMI: Key steps and requirements

Implementing BIMI can seem technical, but breaking it down into clear steps makes it manageable. Here’s what you need to do to implement BIMI and start displaying your logos in inboxes.

Set up your DNS records

First things first, you need to link your brand’s logo to your DNS records. This is where the BIMI magic starts. It tells email providers where to pull your logo from once they’ve verified your email is legit. No DNS setup, no logo, simple as that.

H3 / Nail your email authentication: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

BIMI requires solid email authentication to work. That means you need SPF, DKIM, and DMARC all set up and running smoothly. These protocols prove your emails are coming from you and not some scammer pretending to be you. Get this right, or your BIMI efforts are dead in the water.

Use the right logo format: SVG 

Your logo needs to be in an SVG file format. Why? Because it’s clean, scalable, and looks sharp no matter the email platform. Upload your SVG logo to the DNS record so it’s ready to show up in inboxes the second your emails pass the authentication check.

Get a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC)

To take your BIMI implementation to the next level, you’ll need a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). A VMC is like an official seal that says, "This brand and its logo are legitimate." It’s not required by all email providers yet, but it’s becoming a must-have for top-level security and brand trust. Reach out to a VMC provider to get this certificate as part of your BIMI setup.

Add the BIMI DNS Record to Your Domain

Now, it’s time to actually create your BIMI DNS record. This text record lives in your domain’s DNS settings and points directly to your SVG logo. It’s what tells email providers to display your logo once all the authentication checks are passed. Make sure you add this record correctly; even a small mistake here can stop your logo from showing up.

Test and monitor

Don’t just set it and forget it. Test your BIMI setup to make sure your logo actually shows up in recipients’ inboxes. Keep an eye on things to catch any issues early, so your brand recognition stays strong and your emails keep hitting the inbox instead of the spam folder.

BIMI implementation checklist

✅ Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication

✅ Prepare your logo in SVG format according to BIMI standards

✅ Secure a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for enhanced brand credibility

✅ Add the BIMI DNS record to your domain’s DNS settings

✅ Test and verify that your logo is being displayed correctly in recipient inboxes

Email authentication protocols required for BIMI (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

For BIMI to work, you need solid email authentication in place, specifically, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These protocols are the gatekeepers that ensure your emails come from a verified source and aren’t just another phishing attempt: 

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) checks if your email is being sent from an authorized server listed in your domain name system (DNS);
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a digital signature to your message, proving that the content hasn’t been tampered with during delivery;
• And DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) ties it all together by telling email providers how to handle messages that fail these checks.

Without these three protocols working together, BIMI is a no-go. Your brand’s logo will never make it to the inbox because BIMI relies on these security layers to confirm that you’re the real deal. These protocols aren’t just a technical requirement; they’re the foundation of trust for your email communications. So to secure your messages and make sure they actually reach your audience, you need to get SPF, DKIM, and DMARC right asap.

Want more details? Here is our guide: How to Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

The importance of spam tests for improving deliverability

Sure, BIMI boosts your brand's visibility and recognition, but none of that matters if your emails don’t even make it to the inbox. That’s why spam tests are absolutely essential: they help you evaluate your email deliverability before hitting send, giving you the chance to fix potential issues before your emails land in the spam folder.

So without these tests, even the most polished campaigns or best-designed logos won’t reach your prospects if they're flagged as spam. Take the time to run regular spam tests, assess your deliverability score, and then make the necessary adjustments to improve your sender reputation.

And most importantly: you're in the right place! MailReach’s deliverability tools are built to ensure your emails land in the inbox, not the spam folder. 

Simply put, the better you optimize your deliverability, the more likely your emails will end up where they should: in front of the right people.

Conclusion: If you're serious about boosting your email campaigns’ performance, MailReach’s spam test service is a must. It’s the smart way to ensure your emails make it to the inbox, maximizing your impact and your results!

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