About Email Domain Authentication

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Email domain authentication is crucial to ensuring your campaigns reach your subscribers. It proves to inbox providers that you’re a legitimate sender, which helps improve your overall email delivery. To make this process easier, Mailchimp now offers an automated method for email domain authentication using Entri.

This article covers:

  • Why domain authentication is necessary for modern email delivery
  • The difference between domain verification and authentication
  • How Mailchimp simplifies the authentication process using Entri
  • New places where you can start authentication in your account

Note

Gmail and Yahoo will require a custom authentication and a published Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) record for anyone sending more than 5,000 emails to Gmail or Yahoo addresses in a 24-hour period. To prevent your emails from bouncing, we strongly recommend authenticating your email domain and configuring DMARC.

Also, if you use a free email service like Gmail or Yahoo for your From email address, we strongly recommend you switch to an email address from a private domain, like the one you use for work or for your website.

For more information about custom authentication and DMARC, check out Set Up Email Domain Authentication.

Why domain authentication is necessary

Email hosting services use security processes to filter out malicious senders and spam. If you send emails from an unauthenticated domain, you may experience delivery issues. Authentication proves you are a legitimate sender and significantly improves delivery.

For your emails to be properly authenticated, your domain's DNS records need to be updated with 2 CNAME records (for DKIM) and 1 TXT record (for DMARC).

Authentication can only be applied to domains that you or your business own and control. Public email services like Gmail and Yahoo cannot be authenticated.

Mailchimp now offers automated authentication using Entri to simplify setting up your required DNS records.

Entri is the recommended method because it automatically configures your domain settings to work with Mailchimp. Instead of a lengthier manual process, it connects directly to your DNS provider and uses encrypted login to authenticate your domain.

Domain verification vs. authentication

While you are required to verify your email domain to confirm access, verification alone does not impact your email delivery. Domain authentication (adding the DKIM and DMARC records) is a separate process required for best delivery results.

How to start the authentication process

Mailchimp recommends automated authentication via Entri to simplify setting up your required DNS records. Entri is the recommended method because it automatically configures your domain settings to work with Mailchimp. Instead of a lengthier manual process, it connects directly to your DNS provider and uses encrypted login to authenticate your domain.

Where to start authentication

You can now start the authentication process from several contextual entry points in your Mailchimp account, ensuring that you address delivery issues exactly when they appear.

  • Home screen checklist On your Home screen, in the Finish setting up your account checklist, you may see a task to Authenticate your email domain.
  • Home screen banners Banners may appear warning that Emails from your domain may miss 74% of inboxes or that emails have bounced (if the bounce rate is high).
  • Campaign drafting nudges When setting up an email, nudges may appear in the From field prompting you to Authenticate your domain to improve delivery for Gmail and Yahoo inboxes.

Next steps for custom domain authentication

To authenticate your domain, you'll verify it first, and then edit the CNAME and DMARC records in your domain's DNS records.

Verify an Email Domain Set Up Email Domain Authentication

Set Up Email Domain Authentication

Set up your email domain authentication so campaigns appear to come from your domain. Make your campaigns look more professional and avoid spam folders.

Verify an Email Domain

Domain verification keeps your emails out of spam folders and protects your reputation. Verify, remove, and troubleshoot email domains in Mailchimp.