Elevate Your Brand's Email Trust with BIMI and VMC: A Comprehensive Guide
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In the quest for digital trust, having a verified badge alongside your email is pivotal. By embracing Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) and securing a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC), you're on the pathway to this coveted verification. This thorough guide will illuminate the process of configuring BIMI and acquiring a VMC, thereby amplifying your brand's email authenticity.
BIMI is an email standard allowing the display of brand logos next to authenticated email messages, thus providing a visual validation of your brand's communications. On the other hand, a VMC is a digital certificate verifying your logo's ownership, a prerequisite for implementing BIMI.
Trademark Registration:
It typically takes 12 to 18 months to obtain a trademark registration as of 2023. Once you have the trademark, you can then proceed to apply for a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for your logo, which may require additional time for verification by a Certificate Authority.
Setup DMARC:
Before you can use BIMI, you need to have DMARC set up for your domain. Implementing DMARC involves publishing a policy in your domain's DNS records.
Create Your BIMI Record:
Create a BIMI text record in your domain's DNS settings. This record should include the location of your logo and your DMARC policy.
Obtain a VMC:
Ensure you have a registered trademark for your logo.
Reach out to a Certificate Authority (CA) that issues VMCs. You'll need to provide proof of logo ownership, which includes providing your trademark registration and go through a verification process.
This step is essential to maintain the integrity and trustworthiness of the verified checkmark, ensuring that only legitimate and recognized brands can obtain this mark next to their emails. By having a trademark and going through the VMC process, brands demonstrate a level of professionalism and commitment to authentic communication with their audience.
Publish Your VMC:
After obtaining your VMC, publish it in your DNS alongside your BIMI record.
Test Your Setup:
Utilize BIMI testing tools to ensure your setup is correct. If your setup is correct, your logo should now appear next to your emails in supported email clients.
Monitor and Optimize:
Monitor your email deliverability and make any necessary adjustments to ensure optimal performance.
Stay Updated:
The world of email authentication is ever-evolving. Stay updated on the latest BIMI and VMC standards to ensure your email domain remains verified.
With a verified email, not only does your marketing team benefit from increased visibility and engagement, but your IT department also achieves a higher level of email security through DMARC compliance. By aligning the interests of both departments, your organization creates a robust, trustworthy email communication channel, beneficial for your brand's reputation and your audience's trust.
Embracing BIMI and VMC is about committing to authentic communication with your audience. Follow this guide to navigate through the setup process and bring your email communication strategy to a new pinnacle of trust and recognition.
Sources:
Your logo must be registered as a trademark to qualify for a VMC. Check the to see if your logo is already trademarked.
Global Brand Database:
