Integrations
Sending from your own domain
So emails go out as yours, not from a platform the recipient has never heard of.
When you ask a third party for documents, half the battle is getting them to open the email. And an email from a sender they do not recognise competes with the reasonable instinct to ignore it. Configuring your own domain changes exactly that: the recipient sees your name, not a tool's.
The two ways, and how they differ
| Way | What it needs | What you gain |
|---|---|---|
| Verified domain | Three DNS records: DKIM, SPF and DMARC | Best delivery: the email is signed with your domain |
| Verified address | Confirming an address of yours, no DNS | It goes from your address, but signed by the provider |
| Neither | Nothing | It goes from the platform sender |
Important
The difference between the first two is not convenience, it is deliverability. With a verified domain, the email's technical signature matches your domain and receiving filters treat it as yours. A verified address without DNS is quicker to set up, but that signature does not match, and at volume or with strict filters it delivers worse.
What to ask whoever manages your DNS
- 1
To add the three records you are given
They are TXT records and do not affect your current email: they add, they do not replace.
- 2
Not to touch an existing DMARC without looking
If you already have one it gets adjusted; replacing it can affect all your corporate email.
- 3
To tell you when they are published
Checking is automatic, but DNS takes a while to propagate.
- 4
And to write it down
Two years from now, whoever looks at those records must know what they are for.
Watch out
The nuance nobody can deduce: if a send using your own sender fails — because the domain stopped being verified, the address was revoked, or the provider rejects it — the platform **retries once using the platform sender** so the email still goes out. That is the right behaviour, but it means a recipient may occasionally get a message from a different sender than you expected. If you see that, it is not a sending failure: it means your own sender is not working and needs checking.
What stays the same when you change sender
Worth knowing
If you work with several brands or entities, each organisation has its own sender. You do not have to pick one for the whole group.
›Does it stop emails going to spam?
It helps considerably, especially with recipients who already know you by that domain.
›Can I use my usual email as the sender?
You can verify an address of yours; the full domain delivers better.
›What if the recipient replies?
Set the reply address you want; otherwise replies can land in a mailbox nobody watches.
A real case
The situation
A company sends document requests and many suppliers say nothing arrives.
What you do
- Verifies its domain with the three DNS records
- Checks the own sender works before the annual campaign
What you get
Emails arrive as theirs and first-send response rates rise without changing a word of the text.
The situation
Notices go out from a sender suppliers do not recognise.
What you do
- Configures sending from your own domain
- Verifies with a test send before the first round
What you get
Open rates rise from the first send.
The situation
It is half configured and emails go to junk.
What you do
- Completes the records your IT asks for
What you get
The email reaches the main inbox.
The situation
The domain changes and sends start bouncing.
What you do
- Updates the configuration before the change
What you get
The domain change does not cut the campaigns.
The situation
Suppliers reply to the sender and nobody reads that mailbox.
What you do
- Configures a monitored reply address
What you get
Replies reach somebody.
The situation
Nobody checks how the notice looks on arrival.
What you do
- Sends one to themselves from outside
What you get
What looks wrong is fixed before the round.
This article answers
- send emails from our own domain
- configure dkim spf dmarc for sending
- emails arrive from a sender that is not ours
- verify a domain to improve deliverability