Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) and Verified Mark Certificates (VMC) enhance your email security and trust.
BIMI allows you to display your company’s logo next to your emails in recipients’ inboxes, helping them identify genuine messages. To use BIMI, you must follow strong email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) and set up DNS records for your logo.
VMC certificate verifies the logo used in BIMI, ensuring it’s legally owned and correctly represents you. Issued by certified authorities, a VMC boosts recipient confidence, protecting against phishing.
BIMI and VMC combine to improve email authenticity and engagement by linking visual branding with verified security. It looks this way in the inbox:
Follow these concise instructions on how to add BIMI and VMC to enhance email authentication:
1. Prepare your logo. Ensure your brand logo is in the SVG format. The SVG file should meet the specifications set by BIMI, including being a square image without embedded JavaScript.
2. Implement email authentication. Before setting up BIMI, ensure your email domain is protected by the Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) records.
3. Purchase a VMC. Obtain a VMC from an authorized certificate provider. This certificate will verify your logo’s association with your domain and enhance trust in your brand.
4. Publish a BIMI Record in DNS. Create a BIMI record in your domain’s DNS settings. This record should include:
- A link to your logo’s SVG file hosted on a secure HTTPS server.
- The location of your VMC certificate, if applicable. (Note: VMC is required to display your logo in some email providers.)
5. Test and validate. After setting up the DNS record, use BIMI lookup tools and validators online to check that your BIMI record is correctly configured and recognized. This will help ensure your logo appears next to your authenticated emails in supported mail clients.